Tales from Studio Mailbox

Meeting Holger

Did y'all see my new Free Range Social Media button?  I'm pretty excited about it.  I've been wanting to post about Holger since last week, but I was really nervous that people would think I was making fun of him. 

Gemany's version of American Idol is DSDS which stands for "Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar."  I'm not sure how the US version of the show is moderated, but the German version is pretty harsh.  They spend as much time making fun of candidates as they do highlighting talent.  There have been some pretty brutal reactions to performances that have really made me cringe.  It's nearly turned me off from the show altogether, but I watch it because I love to see people who are really reaching for their dreams.

And in a nearby McDonalds (of all places), I met none other than 2009's controversial local candidate, Holger Göpfert. 

He was super polite to me, although I didn't have the nerve to ask for a photo because he was clearly on a quick lunch break. He said to me, (translated) "But maybe we'll see each other another time!" That's right Holger!  And next time I'll ask for a picture...

Keep in mind when you watch this that English is his second language.  He's clearly musically talented, with a very unique energy on stage... I was super excited to meet him. So here's one of the snippets I could find of him on You-Tube:

 

Personalized Illustration

OMG!  The coolest thing happened after my friend Veronika over at Notes to Self saw the images from my recent photo shoot.

She made a personalized illustration just for me and my naughty love of pretzels!!

Please just give a click here to see what she got up to! If you follow this blog, you'll know why I was peeing my pants when I saw it.

And if you follow her blog, then you know her captions are just as clever and sassy as her artwork.  I smile every time she posts.

Her stuff is so edgy and sexy.  She's like a modern twist on those 80's posters that were all black and white with a few spashes of red.

And I gotta say, it's totally got me wondering if I I should start wearing lipstick and painting my nails...

Days like today make me feel like I have this tribe of amazingly creative friends all over the place that just got my back!  Thank you Veronika, you're amazing.

 

Augenweide Fotografie

I recently did the coolest thing:  I booked a photography session with Irmgard Hofmann of Augenweide Fotografie in Wuerzburg.

The first reason I did it was because I wanted some professional shots for my blog and FB fan page.  The second reason I did it was because I had just finished a huge project that I wanted to acknowledge.  And the third reason was that I simply wanted to have some good pictures of myself and maybe give one to my hubby for Christmas. 

Thinking back, like nearly everyone, I had my high school graduation pictures taken.  The next time was wedding photos. Then when I was in England, I got talked into modeling at a college.  Although a lot of those student photos came out horrible and scary, there are a handful of great shots that I still enjoy to this day.  And they remind me of that time of my life. 

Photos capture a snippet of your personal history.

So although I'm pushing 40 and I've recently succumbed to dying my hair, (not to mention the fact that I've only ever been happy with my weight once in my adult life and that only lasted about 3 days), I'd still like to make the best of what I've got. 

I knew I could trust Frau Hofmann with this task.  She's been doing photo shoots of our son every year since he's been born.  She even did an amazing family portrait for us when the hub's shoulder was broken and he had this totally awkward sling to complicate the whole deal.  She's very creative and super patient with my screwy grasp of the German language.  She has this super calm and relaxed manner about her even when your kid is refusing to cooperate and you have to ask to go put coins in the parking meter where your car is. 

Her specialty is portrait photography, and she especially enjoys working on pregnancy photo shoots.  (In German, it's referred to as "Bauch Landschaft" or "belly landscapes.")  Obviously these kind of images are quite private and she has this amazing ability to put her subjects at ease and goes about her work in a very relaxed manner. 

When I asked her about how much time she's taken during her appointments she said, "people have many different faces.  It takes time to discover them."

Check out what she did!  (Click over for the other shots).  I've got to say that although I usually lounge around in my Fruit of the Loom sleepwear from Walmart, I'm so happy I drug the one designer skirt I own along with my kickin' cowboy boots for my session...

German Royalty

We are lucky enough to live in Franconia which is the wine region of Germany.  

And although I've posted about the Boxbeutel before as well as other silly things like a wine bottle sandwich, or a wall of bottles or the Franconian cookie cutters, I'm not sure I ever mentioned that every year the local festivals and vineyards crown wine princesses! 

And here's the really exciting part...(drum roll please), not only did I see many lovely princesses at the recent Sulzfeld wine fest, I met their queen!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, the queen (or Festkönigin) gave me this lovely signed postcard after asking me to sign her guest book.  The royal escort even stopped to take a photo for me (check out my deranged crazy face...umm do you think I was excited?)  

In any case a very fun and unexpected encounter with these beautiful ambassadors of the German wine industry!

Inspired Fountain

While on our Alpine Road Trip, we were considering returning to Germany through Switzerland in order to visit another Hundertwasser site.  We weren't exactly sure if we should try fit it in, or make it a separate weekend excursion.

During the crap weather we kept experiencing we randomly drove to a small Austrian town called "Zell Am See."  And out of the blue we came across the Grand Hotel's Fountain that was planned according to a 1996 sketch of Hundertwasser's.

This fountain happens to be one of the last projects of the great man, who sadly never even saw it.  But it was meticulously constructed by contractor Dr. Holleis and Architekt Pelikan with artistic realisation from Prof. Muhr, Vienna.  I'm not really sure how these kinds of projects happen, and I am confused a little bit about it's authenticity.  (If the great Hundertwasser wasn't active in the project AND he never even saw it, does it really have anything to do with him?  Or is this a beautiful fountain made by men interpreting the master's sketch?)

These questions are beyond me.  And I'm not sure they're relevant unless you're some kind of hard-core Hundertwasser purist type.  As far as I'm concerned, it was "authentic enough" for me despite it not existing on the official list of Hundertwasser works inside and outside of Austria. 

The hotel was very friendly and generous sending me information on the fountain in both German and English.  The brochure describes the columns representing the provinces of Austria as well as the spiraling and circulatory aspect of the water system.

It was like the universe gave me my Hundertwasser fix and the hubs didn't have to make a million mile detour through Switzerland.  It was an unexpected win-win for us. 

Venitian Portrait Workshop

 I attended Brigitte Guhle's Portrait class in Venice a couple weeks ago.  The hubs had signed me up as a Christmas present which ended up becoming an amazing creative Italian experience.

This was not the type of class where you sit and take lectures and instruction, rather one where we went out as a group, set ourselves up on location and then began drawing.  Brigitte would get us started off with a demonstration and a few tips and then we were free to interpret our surroundings in our own way.  It was completely loose and free, with instruction whenever we called out asking for her help.  Brigitte has a nice way of suggesting how to improve your drawing without "correcting" you.  Her tips encouraged us to keep trying. 

I loved standing over her shoulder and following her steps.  (Look at her magic hand!) It was easier for me to watch and follow along because I'm not fluent in German.  This wasn't an issue because she was very patient going over things a second time for me in English when I was struggling to understand.

Although the weather was nicer in Germany than in Italy (how unfair), we were able to remain outside most of the time except for one afternoon we spent inside working on gesture poses.  I found this equally good and challenging because I have never before attempted to seriously draw live models.  Twice we worked on full body poses for an extended period of time as well as a series of speed gestures where we were given three minutes to capture the model's position before she changed poses.  

Brigitte organized several portrait models throughout our days and we had lots of opportunities to practice.  Our last full day was again chilly so she organized drawing inside the Gallerie dell'Accademia.  This was another enriching experience for me.  I would never have the nerve to walz into a museum and try to draw from the masters without a posse of folks doing it alongside me.  This is where I personally had the most fun probably because it was just so different than anything I would normally do. After an entire week of drawing for several hours per day, I also had the confidence just to sit down and go to it.

Our amazing group was quite diverse, yet supportive of one another's efforts and achievements.  Throughout the week I was simultaneously working on my Venice art journal anywhere from 1-2 hours per day.  I was very grateful of the open-mindedness of the other students as well as Brigitte because by the end of the week I actually shared it with them.  I was so surprised how well it was received and how kind everyone's feedback was.

Here is a selection of my drawings and a few of the models as well. 

TJ on MJ

I was in London when the King of Pop died.  I was grateful to be in a place where the news was being covered in English.  A memorial banner of sorts was spread out on the ground near Embankment, and some less than kind words were being scrawled on it.  (I liked the masked bandit sketch here but don't know what the message is written across the mask.  Anybody?) 

This post isn't for opening a discussion about Michael Jackson's moral character.  However I would like to take this opportunity to suggest the possibility of assuming the best about him.  I'm sad that we live in a world where not only do we often assume the WORST of people, we actually like doing it. 

In a strictly creative sense, MJ was an amazing artist.  So today while his funeral service takes place, I just want to think back to when I cried my eyes out on my bus ride to school when I heard his hair had caught  fire while filming his Pepsi commercial.  I always loved his hair, especially the old photos of him as a child that have his afro backlit which made it glow.  At one time he was just an ordinary little boy with extraordinary talent. Maybe we should all wear a sparkly glove on one hand today, even if it's only for a few minutes and nobody sees...

#13 on Friday the 13th

I have been busy putting together a "scrapbook" style album for my hubby, whose dear #13 hockey jersey is being retired from the ice on Friday the 13th.  This has been a tricky project because I've had to dig through years of accumulated newspaper clippings, programs, photos, player passes, player cards, etc.  and then had to frantically put the project away when I suspected he was coming home.

As much as the sport has given me countless hours of worry with the injuries and overall brutality that I've never approved of, I'll probably be the biggest baby in the crowd bawling for him when the horn blows and his last 60 minutes are up.  I love you #13!!

iLove iHanna

If I was trapped on a deserted island and had to choose only one blog to visit, I think I would choose iHanna's blog: Create and Live Happy. 

I daydream of someday bumping into her...

"Hanna??" I exclaim.  "Is it really you?  I visit your blog all the time!  What are you doing in Germany??"

"TJ??" she replies.  "How crazy to bump into you.  Where's the nearest pretzel??" 

Every time I visit her blog I am inspired.  More importantly I am grateful for the time and energy and gorgeous photography she shares with her readers. 

Her directions for paper piecing a patchwork ball were my first introduction to the craft that I actually understood.  People had talked about it before, but I didn't "get it."  Hanna put together a tutorial of not only excellent instructions and photos, but chose a project that's manageable.

Of course one of my balls is waiting for me to translate the world for "stuffing" into German and find out where you can buy it.  The second ball is still laying in pieces because I learned a few mistakes from my first one:

• Mistake #1:  I used upholstery weight fabrics that were much too heavy for a beginner.  I struggled especially at the corners trying to get through multiple layers while stitching by hand.

• Mistake #2:  I used too big of a needle to make my temporary stitches through the pieces and paper (because of the heavy weight fabric, I used a bigger needle not realizing the consequences).  It left noticeable holes after the temporary stitching was pulled out.

In any case, Hanna has been a big creative encouragement in my life here.  I wished she lived in Germany!  But who knows...?  Maybe she will be in Deutschland someday and my dream encounter will come true!!

Visit Hanna's etsy shop for her cool collage packs here, or read about her collage pack giveaway here!  Not to mention, if any of you are dying to buy me a Christmas present, please get me one of her awesome notebooks !!

Mens in Uitvoering

My friend Guus Stoop is embarking on a new life adventure.  After 27 years contributing to the advancement of human life as a research and development scientist for heart pacemakers, he's stepping out into the world on his own two feet.  His new business; Mens In Uitvoering.

Years ago when we first met, I remember teasing him how great it was that he could make a failing heart function again but that it would be better if he could figure out how to fix a broken heart.

It would change the world!

This man with "about" 25 patents went back to school and graduated this spring with a psychology degree.  (Guus doesn't know exactly how many patents he has or contributed to.  I guess after a couple dozen a guy just loses track).  Anyway, now he's ready.  Ready to bring the physical and emotional together. 

His deep interest: Ubuntu philosophy.  His motto, a quote from Baruch Shalem, "There's nothing wrong with you that what's right wtih you can't fix."  

For his scientific retirement gift, I intuitively created a set of 36 power-word shrines. I know he will know what to do with them.