Imagining My Life in 2035

 

Blog 11

After reflecting on the past thirty years, I look forward to the journey of the next decade. I am excited to see how my life will change and become even richer. I invite you to join me in celebrating my 40 years in Canada in 2035. Let's see if the story will unfold they way I envision it today.



It is April 21, 2035.


I can hardly believe that it's now forty years since I came to Canada. I am 70 years old and have spent the majority of my years in Canada. I don't feel like 70, but my body often tells me otherwise.

I finally became a Canadian while keeping my German citizenship. Living in this beautiful country for the past forty years, I feel that half of me belongs to Canada. Sometimes, I am sad that my children and their families will hardly have any connection to my birth country. However, with people moving around in the world and not staying in their hometowns, it is a worldwide phenomenon. I will do my part to ensure younger generations remember and appreciate our roots.

When I arrived in Canada, I was very shy and not very open-minded. I enjoyed the company of many friends from different social and religious backgrounds. I loved learning about their heritage and traditions. However, I was close-minded in many areas of my life. I had never been an adventurer. I cherished my predictable routines. Moving to a new continent forced me to leave my comfort zone.

If I had stayed in Germany, I would probably have continued in an office job in the banking industry until we had kids. Daycare for children under three years was unavailable until the early 2000s. Therefore, I might have worked part-time in my father's architecture office in the mornings, picking our children up from kindergarten and school by lunchtime.

It would probably have nurtured my creative side through craft projects with our children, knitting and sewing bears in my evenings. Attending painting courses would not have happened until our kids were both in their teens.

Though I had a stable number of friends, living in a new continent forced me to establish new relationships. Today, I have friends in Canada and in Germany. I also have an extended circle of acquaintances whom I have never met in person. The development of virtual platforms has made staying in contact much easier. I am grateful for the many connections, support and inspiration.

While I had to fight a long time to find my place in the new environment, it also made me stronger and helped me grow. I learned more about myself. Whenever I struggle, I remember the obstacles I have overcome with persistence and determination.

Especially after my tragic accident in December 2021, I had to make myself and my needs a priority. All the weeks tied to a hospital bed, then a wheelchair and later a walker helped me fight for my recovery. During my approximately 18 months of rehabilitation, I realized that I didn't have time to waste.

Osteoarthritis in my hips, probably at least accelerated due to the pelvis fracture, causes occasional flare-ups so painful that I can hardly move. Luckily, with more sleep, mindful eating and physio exercises, these flare-ups don't occur too often. However, they always frighten me because I fear the limitations of what I can still achieve.

Expressing my creativity and nurturing relationships by meeting friends and family several times a week keeps my mood up. I no longer postpone trips. In recent years, I travelled to several Canadian provinces, Japan, Spain, and many German towns I wanted to visit. I still want to visit Northern Europe and India.

Luckily, I still paint with my Painting Buddies, even though some of them are already in their late eighties. When a friend and I visited my former art teacher, Inge Besken, then in her early nineties, she told us that her low energy prevented her from painting anymore. However, she still created art with markers every day. She gave us both a composition of colours and lines, which I have hanging on my door to remind me that I can still create art in old age.

There have been many changes in the past ten years. Being sandwiched between our parents and our kids had its challenges, but my strong relationships and my art have given me the strength to accept what I couldn't change and provide joy as the foundation of my happy life.

I am grateful for the many years spent sharing my art with others, inspiring them through my paintings and by teaching both children and adults. I still enjoy teaching, but don't want to commit for months ahead. Instead, I offer workshops to have a more flexible schedule. Trips and family activities have priorities. Luckily, both our children and their families live in the Ottawa region.

Thank you for being part of my creative journey. I appreciate your support, encouragement, and presence — whether in person, online, or quietly following along. I have no wish to quit my artistic journey. I still see the world through my art and capture what inspires me as often as I can. 

In December, I will publish weekly posts with the 2025 Art Advent Calendar. To see the daily post, please check out my Facebook or Instagram pages.

 

From Isolation to Connection: The Power of Collaboration

Gift for a Painting Buddy's birthday,
Robert Murrell, Janis Fulton, Kerstin Peters, 2025

Blog 10



Building Connections in a New Country

When I arrived in Canada, I realized quickly I had to get out of my comfort zone and leave the house to build connections. I could not rely on my husband, who spent most of his days at work or my family and friends in Germany, who were thousands of kilometres away. 

Joining several organizations and getting to know more people was the first step in building connections, but to grow, I needed to collaborate with others. Since I did not shy away from responsibilities, I first became the newsletter editor and the following year the president of the Orleans Newcomers Club. While I already learned a lot about Canadian customs during the hosted club events, I got even closer to the executive members while organizing the club’s activities.

Finding Comfort Through Art

Due to my shyness, collaborating on art-related activities felt less intimidating than other forms of communication, because conversations flowed more naturally while we concentrated on our projects. 


While I had met other artists during the Arteast meetings and events, many of them were already at a different stage of their lives. Nevertheless, I learned much from them, especially from my friend and mentor, Margaret Clyde. 

Canada in Leaf, Canada 150 Arteast project, 
on display at the Nepean Library Centrepointe Branch

Things changed when I met the Painting Buddies through fellow Arteast member Rebecca Dufton. I finally found a group of peers with like-minded interests. Soon after, I joined Hélène Martin and Janis Fulton as the executive of the Galerie de la Rive, where I met even more artists. The exchange of perspectives and the sharing of skills made me feel like my voice was valued. Finally, I felt a sense of belonging in my new country. 

 

Kerstin Peters, Janis Fulton, Hélène Martin

 

New Doors Opening

Stepping in for a friend at Bob MacQuarrie Complex daycare unexpectedly opened the doors to offer courses in German and art at the facility and later at François Dupuis Recreation Centre, where I have been teaching art classes for children since 2011, with the support of my fantastic supervisor, who has always been open to my ideas and suggestions.


Opportunities often came from unexpected places. When my children reached Sunday School age, I began teaching at Resurrection Lutheran Church. I not only got to know the other children, but also their parents. Years later, some of these parents asked me to offer a painting course at the church. 

Growth Through Leadership and Shared Experiences

25 Years Plein Air Ensemble Exhibition, 
vernissage March 26, 2015 with Royal Galipeau

Each step forward opened new doors. Five years after my first painting trip with the Plein Air Ensemble, Hélène and I became the co-coordinators of their spring and fall trips and the group’s successful 25th Anniversary Exhibition. We later stepped down when I began teaching German to Government of Canada employees through Graybridge, but the experience had already enriched my creative and professional path. 

Once I decided to transform my hobby into a career, I joined the Women’s Business Connection in Orleans, where I met many businesswomen and learned from their experiences. Again, I took over a position in the executive and grew closer to some of the members. The monthly meetings motivated and inspired my personal growth and business focus, leading to new collaborations. 

Yoga and Art Retreat with Jackie Leduc (second row left)

After attending a business workshop together, Jackie Leduc and I hosted a successful day retreat combining yoga and painting — a beautiful example of creative synergy.


Not every collaboration worked out as hoped. A successful partnership requires shared goals and values. However, when skills and perspectives complement one another, it is a win for everyone. 

Blending Passions and New Possibilities

 

Learn German Through Art, image from a class with Helena Guzmán

 
The COVID-19 pandemic made collaborations even more crucial. To stand out among instructors, I combined my German and art skills to create my Learn German Through Art program, which uses drawings to anchor new material and make learning more fun and easier. These combined skills led to new opportunities for workshops and demonstrations.

Levanta online magazine, featuring Kerstin Peters

More recently, I have worked with  Helena Guzmán on several projects, including creating workshops, being featured in her online magazine, Levanta, and updating my website. We share a love for art, languages, similar roots and immigration experiences. The joint projects have brought us even closer. We respect each other and support each other’s businesses. The brainstorming and realization of ideas have built trust and mutual appreciation for our work. 

The Joy of Shared Growth

Collaborations transformed my isolation into connection. Each partnership has helped me grow as an artist, teacher, and person. I love learning from each other to grow together. Every time I work with someone, I appreciate their opinions and support. My students, whether adults or children, challenge me to keep learning, exploring, and giving my best to inspire and guide them to discover their creativity.



Collaboration is a catalyst for growth. What small step can you take this week to collaborate with someone and create something new together?

Curiosity to Create a Fulfilled Life

Daily sketches from my travel journal

 

Blog 9

When I came to Canada, I had not thought about what would await me in the new country. I hadn’t even taken the time to read any books about the landscape, the people, traditions and customs of the country I was possibly making my new home. I was a careful planner, and I still cannot believe that I didn’t even quiz Ingo about the country he was taking me to. 

It would be much easier today to get informed, as people can find lots of facts on the Internet, watch documentaries on YouTube, or ask AI bots for a summary of the essential facts about Canada. 


When we came to Canada at the end of April 1995, one problem that made the transition so difficult for me was my lack of curiosity. Curiosity is a powerful mindset when adjusting to a new environment as it opens doors to learning, connection, and resilience. It encourages flexibility and is one of my five core values nowadays.


With a curious approach, you can change your opinion by reframing it and turning something frustrating or unfamiliar into an exciting opportunity. 


To help me make my decision about living in Canada, we drove from Toronto to Vancouver, exploring the landscape. While I enjoyed our trip immensely, it was from the perspective of a tourist. I had only a few thoughts about the life I wanted to live. I was not curious about a new start of an exciting change. Adjusting means facing challenges, and I was not looking to change my life drastically. I was not ready to start over in all areas of my life, especially not without a network of family and friends. However, I didn’t want to lose Ingo.


I was not looking for adventure and was skeptical about trying new things. When we couldn’t find German-style bread with a crunchy crust or sparkling water, I became moody and resentful instead of seeing it as an opportunity to try new things. Once you have eaten some of the many varieties of German bread, you will probably understand my rejection of any typically Canadian soft bread. I should have realized that this was only my outward expression of a feeling of resentment toward the changes I didn’t want. 


Even though I turned to art and bear making, I became depressed because I still didn’t connect with others and spent most of my time alone. My situation improved when I joined clubs and organizations for activities with others aside from Ingo. I joined the Orleans Newscomers Club, church, the Gloucester Crafts Guild, Arteast, the Grizzly Gang, a weekly live drawing group, a gym and Women Moving Forward.


The more time I spent with other women, the more I learned about local customs and traditions and felt encouraged by their stories. With every step, I felt more energized. 

Nevertheless, all these activities were just a bandage for a festering wound. Even though I made time for my activities, I was often still unsatisfied, looking for outside sources of happiness. I still felt like I didn’t fit in, because I didn’t share memories of my life in German with the new people in my life. They knew hardly anything about my traditions and values. 

Only when I changed my mindset, made myself a priority and accepted my life in Canada did I start to feel content. I valued the enrichment of sharing traditions and adding them to our family’s.


When I finally focused on building a happy life here in Canada, I started thriving. Winning an award for my painting, Jessie Forever in My Heart, was what first sparked my curiosity about how far I could take my creative skills and ambitions. I will dive deeper into the following chapters between this event and the changes that followed my unfortunate accident in December 2021 in my October blog about collaborations.


When a double pelvis fracture left me home-bound and dependent on my husband for months, it caused me to re-evaluate my priorities and look at what I still want to achieve in my life. At this point in my life, spending time with loved ones, creating art and seeing the world are high priorities. While I love to share my art, the fulfillment of creating art prevails over the need to sell and my definition of success.


I am satisfied with what I have. That doesn’t mean I don’t have new goals, but I feel grounded and I am ready to keep exploring and being open to new adventures. Fostering a sense of wonder helps me cherish new experiences and brings me joy while limiting my feelings of loss.


Instead of focusing on what’s missing, I focus on what I am creating. New technologies make it easier than ever to stay connected and to share new experiences with others in Germany, Canada and through social media and video calls worldwide.


It doesn’t mean that I don’t miss my parents, sister, and friends in Germany, but I don’t miss them constantly. I have made space and time for new friends and experiences to create happy memories.


My latest adventure was a 12-day trip to Prince Edward Island with my husband of almost 30 years, a belated honeymoon. Here are collages of the paintings I created during our vacation. There is one more at the top of this blog.

Daily sketches from my travel journal

 

 

 

Unfinished plein air watercolour sketches

 

You can read more about my trip in my Kerstin Peters Painting News, which I published this week. Please email me, and I will send you a copy.

Creativity as the Key to Mastering Life

Dreams in Magenta (Hollyhocks), watercolour, watercolour pencils and white ink, 7.5" x 5.78

 

Blog 8

When I came to Canada, I thought my language skills as a foreign language correspondent had prepared me to converse easily in Canada. After all, I was able to translate conversations in English and Spanish sequentially, but it had all been in a classroom setting.

Once in Canada, I felt absolutely overwhelmed. I worried people thought I was uneducated when I stumbled along looking for words. Being a shy perfectionist, I always wanted my husband, Ingo, to be my personal translator. I am glad he refused, because otherwise I would have stayed dependent on him.

It wasn't a surprise that I felt isolated and homesick. As I was only a tourist without a work or residence permit, all my job applications were unsuccessful. However, Ingo found a permanent position in his field in Ottawa three months after we arrived in Canada. As a result, I spent most of my days alone with too much time to ponder my destiny.

I had always lived close to my family and friends. The only time I had moved away was for a six-month internship in southern Germany when I was just 20 years old. The distance was nothing for Canadian standards, about a two-hour drive.

During most of the internship, I felt homesick, spending a lot of time alone in my little apartment. If you have ever heard different German dialects, you will understand my difficulties in understanding the factory workers who spoke a strong Swabian accent. I didn't understand a single word. The workers were not interested in including me. They probably saw in me a spoiled young woman bridging the time before university, without any clues about hard work.

My situation improved drastically when I joined the young designers who spoke High German. I loved working with them, trying out new patterns and wool for the following year's fall collection. It was exciting to peek behind the scenes of the fashion world. The two designers were super friendly and included me in their tasks. I learned a lot about the process from idea to the final packaged wool balls and preparing designs for the new magazines. They also took me to the noisy and smelly factory. There was no hint of glamour, and I couldn't believe how people could work in these circumstances, so maybe I was a clueless and spoiled after all.

I was allowed to create a sample batch of wool. While my use of mohair and bast looked beautiful, it didn't feel as I had hoped. Even worse was the fact that the bast ripped frequently when spinning the two fibres together. Nevertheless, it was enough to knit a long, sleeveless sweater that I still wear every winter.

As I received the employees' discount in the factory wool store, I knitted one sweater after another; so many that I had to stop knitting after a few years because my closet was overflowing. I still have some wool in my studio from the internship. Maybe it's time to pack out the knitting needles again to create a sweater for my family. :)

Nevertheless, the internship and my submitted art projects didn't suffice to get me one of the rare places to study fashion design. Instead, my parents enrolled me in a language school to obtain a degree as a foreign language correspondent in English and Spanish. If I had known that I would move to Canada ten years later, I would have extended my studies to become a state-certified translator. I also would have chosen the combination of English and French, which would have opened many more doors when I looked for employment.

After graduating from language school, I started work as a foreign secretary at an American leasing company. In a few years, I moved up to head of the administration department with the power of attorney.

Teddy with Vase and Apple, oil, 36" x 24", 1988

 

Initially, I still had lots of leisure time and took correspondence art courses in a variety of mediums. Then I took oil painting classes with well-known German artist Inge Besgen. She believed in painting big and was strictly against painting from photos. After a study in blue, I painted a still life with a teddy bear, a vase, and an apple on a blanket in black and white (see above). The next task was an abstract painting with complementary colours, followed by a colour painting of the teddy bear still life. The paintings are about 36" x 24".

It felt exotic and exciting to know a famous artist and paint in her house, filled with enormous canvases and other art materials. I left my still life setup in her study and returned to my painting each week. I loved the creative atmosphere in her house and the company of the other students who all worked on their unique creations.

Unfortunately, once I started my correspondence studies in economics, I had no more time for art classes. After the written exams, I became interested in hand-sewing plush teddy bears. I took a couple of courses, and I was mesmerized. At the beginning of my time in Canada, I was at the height of teddy bear production. I created my own patterns and was happy to find fake furs and joints in art and craft stores. This hobby kept me busy for the first couple of years in Canada. I even joined the Grizzly Gang, an Ottawa teddy bear lovers' club.

 

Wedding Couple, 1995/1996 (centrepiece for our wedding) - The bow tie is from one of my grandfather's old ties.

 

During our initial trips to Vancouver and Muskoka, I had created some sketches. Realizing I didn't have a chance to work before receiving my permanent residence status, I attended oil painting courses at the Ottawa School of Arts. Although I didn't understand everything the teacher said, I understood enough to follow her instructions and regained confidence in my painting abilities through her positive feedback. I needed the encouragement because my rusty skills left me extremely discouraged and made me doubt my talent and creativity.

 

Fall Still Life, 1996

Soon, my art became my retreat. I didn't have to worry about my limited ability to express myself fluently in English. It was the same playing field for all, and I finally found like-minded people who shared my passion for art. Talking about our art and painting together created stronger bonds than just a common language did. I used my creativity to bridge understanding and build connections in my new environment.

Dancing Trees, acrylic, 30" x 24"

No matter my life situations, my art has served as a safe place to be present and forget everything around me. It has helped me through many personal struggles over the past 30 years. The most challenging was the time after my fall in December 2021, which confined me to a bed and wheelchair for weeks and left me house-bound for almost half a year. My creative projects helped me during the year-long recovery, and still provide a retreat when I am frustrated about my physical health, like the painful and movement-restricting osteoarthritis flare-ups in my hips, possibly related to my pelvis fractures.

 

Alex, wool, 14" x 10"

I have been creative my whole life, using various mediums at different times to help me express my creativity. Art has given me much joy and lifted my spirits when life was tough. It created a bridge to build lasting connections. Therefore, I want to share my art and encourage others to explore their creative voice. It will enrich their lives by giving them a means to celebrate life's beauty and helping them through challenges.

Sunny Kamouraska, acrylic, 11" x 14"

If you have fallen in love with one of my artworks and would like to bring it home to enjoy every day, please email me directly. To learn more about my upcoming workshops and courses, please visit my website for more information.