Painterly Amsterdam

There are few weather-related advantages to living in Holland, it's mostly cold, grey and wet, but occasionally you have the opportunity to describe the light as Vermeer-y, or Van-Gogh-y, because it really is. There's a certain type of thin, yellow winter light that slips beneath the cloud as it's setting and sets things alight from sideways. The sky turns purple, the redbrick of the old houses burns orange and all these shades end up in a gorgeous oily mess reflected in the canals. I'm sure it's the combination of mostly crap weather, punctuated with occasional otherworldly weather that has inspired so many master painters.

Yesterday after I picked Cal up from creche we took a roll around the Vondelpark which is still deep under snow. With children sledding, dogs dashing, fur coats everywhere and that light, it could definitely be described as Breugel-y. 

Sunset in the Vondelpark

Biking home through the park

Cal watching dogs play in the snow

The field where people meet with their dogs

Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel's snow scene