Catching Up

I've been exploring Belgium and France for the past 3 days and have not had access to the internet.  Needless to say, I found very little stitching time.

Antwerp Station- This is what I saw when I stepped off the train.  I love European train stations.  

Notre Dame

Eiffel Tower

IMF Overhaul

"EU will agree to change weighting of votes in IMF in bid to secure backing of developing economies...the review would involve a redistribution of power in the IMF at the expense of the US and EU, increasing the voting rights of emerging market economies including China and Brazil, whose weight in the world economy has increased over the past 15 years...."

Day 172

France and NATO

After four decades....

France will re-enter NATO's integrated military command, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy announced this afternoon. He said that the move was “in the interest of France and of Europe”.

Pictures from the field

Here are a few pictures of what I have been working on at the print residency in Belgium.

I chose to utilize all the monograms I've accumulated from the Autumn season and work on the letterpress.  This form of typesetting is a dinosaur.  I felt I should take advantage of this technology since I don't have access to this form of printing in Boston. 

Day 171

Greenpeace

300 Greenpeace activists were arrested in Brussels.  The protest occurred right before US Vice President Joe Biden was set to meet with EU Foreign Affairs Minister Javier Solana. Protesters are calling EU finance ministers to aggressively fund climate change before it is too late.  

Day 170

Day 169

Day 168

Eurozone

"Eurozone finance ministers last night (9 March) rejected calls for increased economic stimulus measures, despite a worsening outlook for the EU economy. They also rejected any easing of the requirements for joining the eurozone."

Blogging in Dutch

It is very strange to see my blogger navigator tool bar in Dutch.  Aanmelden = sign in.  

Monograms and imagery for my handkerchiefs will be selected from The European Voice, an English language newspaper centered around the European Union, for the duration of the time I am in Belgium.

Frans Masereel

I am currently at Frans Masereel. We arrived early this morning and all of us are running on zero sleep. Tomorrow we get down and dirty to start our projects. It is only 9:30pm (Belgium time) and everyone is ready to pass out. I am looking forward to a good night's sleep. I will post today and yesterday's hanky tomorrow. Sleep tight everyone.

Hamid Karzai

"President Hamid Karzai on Sunday welcomed President Barack Obama's call to identify moderate elements of the Taliban and encourage them to reconcile with the Afghan government."

Day 167

I have spent all day getting ready to leave for an artist residency in Belgium.  Tomorrow's hanky will be posted from the exciting town of Kasterlee.