My opening at Visione was fantastic. Friends, co-workers, and friends of friends enjoyed art, champagne, great food, and wonderful company. We finally wrapped up about 11pm. I think everyone made it home without incident, except for one person, who shall remain anonymous, who received a parking ticket!  🙂
To see the virtual show, click the Exhibition link on the right.
The owner wants me to put up more work – it’s being printed as I write this and I’ll put it up as soon as I get it (probably about 10 days or so depending on mail speed). I am also printing a limited set of postcards with the Ramstein Village image on them. Send me an email if you you want one and are out of the area.
It’s late Fall in Germany and I wanted to capture a bit of the coor that is left in the trees so I took a few minutes and I went exporing today. I found this farm a little ways north of Kaiserslautern. Conveniently, there was parking nearby so it was a short walk to the field where I stood to draw this. Good scenes = next to parking lots. Great scenes = next to parking lots and a place to sit. 🙂
1. Â Download this image to your ipad and open it like you open a photo.
2. Â Sit in a public place that has people walking by.
3. Â Pretend like you are drawing the picture.
It works for me. At least a lot of people look at me when I draw in public.
Lots of people walked by as I was drawing this view of St. Martin’s Square this afternoon. I looked cool didn’t I? Darn, I knew I should have put on the shoes that matched my outfit. I don’t know about looking cool, but I have sure met many people this way. I like it when a brave soul walks up and says hello.
Today was chilly and sunny, a nice Fall day. The place in the drawing is St. Martin’s Square (Platz in German). Here is what the city says about it on their website: “The pretty “Martinsplatz” is the gateway to the old city. It is one of the loveliest open spaces in the City of Kaiserslautern.”  I won’t disagree. A few cafes ring the square, and one of the buildings is the former Hotel Zum Donnersberg, where Napoleon once ate breakfast. Hey, the United States has George Washington, Western Europe has Napolean. The reddish block building in the center is St. Martin’s Catholic Church. St. Martin Cafe is the blue blue building on the left. Trees are chestnuts.
I’m finally back in the drawing and painting mode.
Saturday was a beautiful day so I hiked to Frankenstein Castle. It’s an easy, but all uphill walk to the castle (burg in German). It’s worth the walk. There are not many 12th century castles one can walk around, on, and into without a guide or admission. There are two trailheads, but I have only explored one so far, the main one by the church in the center of town (see my photo in the previous post). The painting is the view you see as the main trail comes upon the castle.
First view of Castle Frankenstein from the trail (watercolor & pen, 7x5in.)
To get there if you are in the area:  There is a small parking lot on the main road (hauptstrasse) through the town of Frankenstein. It’s by the church at the base of the castle hill. It’s easy to miss if you drive into town from Kaiserslautern. If you reach the end of the town, just turn around, drive back, and you will see it.  There is limited street parking across the street, too. Parking is free. Do not drive under the train tracks. It’s a dead end and parking there is for residents only.
The trail more or less begins at the parking lot. You walk on the road under the train tracks and continue straight ahead. Walk between the big church, on the right, and the little church and cemetary, on the left. There is a small arrow-shaped sign on the foundation wall on the right that says “Zum burg” (to castle). The big church has a small, cool cemetary above the trail/road. There are a few old and very weathered gravemarkers and a memorial monument to the Frankenstein men who died in World War I. There were quite a few names considering that Frankenstein is a very small town, even today. There is a goat farm behind the big church. It’s fence comes close to the trail in a few places, and it’s electric!
Once you get past the cemetary on the left, the road ends and the castle trail turns left. There is a sign at the turn that says “Bitte nicht fĂĽttern die Ziegen” (Please do not feed the goats). Â For the next 200meters there are signs, in German, in front of most of the trees and shrubs, The signs give the common name, latin name, and a brief description of the plant. It’s a nice touch. There is also a large sign that shows a map of the trail. The trail is wide, clear, and easily followed. I walked slowly, stopped, and still made it to the castle in about 10 minutes.
