Take a peek inside my travel art journal and sketchbook from a 9-day trip to Haarlem, Netherlands, for the annual Flower Festival. Click on an individual image to read a brief caption about each.
St. Bavo’s Church, Haarlem – first day in Holland, sketched at an outdoor cafe
Remembering the razor clam and other mollusks on the beach at Zandvoort, seaside resort town fifteen minutes bus ride from Haarlem on the North Sea
Sketched during an organ recital at Nieuwe Kerk, Haarlem
The organ at NIeuwe Kerk
The emcee of organ recital, Nieuwe Kerk
Soprano at Nieuwe Kerk
Items in a consignment store, where we ducked inside during a brief hail storm
Sketch of a few Dutch icons – the kissing boy and girl, and “klomps” ( clogs)
Sketch of my favorite float from the Flower Festival — featuring a sheep, making wool yarn, made into a sweater and hat
Quick sketch of a side street in Haarlem, with view of St. Bavo’s Church, captured on Flower Festival day
Illustrated journal of my rainy day excursion to Amsterdam via train
Illustrated map of our journey to Zuiderzee Museum in Enkhuizen, via train and ferry boat
View from the train to Enkhuizen
View of canals in fields from train to Enkhuizen
View of tulip fields from train to Enkhuizen
Sketch of a tulip field on my bike ride near Keukenhof
Sketch from my hot chocolate break on the North Sea during my bike ride through the tulip fields near Keukenhof on King’s Day
Sketch of the sand dunes on my bike ride through the tulip fields – said to be the secret to the purity of Dutch drinking water
Sketches from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Sketch of a Van Gogh painting depicting the contrasting worldviews of his father (represented by the Bible) and himself (represented by a tattered copy of Emile Zola’s “La Joie de vivre”)
Sketches from my meetup with Evelyn Yee, an urban sketcher from Melbourne (and Instagram friend) who just happened to be in Amsterdam at the same time – we sat in the Stedelijk Museum cafe and then outside the Van Gogh Museum
Sketch outside Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Sketch of bicycle culture from inside restaurant, Amsterdam
Molen de Adriaan (windmill), Haarlem
Typical landscape from train to Amsterdam
Sketch of the image from a coloring contest at Meneertje Pannekoekenhuis, Haarlem
Last sketch in Schiphol airport, Amsterdam
Airplane sketches of flower fields – hyacinth
Daffodils
Tulips – red
Tulips – yellow