A Joyful Heart Brimming with Memories

Mutti's Pink Hibiscus, watercolour, 5.8" x 8.3"

Blog 6


My heart and mind are brimming with joyful impressions from my trip to Germany. Not only did I spend unforgettable hours with family and friends, but I also saw many beautiful sights which will continue to provide new inspirations for my art. Many times, I wished that I could spend time with my painting buddies to capture the scene.


One of the highlights was my dad's 90th birthday with family and my parents' circle of friends. I am thankful for the chance to celebrate my dad's fulfilled life. 

For the rest of the time, my daughter and I combined meeting with my friends with visits to cultural sites. We went to the Palm Gardens in Frankfurt at the time of the rose festival and strolled through the gardens of the Schwetzingen Palace. 

We also spent two days in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a romantic Bavarian town with many half-timbered houses and cobblestone streets. We walked on the Medieval town wall, from which we had breathtaking bird's-eye views of the old town.

For the first time, we saw Chagall's windows in the Saint Stephan’s Church in Mainz. We were lucky to receive an introduction to the history of the breathtaking windows. Chagall, a Jew, was initially reluctant to create any art for a German church but changed his mind after he developed a friendship with the pastor. You can find more information here.


During an outing to Mainz-Laubenheim, we walked in the vineyards with a breathtaking panorama view of the surrounding cities, the Rhine River and the Taunus. We could even see the skyscrapers of Frankfurt.

I love getting inspired by the creativity all around me. It brought me great joy to admire the craftsmanship and innovative ideas at an arts and crafts market in Ober-Ramstadt and during visits to friends' studios. Luckily, I had my suitcase in mind because I could have bought some exquisite pieces.


I created less art than I expected. However, I focus on nurturing human connections during visits to Germany. While I still have regular contact with friends and family through emails and weekly video calls, they are no substitute for in-person meetings with actual hugs.


On many days, I created drawings with pencils and watercolour pencils in my daily journal. I drew most sketches of people during our train rides and the rest from photos. I also had to use reference photos for most other artworks because there often was no opportunity to draw while chatting with friends. Most of my painting buddies approve of seeing me draw at all times, but many other people probably find it peculiar. I know some people who don't comprehend my need to capture the world around me. However, I could not live any other way. I feel compelled to draw what I see to preserve it for my memories.

I also finished a watercolour painting (see top) and two felted pieces. The needle-felted painting of a rose is on a felt bag I purchased in a store. It is my first piece of functional art. I will write about the process after I have finished the bag. 

 

I will be back with my regular blog on July 26. In the meantime, I invite you to join me for the Art Café on July 21, at 1 PM in Cumberland, Ontario. We will create graffiti on paper. Please RSVP here.

Sketching People

 

Blog 14

This past month, I created a lot of sketches of people. Our theatre season began again. We sit in the first row and usually have enough light to draw. Sometimes, I only have time for a quick outline because some actors move a lot. Usually, when I draw sketches with more detail, I don’t create them in one go. Instead, I go back and forth between different characters. I continue with each when they are in the same spot as when I started sketching them. For the production of Sense and Sensibility, sketching was more demanding because of the large number of characters on stage. I love drawing at the theatre because it helps me remember the plays better.

I also draw often during Zoom calls when I know a speaker is featured. I attempt to get a likeness which is challenging because the facial expressions change with every movement. I prefer to catch them with a closed mouth because drawing teeth is even more demanding. Sometimes when I get too frustrated, I take a screenshot and rework the drawing later with the photo.


When I tried to draw the actors of the German movie Die Dienstagsfrauen, I also started sketching the actresses simultaneously, then went back and forth whenever they were in a similar position on the screen. I am happy with two sketches, while the other two renditions show hardly any likeness. Nevertheless, I captured enough information to remember the four very different and distinct personalities the actresses played.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It was a fun exercise I might repeat in the future to practice. I still want to work on more abstract renditions to concentrate less on the actual appearance and more on the actions of the characters to make my sketches more dynamic. This way, I might sketch a variety of people quickly in public. I am still too concerned about achieving the likeness instead of capturing the mood and movement. However, I enjoy the challenge of simplifying, which feels uncomfortable.

Is there anything you want to learn that feels out of your comfort zone?

Creative Challenge Part 4

Blog 4, January 30, 2015

This week was the last week of my January 2015 Creativity Challenge. While I was not creative every day, I worked on an art project most of the days. I am quite happy with this result even though I would have liked to spend more time painting. Hopefully, I will keep this new habit up during the months ahead. Sometimes, after a long day, it is hard to motivate myself to be creative, but once I get going I am quite happy with myself. It is basically like going to the gym: Sometimes, you really do not feel like it but once you are done you feel even better for sticking it out.

I started this last week of the challenge with a quick drawing of my son on the bus while we were going downtown to the Rideau Canal last Friday.

Saturday, I started another heart doodle inspired by all the Valentine’s Day advertisements. The big day is coming fast. Creating a unique card for the special person in your life is easy and fun. If you would like to be inspired, there are still a couple of spaces available for tomorrow’s workshop. Please email me at kpeters@DomingoInformatics.ca if you would like to join us. We will create a doodled Valentine’s card while enjoying the company of others, and some sweets to get us into the right mood. The “Creativity and Me” workshop runs tomorrow, January 31, 2015 from 1pm to 4pm in Cumberland. I will give you the driving instructions when you register. There is a $10 fee.

Sunday, I took a creative break. 

 

Monday, I drew a fish at our dentist’s office, then spent about two hours finishing Saturday’s doodle.

Tuesday and Wednesday, I spent hours working on my winter sunset painting which I finally finished. It took me a long time until I was happy with my sky.

"Evening Glow", acrylic on gallery canvas, 16" x 20"

$ 450

Tuesday, I also worked on another heart inspired doodle.

 

Thursday, I worked on the little watercolour pencil drawing of a tropical beach which I had started last week. I finished it Friday morning.

 

I hope you enjoyed my Creativity Challenge as much as I did. It would be great if it inspired you to put some more creativity into your life. You do not have create a masterpiece. It is all about the process of creating, the exploring, discovering, and experimenting with different mediums that has the greatest value. It is a great way to express yourself and have fun. The more you work on projects the more ideas for new projects you will get.

If you enjoyed today's blog I would love to hear from you. Please leave me a comment in my guest book http://www.kerstinpeters.ca/guest-book.htm or on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/KerstinPetersPaintings. 

 

To hear more about my career, please go to my website www.KerstinPeters.ca where you can read the previous blogs. There, you can also sign up to my monthly newsletter and receive my free eBook “I Am Ready To Paint, But Where Do I Start?” as a token of my appreciation.