Germany – Page 3 – Michael Liebhaber

Posted on September 15, 2012September 15, 2012 by — Leave a comment

Charming old chapel torn in half.

This little church in Landstuhl, Germany has seen better days, at least architecturally. I’ve walked around it before, trying to get a good angle. Around and around. This is the best view. The problem is that the nave of the church was torn down because it was in unrepairable shambles. But the church is so small that the nave was about half of the church. It is still pretty from this angle and it’s interior is charming.

The “renovation” was done relatively recently, some time in the 1800s. That’s recent considering the church was built about 1300 and that there are records of graves in the church yard, from a previous wooden church, at least a couple of hundred years before that!

Alten Kapelle, 5×7″, ink and pencil on paper.

Posted on September 14, 2012September 14, 2012 by — Leave a comment

Old Town, New Project

I took a walk around the old part of Landstuhl Germany yesterday. I noticed that it’s full of old buildings and other old stuff. Some of the old stuff was older than the buildings. For example, the remains of a Roman grave is from about the year 100, which is way older than the Old Chapel (Alten Kapelle). It was built about 1300. By comparison, St. Andreas Church is much newer. It was built in 1752.

I got some nice ideas for paintings. So I guess I have started another project: Old Landstuhl.

Posted on September 5, 2012September 5, 2012 by — Leave a comment

My travels in the past 2 weeks have taken me to Brussles, Belgium for some great beer and to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany for a dose of the Bavarian Alps. If you want to see a quintessential, southern German town, free from tourist trinkets, then Partenkirchen is your place.

Gasthof Frauendorfer. I recommend staying at, or at least eating at, Gasthof Fraundorfer. Warning, you will need reservations after 6-7pm.

Dinner

Shopping, a typical male bonding activity

View from the golf course

Posted on August 15, 2012August 15, 2012 by — Leave a comment

My Paintings are for Rent! 

I have 4 travel sketches at the Landstuhl Public Library. It’s part of their Artothek program. Artwork can be checked out, just like books, but there is a fee and some other restrictions. I like the program because it’s a way to get original artwork into more people’s homes, even if only for a short time.

Sorry to my friends living elsewhere. We’ll have to create an Artothek-like program where you are living!

My page:
http://www.artothek.landstuhl.de/projekt01/index.php?idcatside=2252

Landstuhl Public Library Artothek Program:
Hauptstrasse 3a
66849 Landstuhl, DE
in the Bürgerhaus [Community Center]
http://www.artothek.landstuhl.de/projekt01/

Posted on August 3, 2012August 3, 2012 by — Leave a comment

Did you ever overlook the obvious?

Car repair. I almost blew my lid, literaly. The roof latch mechanism on my convertible is giving me problems. It won’t stay latched. But I’m a smart guy, I can figure it out, it’s just a simple clamp. How difficult can it be?

Fortunately, the weather has been good, so I’ve driving with my top down. But the rain in southern Germany won’t stay away for long, so when I got home today I decided to fiddle with the mechanism. The right (broken) one seemed to work the same as the left one, and there were no screws on the mechanism to adjust or that were obviously loose. Hmmm.

Puzzled, I sat in the car with the roof closed and, for lack of anything else to do, I tried to wiggle each mechanism. The broken side had a barely noticeable wiggle, but the unbroken side was solid as a rock! I opened the roof and saw that the 3 big screws that fixed the good left-side mechanism to the roof were tight. Then I looked at the broken side and … there were only 2 screws! One screw was entirely missing.

Once I noticed the missing screw, the problem was obvious. I must have missed it because I was focused on the latch mechanism and not on how the latch was attached to the roof.

Another problem solved by dumb luck. This is a good example of what psychologists call mindset or framing.

Posted on August 1, 2012August 2, 2012 by — Leave a comment

Today’s castle – Burg Nanstein

I set out to draw Nanstein Castle in Landstuhl, Germany today. It seems like all I paint these days are churches and castles. Don’t ask me why. According to what I read, most of the castle residents were less than reputible folks and the “kights in shining armour” were their enforcers.

But luck was with me today… I got a set in the shade for the first drawing; it was a very sunny day. The second view came from my seat at the little cafe in front of the castle, where I was eating lunch. It was quite a good lunch, too. They served traditional German food.