Unfinished

Several weeks ago, before the trip to Bruges, I made this drawing, since I felt trapped.
It seems, not our body, but our mind is a cage. It imprisons us and keeps us from all opportunities in life.
I'm a new soul now. My mind is clear and wide open. The drawing is left UNDONE.

Melody for a healed soul

It seems when something ends there's always something waiting to begin.
Every parting is a chance to start again. Make failure your friend and mentor, since we all know: "The only failure is the failure to learn from failure."
My new and maybe, very long journey has just begun. I'm at same time confused, disorientated but exciting and hopeful.

"Peace, my heart, let the time for the parting be sweet.
 Let it not be a death but completeness.
 Let love melt into memory and pain into songs.
 Let the flight through the sky end in the folding of the wings over the nest.
 Let the last touch of your hands be gentle like the flower of the night.
 Stand still, O Beautiful End, for a moment, and say your last words in silence.
 I bow to you and hold up my lamp to light you on your way."
                                                           - The Gardener- Rabindranath Tagore

My trip to Bruges, Belgium

It's time to pack my bags to leave home, discover the world and open up my mind.
The destination this time is Bruges- the capital city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. Some friends of mine went there and adore the place so badly, that they suggested me to visit the city all the time.
I now also adore the city exactly the same as my friends do, after I came back home from there.
I spent one week in Bruges. Most of the time I strolled around, looked for a nice spot to make some sketches, stayed in the spot for several hours to sketch and got me later something tasty to eat. I didn't feel lonely at all while sketching, since there were always people coming to talk to me. They asked, if they were allowed to have a look at the sketches  I made, where I come from, and where I'm planning to go to on my journey. I'm really happy, since no one came and asked me stupid questions, such as why I don't just purchase a camera to take pictures, then go to other sight-seeing spots.
Everyday at breakfast, the owner of the B&B, where I stayed in Bruges, asked me, if I made some new sketches. I showed the sketches and we talked about the buildings I drew. She showed me a catalog of a Japanese landscape painter, who used to stay at her B&B one month and made a lot of  lovely sketches of landscape in Bruges. On my 3rd day in Bruges, while sketching, I met one old Belgian artist. He invited me to visit his atelier. What lovely paintings he has done! (AQUARELLE Lucien Vanden Steen- Peerdenstraat 17b, Bruges)
I enjoyed my time in Bruges. Good food. Good weather. Nice people.

20.08.2012- My 1st day in Bruges
This sketch shows the view from my room upon the B&B's garden. I left it in the B&B's guestbook to acknowledge my visitation in Bruges.

21.08.2012- My 2nd day in Bruges
Belfort (13th century)- the bell tower in the historical centre of Bruges. Sketch done at the market square, at 00:40 am. I gave the sketch to a very good friend of mine as a birthday present.

Bonne Chiere windmill (1844, from 1911 in Bruges). Sketch done at 05:50 pm.

Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (The Church of Our Lady) (1220). Sketch done at Rozenhoedkaai, at 22:45.

22.08.2012- My 3rd day in Bruges
Kasteel Minnewater- a charming restaurant located at the "Lake of Love". Next time when I come back to Bruges, I'd like to have dinner by candlelight with my beloved at this restaurant. Sketch done at 04:30 pm.

Guesthouse Coté Canal- House of Fidel- the most photographed dog in Bruges. You can see Fidel in the trailer of the movie "In Bruges" directed by Martin McDonagh. Sketch done on Groenerei street, at 08:30 pm.

23.08.2012- I headed to the sea.
Mercator ship (1931) in Oostende, used by the Belgian Navy for the instruction of the military sailors and navy-men. Sketch done at 05:00 pm.

24.08.2012- My last night in Bruges. It rained all night long.
Blinde Ezelstraat ( Blind-Donkey-Street)- a narrow street runs from the Burg to the fish market. Sketch done at 11:00 pm.

P.S.: While I was sketching the Blinde Ezelstraat, I met Lies Ackaert- a blogger in Bruges, Belgium. She writes blog entries in Dutch about interesting things and people she encountered in her beautiful hometown. Check her blog entry about me here.

West Flanders on Dwellable

Follow the travel bug

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

It's now time to pack my bags, leave the house, follow the travel bug, open up my head and see what's on my mind. 

New travel sketches will soon be here. 

Playing guitar

I was suggested to learn to play guitar mentored by a friend of one friend of mine. (The acquaintanceship sounds a bit complicated.) I used to learn to play keyboard and had vocal lessons when I was a child. Back then I was not really delighted with these music lessons and very lazy to practice. That's why my music career ended soon. However until now I still can read some notes. It has been learned that it's never too late to try to do something new or redo something old. :)

I already ordered a guitar and am now waiting it delivered. It seems that Fridolin- my poor Djungarian hamster- will have to suffer a lot in the near future. Just a joke! Since hamsters are sensitive to light and noise, I will make sure to leave him in peace while practicing.

Cras numquam scire

"Cras numquam scire" is Latin for "Tomorrow never knows". 

While learning for the exams at the university, I made this paper cutting at break just to give variety to this tiresome and boring time.That's why it was not really as well done as I expected it should be.

Fireflies Night

For years I've dreamed of getting lost in a meadow at night where a great number of fireflies usually gathers.

Born as a city child, I never had a chance to experience this spectacular scenery. I saw some fireflies in the garden of the house where I've lived since 4 years in Germany. However, the city light makes many things, such as the starry night sky or fireflies glow, less beautiful. What a shame! 

Wanna be a teen girl again!

I went to Heinerfest with a very good friend of mine two days ago.

Have you ever heard of this festival? It is an annual festival in Darmstadt, Germany, believed the second largest city festival in Germany, celebrated at the beginning of July and will take 5 days. On the last day of the festival, there will be a beautiful closing firework show. This time I enjoyed the show with my friend and we had lots of fun.

My friend, she brought hopes, inspiration, wise advice and lots of laughs. She and the festival made me feel like being a happy teenager again. Best friends forever! 

A Happy Summer Bride

Leafing through the lovely DIY wedding lookbook of Mollie Makes made me feel like sewing a wedding dress for myself. (I have a sewing machine at home.)

My best friend told me: "It's a good idea to keep you busy. Because of your lack of skill, it will take you years to finish the dress for sure. Until then you may have already found Mr. Right to wed."

What a clever friend she is!

Max and I

At the moment I dearly want to look for an animal companion, such as a big tomcat.
I'd like to give him the name Maximilian- for use on paper- or just call him Max for short at home.

A used book

Yesterday I found a used book, published in the year 1912. The book looked ordinary, nothing special about it. Somehow it caught my eye. The old deep indigo blue of its cover is lovely. 

I bought it, brought it home and found some pretty pressed flowers inside. I wonder, how long these flowers had to wait until someone would leaf through the book and find them. What a nostalgic feeling!

Like a broken butterfly

Sunny days could be a pain, if one's heart is weighted down by sorrow. 

Rainy days calm me down, since the gray color of the sky, that heavy feeling in the air before the rain and the very strong earthy wet dirt smell after it seem to correspond to my blue thoughts.

If my soul were a butterfly, it would be now a broken one. 

A perfect lonesome tea party

I'm my own woman. I enjoy my own company and my own tea party.

All we need for "a perfect lonesome tea party" are tea you like, good books, delicious cakes, a lovely vase of your favorite flowers, beautiful gentle music and no one else except ourselves.

Piggy loves dancing

I went a ballet school, when I was 12.

Actually the lessons were pretty difficult and lacked of fun due to strict diet plans. However, everything in memory of the old days seems to be always illuminated and very gentle.

Dackel loves butterflies

This is a very small drawing quickly made just for fun. 

Dackel is one of my favorite German dog breeds. I'm glad that where I live is located near a Dackel club and therefore sometimes I can see a lot of Dackels at the same time crossing the street to the bus stop or have a chance to watch them performing amazing tricks in the conformation show taken place on the first day of July every year. 

"To the Fairest"

After my attempt at embroidery and making Japanese cloth flowers, I tried to sew some other easy projects. This time I was inspired by a picture on the magazine Marie Clare Idees, in which some small cloth hand-sewed green apples are showed as decorative objects to bring a refreshing look to your house on spring days.
I made my cloth apples a bit more colorful and useful by adding some fruity fragrance beads to turn them into fragrance bags for my wardrobe to keep my clothes always smell as lovely as a fruit basket.

Sewing these apples reminded me of the Apple of Discord in the Greek mythology. Since I'm a peace-lover, I ensure that my sweet apples (and the pear, of course) won't lead anyone to the Trojan War.

Balloon Sky

The weather of April seems to be chameleonic.
This week's been grey, cold and rainy. It made me long for a perfect blue sky with thousands of colorful balloons.

A cocoon of love

While listening to Norah Jones' new album "Little Broken Hearts", I wanted to create a new postcard which could remind me of the fragileness of love and its care dependency. 

I remember that someone once told me, that love is a tree. It takes nourishment neither from the earth nor from the air, but from you. 

First hand-embroidered bag

Life is too long to do just one thing.
That's why I sometimes put my drawings on hold to try something new. This time I learned how to doodle with embroidery.
The idea for a cloth shopping bag mostly came from the book "Doodle Stitching- The motif collection" of Aimee Ray. I changed some details and floss colors which suit my taste and tried not to repeat the same colors too many times, since boredom is a foe of human happiness. :)

My shopping bag looks organic and ecofriendly, doesn't it?

Another entry also about hand craft:
Japanese tsumami kanzashi

A happy rainy Monday

The weather was beautiful 2 weeks ago. It has been cold again since three or four days before Easter and rained sometimes. The weather in April is always a big question to me.
I started to draw this rainy scene on Easter Monday and tried to finish it within the first week of this new summer semester, as long as I still have enough spare time. This semester is supposed to be a busy one. 
I remember listening to Carpenter's song "Rainy days and Mondays".
Actually, rainy days are fine to me. I just cannot stand boring cloudy days, when nothing happens- no sunshine, no wind, no rain or snow. Everything you have is a gloomy sky.
In summer, rainy days could be very fun. Just imagine, when it's hot and dried and the air is stuffy, suddenly a rain comes...What a delightful day!

My stage is my garden.

This spring break was not enjoyable at all. Too many things at home were broken at the same time. Too many things happened. I was tired and couldn't create any drawings for two weeks.

Two days ago, I dug up some old sketches to look for new inspirations and found a poor sketch of a ballerina. I completely forgot, when and for which purpose I made this sketch. What a waste, if I would throw it away.
I gave the fragile ballerina a pair of purple butterfly wings and turned her into a small fairy dancing elegantly on a flower in a summer garden.

Life of Bugs- A paper cutting

This paper cutting inspired by bugs is supposed to form a pair with another paper cutting of mine called Sleeps with butterflies.

Some of my favorite bugs and beetles were chosen.
From top to bottom and from left to right in the picture, they are Eupholus linnei, seven-spotted ladybugs (Coccinella septempunctata), Batocera rufomaculata, Stag beetle (Lucanus cervus), Goliath beetle (Goliathus cacicus) and Cyriopalus wallacei.

 I made this paper cutting as a birthday present for myself.

The pencil sketch:

And the end result:

Aries child

I'm an Aries child. Can that be the reason, why I'm crazy about sheep and always long for springtime?

Magazine Girl

I made this portrait from a picture I saw in the French magazine "marie claire idees" issued in March, 2012.
I don't know the model's name. She looks gorgeous in the fashion picture collection called "C'est vous l'artiste" inspired by some well-known artists' clothing. The picture I like most is the one in which the model has a beautiful hairstyle inspired by Frida Kahlo.
Famous names are mentioned, such as Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Camille Claudel, Salvador Dali and Yves Klein. I can't help seeing this picture collection again and again.

And this is how the hairstyle, which bewitched me, looks like.

Teddy

It seems that most of grown-up persons don't throw away stuffed animals from their childhood.
I know some students who moved out from their parents' house and brought their beloved teddy bears with them, because the teddy bears are not only toys, but also their first friends and we're not supposed to leave our friends behind. 

A.I. is my favorite Steven Spielberg's movie and Teddy- the robotic teddy bear- is the role I love in the movie. The scene, in which Teddy sewed up his fur by himself, impressed me deeply. I wondered, if he became lonely, since no human beings took care of him. It's sad to see a teddy bear being abandoned. 

This is a tribute to all of my old stuffed animals which were left behind, since I left my country.

The Carnival is over!

The Carnival with parades and costume balls in Germany takes place on Rose Monday in February every year. Since I went to Germany to study, I haven't taken part in.
February is a hard month for students here. The university semester comes to the end and all students face tests or seminar papers and very often, both of them. Celebrating the Carnival seems to be a luxury that an international student cannot afford.
However, I like this event, which German people call "the fifth season". Having four seasons to enjoy themselves is obviously not enough. German people still need another occasion to have more fun. I remember a newspaper article telling that Germany is the world's most unfunny country. The cultural sense of humor is always different, isn't it?
In my opinion, the fact that they created "the fifth season" makes them very amusing people. :))

Now the Carnival is over. 

A Little Girl

This is a small drawing in size of a postcard done last night, after I had dinner with two friends of mine.

Currently, I cannot cook and wash dishes at home, since the waste water pump is broken and the stove doesn't work. (They share the same electrical safety system. As long as the pump is still not repaired, the stove will remain cold.) Eating out is now the best and the only choice.
The last two weeks seemed like the coldest time ever. It's fortunately getting warmer now and made me long for the fist plum blossom of this year, which should appear before my birthday at the end of March.

I simply call this drawing "A Little Girl", since no better ideas for a name passed through my mind.

Moon rabbits- A doodle

At the moment I am too busy to draw anything new. It's sad. Not be able to create a new picture doesn't make me feel like myself at all. Tomorrow is the Valentine's day and I'm going to do a test at the university.
I made this doodle to kill boring time in class two months ago and later forgot, in which spiral-bound notepad I made it. However I'm strongly persuaded, that it would show up again at some time or another. It really did.

Flora's new scarf

Although it's still cold, spring items are arranged in shopping malls. I bought a scarf with butterfly print yesterday. It inspired me to create this drawing.
Flora is a lovely name for girls. It always reminds me of the goddess of Spring in Botticelli's painting "Primavera". Although Venus stands at the center of  painting, Flora attracts me more. The dress she wears is just gorgeous.
My Flora is covered by different flowers, such as snowdrop, cosmos, camellia, rose, pansy, checkered lily, poppy, mistletoe, coneflowers, etc. Colorful butterflies are flying around her slim, young neck, as if they were a scarf of hers.

I-HEART-POLAROID

 

One of my Christmas presents was a Polaroid 300 Instant Camera . I've been addicted to it. Since it's great to be able to make photos again as it used to be in the good old days. Each picture is unique and will be cherished.
This is a small drawing that I created with pen to use as the profile picture for my facebook.

Macarons for N.

 

Macarons are tiny and  have lovely colors. That's maybe the reason why they caught my interest, since I don't have any sweet tooth. Actually, they are tasty. However, I won't eat more than four macarons at once. It will be too sweet for me to stand. I can hardly tell the distinction between a biscuit and a cream cake. All right, they're sweet, and that's all.

N. is just a fictive person. His role in this small watercolour painting is to excite your curiousity. I hope, N. has done his job well.

Last week, I, strangely enough, bought me a book to learn how to bake macarons at home. (I'm kind of being obsessed with making tiny and cute things by hands.) Wait and see my first try! Since I won't be able to eat all my baked goods, I can pack some of them in such small, clear bags tagged "macarons for..." and give them to friends.

Waldgeist

This is my first drawing of the year 2012, made with ink and watercolor.

A Waldgeist in German is a woodland spirit, which is believed to live in the forest and protect living things with a pure soul. 

I hope, next time when I take a walk in the forest near my place, I could encounter a waldgeist. It might bring me good luck for the whole year. :)