A Painting in Progress - Cricket and Angels.

Hello Everybody,


It's been a quiet few days here in the Moseltal, which is why I haven't written much in the Blog Department. No Hailstones, No Drumming Parties, No Birthdays. But today the sun was shining and we had a glass of wine this evening. There's a 'weinstube' just up and along the road from us - the owner is a wine-grower and has a 'wine cellar' that he opens up for half the week in the evening in the summer months. For some reason, there always seems to be a very talkative or a very intellectual clientele, which counts me out anyhow. But the wine is good and the tables are very rustic.


We went for a stroll around the village before our wine and walked up a street we had never walked up before (not sure how that happened).... Found this '3D mural' - and alongside it are a row of heads peering through the wall. I thought this Angel was the sweetest.....

On our way back up to the Weinstube, we said hello to a pair of wonderful rabbits who live in a hutch and a run, just off the little village road. One is big and black with huge ears and the other one is small and creamy and very furry. But they're both gorgeous of course.

Got quite a bit of painting done these past few days. I did a lot of work on the sky - first I put in the two blues, then, with the help of my trusty 'Stay-Wet' palette, I blended the two colours together, to give more of a cloudy look.

My trusty 'Stay-Wet' palette is a great help, as you can mix up a colour or two and know that it will still be usuable the following day (this is for acrylic paint). I thought about buying one of these palettes, but then I looked up on the good ol' internet and found out how to make one myself. You need: a container with a lid. Some thick paper, such as a spare bit of watercolour paper and some greaseproof paper, the kind you use for cooking. So you just cut the watercolour paper to fit the bottom of the container (make a template from card and it also saves time for the greaseproof paper) - then cut the same shape with the greaseproof paper. Then soak the watercolour paper with water, stick the greaseproof on top and use it as a palette whenever you're ready - just put the lid on top to keep everything damp when you're done. The paint you mix up will last for a while - if it's hot, lift up the greaseproof and wet the watercolour paper again - I use a cooked-chicken plastic container we bought from Dunnes Stores - not only have I got a good palette, we also had a tasty chicken for lunch...

So I just put a bit of fresh colour over the clouds and the sky, then got a clean brush with water and mixed the two blues together.

I did the castle today. I like castles.

While all this was going on, H was busy writing - he was also listening to the Middlesex - Leicestershire Cricket Match. he sent them an e-mail and they read it out on air - how H is writing a novel about St. Fridolin in Eller and his wife is busy painting and how cheap the wine is etc. He got Ediger-Eller on the airwaves anyhow!

So, Tschüss!

A Painting in Progress -

Hello Everybody,


Another rainy day - we went for a spin in the ol' Chevy, up, out of the valley and onto the plateau above. Even though the weather wasn't great, you could still see a long way - it was good to see a lot of sky - it's our personal Montana up there....


Got a lot of painting done today, while H was working away with his writing - getting the 'white' bits of the fur sorted out and building up more detail in the face.

I also decided to add the necklace as well, to give a bit of extra colour and also to echo the shape of Wilbur's face. I bought this necklace in a street market in Ediger, because the blue glass reminded me of a marble I used to have when I was a little girl.

We enjoyed the African Drumming / House Warming party last night, even though we weren't able to stay for very long. The drumming (and the singing) was very good - and so were the olives in pastry (I didn't have anywhere near enough). And as we left in the rain  and walked across to where the Chevy was parked, we could still hear the African Drums beating out across the Moselle Valley....

Tschüss!

A Painting in Progress - Stormy Weather

Hello Everybody,


It's been a muggy, humid, airless kind of a day - the cats were lounging about in the garden and the washing got dry (except for the red hoodie - no it's not mine) - but it wasn't nice weather at all. Then this afternoon, the big dark storm clouds started to gather around the Calmont slopes, the thunder started to rumble continuously for about five minutes and a huge storm blew down the valley. It absolutley chucked it down - you could see the rain coming down in sheets - then it started to hailstone.... Some of the hailstones were about half an inch across and were bouncing about all over the place. H reminded me of the time were in Andorra many years ago and there was a huge hailstorm. We picked up the hailstones and used them to cool our Gin & Tonics.
No such luck today.
Here's a photo of how dark it was - and the same view on a sunnier day....

The 'hill' behind the houses, is actually the other side of the river valley, but you can see how stormy it was.

Working away with my painting - did a lot of the ears and Wilbur's pretty little pink nose today. I realised that I'd drawn the nose too big, after I started to paint it, so I had to tweek it about a bit and make some changes....

The last fluffy bits on the ears, I'll add after the sky's finished.

Which reminds me to post the update on Frankie's ears - they're still improving, but he put up a mighty struggle when we tried to give him his medicine. He was so cross that he refused to drink his special coffee milk.....

Off to a House-Warming and African Drum Party this evening (in the same place).

Tschüss!

A Painting in Progress - Birthdays and Mirabelles...

Hello Everybody,


Did'ya ever have one of those mornings, where you woke up and thought...
'How am I ever going to get through today?'
No, me neither.


H's Birthday ended on a high note, with good food, plenty of wine, very good company and a very nice brandy.

We were the last to leave, but it didn't matter, you only have a birthday once a year after all - for which we can all be thankful for anyway. Birthdays here in Ediger-Eller, are very important - on our way back home from the meal last night, we were fiddling with the key in the front-door lock...

'Ye didn't drop it again did ye....'

When we saw that a present had been left on the front door step - a bowl of local fruit, just ripening now, and a bottle of Herb Likör. There were mirabelles and they were Divine (sorry Darlings, but there's no other word....) and the likör was good too. It's meant to be drunk after eating a big meal, so tied in very well with the evening.

And this afternoon, as we walked up the steps to the front-door, there was a basket of peaches and jars of preserves and jams, along with a nice card....

So how's the painting going in between the Birthday? 

I'm.... finding out me fine brush,

Startin' on the white fur,

Paintin' in the tail,

The fur takes ages to do, so the changes will only be small over the next few days, even though there's a lot of time involved....

Update on Frankie's Ears.

Better than they were.

We got through Today.

Tschüss!!

A Painting in Progress - We're All Going to The Vets this Morning..

Hello Everybody,
What a Good Start to a new week.
Frankie, our cat - wild, old, blue eyes and white fur - has Bad Ears. This is not good news for anybody at all (especially our Vet). Frankie always errs on the grumpy side when he's in the Best of Health, so when the time cometh for the trip the The Vet, he is not a mild-mannered puss at all. He has a bit of a spit when he's put into his Box, then he sits in silence in the back of the ol' Chevy, saving up all his energy for the onslaught ahead.
'Oh, Frankie?' our Vet pokes his head around his surgery door, then goes for reinforcements with leather gloves. 
Frankie behaves admirably of course.
First he won't come out of his Box. After all the trouble we had trying to get him into it.
Then he snarls and hisses and spits and struggles and fights as his ears are sorted out.
'This stuff should make him better, put it in his ears once a day.
And hopefully you won't have to bring him back...'
So here is a picture of Frank from his best days, when he had Good Ears and a big white face...

See, he was handsome...

So what with all the running around, I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to do me painting, but hopefully I'll catch up a bit tomorrow. Time passes so quickly here....

But I've got a bit done anyhow,

I've sketched in the shadows and started the detailed work on Wilbur's fluffy fur - and since it's a Halloweeney Picture, I've put a celtic pattern in the fur on his head. I like doing the fur and all the detail, bringing everything together. Hope that I have some extra time tomorrow, even though tomorrow is a busy day - it's H's Birthday (Happy Birthday!)

We'll hope that the sun shines. It did today anyway.

Till Tomorrow.

And - Hello Ben!

Tschüss.

A Painting in Progress - All Kinds of Everything

Hello Everybody,


Sweet Sunday, hope that you had a good one. Siegfried (he of BierWagen Fame) told me that there was a huge Regenbogen - a Rainbow - over the valley this morning at 7 this morning. 7 in the morning is the middle of the night to meself these days (though it didn't used to be...) so I missed it. I could have been there with me camera taking photos to put on Flickr, when I get it set up (next week, next week...), but I was asleep with a cat or two paralysing the poor ol' legs - and when I did wake up - it was dark and stormy - I worried for 20 seconds about the Bild Am Sonntag on the front doorstep, then went back to sleep. 
But the dark weather didn't last, even though I thought it would, and out came the Sun -and out went we to Siegfried's (aforementioned) BierWagen for ein kleine und ein grosse Bier.
I learnt from our Neighbour a while back, that you aren't supposed to do any HouseWork here on Sundays. No Washing (of clothes), No 'oovering, No cleaning Winders.... 


I think that this is a Great Idea.


But I did a lot of painting - I would have liked to have done a bit more, but Time run out on me today - so I won't post the piccie until tomorrow. 


But for all you Wilbur Fans out there, here's a photo of him asking me for one of those cat stick treats I was mentioning the other night. If I'm in my studio and he's watching me and sees me head towards the kitchen (where the treats are...) to make meself a cup of coffee or to get a bit of secret chocolate without H knowing (he will now)....Wilbur will tear along the tiled hallway, then slam the brakes on with his furry paws just before the front door - but as he hasn't really figured out the Shortest Stopping Distance, he'll crash into the door (no damage at all) then do a rebound to the Cupboard Where The CatSticks Are Kept. Then he'll go mad with the paws up and down on the cupboard door until I root out the Sticks under the casserole dish and break off a small piece for him.
They must taste SO GOOD because once I'm in the kitchen, he'll have the first piece of stick for being there, the second bit for putting the water in the kettle, the third for finding a mug, the fourth for finding the coffee, and so on and so forth....
And when I look into that lovely face....

I just cain't say no!

Tchüss - Schöne Abend Noch...

A Painting in Progress - Birthdays and BierWagens

Hello Everybody,


When I looked out of the bedroom window this morning, there was mist all along the River.
'It'll be too hot to go outside today,' said I.
'No it won't,' said H.
We went for a spin into Ediger for a small bit of shopping, then called into Siegfried's BierWagen on the way back.
'We'll call in for a Bier later on this afternoon since it's so hot' said H
But we went back anyway - during the long, cold winter, we often dreamed of the BierWagen - and here it is...... We watched a group of about 20 Mustang cars driving past along the Mosel. What a nice day for a convertible... (in this heat...)
H enjoyed his Bitburger anyhow.... (nice and cool in this weather)

It's an idyllic spot (especially when the sun shines).

I was going to take me paints out into the garden this afternoon and paint from there - but the thermometer went off the scale at about 52 degrees in direct sun (no Bees have booked a hole in the Ediger-Eller Hilton yet - all mod-cons, room-service pollen, en-suite facilities and no check-out until next April) - so back to me little studio, but the washing got dry and the cats decided that fur coats or no fur coats, they were going to stay outside. (Even though it was baking....)

But I worked away at my painting anyhow, working out the texture for the sky, deciding where the light sources are going to be.... I think that the light of the silvery moon, the light from the castle and the light coming from where Wilbur is looking to, will be enough to be staring with. I drew in a bit more detail for the castle, then thought, if I'm drawing the castle from this angle, it's from the other side of the River, so perhaps I should put the River in as well. Putting more and more in as I think of it - that's what's so good about acrylics. Someone told me once that if you worked in acrylics and spilled a cup of coffee over your work, it wouldn't matter, you could just wipe it off..... Red wine would probably give a nice spatial depth.... What a waste though when Alizarin Crimson would do the job as good as.... but I've just checked the spelling on the good ol' internet, and what an interesting colour Alizarin Crimson is....

Anyway, this is what I've painted today....(in between wiping the sweat from me furrowed brow)

I'm enjoying sorting out the detail and the different colours in the sky....

Many thanks Sandrine, for the Cat Treats.

And Happy Birthday Trev.

Tschüss!

A Painting in Progress - Bee Hotels and Cat Sticks

Hello Everybody,


When we were walking back from Theisen's last night along by the River, there were flashes of lightning over the Eifel - we didn't hear any thunder, but H pointed out that as light travels at 186,000 miles per second or thereabouts and sound only travels at 1,100 feet per second thereabouts that it wasn't really that surprising. It must have stayed with us though, even though it didn't feel stormy, 'cause it fair chucked it down this morning - thunder, dark skies - for about half an hour - then there were blue skies and tweety birdies all round and I hung me washing out.
Got some painting done as well.... Here are the sketches I did of some vine leaves and the scrolly door down the road. There's also a little 'live' sketch of Wilbur. He was watching me as I drew the vine leaves - then got bored and went into a mini trance - but everything he does is so photogenic......

After I'd traced my sketches at the right size for the painting, I transferred them onto the board - I started with the ironwork.....

.....then the vine leaves - now that the painting is starting to come together, it's time to add the detail. Tomorrow.......

Our great neighbour Rudi brought us a Bee Hotel this afternoon to hang up in our garden. H had seen Rudi making Bee Hotels in his workshop, but wasn't quite sure what they were for.... but the vintners around here hang them up around the vineyards to attract the bees. We had quite a few bees around the garden, earlier this year and they were busy digging out the mortar between the bricks like a Jack Russell down a rabbit hole, so this will save on the walls anyhow. But we're looking forward to seeing how many bees will be checking in.....

The wire mesh is to stop the birds from having an early lunch. So many thanks Rudi, and also Vielen Danke to whoever put 6 cat-stick treats through our letterbox when we were out for our walk this evening...

Here's to you.....

Tschüss!

A Painting in Progress - Paints not Saints Today

Hello Everybody,
There were no Saint's Festivals in Ediger-Eller today, so we were thankful to them for that anyhow. 
Got a lot more of my painting done since then - I made some adjustments to the composition and have been collecting a few details of leaves and ironwork. There's a great set of doors down the road, which has a lot of scrolly, curly design on it which is just what I'm looking for - I'll post that tomorrow when I'm a bit more ahead with it.
When I last said anything about painting - seems ages ago now and this is a painting blog, - I was tracing the design out and beginning to draw it in on the board (this is a new brand of acrylic board for me and so far it seems O.K....)

Here's the painting after I went over the traced lines - and the first bit of paint! Like I said, if the eyes don't work, nothing works, so I always do them first.

Then, since it was a nice day and I was happy to be painting, I started to fill in the background as well - just big chunks of colour to begin with - and now I'm ready, nearly, to start putting in some of the scrolly borders and a bit of plantlife. Then the detail....

The weather is gorgeous here today after some miserable grey weather earlier this month. Glad I hung me washing out anyway. We're off in a few minutes to meet a friend of ours at Thiesen's WeinStube. What's that? I swore I'd never drink again. Well, you know as well as me that you can't believe everything you read on the internet.

You hafta laugh though. 

Don't you...?

A Painting in Progress - St RochusFest in Ediger-Eller

Hello Everybody,


Yesterday was the Feast Day of St. Rochus and since there is a chapel dedicated to him here in Eller, it was time for celebrations all round. 
St Rochus is the Patron Saint of Dogs (sorry Wilbur) and the Plague - He was helping sick people during a Plague and eventually caught it himself. He went off to die, but was saved by a dog who used to bring him food - so that 's where the connection is. There's a bit about his story on the good ol' internet if you should be interested in a few more of the details.

Here's a photo of the chapel, it's only small, but it's very peaceful and cool inside. As you turn to go through the door, there's a lovely view of some stone steps leading into a garden and a vineyard, with the Calmont behind it - I'll have to find/take a picture of that view too.

The chapel again, with the church of St Hilarius. There was a service in this church yesterday evening, before the party started. The inside of this church is very decorative and it looked lovely with all the flowers and smelt of incense - the singers were good too. There was a particularly tuneful German song which I don't know, but there was also a rendition of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallaluja' (in English) and also, a little bit later of the old song 'Let My People Go' (also in English)....

And after we had indeed all been let go, there was a rush outside to the sunshine and the tables and chairs under yellow and white awnings. All the food and wine had been donated and all the proceeds are to go for the restoration of the church. The food was good and the wine was good (2008 was a good year I think...) and we stayed there for almost 5 hours.....................

There were also bunches of herbs to buy, which you hang up to dry in your house (by the front door is best) and this should protect you from ill health for a whole year. We hung ours up from a hook in the ceiling this afternoon - 'Mind you don't fall off the ladder' said meself to H. 

Anyhow we ended our evening with a quiet moment in a bit of an alcoholic haze, in the chapel itself.

This morning, I swore I'd never drink again.

'So how's the painting getting on?' I hear you ask. Don't I? Well, I managed to do quite a bit yesterday, but you're going to have to take my word for it!

Tschuss! 

H tells me there should be an umlaut on the 'u' but I haven't got the hang of that yet.

  

A Painting in Progress - Stohlgang & Hazelnuts

Hello Everybody,


Couldn't find out anything about the history of the Stohlgang, except that it involves drinking and chairs - so I'll have to leave that one until I'm a bit wiser....
The weather was much better for the Fest today anyway - you wouldn't want to be sitting outside somebody's front door, in the pouring rain, in your favourite deckchair, schnapps or no schnapps.... That's for sure.
We spent a sunny half an hour by Siegfried's BierWagen instead with a cold glass of Bitburger - we watched Frau D collecting something from a nearby tree - which turned out to be hazelnuts. She gave us a few which I put into my pocket, then when we left we had a look ourselves and picked up a few more. There are lots of walnut trees here, but this is the first time we have noticed the hazelnut tree.
Back at the house, Wilbur (the fluffy star of my latest painting) had a good old sniff - Wilburs and hazelnuts.....

Ahhhhhh - I figured out that spacing from the centre out!

Anyhow after the collision of worlds which are Wilbur and Hazelnuts, I got working on my new painting again.... I printed out the layout on a clear film, flipped it over, went over the lines with a 6B pencil, flipped it back then taped it to a lovely brand new acrylic board and traced it out....

Just the important lines, because the great thing with acrylic paints is that you can paint over them Again and Again - I'm keen now to get some painting started, but the finer detail can be added much later - you don't have to think of everything all at once which can be helpful at times. So tomorrow I should be ready to get out my paints, find out my brushes (I got some new ones a short time back) and start putting in a bit of colour.....

Till then,

Tschuss.

A Painting in Progress - Heimat & Weinfest

Hello Again Everybody,


We didn't get to Trier yesterday - the weather wasn't that great - so we went shopping up in Globus instead. When we lived in Ireland and we used to come here by car, we loved Globus, but now we're living here it's just a shop (a big one though)...... This huge shopping complex along with Lidl and Aldi and the Place Where We Buy Catfood, has been built up on one of the huge meanders of this old river. The great thing is, is that from a lot of angles, you would never know that  all these shops were up there at all. The land between the meanders is so high because the river has cut so deep, that looking up from the riverbank you would never guess of the treasure trove of shopping stuff up there just waiting to be discovered......
Well it zapped all my creativity yesterday anyway.


This weekend in Ediger-Eller, is the Heimat & Weinfest Festival. And the weather's been really bad - it's not cold, but it's been raining and cloudy and dull. It's such a shame because a lot of people have put a lot of work into this Festival. There are wine stalls for people to taste the lovely Mosel wine, the fountain by the Tourist Information has been converted into a Bar - there are also stalls and food places and a kiddie carousel - and it's been raining and raining..... If the sun was shining there would be hundreds of people here - I hope that it clears up this evening (it's looking a bit better as I write this)...And there is still all day tomorrow...... It's some kind of Chair Festival (a Stolgang I think it is), but I'll find out a bit about it first before I start going on about it.


Anyhow, I'm sorting out the layout of my Halloween picture - Here's a couple of pictures to show how I've started this painting - but these are my first pictures on this blog so if they come out a bit too small, too big or a bit crooked, you know that I'm only making it all up as I go along.
Of course everything starts as an idea - so I got together a couple of photos as a reference and then started to fit them into what was already in my head. I'll put the first picture in here and see what happens....

Well, that seems to have worked O.K. except that the lettering is now typing from the centre out, but I suppose you can't have everything....

Anyway, this 'Graphic' ( I knew an artist in Ireland who would use this as a bad word) shows the photo I decided to use as a starting point plus my first layout with a little photo of Cochem Reichsberg (that's castle to ye and me) which I want to put in the background. The other photos are a reference for eyes and fur patterns - you have to get the eyes right or nothing else works.

So here are my layouts - experimenting with the height of the hillside behind Wilbur, then thinking that the size of the picture itself would be better for being a bit taller, then changing the shape of his lovely fluffy face (remember this is a Halloween picture) then getting the eyes right.....I'll probably start sketching this out on the painting board this evening - just rough for now, because I'll want to sleep on the eyes and see the whole thing fresh tomorrow. A good way to see if the composition is right is to look at it in a mirror, or to scan it into your computer and flip it over. If it looks good the 'wrong way around' then it looks good.

I use my trusty computer (we're THIS close) for all my design work, so it's great to use it for my paintings as well - it's a great help for getting the size right and changing the composition without having to keep tracing everything out (though I have over a dozen print-outs at this stage already). It's also good, once I've finally decided on the composition I like best, to print it out on vellum (or some kind of see through 'paper' (I had the urge to use substrate there but I didn't, seeing that I can't even centre this up.) Then I can use the old fashioned pencil to rub over the back of the print-out, then transfer to the acrylic board by tracing over the important lines the right way around. That's for tomorrow anyway.

H. has just announced that Dinner Is Served, so I best be off. Lamb (which doesn't taste much like lamb to me), lovely local spuds, a bit of veg (from before-mentioned Globus) and a bottle of Theisen's Zehnthofschoppen Feinherb. One of the best wines in town. 

And the sun's come out.

Cheers!

A Painting in Progress

Hello Everybody,


Welcome to my brand-new first-ever Blog. Since I've only just moved in this afternoon you'll have to forgive the place being a bit bare. I've got some bits and pieces that I have to unpack and I think I'll have to put up a bit of new wallpaper as well - now don't get me wrong, this is a great template with the birds and all, but I like to have my own things around me when I'm working.
Let me just tell you a little about what this blog is going to be about - I'm an artist living in the lovely Moselle/Mosel Valley in Germany, so I want to tell what it's like to live here and I also want to show you the work I do. Sometimes it's connected with here - sometimes it isn't. You have to be flexible after all.
My new painting is a kind of Halloween picture (see I told you so) - but the cat who's going to be the Star Subject is my Fluffy Wilbur (you can see the Halloween connection there straight away) and the castle in the background will be the lovely Reichsberg in Cochem - so there you go.
If my moving in goes smoothly enough, I should have the beginnings up tomorrow - that's if H (short for Husband) decides whether or not we'll go to Trier. I'm not going if it's raining that's for sure - we went there last Saturday so I could buy some shoes (hah!) and it chucked it down so hard we had to sit under a big MacDonald's umbrella for ages - it was my first Big Mac for years and years and they still taste exactly the same as I remember....
But I digress (is that how you spell it?) - I must just see if I can link this to my website, then I've got a bit of unpacking to do.... Now where did I put that step ladder....