Sand sculptures

This year's theme of the Garderen Sand Sculpture Festival is "Explore Your Own Country". Dutch regions, buildings and famous attractions are exhibited as sand sculptures. These 2 photos picture some icons of the Efteling, a fantasy-themed amusement park in the town of Kaatsheuvel. The attractions are based on elements from ancient myths and legends, fairy tales, fables, and folklore. The park opened in 1952 and in 2016 it was the third most visited theme park in Europe. I have never been there by the way ;)
The figure on the left (with his mouth open) is gobbler Hollow Bulging Gijs ('Hollebolle Gijs' in Dutch) from a Dutch children's song, who could eat a lot but stayed hungry all the time.

And looking over everybody's heads here is Long Neck ('Langnek'), a popular attraction from the Efteling's Fairytale Forest. It's a figure inspired by the Brothers Grimm. You may notice that his neck isn't that long here, the 'real' neck in the Efteling is 4.8 meters!

Wood carving

We found some amazing wood sculptures at 'De Beeldentuin' ('The Sculpture Garden') in the village of Garderen, like this gentleman..  Could be a Greek god.

These pieces accompany this year's Sand Sculpture Festival, which is next to De Beeldentuin. More about that on a later date.

The old days

 This year´s theme at the Garderen sand sculpture festival is ´the old days´. The Dutch expression is Grootmoeders Tijd, meaning Grandma's Time. Well, she is knitting a HUGE shawl here.. ;)

..while the rest of the family is singing along with the radio.

Vroom vroom!

At the sand sculpture festival in Garderen, a few weeks ago.

The Milkmaid

'The Milkmaid' -in Dutch: 'Het Melkmeisje'- is a world famous oil-on-canvas painting by Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), a Dutch painter who was specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. Throughout the years the painting has been exhibited in several countries in western Europe and the United States, and is nowadays part of the collection of the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum.

We saw this very special version of The Milkmaid painted on a wooden shoe in Garderen, last Summer.

Wooden shoes as art

Rembrandt´s famous ´Night Watch´ is on the wooden shoe at the front. The one at the back also has a beautiful painting.
They belong to an exhibition of painted wooden shoes that we saw in Garderen. They are quite large, about 1,5 metres in length, so not for wearing. We found them all very unique!

Mr Sandman

Now, lean back, close your eyes and listen to the story this man of sand is going to tell you...!
(a picture from the sand sculpture exhibition in Garderen)

Peekaboo!

Pssst..! Hey lady!    What's that on your plate?

We caught this cute but very nosy (stone) pig outside a restaurant in Garderen.. ;))

A sand sculpture after a painting by Rembrandt

This scene in sand, from the Sandsculpture Festival in Garderen, is after a painting by Rembrandt van Rijn: 'De anatomische les van Dr. Nicolaes Tulp' (The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp), an oil painting on canvas made in 1632. Dr Nicolaes Tulp is pictured explaining the musculature of the arm to medical professionals. Some of the spectators are doctors who paid commission to be included in the painting.

This photo shows a replica, hanging in one of the rooms of the Sandsculpture Festival. The original painting can be seen at the Mauritshuis museum (opening again at the end of this month after a 2 year renovation) in The Hague.

Sand sculptures

At the ´Veluws Zandsculpturenfestijn´, a sand sculpture festival, in Garderen. Isn't it amazing what can be done with sand!