Yesterday ...

I sold two pictures. The byer viewed all my art, asked about the prices etc. pp. She loved the Merman in the green robe really much, because it´s such a handsome man ... ;-) Maybe one day she´ll buy that one, too.
Then she said: Well, I´ll take that and that. She pointed at a bigger one and ... at my Hieronymus. You can see a part of him on my about-me-picture. I never, ever wanted to sell that one, but yesterday I decided to let it hang and not to take it into my bedroom, where no potential buyer could see it. Maybe it was time for him to go. I´m really sad, but sold it for a really good price, of course (that was no hindrance for the buyer).
Now I have a nice amount of money and my beloved Hieronymus only as postcards and a print *sniff*

I could use some more of these kind of buyers. They know, what they want and are willing to expend the money without asking: Do I get a discount when I buy two pictures?

*takes a last long look at Hieronymus*

next picture

Ich-Universum
oil and egg tempera on stretched canvas (linen)
54 x 35 cm

Some kind of self-centered universe. Almost everyone lives in a comfort zone, where it is cosy, everything well known etc. It´s difficult to leave this zone, because no one knows what to expect. This is like a foreign country with a language you don´t speak. But like someone in this zone sees the things in his own way, so do other people in their self-centered universes as well. It´s an easy way to put other people in some kind of drawers, because "you know everything about him or her, you know what they fancy, what they´re doing, what they´re dreaming". But other people see you the same way. Bad, huh?
So this zone is like a little kingdom with a curtain to shut out the world, but in reality it´s nothing more than a cardbox, that looks a little bit like a puppet theatre.

between two vernissages

Wasserreich
oil and egg tempera on stretched canvas (linen)
115 x 90 cm

One vernissage is over, the next one is tomorrow. In between I found some time to end a picture, that I ended one and a half year ago. It was important for me to change some things in it, especially the king. He´s one of the mermans that came into my life last year, even I haven´t seen it the first time ;-)
The original robe was white and very boring, so even the king looked pale and impatient. Now it´s rich with little fish tails (can I say a fish has a tail?) instead of ermine. The crown is much bigger, too, and even he looks still impatient (that´s characteristic of mermans) he looks much more better.
The title I can´t translate. I don´t know an exact word for it. Wasserreich has two meanings. On one side you think of an empire under water, on the other side it can mean an area that´s not arid. I haven´t found a word for that.

working in another genre

Last year in China I´ve worked in the studios of the painters with chinese ink. That was something new for me. First I was a little bit ... clumsy, but in the end it was a lot of fun to paint with it. Unfortunately the pictures are in China in the studios.
One of the paintes gave me 5 kg of finest 10 years old rice paper from Hongkong. It´s strong and has a really good structure, a little bit rough and you can even paint aggressiv without destroying it ;-)
Today I´ve decided to try it again. I´ve only had black ink, so I´ve took my old watercolors (I normally hate watercolors) to give it more life (I´ve painted with red, of course, love that color). It was a lot of fun again, even I did miss the beautiful ink colors ...
To take a photo was a pain in the a..

O.T. (without title)
chinese ink and watercolors on chinese rice paper
ca. 70 x 135 cm

Melodie

Melodie E. J.
egg tempera and oil on canvas (linen)
70 x 45 cm

That´s another good friend. She´s an artist, too, and originally she´s born in the USA, her mother is from the UK and she´s grown up in the Caribbean (the Dutch part). Now she lives not far from me, but unfortunately she decided to go to the UK. But hey, so I have a place to stay.


And today I´ve received a small parcel. Hmmmm, I´ll not open it before one minute after midnight. It´s not easy. It looks so interesting. Thanks Drachenfrau! *hugs*

these and that

Today I´ve varnished some of my pictures. It´s about time, they´re dry now and I want some protection. And because I was to lazy to do that the last weeks, I have to varnish 11 more. Mph. I´ll do that the next days.

And at the moment there´s a little exhibition of our club. Now my picture "Submerged" is insured with 4000,00 €! My, my. A good friend of mine, A., had that idea, because her father was a well known artist in East Germany. And he told his daughter this amount insured for the exhibition, he said, if something happens he has good money. And because A. loves my pictures and means, they´re similar to her father´s, she decided to specify that amount insured for my picture, too.
She told me that last week. She had a little trouble about it with the director of that institution, but she says that´s normal if you want to show professional art.
OK, I don´t know what to say about it. It´s really nice, of course, that she values my art that high. If it would show the next time on my bank account ... ;-)
I guess that director now looks with horror to my exhibition in september. More than one picture ... *coughs* So they´ll look properly after the pictures. *shrugs*

new picture

Andra Barz
oil, egg tempera, acrylic on stretched canvas (linen)
105 x 120 cm


Now the picture is ready and I didn´t show other progress pictures. I did it on my german blog, but I have to admit, I was quite to lazy to do that here, too.

It´s a portrait of a good friend. She´s a singer, mainly Jazz, but sometimes she sings to my pictures ;-) Her feelings about it or what she thinks, when she looks at it. That´s really exciting.

I´ve decided to paint her in art deco style. I like that time and it suits her, too. It´s noble and faded, lascivious and cool, livelily and dead. You never know, what´s the facade and what´s real.

still in progress

Yesterday I´ve began a new picture - the portrait of a good friend. So today I´ve used some egg tempera for the background ... again I´ve had so much, that three other ones became a new colour.
Normally I don´t post pictures still in progress, so that´s an exception. I don´t know, if I´ll show such a glimpse again. Maybe ... maybe when it´s ready.

Chinese invasion

Yesterday I was at the home of befriended artists, because next week we have a symposium there. My friend Andra was with me and we helped a little bit. Anette, one of the artists, has a lot of contacts to China. So they had guests - three chinese women, one was an artist, too. We had a nice talk, good food, and all in all it was such a nice day. I invited her to come to my home to have a look into my studio. So we decided to do it today.
Well ... today I had a chinese invasion ;-) They always know a lot of people, which came too. Some of them work at the embassy of China here in Berlin. We all had a funny afternoon together.
Later that day I talked with Anette. She told me I´ll probably have an exhibition in China next year ... and that the nice artist from China is really influential. Wow, I was kind of speechless.
So I´ll see what brings next year. But that would be so cool, because since my time in China last year it´s my wish to have an exhibition in there. Especially in Beijing.

But now I´m far to tired to think to much about it.

New Boudoir Queen

Manon G.
oil and egg tempera on canvas (linen)
100 x 50 cm

Eventually I´ve painted this new person. I´m not even sure, if it is a woman or a man - maybe a drag queen? Hmmmm. But it´s not really necessary to know the truth about her/him.

The colors in the original are more bright and of course the details are better to see. But that photo is only an impression, a glimpse over my shoulder.

At the moment I´m more in the garden than in front of my easel. It´s so sunny and hot, the roses burst into bloom, so I like to be outside.

Undercoat, base coat, primary coat?

Whatever the right translation is, today I´ve experimented a little bit. I´ve assembled some strecher frame and I had to ground it, of course. My Gesso is nearly empty, so it was a good way to try it.
Yesterday I´ve cooked some animal glue made from little and cute animals. Rabbits f.e. I´ve put it on the linen.  So today I´ve made the undercoat. I´ve found some old prescription. Normally it´s made with white lead, but ... ugh. The base was something similar to egg tempera. And that glue of cute animals. It has looked so yummy and creamy. I´ve used champagne-colored chalk and a little bit of titanium white pigment. Better than toxic lead.
I´m satisfied with the result. It looks good, not to blend white, even and without this little hills I always had with Gesso.

China again

Peking duck
Chinaesk
oil on canvas (linen)
80 x 60 cm

I love Peking duck, it´s so decilious. You eat the skin only. It´s served with some kind of thin pancake, a special sauce and vegetables. You roll everything in that pancake and eat it.

Hanging animals was a normal picture in China. You can see all the stages till the meal so to speak. It´s natural, nothing hidden.
And chinese people have every situation in their mind. Good meal, loving people and so on ;-)

Here I am

Dolly
oil, egg tempera, acrylic on canvas (linen)
60 x 45 cm

She´s not as scary as before. I´ve changed her, because I didn´t like the troublesome eyes she had at a former stage. Now I can live with her, I even like her a little bit.
Why Dolly? Well, my first intention was a doll. This Dolly-doll has spooked inside my head for quite a while. I don´t like dolls, never have, even as a child I preferred cars and such things. Dolls where scary, especially at night. I´ve always had the image of some living individual that stared with wide open eyes and whispered.
Later I´ve read that dolls symbolized other people and were used for magic. They weren´t toys.
Hmmmm ... that was a good explanation for me. For me dolls weren´t toys either.
So I had to paint something like a doll even she isn´t a normal doll. And she had to look a little run-down, used. Whatever.

Currently ...

I´m working on two pictures. The bigger one is chinaesk, the small one a portrait.
I don´t have a clue which way the portrait will lead me. The woman in the picture looks a bit scary with a ... hmmm ... naked face. Don´t know how to explain it. I always hate portraits at this stage. Only some layers, ridiculous colours, not enough light and shadow and starring fishy eyes. Disgusting. It´s the last phase before I´ll compose the face in the way it should be. The composing I adore very much. Love it, really. It´s getting the right colour so the still to bright red will fade to a nicer shade.
And the scary thing ... well, that was my intention I´ll explain when it´s ready. But I´m not sure at the moment ... I can´t stand it.

My chinaesk-picture I like ... even at this stage. There´s no face, that´s the reason I guess. Though it´s a bit mean. Nothing for vegetarians, but I can´t show considerations for wispy sentiments. Don´t like, don´t look.

new picture

Submerged
egg tempera and oil on canvas (linen)
100 x 70 cm

It´s from my reflection-series. It was not my intention to paint a new one in this series in the next weeks or months, because there are more important projects at the moment.
Of course it´s not that worse till I need more pictures there, too. In this reflection-series some kind of subseries has arised. Maybe I have an obsession with watermen? I`ve liked that kind of humanoid being since I was a child. And after a funny dream some months ago I had to paint something like that ... again and again.
And during working my hands and face were green. Normally I´m not that bad when I´m working. I don´t need work clothes, but this time, well, I wasn´t able to put the oil paint only on the picture.

The german word for submerged has some other meanings, too. Disappear for example.

new picture again

Resurrection
oil, eggtempera and acrylic on canvas (linen)
90 x 45 cm

Another one in my chinaesk-series. A lot of Chineses are buddhists - this religion didn`t die, it lived in 
the underground, sunken into fog of privacy, unforgotten. 
And now the people can show it openly. It´s growing and growing. 
The old temples are getting restored and monks live there again. In Hangzhou you can find a mountain with a lot of buddhas, bashed into the stone. And opposite is one of the revived temples.
I loved it.

Dimensions

Dimensions
oil and egg tempera on canvas (linen)
95 x 105 cm

I´ve finished this picture today. Finally.
In China in the old gardens you can find a lot of these gates. It´s called moongate. It´s round for good chi and is a beautiful frame for everything behind. There are other forms, too. Like vases for wealth for example. But the moongates are the most beautiful ones. So I´ve choosen this for the picture.
A friend said the picture reminds her of blood and womanhood. That was not my intention, but it sounds good, of course. For me it´s a gate to other dimensions. You never know what awaits you behind.

Portraits and other stuff

I haven't done much the last days. Again I had a cold ... I take all colds I can get this year. Hmpf. And that happens every time I paint on my new chinaesk-picture. Maybe I should throw it away? Nah, I'll not do that, but I should begin another one.

It's my way to paint different pictures at the same time. It's good to have some distance between the layers, to have a look on it again to make modifications. When you sit right in front of a picture with your nose in the linen you have only a small space your looking at. So if I'm getting to bed I see the picture again and again and can decide if I like it or not. I'm a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to painting, even I adore chaos in my studio ... and other rooms ... That's the reason I need so long for my pictures. It has to grow, I don't have a colour concept in the beginning. I put layer over layer and the colours change, getting luminous. Vandyckbrown over mauve it's not the same like mauve over vandyckbrown. You can change a colour so it shines in another way. Of course on a photograph you can't see the colour in a proper way. Only if you take a look at the original you can spot the fine nuances.

But what I really wanted to say: I have a new idea. A portrait of course ... I love it to paint faces. And I hope I can paint my pictures and I'm not getting sick again.

in the end ...

Now a picture is ready I've began five months ago right before China. After China I've painted four other pictures and began a fifth one before I decided to end this now. Sometimes it needs time.
It shows a dream of me again. Not really the dream, but a episode of it. I'll not tell the meaning of this dream, because I never tell such things openly. It's much to personal. Plus I was a man in it ... again. I've changed it to.
So it shows a jigsaw piece with a lot of symbolism. But even that symbolism will have a different meaning for everyone.

The name of the picture is in English: "The dream of the samurai"

new picture

Not really a new picture, because it´s ready since the end of November. Today I took a photo of it.
I made a new category. It´s called "Chinaesk" - a wordplay: China and grotesk (engl: grotesque).
When I was in China, I saw a lot of lotus flowers. The flowers were withered and I could see the seeds. I´ve got the impression of eyes, which followed me around. So that inspired me of the picture "September".
The sketch to that picture I´ve made in China and I´ve given it as a present to a chinese artist. Her name is Zuo Hong - she is such a kind woman. She was like a second mother to me ;-)

This picture can be found here, too:

click

So, I'm back ...

since Tuesday last week *uhum*
It was so nice to be back in Cologne. It could have been some more days. We had a lot of fun, and Drachenfrau and her Sweetie made sushi. OK, it was made with kippered salmon, so I couldn't eat the nigiri - quite to salty *sniffs*, but the maki was eatable. But I think that was the reason why I had to eat real sushi with raw tunny today. Delicious ;-)
Oh, and we ate mochis. I love mochis! With black sesame. Yummy.
On monday we went to the Linkin Park concert. It was great. A little drafty, but after some songs it was warm. Only the woman beside Drachenfrau was confusing. She jumped like a rabid monkey. I've never seen such an old woman behaving like a schoolgirl - screaming, out of her mind and such things. Hmmmm.

So, have I forgotten anything? ...

Cologne

Tomorrow I'll go to Cologne by train. I'm so glad. I've visited my friend two years ago, that's a long time. To long, because that lazy a** (same friend) is never visiting me :-P I'll change it in the future. Hehe.

The bad thing about that journey is, that I'll get up at 7 am :-O That's nothing for sensitive artists.

one, two, three ...

I've made an "inventory" of my pictures I've painted in 2007, because then I have the feeling I'm doing something useful *ggg*
I've painted 19 pictures. OK, these are the pictures I've finished. The twentieth one I`ve began before China - it's nearly ready, only some days of work to do. It's not that difficult to paint, but some pictures need time. And it's one of it.
And I didn't mention the 2 or 3 ones I've made for a protest campaign or directly for someone. I only wanted to count the "important" pictures, the series and so on.

I hope I can paint in the near future. I'm beginning to feel impatient, I have some ideas, unfinished pictures, I wanna paint! But I have to wait a little bit. To work with turpentine oil and cadmium yellow for example isn't to good for my conjunctivitis *sighs*

:-/

sick

The last days I couldn't paint anything, because I'm sick. But it's not so bad. Now I can read all the books lying on my couch.
And next week I want to go to Cologne. I'll visit Drachenfrau and we'll go to a Linkin Park concert. Well, I want to, but I don't know, if there'll be any train, who brings me in that town. Month after month is strike in the air. I even was in China some weeks, and when I came back, it was all the same here. So I'd my own thoughts about obstinacy and the lack of will to change situations.
That makes me angry. Ph.

So I can say at the moment I have the feeling I manage nothing. Is that to pessimistic?

OK, I'll go and read a little bit.

Today ...

I've painted with egg tempera. It's the first layer, before I'll work with oil-paint. I've changed the ingredients of the egg tempera a little bit. First I used only egg and oil in it, but it was so viscous. I wasn't pleased with the result, even the pigments were bright.

Today I've put linseed oil, dammar varnish, some drops of the ethereal oil of clove and water in my shaken egg. Now my arm hurts from shaking ...
It was definitely a good decision to change my ingredients. It was easy to paint and not so erratic. I even could paint a second layer over it without disturbing the first one. That's good! Most of time I'd wait some days - and then the egg tempera is spoiled most of time. And that really smells terrible *coughs*