Monday 25 March 2013

The Dog Days are over....

Moving is stressful....finding a new home has been an exhausting, frustrating and generally tedious event.  But I'm excited about a fresh start and a new beginning (and getting away from the stompy neighbours). This Florence and the Machine song comes to mind when I think about new changes and fresh starts.  

We celebrated on the weekend with a campfire in the backyard, a ceremonial burning of sorts.  It was pretty chilly, but we bundled up in blankets and toasted the night after a long day of packing.  Lots of ancient documents were set adrift and looking forward to moving on!  It was also great to wake up the next day, and meet up with some pals at the newish Whippoorwill restaurant....Amanda and her lovely daughter, Ella.  I was especially envious of Ellas fantastic zebra striped sweater and glamorous pink sunglasses.



Whippoorwill Restaurant and Tavern
Photo: BlogTo

Check out this Florence and the Machine video!

http://vimeo.com/10067071

Monday 11 March 2013

Out like a Lamb....

Really, it was just last Monday that I was bemoaning the sluggish start of Spring...it was chilly and dark last week, but this past weekend seems to be the turnaround!

With temperatures of 11+ over the weekend, and blinding sunlight, I can't help but feel a bit more like Spring is on its way...it's only a little over a week away until the first official day of Spring.

I'm busy in the studio working on new pieces for exhibition, which I will be introducing soon.  I'm looking forward to sharing them, and it will be a long ongoing project which is something that will keep me motivated in the studio, when the pleasant Spring weather can be super distracting!


Girl & Lamb by Nickolas Muray, 1946

Thursday 7 March 2013

The Frost Buildings Lapel Pin: The man, the building.

A few weeks ago, I was commissioned to create a commemorative lapel pin to celebrate the Frost buildings in Toronto, Ontario.  I was really excited to create a simple, graphic piece that would function as a small symbolic lapel pin and thrilled with opportunity to celebrate these buildings.

The Frost buildings in Toronto, are an architectural landmark in Toronto, one of the first examples of modern office architecture in Toronto.  I think it is also really unique in that the shape of the building also follows the curvature of the street on which it was built....it is minimalist and has that fantastic, dark, ominous "Gotham city" sort of aesthetic.

Today, it is home to various Ontario government agencies, mainly the department of Finance....the building has a north and south side, connected by a pedway of sorts that I've represented with a Trillium silhouette (the provincial floral symbol).

I love the history of the building and that it was named after former Ontario premier, Leslie Frost, who was known as "Old Man Ontario" and the "Silver Fox".... according to Wikipedia.... Amazing.  His father was a jeweller, and mayor of Orillia so they were a family with interests in the arts and politics.


File:Frost Building.jpg

Frost Buildings Image. Wikipedia.




Frost Buildings Lapel Pin.
Anneke van Bommel
2013.

Monday 4 March 2013

In like a lion....

Allright, already.

I've had it.  Enough of Winter, already...it's time for Spring.  I'm ready, and I think most of you are too.  Standing at the streetcar stop this morning, in -15 below temps and wind, I was wishing I could be whisked away to another land.  I'm sending us all to Holland, to stare at the floral riot that are the tulip fields.  This series was shot by French photographer Normann Szkop who joined pilot Claython Pender to fly above the tulip fields in Anna Paulowna, a town in North Holland. Take that, cold Monday.


Aerial Photographs of Tulip Fields in the Netherlands by Normann Szkop Netherlands landscapes flowers



Aerial Photographs of Tulip Fields in the Netherlands by Normann Szkop Netherlands landscapes flowers




Aerial Photographs of Tulip Fields in the Netherlands by Normann Szkop Netherlands landscapes flowers