Timeless

Paul Klee is one of my very favorite artists, and whenever I have a chance, I make his works and his philosophy part of my teachings. I do that for many reasons. One is certainly that Klee's art per se is simply fantastic and unique, his works are experimental and diverse yet his artistic styles are quite recognizable. I have found that kids of all ages respond very well to his art. They love to discuss his works and are able to relate to his innovative ways of expressing thoughts and emotions.

I love the lines Klee is famous for - literally and figuratively. "A dot is a line that went for a walk," said the Master of Lines. No cuteness intended and intuitively plausible.

I love Klee particularly because of his playfulness. That's another reason for a Klee lesson. The faces, they say everything. Or not? What do they say.

When my daughter Mona and I went to Germany last Spring to see our family, we also had the chance to visit the large collection of international modern art at "K20" in Duesseldorf where about 100 pieces of Klee's work are permanently exhibited. Mona said later that she felt that Pollock's and Warhol's paintings were screaming, while Klee's pieces were whispering. And it had nothing to do with size, she said.

Newly inspired by Klee's fabulous art, I planned to do something Klee-related for all classrooms as the final  projects of this school year. So the lower elementary students did line drawings, the upper el students made their own versions of Castle and Sun, using oil pastels on record album covers. And the middle schoolers each selected a Klee painting to translate it into a 3-D object. I was so excited by their ability to make a connection with a certain piece.

By the way, Klee's prolific work was called "degenerate" by Hitler, the prosaic painter who wanted to become a professional artist but did not because he just didn't have the talent. The professors at the Vienna art academy told Hitler to go to an architectural school instead and "give up pure art as hopeless." Hitler's style, they found, in which he drew human figures "represented a profound uninterest in people."


Here is another good quote: "The more horrifying the world becomes, the more art becomes abstract." Timeless.

(pictures of my students' work 2018)

Yes, Sheila!

"It's Not Too Late" (1st Prize in Mixed Media category)

Haven't posted in a while. What happened to the sort-of promise to post daily, I wonder. It was a promise foremost to myself. Because blogging helps me reflect things, and I need reflection, I need to think about things to identify my feelings about them, and writing helps me doing that. Yeah, I have been busy. Sure have been. But then, I'm busy all the time, it's no excuse really. So maybe I didn't want to reflect things for a while. I guess, I took a vacation from the deep-thinking because some things are sometimes just too difficult and heavy to think about these days.

Mona's piece "Gems and Jewels" won Best of Show

In the middle of all this business I received the sweetest postcard a few weeks ago. It came from my blogger artist friend, Sheila, reminding me to keep sharing my art. Thank you so much for doing that! Thank you for choosing the old-fashioned way of sending me a handwritten note, and thank you for your encouragement and kindness, Sheila! I appreciate it all very much.

So, here it goes! I haven't produced much this year. But still, this year has been a very successful one for me nevertheless: In February, I had three pieces in a local juried small works exhibit and sold them right away (see last post).

In March, I had a fabulous third round of my original fundraising art project "ART ON 45" for which I asked (local) artists to make a piece of art on or with a 45rpm record. This time it was to support a regional organization that helps victims of domestic violence. The auction event was beautiful and very successful. Many people came to enjoy and support the event, and these people were very diverse in every way.  I loved it. It makes me so happy that the project and the event have

"Ndebele House" box, 3rd prize for Mona

been so well-received.

And in April I participated in a Plein Air Competition. That is something I don't feel I am particularly good at but I love the challenge. I didn't win a prize but my piece was compatible, it felt good to see that mine actually didn't look out of place in company of all the stunning professional works on the wall. And I sold it too!

Jacob's "Before It Happened"  (2nd prize)

May was an especially busy month for me because I spent a lot of extra time at the Montessori School to help students getting their (Paul Klee inspired) projects finished before they would leave for the summer.

And now we are having June, the month of the annual "Peach Festival" here in town where you can do lots of peachy things. In this context, the local arts council holds a juried art show every year, where all people, no matter what age or skill level, can enter their works. Last year I won an Honorary Mention for my sculpture "Undo" in the 3-D category, and I was quite thrilled about it.

This year I submitted two pieces and won 1st prize for "It's Not Too Late" in the Mixed Media category. And my kids both won, too! Jacob (11) got 2rd prize for his relief piece "Before It Happened", and Mona (9) won 3rd prize for her "Ndebele House" box and Best of Show/Youth for her watercolor and ink drawing "Gems and Jewels." Isn't that something.

That was nice!

"Night and Day" - "Change the Story" - "Knock Knock"

I recently submitted three pieces to a small works exhibit here in town and all three got accepted. It was a nice opportunity to show my work and meet people that may be interested in what I do. The motto of the exhibit was #50 @ $50", therefore fifty small pieces of art were for sale for only $ 50 each.

Naturally, I hoped to sell my three pieces. Not really for the money but because I wanted to see if my work is in demand and is able to compete with other artists' work. And, yes! All my three pieces were sold only five minutes after opening of the show. I am so thrilled!

On top of that, I was lucky to get three fantastic originals that I just love: One of them I gave to my dear husband for Valentine's Day (Liz Zanca's "Conversation"). Then there is this exquisite little painting by Julie Crews, "Behind the Bus."

And, of course, the wacky denture installation by Mashall Smith - titled "Hi, Mr Wilson" - was a no-brainer.

Hey Peace

Peas, peach, peace - oh whatever.

I started this little peace piece last week and intended to submit it to an exhibit of small works. I had it all thought out in my head but something didn't look right when I was finished. So I put it on hold for a few days and submitted something else.

It's alright now, I think.

"Hey Peace"
Acrylics, watercolor, ink, storybook clippings, yellowed edges of book pages, on canvas panel, 8" x 8"

Knock Knock

Happy to report that I actually made the submission deadline today for the small works exhibit ("#50 @ $50"). My goal was to make three new pieces, and I kind of did. Among them "Change the Story," which I posted a couple of days ago, and this one: "Knock Knock."

The third one I couldn't get where I wanted it to be and decided to work on it some more tomorrow.
So I entered "Night and Day" instead, a small mixed media piece based on a record sleeve that I had made last Fall.

"Knock Knock"
Acrylics, fly leaf, book clippings, ink, on canvas panel,
5" x 5"

Change the Story

Anyways. There's a call for artists to submit small works for a juried group exhibit in my town next month, and I am intending to do just that. I could, of course, hand in some of the completed pieces that haven't sold yet but I decided to make something new. Deadline is this Sunday. I better hurry.

Got this one finished: "Change the Story." I used the back of a sweet children's book called "The Rooster, the Mouse, and the Little Red Hen," and because it used to be a library book in the 60s and 70s it had the library pocket glued to the back of its hardcover. Why not make the pocket part of the piece, I thought.

So the mouse has decided to leave hen and rooster behind and get out of the same old story. Who says you can't change the story. There's an ocean of possibilities, let's dive in.

"Change the Story"
Mixed media: back of a book hardcover, library pocket, watercolor, ink, storybook clippings.
9 1/4" x 7 1/4"

Unpack

I came back from Germany five weeks ago, and I have been unpacking ever since. First the very heavy suitcases, then the thoughts and feelings I came back with. 

Visiting my family in Germany was different this time. The good-byes for sure have changed over the years. The certainty that you will see each other again is gone. I try to choose my words better. I try to see only the important things and not to get lost in moments that won't matter in the long run. I try to make happy, and to be happy. I am grateful that I still have my parents, and I wished I could take away my mom's parkinson and my dad's age-related struggles.

Not only because being healthy and fit would make their lives easier but also because being ill and old has turned out to be a challenging job with lots of overtime hours. There is hardly a day without doctor visits, physio or speech therapy. Nurses go in and out. Cooking has become an exhausting chore but those home-cooked meals just taste better than delivered ones. And then the constant health insurance issues to keep up with, all that paperwork. It's a busy life, way too busy for old people. I want my parents to enjoy what's left, I'm glad I could give them a break, at least.

My son Jacob enjoyed being in Germany even though there was much less to do for him than in the previous years when we all would go on little field trips, visited museums, parks, festivals. Instead now, Jacob played word games with his grandmother and solved algebra problems with his grandfather. They watched TV together, discussed the news and consumer reports. He actually loved that.

I would get up very early in the morning to spend time with my dad while making breakfast, it was nice having this time with him alone. And afterwards, while we were waiting for the morning nurse to arrive, my mom and I had some coffee at her bedside and we talked about this and that.  And I cooked a lot, I mean, a lot. So they could take some out of the freezer, later.

Jacob and I had taken the train to travel from the city where we landed to my parents' home town. The city where we landed is also the city where my husband's family lives, and we spent a few days with Markus' mom and his brother's family. Jacob loved seeing his other grandmother and his cousins who are just a bit older than him. And we saw my sister-in-law who was about to lose her fight against cancer. She and I hadn't been very close but, I think, we understood each other anyway. This beautiful vibrant woman, now she was lying there, so fragile and still. Jacob gave her a gentle hug, I held her hand, it was so weak. We talked a little bit, and when I told her that we would come back soon she said, that would be nice.

We saw her again right after we had returned from my parents. She had been moved to a hospice meanwhile. I don't know if she recognized Jacob and me, I hope she sensed it somehow. She didn't say anything, and her eyes were closed. She died a week later.

My husband and my daughter picked us up from the airport, all of us - Jacob and me and those heavy suitcases. It took me a while to do the laundry, and to get organized again, and to find places for the things I brought home with me. Old and new German books for example, lots of chocolate to share, several table cloths that my mother-in-law had embroidered, Markus' portfolio with his wonderful old comic drawings, an outdated tour guide that my parents had used on one of their many travels through the States, a spicy-smelling wooden bowl from my sister-in-law's kitchen, a large and heavy ceramic vase that my mom's family carried when they fled from post-war East Berlin to the West.

Soon after, I unpacked the many boxes of our Christmas decorations. Lots of them are from my own childhood, some of them Markus and I bought before we had our children,  gifts from my students, Jacob's and Mona's paper stars, my grandmother's crocheted mushrooms. I unpacked the memories attached to each one of the hundreds of ornaments and hung them on our huge tree. It's a beautiful tree.