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| Nature's Mirror, wool, 11” x 8.5”, CAN $400 |
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| Pencil Sketch of the Wedding Tower |
Blog 14
Darmstadt is in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area. It is the City of Science with many world-renowned scientific institutions, universities, and high-tech companies.
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Even though Darmstadt is as close as Mainz from Nauheim, where I lived since I was seven years old until early adulthood, we never went to the city until I started the two-year programme at a language school to become a Foreign Language Correspondent. Suddenly, I went there every day. However, it was only after my move to Canada that I saw more than the school building and the shopping area of the city centre. I had no idea of the gems at the Mathildenhöhe, the artistic neighbourhood with many Art Deco buildings, exhibitions, and the richly decorated Russian Chapel. It became a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2021. If you want to learn more about the Mathildenhöhe, check out https://www.mathildenhoehe-darmstadt.de/en/mathildenhoehe/.
During my 2022 spring trip, I only saw the train station and the place in front of the building as one of my friends picked me up for our mini-class reunion. I stayed in touch with half of the 12 students in our language class. Even though most of my former classmates have returned to the Rhine-Main Area, I have been the one to organize the reunions. The group, including our beloved Spanish teacher, only meets when I come for a visit. Since the pandemic, our bond has become even stronger because we meet every Thursday for a virtual chat. We actually reached out to one of our classmates who moved to Switzerland, and she has joined our weekly get-togethers and also this year's reunion.
Community is crucial for me. I thrive around friends. Lack of connections was a big reason for suffering so much homesickness at the beginning of my time in Canada. Despite joining the local Newcomers Club, I struggled to build lasting friendships. Many new acquaintances left when their military spouses transferred to a new location.
One of my visions for my business is to have supportive and inspiring relationships among my group of students that extend outside of learning to build friendships. It is not surprising that many of my former clients have become friends.
Are you looking to be part of a creative community? I meet virtually every Friday from 3 PM to 5 PM with a group of women for Crafters Afternoon, and you are welcome to join us. If you are on Facebook, please send me a DM or contact me at info@KerstinPeters.ca.
What else do you want to attend? Maybe a German art session? I am not ready to have students in my studio during the fall and winter. However, we should still have a couple of weeks to meet outside for a chat or to create art together if you are in the Ottawa/Rockland area.
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| A Single Sunflower, wool, 9” x 12”, CAN $400 |
This summer, we have not a single sunflower in our garden. Luckily, there are some beautiful ones in our neighbourhood. Plus, I can enjoy their beauty in my artworks like this one, which created last year.
Have a great weekend, and enjoy the outdoors if you can.
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| Pencil Sketches |
Blog 13
Until I immigrated to Canada, I was lucky to live in a beautiful and central part of the Rhine-Main area that consists of some regions of Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Bavaria. I was born in Rüsselsheim, the city famous for Opel, the car factory, now General Motors. Rüsselsheim is at the river Main between Frankfurt and Mainz.
When I was seven years old, my family moved to the adjacent small town called Nauheim, where I lived most of my youth. In my early adulthood, I moved to Königstädten, a suburb of Rüsselsheim.
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Whenever we needed new clothes, my mother drove us to the big department stores in Mainz, the capital of the Rhineland-Palatinate, less than 20 km away. Although you can shop well at the modern department stores and shops, Mainz has so much more to offer. The city has a beautiful historic town centre with many half-timbered houses and market squares. It is famous for its Mainz Cathedral, the Mainz Carnival, Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, and the Mainzelmännchen, the happy cartoon characters that are the mascots of the German public service television broadcaster ZDF. In Mainz, you can even cross the streets at one of the many Mainzelmännchen traffic lights for pedestrians.
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| Fastnachtsbrunnen |
During my spring visit, I was not fit enough to go sightseeing or shopping. Instead, my sister and I enjoyed a relaxed brunch at a café near the famous Fastnachtsbrunnen, a fountain with about 200 carnival characters, a reminder of the Fifth Season, the carnival season between November 11 at 11 AM and Ash Wednesday. The city celebrates this season with parades and many carnival sessions.
Instead, we observed the happy visitors passing the Schillerplatz. Watching the busy surroundings was a highlight and a challenging exercise in capturing some people around us. It was much easier to draw the Gardetrommler (Guard Drummer) on the other side of the road. At least he didn’t move.
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| Bassenheimer Hof |
Around the place, you can admire the beautiful Osteiner and Bassenheimer Hof, magnificent palace buildings of the aristocracy. Nowadays, the Osteiner Hof is an apartment building.
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| Augustiner Kirche |
