I am reminded of the sparse, yet spectacular red poopies that are sprinkled along the roads and farm paths in Germany.
Tag: Germany
Welcome Autumn, Germany
Golden colors and crisp temperatures make for perfect walking weather, so I took myself outside this morning for a walk. Not a soul on the trail up to the castle, at least not any living ones, unless one counts the goats that had broken through their fence!
An impressive church hidden in a small community
St. Sebastian Church in Rockenhausen, Germany. It’s about 30km north of Kaiserslautern. The church is imposing on the outside and impressive on the inside, very well kept, and the pastel hues of the sun coming through the square glass window panes is amazing.
Watercolor and Ink, 7x5in (18x13cm)
Reframing a day job
I was about to complain that my day job is interfering with my painting schedule. It’s pretty hectic this week. But then I thought … Hey, wait a minute, my day job enables me to live in Germany, travel around Europe, and paint in great locations. It’s better than many alternatives, so I am happy. ((insert smiley face here))
So I sketched St Sebastian church yesterday. I was going to watercolor it on the spot, but had an ice cream emergency. I was going to paint it today, but just couldn’t get to it. My sketch is below, still in my watercolor sketchbook. I’ll finish it tomorrow. ((insert rolling eyes face here))
How artist’s decide what to paint
A day in the life…
Watercolors today. A painting friend and I set out today to “paint outside”, flowers. The day was a mix of sun, heavy clouds, and wind. Not conducive to painting outdoors. I’m not a fan of painting in the wind. First stop however, was to photograph a view of the city of Leithof. I am thinking about doing a “building” series. I might have been persuaded to paint, but the wind …
On to flowers. We stopped and photographed some roadside wildflowers, but my friend knew of a farmer who has a small plot of ground planted with sunflowers and gladiolas. The sunflowers were wonderful. You can pick what you want and put money in a little lock box. We just wanted to paint, but the sunflowers were pointing the wrong way; no where to comfortably paint, and I wasn’t insipred to paint gladiolas, in the wind. Then we went to a cemetery in the country, hoping to find wildflowers along the stone fence. Nothing. Then we went to the town of Rockenhausen. We didn’t find flowers, but we found this wonderful church (see pic below). My friend sighed. It was impressive, but it wasn’t a flower. We drew the church, and then finally, in a moment of artistic satisfaction, we had ice cream.
St Sebastian Church, Rockenhausen (built 1915)
Me holding a white piece of paper and a pencil
Falkenstein Castle, Germany
Too many castles, so little time. Falkenstein was a fair-sized castle in it’s day. I caught it as the late afternoon sun was coming through the big windows.
This castle is in the German State of Rhineland-Palatinate and should not be confused with the other seven Falkenstein Castles in Germany, nor the other six Falkenstein Castles in surrounding countries! It doesn’t even make the Wikipedia list of Falkenstein Castles. Either those old-time Falkensteins got around, or they weren’t very adept at thinking up new names.
Regardless, it’s a cool place to visit because it’s free, has great views of the surrounding valley, you can drive to it, and there is a restaurant right next door (weekends only).
Rapeseed Plant (Brassica napus)
A beautiful, bright yellow plant with lots of pollen. Seeds from the Rapeseed Plant are crushed to make vegetable oil (e.g., Canola Oil).
Bad Durkheim – Winter Garb
No drawing today.
