Patience Required

 

The reference photo

Blog 35

It has been some time since I wrote about one of my needle-felted paintings. I had the idea for my latest artwork while I spent a night with my husband's relatives in a palace in Venice. When I took pictures of the place in the morning, I discovered a woman in the house across, taking care of her flowers. I immediately knew that I wanted to capture this scene in a painting. This image is the first artwork inspired by my recent travel. It is also the largest needle-felted painting I have created so far.


The working title of this 18" x 24" unfinished artwork is Morning Chores or Tending the Flowers, Venice. At this point, I am undecided about the title. I am still very early in the process and will change parts of the reference photo according to my vision, which might influence the final choice.

For the first time, I drew the rough areas of my composition onto the fabric because the roof line and windows have to be more or less straight, especially for a roof that spans over the whole width of the painting.

 

Working on a large piece like this needle-felted Venetian house is challenging because it takes a long time to see progress. Keeping the shingles more or less parallel has taken some patience. You can see from the photo that I still have to finish the right side.

 

I continued the work on the left shudder of the right window. I cannot wait to add more detail, which will be more fun.

 

 

Another challenge will be to keep the sides of the painting straight. When I felt, I like to create a three-dimensional effect by adding more wool to certain areas and pushing the fibres together tighter in other areas. This way, I achieve parts where the wool fibres and those of the base felt piece cling together tighter, which results in waves in the artwork. In my smaller-sized needle-felted paintings, I can balance them out with ease. It will be interesting to figure out how to do the same with a larger artwork.

Not all needle felting artists create artworks with straight sides, but I prefer to frame my wool art behind glass to prevent dust from settling on the painting. To keep the costs for framing down, I create pieces that fit into standardized frame sizes.

Once I am past these hurdles, the detail work should be more exciting, and I look forward to sharing my experience with you in further blogs and upcoming workshops.

Pumpkins and Plumes, wool, 8" x 10"

If you want to create a needle-felted painting of pumpkins, I invite you to my virtual October workshop, Ready for Pumpkins.

Under Pressure

 

Blog 34



This summer, I spent a lot of time drawing different subjects that were different from my landscape and animal art. I often pressure myself into creating the best possible artwork. What will everyone think if it does not look good? I am an artist. I should be able to do this.


Do you have a similar feeling? Do you get frustrated with your efforts if you meet obstacles?


However, just because someone is a great soccer player, they are not necessarily a fantastic athlete in another discipline. An accomplished reporter is usually not a capable writer of novels.


We often put so much pressure on ourselves because we assume everyone expects us to perform at the highest level. Usually, we are the only ones looking for every fault. Perfection is boring! Less symmetry is more exciting!


Playing and exploring is essential to improve your skills and keep your curiosity and energy flowing, attracting others.


While teaching a painting course, a participant once approached me, saying that it must be wonderful to create art so effortlessly.


I feel humbled if someone sees my art this way. They often only see the finished product. While the process is sometimes very smooth, there are also times when I hit roadblocks. Practicing a lot also helps.


This week, I spent time with my painting friends at the National Gallery, visiting the special exhibition, Uninvited: Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Moment. While we had lunch, I quickly sketched a scene outside the building. It is my way of shorthand to remember events and happy moments. It is much more pleasing than the regular shorthand I had to learn at the language school, which I hated. I always feel the urge to create.

Even if I wanted to stop, I would struggle to keep my hand still. I have enjoyed my Summer of Creativity Project, creating topics from the 642 Things To Draw book (see collage above). I will continue for two more weeks even though the official summer lasts until September 22. The early fall is a great time to paint and sketch on location, and I look forward to outings with my Painting Buddies. There are still many new challenges to conquer!

If you are interested in needle felting, I invite you to my fall workshop, Ready for Pumpkins. I divided the four-hour workshop for the first time into four parts as a lunchtime activity. You can find more information and register here. To take advantage of the early bird price, register before August 21, 2023.

Speeding Through Life

Chickadee, wool, 6" x 8"

Blog 33


Is it already the end of the week again? I am always surprised that another week has passed, just like my friends. Do you feel the same?


There are many attempts to prove why people feel that time passes quicker when they get older. I have thought about this a lot since my accident, which forced me to learn to walk again. My progress seemed frustratingly slow during my rehabilitation, even though others were surprised at my fast improvement.


The perception of time passing quickly or slowly is very subjective. I am more aware now that my time is limited, and I want to make the most of it. I have attempted to become more present at the moment, sometimes successfully. Other times, I fall back into the routine of rushing around.


I attempt to engage in various activities to form new memories to make life more exciting. After years of spending most of my time only with my husband and dog, Shadow, I make an effort to engage with more people and try new activities to get out of my comfort zone.


What could be better than to participate together in a hobby you enjoy? Your attention becomes fully absorbed in the activity, and you focus on the present moment. Engaging in enjoyable activities provides stimulation and novelty to make time feel more vivid.


I intend to enjoy every day with a pinch of creative fun. I want to share this joy with you. Therefore, I invite you to my August events:

1) August 19, 2023: Art Café at 2:30 PM in Cumberland, ON
The event is family-friendly. We will enjoy some refreshments and create a flower doodle. I will provide all the art materials. To join me, please send me an email to info@KerstinPeters.ca by August 16 for a personalized invitation.

2) August 21 and 28 at 6:30 PM: hybrid needle felting workshop, Bird Watching, for bird lovers who want to learn how to create a needle-felted painting. Is that you?

3) Summer of Creativity Project
I enjoy creating art for the weekly themes picked from the book 642 Things to Draw I have shared with you on my Facebook page. Whether you get inspired by my posts and images or find other inspiration to incorporate creative activities into your days, I encourage you to try it. Most of the time, you will feel energized afterwards.


Even on a day when what you did imagine looks very different on paper or a canvas, it can still be fun and make you laugh if you don’t take making art too seriously.

Mom

Mom, 11" x 14", acrylic

Blog 32

Today is my mother’s 85th birthday which I cannot spend with her. Therefore, I want to dedicate this blog to my mom, the strong person who was one of the first people who worked in a home office to combine career and motherhood. She worked more than full-time as a right hand to my father in building up his architecture firm. Nevertheless, she always had a warm meal on the table when my sister and I came from school and looked after the household all by herself.

My sister and I often complained about how much she worked, but as typical kids, we didn’t offer to help either. My mother is a perfectionist, and my sister and I would not perform the tasks to her standard, or so we told ourselves. As a mother of two now adult children, I can't imagine how she managed to keep going without taking any time for herself.

When I saw a picture of my mom as a young child in a photograph from the 1940s, I was intrigued to create her portrait even though I am usually not interested in painting portraits. I hardly even capture people in my paintings or the photographs I take.

I always feel that we see ourselves in a very different way from other people. We often are our harshest critics. We complain about our bodies but would never say the same about another person because we often look for our faults while others look for our best attributes.

In the sepia and soft white photo, my mother wore a beautiful dress and an oversized white bow in her bob-style hair to dress her up for a professional photo shoot. While I usually love colours, restricting my palette was as much a challenge as capturing the likeness of my mom.

I am still happy with the result after all these years. However, although I have sketched my mother various times, I have not painted her another time - probably, because it was easier to capture her in her past than in her present.

left: drawing from photo, right: live sketch during a trip

Today, I am thankful my mother is still part of my present. Many of my friends are already motherless. I cherish our time together even though we are physically apart, which is much easier in the area of virtual platforms.

I wish my mom the happiest of birthdays and many years ahead. Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag, Mutti!