Memories of Germany - Travel Art

 

Blog 5.1

 

Due to the large number of artworks since my last blog post, I decided to publish an additional blog this week with the drawings and paintings from my time in Germany. 

 

 

I returned from Germany in early May. During my visits with relatives and many friends, I received so much generosity and hospitality. I witnessed the frailty of my older relatives and realized even more how precious our time together is. Therefore, I concentrated on connecting with the people I only see once a year. I still created daily drawings, often late at night after my parents went to bed, but only started one watercolour and one needle-felted painting.

 

 

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Many spring flowers were already blooming during my visit. My drawings reflect the blossoming nature. I was extremely fortunate with the weather and experienced only three rainy days during my entire stay, with temperatures rising up to 27 degrees in the last week of my stay.

 

 

 

 

Except for trips with my parents and friends, I only relied on public transportation. Therefore, I have some sketches of fellow passengers. For the first time, someone talked to me about drawing people on the train, asking me if I had asked the person’s permission, which is not necessary as long as you don’t create a drawing that clearly identifies the person. I am more interested in the posture and how it affects the body's perspective and proportions. I struggle immensely with glasses. The person concluded the conversation with a dismissive comment about my drawing abilities. I consider it all a good way to practice, whether it turns out the way I envisioned it or not, but someone who hasn’t tried creating art might not understand my motives.

Unfortunately, my pencil sketches are usually very light. When I took the pictures, I couldn't increase the darkness of the images without also increasing the darkness of the writing on the backsides.

 

To strengthen my connections with art collectors and students, I invite you to my free Art Café on June 14, 2026, from 2 PM to 4 PM. I still have three more spaces available. If you plan to join us, please register soon.

This event offers an opportunity to connect through conversation, shared food, and a fun art project. We will create beautiful paper flowers from old magazines and books. I will provide all the materials and some light refreshments. You are welcome to bring a treat, especially if you have any dietary restrictions.


I will publish my regular May blog on May 29 with the rest of my May daily art projects. Until then, enjoy the  abundance nature offers.

You Have a Choice

Blog 11

 
Last week, I was disappointed and frustrated. A course I looked forward to sharing didn’t run because nobody signed up. I was questioning my path and how and if I should continue with my business.

image provided by M. Shannon Hernandez

Fortunately, the book Practical Joy by my coach M. Shannon Hernandez had only arrived days earlier. It is an easy read at less than 100 pages, but don’t let that fool you. There is a lot of information, exploration and inspiration on these pages.

Her three key points of making joy a choice are easy to remember:

1. Your joy is a daily practice.
2. Your joy is contagious.
3. Your joy is limitless. (page 84)

M. Shannon points out “that you have zero time to waste on things, people, relationships, and experiences that aren’t bringing you joy!” (page 12)

Each chapter contains her observations, suggestions for reflections, space to note your thoughts and a colouring page to get quiet and meditative.
 
It was interesting to read that the author thanked two creative instructors for helping her to “heal so many years of wounds and blocks around creativity,...” (page 97) They guided and supported her to rediscover and nurture her creative voice.

While M. Shannon talks about joy, her three key points are relevant to my mission to help you find and nurture your creativity. Being creative is a choice. Others might encourage or discourage you. However, your creative expression is foremost for yourself. You might decide to share it with others to inspire them to discover their voice, but first, you have to find yours.

“True joy will be yours when you find the courage to pull the weeds of achievement, never-ending to-do lists, and mediocre living.” (page 31)

Whenever I doubt my mission, I remember the joy art brings to my life. It has been there for me in good and challenging times. I want you to experience the same. Join me for a coffee date to see how I can support your journey. 

 

P.S. I continued my daily art projects. This week, I drew many people, which I will not share, to respect their privacy. The image of the lovely young woman in the collage is my daughter Christine, who turned 22 this week.

 

 

Daily Art

 

Blog 10


I started my daily art with preparations for my two Cartooning and Comics courses at the François Dupuis Recreation Centre in Orleans, where I instruct two groups of children. At the end of this semester, they will create a comic with two characters they picked.

The younger group (5 to 7-year-olds) selected the Minecraft characters Ender Dragon and Wither Storm.

The older group (8 to 12-year-olds) chose Tanjiro Kamado from Demon Slayer and eyeballs.

I drew the first image of the comics, which forced me out of my comfort zone. All subjects are not anything I would choose. Everyone will start with the first image and then develop their own stories. I always enjoy the challenge and learn something from the kids while I teach them.

 

For my own projects, I picked various subjects and spent some minutes to about an hour creating the art. I used pencils, coloured pencils, watercolour pencils and watercolours.

I drew the rooster and the faucet for my German students to demonstrate how you can easily visualize new words to anchor them to your memory. Both words mean Hahn in German, which makes it important to figure out the context. After all, you don't want to get a rooster for bathroom. 😊

What have you learned this week?

Aligned Core Values

watercolour pencil and ink

 

Blog 2


Art has always been my way to capture the beauty of nature. After I immigrated to Canada, it became my means to express myself without words in difficult and memorable times, a personal retreat.

The vision for my business has become much more than providing beauty with my art. It reflects my experiences of using art to cope, explore and capture my surroundings. 

As an entrepreneur, I represent my business. What I offer reflects my personal values. During the past year, I have gained a clearer picture of the purpose of my business. My core values give you transparency in my focus and whether your expectations align with my values.


Here are my five Core Values that are the foundation of my business:

My Creativity Challenge  (see more information in Blog 1) serves to connect and share my daily art. I want you to become curious about creative expression to enrich your life.


Looking at the drawings from the past week, I admit it usually took much longer than the 15 to 30 minutes I had planned. Once I start, I forget the time. I am also still working to overcome the urge for perfectionism.

 

 

Let me give you an example: On January 6, I had fish and chips for lunch. I wanted to capture a memory with a drawing but struggled because the parts of the image were indistinguishable. I was unhappy with the result, which haunted me until I added colour. Together with the other picture that day, I spent more than three hours on the two images. It was not my intention, but I enjoyed the process.

How have you expressed yourself today today? Please share a picture and any frustrations or successes. Send an email to info@KerstinPeters.ca if you want to talk about ways to collaborate.

Be Creative 2023

 

Three Poppies, wool, 8.75" x 12", CAN $450

Blog 1

Many of us have plans and good intentions at the beginning of the new year. Do you want to be more creative? What does it mean for YOU to be more creative? How much time do you want to spend creating?


Do you want to learn a new skill and need to take a course to reach your goal, or join a community to get you inspired?


You need to block time in your calendar until it has become routine, or you might make excuses that other tasks are more urgent. To succeed, set yourself a realistic goal. Can you set aside fifteen minutes daily?

I start the year again with my Creativity Challenge to get back into a creative routine after the holidays. I plan to create for 15 – 30 minutes daily, especially when I don’t have time for my paintings. Some will be sketches or experiments to try new materials or techniques. Usually, I would not post all of them, but I want to share that not everything I do looks as accomplished as my needle-felted or acrylic paintings (see at top).


Is one of your goals to make more time for creativity? If you are curious about needle felting, I invite you to my upcoming virtual workshops:

Felting Experience – Snowman

Sunday, January 29, 2023, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Felting Experience – Winter Landscape

Saturday, February 5 and 12, 2023, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Needle felting is so much fun and very relaxing. You will be amazed at what you can create with wool.