Getting Acquainted With Munich

Love the silver spots.

Hello Dear Readers, I have been seeing and experiencing so much here in Munich that I haven't even begun to know how to process it. I have loved being able to get out in the park they call the English Garden. It is like Central Park in the USA. I liked seeing the people who do impromptu tight-rope walking on straps between two trees. There is surfing on a standing wave in the Eisbach river that runs through the park. German people seem to love their dogs and have very well behaved ones walking with them in the park. I was very inspired by all the fall leaves and loved the texture and color. I am not familiar with the way they lose their color in silver spots along the veins of the leaf, but it makes a some beautiful patterns. I spent several hours just trying to get some photos that would capture what was inspiring to me. I gathered several leaves and then tried to take some photos in the apartment. I think the best ones are when I held the leaves up to the window with little bit of afternoon sun shining through them. I thought I would share some of my favorites with you.

Emotional Overload

Contemplation, clay bust, ©1988

Hello dear blog readers, after my last blog my father had a stroke and I was lucky enough to be able to travel the 700 miles to be with him and help my family for awhile. I am glad to report that he is regaining some speech and we can talk on the telephone. He has also been able to help my Mom again, since she had a stroke last November.

At the same time, Jeff was accepted in the Masters Degree program at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. After much discussion, we decided that we would sell our home and land that we dearly love so that we would not miss this opportunity.

I have finally had to deal with the things I have had stored for twenty years since I can't possibly keep everything. I have been on an emotional roller coaster since April and have not created any art. I did find this sculpture that I made in college. I decided not to keep it, but I took pictures before I gave it away. No, it is not a self portrait, I don't know the name of the girl who posed for our class, but she had great red hair. I thought it still looked fairly good, especially since it was the only portrait bust I have ever done!

I think I am feeling better and plan to be posting blogs more frequently in the future.

Hello Spring

Surprise!  They are yellow.

I had a tulip bulb that had accidentally ended up in one of my indoor planters because I am guilty of reusing dirt from other pots. The last two years, it has sent up green leaves but never blooms.
I thought that it just didn't get enough sun, being inside and all, but I never moved it.

This year when the leaves came out, I was amazed to see two buds. Oh my, what color would they be? After reading about tulips, I realized that the bulbs need to get cold before they will bloom again. This year was record cold, 22 degrees below at our place. I am reminded that good things can come from difficulties.

I finished one painting, Cat Trip, when I was doing my "relationship" paintings in February. Because of several difficulties, I haven't painted much since....but I can take heart that like the tulip, maybe these troubles will help me bloom later unexpectedly.

Lucky Kitties

The Millicent Roger's Miniature show was last Sat., Feb 19th. I had entered the 5" x 4" painting of Muffy cat titled "I Am Not Amused" which I had actually painted for this show last year, but I didn't get it finished in time so I entered the watercolor "Look What The Human Dragged In" in it's place.

I didn't expect the watercolor cat with attitude to sell because the watercolor roses I painted the first year I entered didn't sell. Then again, the yellow daisies painted in oil on canvas didn't sell the second year.

I was holding my breath because I thought that the painting selling last year, my third try, was a fluke. If the second cat sold, maybe I was on to something.

I was able to exhale when I saw that my painting was one of the 33 that sold that night out of about 157 entered. The gallery does take 45% of the sale which is really fair for all their work in promoting the show and it is a fund raiser to keep the museum going.

So far, the cats are up two and flowers down two. At least for this show. Let's hear it for little purry mammals!

Relationships

My challenge theme for February is relationships. I have about five paintings in various stages of completion, but I wanted to get the first one I have completed, titled "Cat and Mouse" posted. I like that I now have four paintings related to doorways. It feels like a series! Has anyone seen a greeting card company that might like this style?

I spent today getting pictures ready of the paintings I plan on posting on e-bay soon. This took all of my "painting time" today, but I am determined to keep this goal of getting actual work out to sell this month. I am grateful that I have a relationship with Jeff, because he has been invaluable in sharing his "how to" knowledge of e-bay.

I am also grateful for all of you who have encouraged me and voted for "In The Shadows", I made 2185 out of 5000 entries! Thank you!

New Year

I set a goal to paint with more concepts in mind, and for the month of January I considered new beginnings. This got me thinking about doorways and the anticipation or dread of going into unknown territory.

I liked the "Waiting" painting so much because it sent me back through our travels in Greece and the many doorways and cats that we saw there. I wanted to explore more of those themes.

"In the Shadows" was inspired by our trip to an abandoned silk factory. I wanted to capture the warmth of the red bricks exposed in the heart of the walls in contrast to the cold concrete. I also wanted to have some of the sense of mystery of "what is in the next room".

"Safe Passage" reflects the sense of hope I feel looking forward to the coming year after being in a twilight of worry for the last few months. A golden cat, for me, represents a good messenger and guide.

"Fortune Teller" is the desire we feel in wanting to know the future, but we can only see such a small part of what is ahead of us. All the constellations of the zodiac are there, but can they really tell us anything?

"Fire and Ice", the leaves caught in the winter ice by our spring and "Sheer Gold", the one amber iris I had bloom this summer are part of those beautiful moments that I just love to capture and share. I hope you will enjoy them too.

PS: I entered "In the Shadows" in the Saachi Gallery Showdown 3, a free online gallery for any artist. If you would like the fun of being an Art Critic, click on the link in my "also like"list and then enter my name in the "Search for" box. When you click to vote, you get to sign up for free on their site and then vote away! Have fun! (You get to vote for me vs. another artist, and then for all the others you want--feel the power!) The winning artists get $500.00 and the publicity.

Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall

I had a great half-marathon in August, and then everything seems to have "gone off the wall" since then. First, work slowed down to a quarter of what it had been all year. Of course, I had to have a root canal in October, very expensive. Then my Mom had two strokes in November. I was lucky to be able to spend three weeks with her since I didn't have any work. While driving the 700 miles back from my parents, my transmission decides to start slipping, also very expensive. Then to top it all, another tooth filling decides to fail resulting in, you guessed it, a crown. Unbelievable.

There is some promise of work in January and February, but with warnings that things may be a bit slower. All this has made me really look at being more in control of my own work. I need to set more definite goals with deadlines for completion. I am considering seriously putting my work on E-bay. That will require that I produce more work. I have been trying out the tiny 2.5" x 3.5" artist trading card format. I like that I can complete a painting in an afternoon instead of days. I think my images are just as good if not better than some that are selling.

I am posting my first three super tiny paintings, which are canvas on tiny wood frames. I would love your feed back, dear readers, if you are still out there. I think I should get $30.00 each, what do you think?

Jeff's Corner: When life hands you lemons, throw them at someone!