I'm back from my trip to The Netherlands and London! Just got back last night, so I'm still lagging a bit from travel.
I have about 800 photos to go thru and I will be publishing more as I get around to them in the next week or so. The highlights of the trip: I stayed in Almere Buiten, in Flevoland province. It's a modern city (only about 35 years old I think) known for it's cutting-edge architecture, urban planning, and land art, aka earthwork art.
I was also in London for three full days and saw some excellent art at the Tate Modern as well as the gallery at the Barbican.

Photos, top to bottom:

1. Hydrangeas in an Almere garden. The weather is similar to Seattle's, so it's very green and lush.
   
2. A family of swans in a canal, near Almere Buiten.
   
3. A plant shop spilling out onto the street in the Jordaan, Amsterdam.
   
4. A tiny dock in an Almere neighborhood canal, complete with a small boat.
   
5. The rainbow neighborhood (Regenboogbuurt) in Almere, home to colorful rowhouses.

The Netherlands is Mecca for designers.....everything, and I mean everything! Everything from signage on roads and in the airport, bike paths, tax forms, and even the landscape has been designed, and from what I saw, extremely well. It's a graphic designer's paradise.
More art-design travel updates to come soon!
Tot ziens!
~reb