snowflakes & blackvampires

New Website

2011-10-18T00:11:00.000+02:00

The opening weekend of the exhibition was a blast and I´m really happy about it. More about it soon on my new website 365skulls. See you over there!
Updates about drawings, exhibitions, etc will mostly be posted on the 365skulls-blog.

My First Exhibition

2011-09-25T09:41:00.001+02:00

A lot has change the past months (more to follow soon). The best of all: I´ll be having my first exhibition "Skulls & Wings" starting October 15, 20011. You can see my pictures at the very cool shoe workshop heels angels. If you are around check out the cool shoes and the pics. :)

Happy New Year!

2011-01-27T14:48:00.010+01:00

I´m almost a month late wishing you a Happy New Year, but better late than never. I´ve been neglecting my blog ever since I discovered facebook and I think I will try to get back to blogging more often and spend less time on facebook.

As most of you know 2010 was the year of RED. 2011 will be the year of ANGST. It would be wonderful if you could join my project and tell me “What are you afraid of”. The project started January 1, 2011. Answers from people around the world are published daily. The website is called 1 Question 365 Answers as I plan to have a new project with a new question every year. Join me on twitter and foursquare to know where I´m currently at. In case we are at the same place at the same time, just send me a short message and I can add your answer to the project.

Or you can send me your answer (text, sketch, …) on a piece of paper no bigger than 3 x 5 inches (8 x 13 cm) portrait format. Contact me for my address.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage." by Anais Nin

via The Art of Manliness

Be courageous, tell me about your Angst and let your life expand!

Rainbow Cake

2010-11-15T13:18:00.002+01:00

The past few months haven´t been that much fun and I wasn´t well enough (due to a pneumonia and a bronchitis) to celebrate the kids´ birthday parties properly. So now that I am felling better I thought I should make up with a colorful cake. They wanted to have a rainbow cake and that ´s what I made.

Coloring the batter:

The batter dropped into the cake pans:

The baked cake...

... with the frosting and the candles.

And the fabulous and colorful inside of the cake:

We had fun eating the cake, even when most of our family didn´t really enjoy this "unhealthy" treat. It is just not common here in Germany to eat such bright and colored stuff. But the cake tasted great and my kids and I liked it. I followed these instructions and used them on this recipe.

Project RED

2010-11-08T14:40:00.000+01:00

Project RED is coming to an end. I need only 20 more answers for the year 2010. Help me to complete the project by sharing your thoughts. Let me know, what comes to your mind, when you hear the word "RED". Thanks!

You can read more about the project at "What is RED for you".

Window Shopping in Paris

2010-11-03T16:09:00.003+01:00

Most of the time, my sister and I just spent hours walking around watching people and everything what was going on around us. Paris is really made for that.

L´As du Fallafel

2010-11-03T06:45:00.002+01:00

"(...) you can’t come to Paris and not have a fallafel at L’As du fallafel. It just isn´t done." David Lebovitz

And he is right. L´As du Fallafel "is recommanded By Lenny Kravitz" too. My sister took the Fallafel and I tried the Shawarma. While the Shawarma was delicious, I quickly envied my sister, whose Fallafel was heavenly. We ate outside and found a secret and quiet(!) green spot in the center of Paris. I won´t reveal the place, but there was really no one around. Just us, the food, the gras and the pigeons. Anybody recognize the place?

Kosher Paris

2010-11-02T15:08:00.001+01:00

Paris has plenty of kosher stores and shops. So no need to go hungry on our trip. I can tell you, coming from Munich, Paris is just kosher heaven for me. Bakeries, fast-food, Indian restaurants, Maroccan food, chocolateries,... all available kosher. That meant heavy luggage on the way back to Germany. As we were here only for a few days we managed to visit only the Jewish quarters around Rue des Rosiers (historic Marais district) and Rue Richer (9th arrondissement). I´ll be back with my daughter in December, with another empty suitcase waiting to be filled.

Lovely Streets of Paris

2010-11-02T07:18:00.003+01:00

Paris Miscellenous

2010-11-01T12:15:00.001+01:00

Destruction des Animaux Nuisibles

2010-11-01T11:48:00.001+01:00

When I told my sister, that I also wanted to have a look at a pest-control shop in Paris, she told me that I am crazy. But then I convinced her and when we arrived there, she took way more pictures of the store than I did.

Julien Aurouze is a pest control shop in central Paris, situated between the Rue de Rivoli and the Forums des Halles. The eye-grabbing front window is festooned with dead rats and other critters. The shop opened in 1872 and was also featured in the Disney/Pixar movie Ratatouille. (That´s what I mentioned to convince my sister.)

Pigeon Man in Paris

2010-11-01T11:19:00.001+01:00

Can you see the dove man?

Here he is:

This guy really loved his pigeons. They already sensed him coming and were flapping their wings like crazy before he even arrived. We were sitting in a cafe opposite and had been watching Place Edmont Michelet (near Centre Pompidou) for some time. Every few minutes tourists fed hundreds of pigeons just to shoo them away seconds later to get some good pics.
When the pigeon man arrived he shooed the tourists away and defended his birds against all the new people arriving at this place and shouting like crazy at them. The birds loved him. When I approached the place to have a closer look at him talking with the pigeons, he looked suspiciously at me but was relieved when I stopped a few meters away and didn´t run through the birds. And he liked it, when I asked him whether I could take pictures of him and his birds. Maybe he also smiled because of my French. ;)

Indian Quarter Of Paris

2010-10-31T06:22:00.002+01:00

My sister and I spent almost a whole day in the Indian quarter of Paris. It was unbelievable. We really felt like being in India... everything looked, smelled and felt Indian. We spent hours browsing through the stores, recognizing a lot if things, of course also shopping stuff and just enjoying good old memories. ((My almost empty suitcase was loaded with Indian and kosher stuff when we returned back to Germany.)
Look at the guy on the last picture. We saw these shopping cart grills selling corn all over the quarter. Creative idea!

Forum des Halles and Fondation Cartier

2010-10-30T07:17:00.002+02:00

Forum des Halles:

Fondation Cartier:

Inside Centre Pompidou

2010-10-29T13:40:00.001+02:00

Centre Pompidou

2010-10-29T09:07:00.001+02:00

Centre Pompidou

Street Art in Paris

2010-10-29T01:35:00.005+02:00

August 5-9 I went to Paris with my sister. I had won tickets for the Crazy Horse show and certainly didn´t want to miss out on that. (Thanks again to the lovely ladies at Crazy horse, who exchanged the Vegas tickets for Paris tickets.) Paris is such a beautiful city and I took tons of pics. I´ll post some of them here sorted by themes.

Lilith in my Myth Moly_x_20

2010-10-26T22:28:00.003+02:00

Sitting sick at home, with no chance of going to bed during the past days, at least I had the chance to draw a little bit today. This is my own moly and has the theme of myths and legends. There have been some great additions by the other artists, so I´m glad, this moly is running again. Our group consists only of two members right now: Joyce and myself. And I´m having fun again with it.

The pages I drew show Lilith in a comic version. (I think she must be from Marvel.) I´ve always been fascinated by the story of Adam´s first wife.

(I just love the top picture, which was altered with an iPhone app. I guess I do need some brighter colors to draw my stuff.)
More information about the Moleskine Exchanges can be found here.

Test 2

2010-10-26T12:38:00.004+02:00

Still testing the iPhone app BloggPress. Somehow when I upload the pics, they are full of pixels. I have to replace them with the original pic. Any ideas why? They have the same size.

Kiosk Reichenbachbrücke

One of the few (maybe the only one) 24/7 shops in Munich is this little kiosk right across of the building we live at. Very convenient.

BlogPress App

2010-10-26T00:02:00.006+02:00

I'm testing the BlogPress app for the iPhone. If it works, I'll be able to post whenever I'm on vacation. Last August I spent a few days with my sis in Paris and a few weeks with the family in Lanzarote. And now I just can't find the time to post about it. But if this app works, there won't be further excuses.

BLUMEN ART - Thorsten Roth

A flower store in the street I live in. The day I took this picture, the window looked like a painting in the morning.

My Favorite Moly_x Exchanges

2010-10-04T10:25:00.003+02:00

I loved to add to Steve´s moly. Somehow it is easy for me to add to his art. Look at the pic below. You almost can´t see where my drawing merges into his.

And it is similar with Samatha´s art. I really love her style and love adding my art to hers.

This was a fun one. I enjoy drawing very detailed insects or animals.

Gorey #1. One of my favorites!

Ladies...

Gorey #2.

More ladies...

Carnival

Another great one with Samatha´s work

The mythology moleskine

And of course some Japanese details

See some more of my work here, here, here and here.

Second Addition to Joyce´s Moly_x_20

2010-10-04T09:13:00.002+02:00

This is my second contribution to Joyce´ moleskine* for the moleskine exchange group 20.

It took me ages to get started with this one. I had stopped with the moly_x exchanges for a while, as I was frustrated about all the lost molys and all the demotivated group members. But we are back on track and slowly starting again.

Marty (the founder of moly_x) has been doing some reorganizing of the groups and it seems the groups are starting with new power. Great! Thanks Marty!

More information about the Moly_X International Moleskine Exchange can be found here.

*Check out Joyce´s art. Her photorealistic drawings are incredible.

Moleskine Daily Planner 2011

2010-08-09T15:26:00.003+02:00

My Moleskine daily planner 2011 did arrive just in time. So I could take it along to Paris. I even asked someone (Thanks Yves!) to translate a few sentences for me, so that I could get some French submissions for my next project. But I have to admit, that I didn´t dare to ask anybody. I guess I´ll have to practice talking with strangers... hopefully soon. Paris was great and I will report about it later.
Thanks to moo I took some wonderful minicards with me to Paris. There is information about the project on the back of the card. I left them all over Paris, so hopefully someone will send me a message.

Afraid in Paris:

Afraid on the plane:

My sister, afraid on the RER (train to Paris city):

I had fun leaving the cards all around Paris, watching my sister shake her head at me. :) Maybe one day you´ll also find a minicard.

Waiting for the Moleskine Daily Planner 2011

2010-07-29T23:45:00.001+02:00

Before I started the project, all 12 monthly volants where in the case. Now - with all the pictures inside - only half of them do.

6 months have been completed:

6 more months to come:

Can´t wait to receive my Moleskine Daily Planner 2011 for my new project. I pre-ordered it months ago, but it had been cancelled twice. I ordered it again now and it is already out of stock, though the publishing date was yesterday. Crazy! I had hoped that it would arrive before I leave for Paris next week, but the calendar hasn´t even been dispatched from the UK. It would have been great to have had a few French submissions for next year.

Moonassi

2010-07-28T08:59:00.006+02:00

Daehyun Kim, also known as moonassi, is an artist from Seoul, South Korea. The drawings are beautiful. Simple, but clever.

경쟁하는 슬픔, Tear drop competition , 29.5 x 42cm, Marker and pen on the paper, 2010

"I draw something I'd like to draw and I can draw well. I draw people because that's what I'd like to talk about. I prefer to draw in a small scale as I wish to capture my everyday thoughts and feelings during a limited time of the day. If I think I want to touch you my drawing reflects that thought. I draw an act that I'm upsetting you if I think I want to distress you."

"I'm anyone or anything in anywhere. I want to sweep and gather all those tiny little fractions on paper so as not to be scattered."

너로된 이불, Blanket of you , 29.5 x 42cm, Marker and pen on the paper, 2009

자꾸만 네가 떠올라, Sinking of you , 29.5 x 42cm, Marker and pen on the paper, 2010

불면의 낮, Sleepless days , 29.5 x 42cm, Marker and pen on the paper, 2009

구원, Save , 29.5 x 42cm, Marker and pen on the paper, 2009

빌어먹을 존재, A begging being , 29.5 x 42cm, Marker and pen on the paper, 2009

Identity And Memory

2010-07-08T09:02:00.000+02:00

Identity and Memory – author Benjamin Stein | Arts.21
Hochgeladen von deutschewelle. - Kunst und Animation Videos.

"Benjamin Stein is a computer specialist, management consultant and novelist. Born in East Berlin, Stein's new novel is titled «Die Leinwand», which is scheduled to appear as «The Canvas» in English translation.The story can be read from the front or the back, with the novel's two narrators meeting in the middle… a literary discovery and a fascinating page-turner about the nature of German-Jewish identity."

For once, a review about Benjamin and his book "Die Leinwand" (The Canvas) has been translated to English. Nice! Quite a few of you have asked me about his book. This report will give you an idea.

Can´t Wait For Paris!

2010-06-30T18:20:00.004+02:00

A few weeks ago, I won two VIP tickets to the Crazy Horse Show Las Vegas. The people at Crazy Horse were kind enough to exchange them for the show at Paris. (Thanks Crazy Horse!) I wouldn´t have had the time and money to travel to the States to see the show. I was pretty excited to get the tickets, but then I had a hard time thinking of a friend who would like to join me on the trip. Not a lot of ladies I know would like to see this kind of show.

13 years ago I had a similar experience. I saw an ad in a newspaper: a trip to Paris for 4 days / 3 nights including breakfast, the bus trip, admission to 3 museums, 2 guided city tours, 1 boat tour on the Seine, and a few extras for the price of 100,- DM (around EUR 50/ $60). Considering that you have to pay a lot more than this sum just to travel to Paris, my boyfriend didn´t want to join me. He said there had to be something fishy about the offer. I didn´t really care, because it wouldn´t be too bad as only $60 were involved. Actually I was really disappointed that he didn´t join me. When I told my sister about it, she was as excited as I was. So off to Paris I went with my sister and it was a great trip. We both enjoyed it a lot.*

So I asked her to join me this time too, though I know that she´s not too excited about seeing naked ladies dancing. We´ve both had a lot of stuff going on the past weeks and months. She´s just completed her studies as an early childhood educator and I´m currently at home with both kids. They´ve got the whopping cough and have been home for a long time. A few days off will be great for both of us.
Best of all: I could finally buy my first Moleskine City Notebook and I´m excited to fill it with some sketches and lots of places I would like to visit in Paris.

* Did I ever mention the story, that my sister and I went to a local restaurant with only a French menu. None of us could speak French and we were both feeling very adventurous ordering something on the menu - without knowing what we would get. Expecting some French speciality, we almost peed our pant when I received roasted chicken and my sister received a Bratwurst. :)

"Take-Away" By Artacks At STROKE.02

2010-06-20T17:13:00.005+02:00

One project I really enjoyed watching at the STROKE.02 was "Take-Away" by artacks. I could have stayed for hours watching the artists and the kids were cool and watched an hour too. Artacks is a group of Swiss artists originally from Bern ~~situated mainly in Basel~~ and founded by four friends. Their project "Take-Away 2.0" is urban art made by these swiss artists and one international guest.
Basically there is a wall with 77 boards and 11 artist work on more than one board at a time. As soon as the viewer likes one of the pics, he hits the red "Take-away"-buzzer, all artists stop working and the viewer picks out his board and pays for it. The board gets numbered, stamped, packed in boxes and handed over to the buyer. The hole in the wall is substituted with an empty white board and the artists continue their work.
It is great to see how flexible the artists are, how they collaborate with each other and how they just continue with the empty parts. So every time you pass the place where they were working on the boards you could see new and different works of art (specially because the artists work with different techniques and styles: spraying, drawing, sticking, painting, stencils, ...).
The red "Take-away"-buzzer:

Two boards were just sold:

The holes in the wall:

This lady used stencils to create her art and she never managed to work for more than 10-15 minutes on a board, because the viewers always grabbed her boards before she could "finish".

My kids (here my son) were fascinated and watched an hour. My son then decided that he wants to spray the wall of his room too.

7 boards sold at once:

The board I bought (by different artists, but mainly by SYLG):

Here is the list of the participating artists:
Ian White Cutterskink, SYLG (Sandro Galli & Yves Lavoyer), Mathias Schneeberger, Jens Gander & Patrick Muchenberger, Zaira & Bustart, ras le bol, Pascal Zobrist & Luca Fuchs (wallume I legenden)
Click here to find some first impressions of «Take-Away 2.0» on their website and watch a German tv spot by merkurtz.tv (F. Eckel) about their project in Munich.

More Impressions Of STROKE.02

2010-06-16T09:06:00.000+02:00

Have a look at some phantastic pictures of STROKE.02 at this gallery.

STROKE.02 Urban Art Fair Munich May 27/30

2010-06-07T14:31:00.003+02:00

Stroke is a Europe-wide art fair for contemporary and so-called street art.

The fair took place in the building of the former Central Bank with more than 55 galleries from all over Europe presenting artists on more than 14000m². In addition Stroke.02 presented live-paintings from the finest artist: Ma’Claim and Herakut, Shoe, Claudio Ethos, MAC1 and Pisa73.

During the 4 days of the fair there was a “LEGO Live Charity Battle” with up to four artists letting their imaginations run riot and building larger than life LEGO artworks. All visitors were invited to use their creativity and build on the biggest lego playground ever. My kids were happy to spend one hour with Lego after I dragged them through the 5 levels of the the building, crammed with people.

More impressions and some pics of a special project to follow...

Mix Of Reds

2010-05-25T15:07:00.001+02:00

Here´s a picture of all the REDs I have received so far for "What is RED for you". What a nice mixture. The flickr set is not private any more and you can browse through the submissions if you want to.

What Is RED For You?

2010-05-18T09:40:00.002+02:00

On January 1 I started a new project for the year 2010: "What is RED for you" (and also started a Facebook page showing your submissions). In a Moleskine Daily Planner I´ve been posting one page of the planner daily.
A lot of you have already joined in, but there are still more than 7 months to fill and I am slowly running out of people. If you have already sent in something, you can still send in another answer.
If you have any spontaneous ideas concerning the color RED, please send (preferably in your native language), draw, sketch, glue your thoughts (portrait format) me your answer or a scan or picture (optionally with your name, (age), link to blog/website, occupation, city) in an email. And I wouldn´t mind if you link to this post and share it on your blog. :)

Here are some of the previous entries:

1. 28.jpg, 2. may5, 3. 04, 4. 13.jpg, 5. 14.jpg, 6. 06, 7. 11.jpg, 8. march18, 9. 4.jpg, 10. 8.jpg, 11. 19, 12. apr23, 13. jan27, 14. may8, 15. feb20, 16. may14, 17. feb6, 18. may6, 19. feb9, 20. jun2, 21. feb26, 22. apr21, 23. feb25, 24. may3, 25. march16.jpg, 26. 25.jpg, 27. march21.jpg, 28. april11, 29. march23, 30. may1

Filmcasino (Movie Craze)

2010-05-03T09:54:00.007+02:00

Filmcasino: (Odeonsplatz 8, München, Tel.: 089/220818)

Movie:

April 29, 2010: Vorsicht Sehnsucht

(Movie Craze & This Diary Will Change Your Life 2009)

Camila do Rosário

2010-05-02T21:36:00.006+02:00

Camila do Rosário´s art is beautiful. I love the drawing on the front with a real picture in the background. I should try something like this.

The Leipzig Book Fair

2010-03-23T11:39:00.001+01:00

This Sunday, after missing the first train ;), I drove to the Leipzig book fair and I loved it. It must be every book lovers delight. There were 4 huge halls, a glass hall and a congress center. I stayed 4.5 hours, but managed to see only one hall: of course the comic hall. The fair has one section specially for the comic book and anime lovers.

Unfortunately I missed all the Cosplayers´shows, didn´t drink tea in the Japanese Garden and missed the book + art exhibition. Next year maybe more.

Here are some pics I took:

This guy was great. I´ll write more about Gabriel S.Moses later:

My treasures:

Hurting feet, but happy - waiting for the train back:

Over 10 hours in the train for just 4.5 hours at the fair? Definitely worth it! I would do it again.

Cosplayers At The Leipzig Book Fair

2010-03-23T11:07:00.001+01:00

Readings

2010-02-24T15:18:00.006+01:00

The past year I have been to a lot of readings. Among others, books were read by Thomas Lang, Martin Suter, Stephan Thome, Per Olov Enquist, Herta Müller and Joachim Król.

As I had stopped reading for about 7 years, I still wanted to somehow keep in touch with literature. Readings are wonderful for this. You gain a little insight into the author and usually spark an interest in reading more.
I´ve started reading again since a few months and I still enjoy going to readings. Yesterday we listened to Thomas Lang reading from his newest book Bodenlos. I´m always a bit cautious when meeting new authors, but he´s a very likeable guy. And it was nice to have the chance to meet the publishers and the team of C.H. Beck, who just published Benjamin´s book "The Canvas" in January. They are doing a great job and are a friendly bunch of people.

I´ll be reading more German books soon, but now I´m off to read:

Things around me - Monday around 12 am

2010-02-23T11:27:00.004+01:00

Yesterday morning Michael Nobbs twittered about a challenge started by Suzanne Cabrera. I had planned to document one hour at work in the book bindery - with all the interesting machines and work and books there. Not feeling well, I stayed at home and then had to get my sick daughter from school too. So we were sitting at home at our dining table and when she started drawing, I drew some of the stuff on the table.

It was a challenge indeed, because I usually always first draw sketches with pencil and then start the details with ink. Here I drew with the ink right away, but I still like it.

In case you want to join in on the fun and document one hour this week in sketches, leave a comment at her blog with a link to your post!

By the way, don´t forget to check out their sites. Michael Nobbs and Suzanne Cabrera are great artists and I love their line work.

South of the Border, West of the Sun

2010-02-15T13:12:00.007+01:00

"Inside that darkness, I saw rain falling on the sea. Rain softly falling on a vast sea, with no one there to see it. The rain strikes the surface of the sea, yet even the fish don't know it is raining.
Until someone came and lightly rested a hand on my shoulder, my thoughts were of the sea."

"We were, the two of us, still fragmentary beings, just beginning to sense the presence of an unexpected, to-be-acquired reality that would fill us and make us whole. We stood before the door we'd never seen before. The two of us alone, beneath a faintly flickering light, our hands tightly clasped together for a fleeting ten seconds of time."

Some time ago a friend (Thanks btw!) recommended an author - Haruki Murakami - to me. As I was curious I ordered a book ("South of the Border, West of the Sun") and strangely it was the first book I read in (almost) one sitting after 8 years. I used to read 3-4 books every week every since I can remember. But somehow, since getting married and having the kids I didn´t have the time and the energy to read (and also draw) a lot. Magazines or an occasional comic were all I could handle.

But then I had this moving story in my hands and couldn´t stop reading it. You can´t imagine how happy I was (and still am). After reading that book I ordered about 7 or 8 more books written by Murakami. One of them was a special edition of "Sleep" with fantastic illustrations by the artist Kat Menschik. Her illustration style is 100% what I like and would love to be able to do myself. I took elements of her drawings and drew the collage you can see above. I really like the result.

You can see some of the illustrations of "Sleep" here:

As usual I have a bad conscience when copying elements or parts of others´ art. But I learn so much from doing this. I´m glad at least Mucha said: "It is a great compliment, when people copy my art and my style."

Murakami´s signature:

“No one will weave dreams for me – it is my turn to weave dreams for others. That’s what I have to do. Such dreams may have no power, but if my own life is to have any meaning at all, that is what I have to do.”

The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife

2010-02-05T01:06:00.007+01:00

This picture is one of the first disturbing pieces of art I put my eyes on.

"The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife" is an erotic woodcut made by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai around 1820 . It is considered the first instance of tentacle eroticism and shows a woman entwined sexually with a pair of octopuses, the smaller of which kisses her while the larger one performs cunnilingus. While reading facts about the image and the artist, I found out that the significance of the absence of men in fishermen's villages is testified not only in this picture: The first dildos were found in fishermen's villages.

I can´t remember when I first saw the picture, but I must have been around 13 or 14 years old. I completely forgot about it, but recently discovered my love for Japanese wood cuts and saw this print again.

I searched the net for more information about the art work and I can tell you, the links I found while searching for "Fisherman's Wife" and "Octopus" were way more disturbing than this image. In fact, it seems harmless now. ;)

The original:

PostSecret again!

2010-02-04T21:20:00.012+01:00

Last Sunday, another one of my secrets was posted at PostSecret. Wow! I sent the card off sometime summer 2008! Frank Warren gets around 1000 postcards with secrets every week, so I´m surprised he posted it now.

This is already the third secret which has appeared on PostSecret. I should send off some new ones. :) (Check out one of my past secrets too.)

So, are you ready to guess which one it is?

-----Email Message-----

I got misty-eyed after reading that. I always thought the people in the costumes didn't care about the kids. Thank you for proving me wrong and helping me realize that my childhood Disneyland experiences were not only special for me, but the people I met that day too.

-----Email Message-----

I am spending all of my savings to take my little boy to Disney World. I was looking into buying a really great camera to record every moment, but your postcard made me decide to forget about a camera and enjoy every moment instead. THANK YOU!!!!

-----Email Message-----

I can always tell when my granddaughter comes to my house and is high on cocaine. It always breaks my heart to see her like that.

-----Email Message-----

This secret was so comforting. Getting raped has made me obsessed with porn. Phew, it's not just me!

-----Email Message-----

I was once dared to lift up a guy's kilt at a bar. I did it. It was liberating! (You have to do it yourself to see what's underneath!)

-----Email Message-----
I'm searching for the love that will make it ok for me to remember.
-----Email Message-----
I thought I was just nuts because I have forgotten almost everything from my childhood. I now realize that it's my love that makes me forget.

Poppies

2010-01-13T09:40:00.001+01:00

Last week I bought some poppies just to draw them. I think flowers are the only thing where I do not favor the color red. I prefer green or green and white bouquets. But then there are exceptions. Poppies are lovely in red and roses too and some more...

Tropical Heat

2010-01-12T14:17:00.007+01:00

We were having snow storms here in Germany the past days. So it is cold. Then today I realized that I never posted the drawing, which I drew after seeing the Alphonse Mucha exhibition. Here you go...

"During a tropical heat I am thinking about how cold it is where you are... It is beautiful here, quiet - woods of "wilderness". Alphonse Mucha

2010 Will Shine With Project Red

2010-01-01T15:20:00.003+01:00

I hope the year 2010 will SHINE for all of you. And you can shine even more, if you join my new PROJECT RED. Would love to see you there.

Shine!

2009-12-24T18:30:00.002+01:00

I wish all of you a wonderful holiday season!

(Thanks to Marc-Oliver Dreher)

Art Trade

2009-11-18T23:46:00.003+01:00

Lisa, whom I know from the moly_x_20 group sent me an email asking for an art trade. As there are phantastic artists participating I joined too. Basically you create one piece of art and get another piece back. It can be a little drawing, a print, a comic or a zine, a photo, a felted creation, a beaded thing... Whatever fits your niche and can be dropped in the mail within a week.

I have to send my art to Dawn. The funny thing is that the day I received the email telling me I´m supposed to send Dawn my creation, I also received the book "1000 Artist Journal Pages" of which she is the author. What a coincidence.

The letter will be off tomorrow and I hope Dawn will like it!

In case you want to join in on the fun, just let me know.

Movie Overload (Asia Filmfest)

2009-11-09T09:17:00.011+01:00

The Asia Filmfest is over. I went almost everyday and enjoyed it as usual. Yesterday I spent more than 12 hours non-stop watching movies. I´m surprised that I didn´t get a headache.

Last year I bought comics and books there, this year ink pens and sweets. I really had a good time the two past weeks.

Special thanks to Benjamin who took care of the kids every(!!!!) evening. I do appreciate this and I have a surprise for you when you come back from Antwerp.

Dark VS. Light

2009-10-26T14:47:00.007+01:00

A friend of mine recently told me that my art was too "dark" and that there was always some hidden undertone to it. I understand why she said that, but I do not see this in all of my drawings.

As I´m trying to slowly find a job (at least a side job) where I can also be creative and hopefully do some drawings and illustrations, I would like to know whether you prefer the "dark" and moody pictures or the other lighter and more c olorful ones. Take the poll on the right side of the navigation bar. Thanks!

Light VS. Dark

2009-10-26T14:46:00.007+01:00

A friend of mine recently told me that my art was too "dark" and that there was always some hidden undertone to it. I understand why she said that, but I do not see this in all of my drawings.

Artist Of The Month

2009-10-25T09:03:00.000+01:00

Steve Loya is an art teacher and artist living in Northern Virginia, USA. We were both members of the moly_x_19 exchange group. Check out his blogs "Go flying turtle" and "Steve Loya Art" to find his colorful and diverse work.
I enjoyed the Moleskine exchange with him. I used to continue his drawings and that was pretty easy as I like and enjoyed his style and his choice of colors. So I felt honored when he asked me whether I wanted to be the featured "artist of the month" at his blog. You can check out the Q&A here.

Here are some of the molys, where I continued the art after him. The last 3 pages are mine, the 3 before are Steve´s:

My favorite one is this the one shown below. You almost cannot see, where his art stops and mine begins.

Thanks Steve, I really enjoyed answering your questions.

Royal-Filmpalast (Movie craze)

2009-10-18T16:33:00.003+02:00

Royal-Filmpalast: (Goetheplatz 2, München, Tel.: 089/53 39 56/7)

Movie:

Oktober 18: Oben (Up)

(Movie Craze & This Diary Will Change Your Life 2009)

Can Anybody Help Me With Czech?

2009-10-18T01:15:00.003+02:00

Friday, my daughter found this postcard next to her school. It seems the card came all the way from the Czech Republic - tied to a ballon.

I remember that as a kid (and even later) I´ve sent off so many cards with ballons and messages in bottles. But never have I received a reply.

We were really excited about this find. Though there is not a personal message on it I do want to understand it. It seems to be some kind of ad for the SOS Children´s Villages in the Czech Republic. And I think there will be some kind of donation for them for every reply they get. I wonder if we are supposed to take a picture of the place we found the card.

Can anybody help me out with the translation?

I want you, and I want you to want me to want you

2009-09-30T09:28:00.005+02:00

"I Want You, But I Don't Need You" by Amanda Palmer

I like you, and I'd like you to like me to like you
But I don't need you, don't need you to need me to like you
Because if you didn't like me, I would still like you, you see
la lala... la lala...

I lick you, and I'd like you to like me to lick you
But I don't need you, don't need you to like me to lick you
If your pleasure turned into pain, I would still lick for my personal gain
la lala... la lala...

I fuck you, and I'd like you to like me to fuck you
But I don't fucking need you, don't need you to need me to fuck you
If you need me to need you to fuck, that fucks everything up
la lala... la lala...

I want you, and I want you to want me to want you
But I don't need you, don't need you to need me to need you

That's just me, so take me or leave me
But please don't need me, don't need me to need you to need me
Because we're here a minute, the next we're dead
So love me or leave me but try not to need me
Enough said.

I want you, but I don't need you...

I love you, and I love how you love how I love you
But I don't need you, don't need you to need me to love you
If your love changed into hate, would my love had been a mistake?
I don't know. I don't know.

So I'm gunna leave you, I'd like you to leave me to leave you
But lover, believe me; it isn't because I don't need you
(You know I don't need you)
All I wanted was to be wanted
But you're drowning me deep in your need to be needed
la lala... la lala

I want you, and I want you to want me to want you
But I don't need you, don't need you to need me to lead you

That's just me, so take me or leave me
But please don't need me, don't need me to need you to need me
Because we're here a minute, the next we're dead
So love me or leave me but try not to need me
Enough said.

I want you, but I don't need you...

What a lovely song. I just heard it for the first time. Amanda Palmer is the lovely girlfriend of Neil Gaiman. I would love to hear her live some day.

(For Lionheart)

Dead All Along

2009-09-26T21:19:00.005+02:00

Performed by Ceri Frost, Film by Giles Timms. Made at the Animation Workshop at UCLA's Department of Theater, Film and Television, 2009

"Enchanted by a pixie, a child called Yorick enters a magical kingdom, but when Yorick returns he finds his world ravaged by time."

Reminds me of my Edward Gorey Moleskine (part 1, part 2).

Neues Gabriel (Movie Craze)

2009-09-24T08:22:00.001+02:00

Neues Gabriel: (Dachauer Str. 16, München, Tel.:

089/594 574)

Movie:

September 23: Antichrist

(Movie Craze & This Diary Will Change Your Life 2009)

City (Movie Craze)

2009-09-23T15:12:00.001+02:00

City: (Sonnenstraße 12, München, Tel.: 089/591 983)

Movies:
April 30: Das Festmahl im August (Pranzo di ferragosto)

September 3: Polytechnique

September 3: In the electric mist

September 5: Round da way

September 5: Idiots and Angels

September 6: Coffin Rock

September 7: Red Cliff

September 8: The Sniper

September 9: Lake Mungo

(Movie Craze & This Diary Will Change Your Life 2009)

Cinema (Movie Craze)

2009-09-23T14:55:00.003+02:00

copyright by Mohan S

Cinema: (Nymphenburger Straße 31, München, Tel.: 089 555255)

Movies:
September 1: Carriers

September 2: Thirst

September 2: The final Destination 3D

September 3: IP Man

September 6: A film with me in it

September 7: Orphan

September 8: The Tournament

September 8: Blood: The last Vampire

(Movie Craze & This Diary Will Change Your Life 2009)

Second addition to Steve´s Moly_x_19 - Insects

2009-09-22T08:24:00.002+02:00

I really like this one. I like it simple. Take a look at the first addition of skulls.

More information about the Moly_X International Moleskine Exchange can be found here.

Tribute To Edward Gorey (Moly_x_6)

2009-09-21T10:10:00.009+02:00

I finally managed to scan this little moly with my illustration. It took me several days to get it right, as I´ve only got a small A4 scanner. The images have to be joined to one whole picture in Photoshop. And somehow this one wasn´t easy to join. The more I see of Edward Gorey´s art and writings the more I am hooked. There is always something new to discover in it.

I posted the lower picture to show you David´s addition. I love how the two pictures blend into each other. You see the guy at the left? The fur collar fits perfectly into David´s bushes.

More information about the Moly_X International Moleskine Exchange can be found here.

Tribute to Edward Gorey Moly_X_6 (1)

2009-09-16T09:06:00.008+02:00

Now that I received this Moleskine in the second round, I was finally able to scan the pages of my first entry. It was the first entry of the first moleskine exchange I started.
If you are feeling bored, you can have a closer look at the drawing in original size. Try to find the corpse, the abducted baby, the lizard and the dog. Good luck! ;)
More information about the Moly_X International Moleskine Exchang e can be found here.

Second addition to Joy Eliz´ Moly 19 (2)

2009-09-15T16:12:00.005+02:00

This is my second contribution to Joy Eliz´ moleskine for the moleskine exchange group 19. This drawing was greatly inspired by Michelle White. More information about the Moly_X International Moleskine Exchange can be found here.

Tribute To Edward Gorey (Moly_x_6)

2009-09-13T03:05:00.004+02:00

I finally started and completed the pages of my own moly for the moly_x_6. I had difficulties adding my own work to the existing pages as each and every page done by the other group members is great. Honestly I thought about keeping the moly and not passing it on any more - in fear of its loss. I already lost two molys in the mail, and loosing this one would make me sad. But what the heck.... it wouldn´t be fair to keep it. So I´m sending it on to Emma - of course registered. ;)

Lapin´s Moly: Collections

2009-08-03T00:01:00.004+02:00

My favorite addition to all the molys of the moly_x_6 group I did in the past week. Lapin´s moly has the theme "Collections". While he collects lamps and David collects portraits of elder men, I collect comics. I just love comics - specially the dark and weird Asian comics. I have more to add when the moly comes around a second time.

David´s Moly

2009-08-02T23:59:00.001+02:00

I had a hard time with David´s moly from the moly_x_6 group. I like the Octopus, but not the rest of the picture.

Finally Getting On With The Moleskines

2009-08-02T23:48:00.006+02:00

Wow. After a long time I finally managed to get on with some of the molys. I just had 8 molys from 4 groups lying around and didn´t really know where to start. As I had so many from the moly_x_6 group, I did all of them together and sent off 3 to Emma in Australia last week. Emma, your moly is completed now.

Comic Moleskine (Moly_x_19)

2009-07-06T20:49:00.001+02:00

Here is another set of pictures from my vacation. The zombies are inspired by MATTY8080. I love his zombies and have bought quite a few pics from him.

Myth-Moly (Moly_x_20)

2009-07-06T08:02:00.001+02:00

Here are finally the pictures of my addition to the myth-moly. I drew this during my vacation where I didn´t have access to a scanner before passing the moly on. Thanks Joyce for sending me the scans. The other pics are from my camera.

I´m A Creep

2009-07-06T03:04:00.008+02:00

Just recently I heard this song for the first time after many many years. I love the song and it always reminds me of the wonderful time I spent in LA. It was wonderful to hear it again and to remember all kinds of different stuff.

Radiohead

"Creep"

When you were here before,
Couldn't look you in the eye
You're just like an angel,
Your skin makes me cry

You float like a feather
In a beautiful world
I wish I was special
You're so very special

But I'm a creep,
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here

I don't care if it hurts,
I wanna have control
I want a perfect body
I want a perfect soul

I want you to notice
when I'm not around
You're so very special
I wish I was special

But I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here, ohhhh, ohhhh

She's running out the door
She's running out
She run run run run...
run...

Whatever makes you happy
Whatever you want
You're so very special
I wish I was special

But I'm a creep,
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doin' here?
I don't belong here

I don't belong here...

Here´s the video with the lyrics. And then I discovered another version of the song by The Pretenders which I hadn´t heard before. This version isn´t bad either.

Stars In The Sky

2009-07-05T04:12:00.000+02:00

Hugh (ENG SUBs)
This short film was made by students at ESMA school of the arts in Montpellier, France. (via plastique monkey)

Atelier (Movie Craze)

2009-07-02T05:03:00.006+02:00

Atelier: Sonnenstraße 12, München, Tel.: 089/591 918

Movie:
June 25: Che -Teil 1 (Che - Part 1)

Oktober 15: Inglorious Basterds

(Movie Craze & This Diary Will Change Your Life 2009)

Music

2009-06-30T16:35:00.001+02:00

Pictures

2009-06-15T09:35:00.003+02:00

My husband is back home and uploaded my pictures as well. Here are some of them:

While I have to carry parrots and huge pythons in my hands, my husband has to take over the part of dancing with the kids in the Minidisco. I really do prefer the snakes and the parrot poo to the dancing. :)

Other pics will be posted when I´m back.

Leaving...

2009-06-10T23:04:00.003+02:00

My husband and my daughter left back for home yesterday. School and work are calling. My son and myself will be following on Thursday.

Relaxing for a few weeks in Costa Calma

2009-06-10T23:03:00.002+02:00

I can´t upload my pics to my flickr account. I´ll upload them, when we are back home.

Here We Come...

2009-05-28T00:05:00.005+02:00

We´ll be off to Fuerteventura in 3 hours. It is great to land at an airport at the beach.

This is a pic I took the last time. Almost looks like a B&W pic, isn´t it?
See you end of June.

Headless Angel

2009-05-25T09:51:00.001+02:00

One of my favorite statues at work. I love that you can see the navel.

On My Way To Work

2009-05-25T09:49:00.000+02:00

Twitter

2009-05-17T09:01:00.004+02:00

I´ve been avoiding twitter for some months now as I didn´t want to spend even more time on the net. But I didn´t want to miss anything from PostSecret (my favorite blog). So now after wondering about all the PostSecret´s twitter messages I have been missing out on I have also registered under kerstinsklein.

(I hurt my back badly and for some time couldn´t sit properly. But I´m back now and will start reposting slowly. I have quite some new molys and other stuff to post. )

Tales Of Mere Existence "A Typical Conversation With My Mom"

2009-05-10T08:04:00.002+02:00

Happy Mother´s Day!

I just love Lev´s animations. :) They always make me laugh. You can subscribe to more films and comics at his website Ingredient X Entertainment.

A Lot Of Drawings To Be Done

2009-05-01T08:20:00.002+02:00

Five molys to do for the Moly_X International Moleskine Exchange. More information about the Moly_X International Moleskine Exchange can be found here.

Dancer From Budapest

2009-04-28T16:11:00.001+02:00

Another Great Day At Work

2009-04-27T15:53:00.002+02:00

Joyce´ Moly

2009-04-27T08:00:00.000+02:00

This is my contribution to Joyce´ moleskine for the moleskine exchange group 20. It is the first time I tried collage and I enjoyed it. Check out Joyce´s art. Her photorealistic drawings are incredible.

More information about the Moly_X International Moleskine Exchange can be found here.

A Huuuuge Moly Treasure

2009-04-26T12:43:00.009+02:00

Yesterday evening I found a package in front of our door: It was the new sized moly (DIN A3) I had ordered. Moleskine is producing larger sizes now. What a treasure... what a huuuuge treasure. I´ll be receiving two middle sized ones (DIN A4) too, which will be easier to carry around - specially during vacations.
On the pics you can see the two other sizes which I usually use.

My Mac Is Back

2009-04-24T10:31:00.003+02:00

The coin (which my son put into the CD-drive of my Mac) has been removed. And lots of RAM added. Thanks babe!

Offline For A Few Days...

2009-04-14T13:10:00.002+02:00

... because of Pessach and because my son PUT A 5 CENT COIN INTO THE DVD DRIVE OF MY MAC. Argh! So it won't be at home until it is repaired. :(
That reminds me of the biscuits and pencil colors my kids put into the VCR player some years ago. Or the tons of building bricks inside the center box... :)

Passover Blues

2009-04-13T14:35:00.000+02:00

Specially for you, Benjamin! ;)

Tony White "Hokusai - An Animated Sketchbook"

2009-04-10T11:59:00.000+02:00

Did I ever tell you that I´m a fan of japanese art? And Hokusai? And animations too... so what a great combination in this video.

There Is Something In The Water

2009-04-09T08:01:00.000+02:00

via The Presurfer

Happy Passover!

2009-04-08T14:28:00.001+02:00

Neues Arena (Movie Craze)

2009-04-06T21:34:00.001+02:00

Neues Arena Kino: (Hans-Sachs-Straße 7, München, Tel.: 089/260 32 65)

Movie:
April 6: Milk

(Movie Craze & This Diary Will Change Your Life 2009)

Gran Torino

2009-04-06T10:41:00.005+02:00

I really liked the movie (Gran Torino) we watched yesterday. Listen to the ending song "Tribute Gran Torino Music" by Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens on youtube. Unfortunatly I can not embed the video from that song here, but the version without Clint Eastwood can be listened to.

Gran Torino by Jamie Cullum:

Filmtheater Sendlinger Tor (Movie Craze)

2009-04-06T09:33:00.005+02:00

Filmtheater Sendlinger Tor: (Sendlinger-Tor-Platz 11, München, Tel.:
089/554 636)

Movie:
April 5: Gran Torino

(Movie Craze & This Diary Will Change Your Life 2009)

Jack’s Life Lessons

2009-04-01T21:20:00.004+02:00

What is your favorite?

via swissmiss