Small oil/collage 8'x10' on canvas

Inspired by my last visit to my motherland, my native land
The NETHERLANDS

Please check this short movie about windmills (1 minute)
by clicking on the arrow:

with thanks to youtube.com

Twenty kilometers east of the large Dutch port of Rotterdam is an exceptional and captivating landscape of windmills, Kinderdijk. For many centuries the windmills played an important role in the drainage and subsequent reclamation of land in the Netherlands.

Up until the 19th century there were more than ten thousand windmills in Holland and even though only a fraction of them still exist they are still an important resource.

The nineteen windmills in the Kinderdijk area were built in the 18th century along the waterways of Lek and Noord. In the past the sails of the redundant windmills were used as a means of communication: the position of the sails indicated if there was reason to celebrate or to grieve or if the operators of the mill had taken a short break.

The traditions of the Dutch windmill are still kept very much alive by several millers keen to continue the rich heritage created by previous generations.

Copyright Olga van Dijk 2008©
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