Goodbye January!

That first month of 2018 just whizzed by …
Looking back with some January faves from my Instagram feed:

Happy February everybody!

P.s.: For those who might like to follow me on Instagram, here's my account: https://www.instagram.com/evamarion_art/

The Time Between

Hello everybody, happy 2018!

Count's Castle during a short snowy moment in December 2017

It's been a long time since my last post … sorry for being so quiet! I definitely plan to go on with my blogging, but sometimes life takes over and there's simply no time. Or the time doesn't seem right. I'll explain in a minute!

For 2018 I plan to update my blog regularly again, aiming at studio-news (and sometimes life-news too) once a month. Let's hope for the best!

River Lahn in snow, again from December 2017

Ok, and what happend in the time between?

For the first half of 2017 I had been pretty busy, designing and painting, and taking part in various design and art competitions. All the while I was caring for my 90 years old parents and looking after two households, theirs and ours. By the end of August, I felt that I couldn't go on this way. I was running on empty. I didn't realize how the time was passing, I hadn't even really noticed that it was summer and beautiful outside, and that was at a point when summer was almost over …

So I decided to take some time off from artmaking. I planned on a month, but finally it added up to September AND October.

By November, I felt I was ready again. I had managed to get some of the most important things done that had been shoveled from one "to do" list to the next for too long. I had enjoyed a bit more of freetime. And – I guess most creative people will understand – I had seriously missed painting and designing. I've had more time, but became all cranky without creating.

A fantasy forest branch, painted last weekend

But then, when trying to start with my art practice again, I felt all rusty and somehow couldn't get into it again. Like I lost the connection. Or missed the bus. I started to question everything I had done before, and wasn't sure at all how to go on. Like a kind of creative block. I've never had anything like that before! And it took a long long time and lots of patience with myself to get into it again …

I am pretty happy that it's way better now, and that I am creating again. Mainly painting, right now. There's a new art contest on at Minted, so there's lots of art to show. I will post my submissions in the next days!

My Instagram: evamarion_art

As a last point for today, in November I've finally started an Instagram account! Sometimes it is easier to post just pictures … I post almost daily over at Instagram, and would like to invite you to follow me there! Here's the link:
www.instagram.com/evamarion_art

Anyway, I hope to connect with you soon again!

Snowy Count's Castle, again from December 2017

New Wall Art for Kids and Teens

Here's some new art or young people! Inspired by the Minted + Pottery Barn contest for kid's and teen's wallart I made a small selection including painting/ illustration and photography.

(Like always with Minted comps votes and likes are very welcome! Voting already ends tomorrow evening, Monday July 31 (Mid European time). So if you see something you like and want to help me to get it selected for the Minted and/ or Pottery Barn stores, please just quickly click on the image! That'll lead you directly to my submissions on the Minted page. Thank you so much! 
Please note: If you are not a Minted customer already, you'd need to set up an account on Minted to be able to vote.)

"Quick as a Bunny said the Beetle"

"Hello World said MissTurtle"

Here's some more info about my art:

For both illustrative pieces above I did the main characters with papercut and collage. Then I added the "scene" with crayon and put it all together digitally. A fun way of working!
As you might see by the choice of my titles I aimed for storytelling prints that prompt the viewer to weave  their own stories around the characters.
The sporty hare will be fab for any young athlete or sports fan. Whereas the turtle conveys confidence and curiosity and will be a great print for any child that is keen to discover and explore the world.

"A little Fantasy about Flying"

And here's two "airborn" prints. My "Little Fantasy about Flying" above is inspired by my love of airships and hot-air-balloons and shows some steampunk influences as well as a decent dose of whimsy.  It's another mixed media piece combining pen and ink drawings with gouache paint and a little bit of collage.
The photograph below was done in Zeebrugge, Belgium, one of the best spots for kite surfing/ surfing on the North Sea coast. I love the feeling of space, freedom and movement in it and think it would be a great print for a young person's room.

"Testing the Winds"

"The Evening Bath"

"The Evening Bath" above was bravely taken by a group of schoolchildren on the coast of the Isle of Wight, England. Bravely because the North Sea was very very cold on that day … (I'd tested it out myself before!)
I love this photograph because it evokes the carefree summer holiday feeling of childhood. And as well because of the contrast of that small hub of human energy against the huge turquoise and blue surface of the North Sea.

"The Midnight Flock"

"Nighttime Tidelands Gleaming Sea"

"The Sorbet Tide"

Speaking of the North Sea – the series of 3 photographs above was done on the North Sea coast of Belgium, and is called "North Sea Nocturne". We took a trip there in June, and I was fascinated with the bright nights of the Summer Solstice. The gleaming light was just amazing! I really didn't expect this, usually you only get these bright Summer Solstice nights a bit more up north. Probably it's the surface of the sea reflecting the light that leads to a similar effect like in Scandinavia. Anyway, I was intrigued, and took several long walks along the beaches late in the evening. These photographs all were taken close to midnight … I hope I managed to capture a bit of that dreamy and peaceful atmosphere.

"The Dreamy Palace"

The "Dreamy Palace" was painted with watercolour and gouache. It's inspired by the tales of 1001 nights.

"Rainforest Rythms"

The photograph above follows the current interior trend for tropical and green wallart. It's a close up of a palm leaf. I aimed to captured the leaf’s abstract organic forms and found two different rhythms that characterize the rainforest: sunlit, fresh and almost electric green on the front, dark, gloomy and intriguing on the backside …

That's it for today! I hope you like my selection. Fingers crossed … and thank you so much for any votes and likes!

Spring Awakening

It's been a while since my last blogpost – sorry! Sometimes the days go by so fast … Especially in these first weeks of spring when I grab every opportunity to get outside!
I love seeing our valley and the river Lahn slowly waking up to spring. It's almost like you can watch the change from day to day.
These pics below are from the end of March.

The catkins are the first to wake up. And as we've got a lot of them, for quite some time the riverside will be spotted by glowing yellow-green bushes – a beautiful sight!

The canoe/ kayaking season is slowly starting too. (We have a few steadfast canoeists who get out on the river even in winter, but these are really very few.)
The wild violets are pretty early too. You'll occasionally find them on the slopes of the valley.

This is the typical riparian forest above, at the beginning of April.
And below, this now is mid April – I took these pics yesterday.

Well you can say that it's the same as every year … true, but I love it anyway! I hope you'll enjoy my pictures as well. Wishing you all a happy, peaceful and green Easter!

Hello 2017 – and nature's New Year celebration

Here's to 2017 – wishing everybody a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year!

There won't be a real review of 2016 this time … I'll just settle on admitting that I am pretty happy to be in 2017 now! And that 2016 was a challenging year at least. Caring for two 90 year old peeps (one of them with dementia) while looking after two households plus trying to run my art and design business often brought me to the edge of exhaustion. I believe that there's a time for everything in life, and this obviously is not the time for big career plans …

So for 2017 I'll just try to concentrate on the positive things. Hoping to help my parents to live their high age life in dignity – which is not easy all the time – and praying for patience for myself. And I'll just take every chunk of time I can get to create. It has become crystal clear to me that this is one of my basic needs, going way beyond any thoughts of career or making money.

For today – and to celebrate the New Year – I'll show you the winter wonderland that we enjoyed for two days right at our doorstep. It started on the 30th of December when we had a day and a night of dense fog. When the valley appeared again out of the big nothing, it had wrapped itself into a festive cloth of glittering frost … enjoy :-) Happy 2017!