Breakfast at Tiffany's? Forget it

Breakfast at the lake in Neutraubling is much better! I stayed at the "Hotel am See" for a weekend of my friends wedding in July 2014. 

Spring is finally here (at the calendar)

Okay, so this is a vineyard in Rheinland-Pfalz last September, but it only takes a few more weeks and nature will rise like the Phoenix from the ashes. Only a few more weeks and it will be warm, sunny and green out there. 

I can hardly wait. And that is for two reasons:
1. I'm fed up with the bad weather, winter clothes and all the grey and brown out there.
2. I want to get back to biking and I want to use my new hula hoop outside in the park, to learn all the cool tricks (My flats ceiling is too low for that.).

Yeah, I just started hooping yesterday. It's fun and very good physical training/play. And I can do it inside and outside, without a partner or much preparation (as compared to swimming, weight lifting, etc.). I like it much more than yoga, running or swimming. It's inexpensive! (Well compared to Triathlon most sports are inexpensive ;-) In case you don't know what I'm talking about watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0he0ShHS20c
Looks like fun, doesn't it?

Wine Line

No Trespassing?

Wolkenburg castle

Two days ago I had an epiphany. I realized that for the last weeks I had been falling back into my old behavior of being an observer instead of an doer. Since I've decided at the beginning of the year that I want to live an active life, I wasn't exactly amused by this observation (pun intended).

So when I got an e-mail by my club yesterday morning, asking for last minute help with todays big scale event in Dresden, I jumped at the chance. During this event I will not only be the event photographer but also teach the attendees (from some CCIs and business promoting organizations) about Lomography and creativity (hence todays picture).

Lomography was my restart in photography, without my Lomo Fisheye camera there wouldn't be this blog or San's Visual Art. Lomography to me means sheer creativity.

What means creativity to you?

Filling it with sunshine

Well sunshine is something that Leipzig's inhabitants could use today, instead it is pouring down. Not the best weather for the International Children's Day and the little street festival planned for this afternoon on Leipzig's Kö(nneritzstreet). 

A street festival for which I have created postcards and planned a market stall. It is supposed to be my first market, the way it currently looks I can forget about it, since I don't have a gazebo. 20 € down metaphorically down the drain. On the other hand, the weather could still change a lot in the next 5 hours. (And my Tarot said so. ;-) Whatever. 

Enjoy your Friday and then the weekend and June. 

What's brewing on the horizon?

Still nothing is fixed on paper so I can't tell yer, but it's only a matter of days now...

Moritzburg Bliss

Great news ahead, but again until I have everything in black and white I won't talk.

Karlsruhe Zoo

Taking the corners with speed

Things are speeding up even more for me, which feels kinda weird and unpleasant sometimes. A hyperactive mind isn't always good.

Post 700 - Reaching the End of the Tunnel

This is Wolkenburg, Saxony, on a very sunny April day in 2011. Life can be magical if we let it be and recognize it.

A new week has started, giving us tons of possibilities.

For me the new week starts out with another watercolor class tonight. We will paint still lifes tonight. When our teacher (not Andreas) told us so last week I wasn't very keen on it, but I've changed my mind. After all I'm attending this class to broaden my knowledge and abilities, if I shut down every time I'm supposed to try something new, I won't evolve as an artist or person. Not a happy prospect.
So, tonight I'm going to buy tulips right before class, because I really wanted a tulip bouquet for months. I even bought a beautiful green vase a few months back, the poor thing is still waiting for its first bouquet. Me painting tulips, what a surprise.

What have you planned for this week? Are you trying new stuff.

The most relaxing strolls

can be taken in coniferous forests. You'll find this particular path on the Darss. I quite often wish I could live there. But there are no jobs for engineers on this peninsula. So I can "only" go there for vacations.

The ultimate park and some drawings

What a combination: the glamour of Sanssouci Park and the postcards I drew yesterday.

Postcard 16/366

Postcard 17/366 - My favourite

Postcard 18/366

Postcard 19/366

Postcard 20/366 - drawn with Copic Multiliner

Enjoy your weekend.

Withered Barn Series - Along the long side

Oh my, I LOOOVE this series. Ahhh. It's pictures like this, when I know I am an artist. I will definitely make prints of this series, frame them and put them on my walls.

Things finally seem to come together for me. I finally got rid of a bad habit, a habit of rebellion that I had for 28 years. So I'm proud on myself for achieving this. I've also been eating grain- , sugar- and dairy-free for the last 2 days. Considering that I'm in my monthly chocolate-craving week this is quite an outstanding feat. In any case I'm currently obsessed with creamy scrambled eggs, I ate them 3 times yesterday, 2 of those servings in the evening because of the chocolate craving. This amounts to 12 eggs yesterday. Well, it helped to straighten out my serotonin levels and beat my chocolate craving so I'm fine with it. Now I just have to buy enough eggs for today, tomorrow and Monday morning, since I guess that the chocolate craving will stay around for a few more days.

Yesterday afternoon I rearranged furniture in my studio. So now my easel is standing ready to use right beside my bed and at the northern end of my room, which is the career part of my studio if I follow Feng Shui. I'm no absolute devotee to Feng Shui, but it's the best place for my easel anyway, so it fits and maybe it helps.

Concentrating on the bigger picture - A photographic illustration

For years I've been concentrating on the details, shutting out the big picture. The reason? I felt like I could control the minutiae, but not the big picture. However, yesterday I realized, that I got lost in the details and through that destroyed the big picture I've been trying to create. (Well, this realization had already been simmering under the surface for quite a while. It often surfaced when I pondered my skin troubles. But I didn't fully realize that it encompasses all other areas of my life too.)

For example I did this with my skin, obsessing over blackheads but not getting the overall skin care dialed in. The daily "end" result: "Streuselkuchen"-Skin (no, this isn't medical term). Same goes for my drawings, obsessing over little mistakes, that won't be recognized, until you take a magnifying glass. Food? Same story. Applications? What do you think?

So, yesterday I've decided to concentrate on the big picture instead of the minutiae.

This is the reason for this series of photographs they illustrate this journey from the minutiae (not even seeing the water because of all the weeds) to the big picture (the open sea of possibilities or in this case the open lake, the Neusiedler Lake in Austria to be exact). I think I'm currently somewhere

in between. Not completely free, but I can see my way and more, the weeds are on the sidelines, but sometimes still getting in the way. It is as Mark Twain said: “A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs a step at a time.”

Do you fall into the minutiae trap sometimes? How do you get out?

Happy Memories for Chris and Moi: 7th post - Sunset over the Markkleeberger See

Since Chris asked me to post a few more Leipzig photos this week because she is so homesick for Leipzig, I created this post series for her. I hope this comforts you a bit.

The Markkleeberger See again. This time on a beautiful and calm evening in August. Chris and I just walked along the shore, talked and took pictures. Pure relaxation.

Happy Memories for Chris and Moi: 6th post - Nietzsches Backyard

Since Chris asked me to post a few more Leipzig photos this week because she is so homesick for Leipzig, I created this post series for her. I hope this comforts you a bit.

Another Sunday. This time we went to Röcken, to visit the grave and memorial of Friedrich Nietzsche. It was quite interesting and we've had perfect conditions for taking a lot of pictures. This is a way to the church of Röcken and quite literally a part of Friedrich Nietzsches backyard.

Happy Memories For Chris and moi: 1st post - Lollipop Trees

Since Chris asked me to post a few more Leipzig photos this week because she is so homesick for Leipzig, I created this post series for her. I hope this comforts you a bit.

This picture shows a part of Chris and my favourite bycicle round. These Sunday tours always contained the happiest moments in 2010 and 2011 for me. I would say we definitely do this when you come back to Leipzig in March, but chances are that by then I will have left Leipzig. Life is crazy.

Geometric landscape and Illustration Workshop

OuuUHHH, I'm so excited in a few hours I'll attend the first part of my first ever illustration workshop. Today it's a talk and tomorrow it's hands on. But first I have to get some other stuff out of the way. Tonight I'll meet with a friend for a nice little chat.

And by the way I just love my new haircut. Very Aeon Flux and it is perfect for me and my hair. I LOVE IT.

Waking up

to a beautiful new week. Last week was a bit off for me due to my tooth/gums-problem, essentially I was resting because my body decided to do just that. Sometimes it is matter over mind.

Anyway, I might not be fully restored but I will slowly start to travel in the direction of my goals again. This morning I reached another important milestone: 58 kg. Hah. So there we have it again, enough sleep is absolutely necessary to get rid of stored bodyfat.

I wish all of you a fantastic new week.

Winter solstice - finally

The longest night of the year and from tomorrow on days are getting longer again. Finally, sigh.