That Dutch Treat

THE TITLE HAS NOTHING TO DO WHATSOEVER with the expression's actual definition. But if we must be calculating of the events that transpired during our week in Amsterdam, the following should sum up the affair: 3 hotel rooms, 1 cancelled flight, 1 wafel, 4 stroopwafels, 1 Thai dinner, 1 Peruvian dinner, 1 Japanese dinner, 2 sunny days, 2 rainy days, 4 museums, 2 Delftware souvenirs, 1 Boekenmarkt find, 24 Instagram posts, some beers and way too many coffees, aperitifs, digestifs and bottles of wine. Round that all up to one happy tourist who almost didn't miss the pets, or her laptop, too much.

When Holland released their new tourism campaign just weeks ago, I was excited to see the advertised "original coolness" for myself. From happy girls singing as they cycled side-by-side, to books perched on sills for holding up windows, to superb men's fashion, superb men's hairstyles, ever-falling leaves swirling at street corners, flowers blooming by the bedside overnight, excellent world cuisine, incredible Dutch design, Vermeer and Van Gogh -all on top of being home to over 180 nationalities, and being the first to legalize same-sex marriage- the Dutch simply know how to do things cool.

And because a week is not enough, this Dutch treat needs a part two!

Amsterdam Tulip Museum, Café de Jaren, Cafe Katoen, Boekenmarkt, De Wallen and various locations Amsterdam-Centrum.

That Delft Perception

HOWEVER BUSY AMSTERDAM GOT on a sunny weekend during our stay, we had the Delftware shops to ourselves; empty blue-and-white sanctuaries from outside's bustling tourism. We visited four different shops, from a centrally-located Royal Delft gift shop, to independent boutiques along the Canal Ring, the last of which I purchased some earrings and a figurine from.

Being fond of the Delftware aesthetic, I was surprised to find little tourist interest in the Dutch craft. Dating back as early as 1512, Delftware or Delft pottery takes its name from the city of Delft in the Netherlands, and is characterized by blue and white painted motifs and tin-glazing.

Traditionally limited to tiles and household items, Delftware today has a much wider range, including jewelry, children's items, seasonal decor and various merchandise printed with patterns of blue and white. Doing away with tin-glazing, today's Delftware products are considered far more inferior and far less inspired than their earlier counterparts. On the upside, the less expensive production heightens their accessibility for a non-collecting majority.

Re-energizing the distinct blue and white style attributed to Delftware, Toronto-based artist Douglas Walker has, since 2005, painted scenes and subjects in just ultramarine and white. With a focus on brushwork and meticulously formulated paint consistencies, Walker's work shows that the craft can be art. His, unfortunately, you won't find in a Delftware shop.

Paintings by Douglas Walker, www.douglaswalker.ca

That Shift in Spirit

TO BE SPIRITED IS TO BE FULL OF ENERGY. Energy to exert and energy to endure. I woke up late, languid and lazy on a hungover first of June, thinking to myself that on this month, half the year would have gone by. Sustaining the thought, I wasted the rest of the morning anyway, melding with the sheets, checking and rechecking social feeds; perhaps the worst habit I've developed in the past year.

It was time to get up, get the rest of the day, and year, going. To inspire some energy into my mid-year crisis of sorts, I turn to an art form that exists by its very spiritedness, characterized by emotional intensity, maturity and expressiveness. Only once have I been to a proper tablao -definitely not counting the choreographed tour group shows- so I travel into the inner circles of Flamenco life through Gilles Larrain's Flamenco photography series begun in 1983.

"Flamenco: Landscape of its Soul" depicts some of the genre's contemporary figures, both in Larrain's New York studio and in Seville, where the tradition-interspersed-with-daily-life first enthralled him. The gelatin silver prints are of very limited editions, printed by Larrain himself and continuously compiled for future plans of publication.

Beyond stills, however passionate, I believe no experience of Flamenco is complete without the toque, cante and baile beheld in audio-visual glory. Here, Antonio Gades and Cristina Hoyos lead my spirited, vigorous stamping through the second half of an almost sluggish year.



"Flamenco: Landscape of its Soul" by Gilles Larrain, www.gilleslarrain.com Images from www.behance.net/Larrain Antonio Gades and Cristina Hoyos from Carlos Moya Danza Teatro