Pinckney Island

While I was at work yesterday helping incoming graduate students with all their many questions - it was fun having all the students trickle back into town - Daniel was enjoying his last vacation day on Pinckney Island. 

Pinckney Island is located on the way to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. As the crow flies, it's not very far from where we live. However, by car it takes about an hour to get there as you have to drive west through Savannah along the Savannah River and then back on the other side of the river toward the Atlantic ocean again.

Daniel kept sending me photos throughout the day and I thought they were too beautiful not to share with you all.

My next post will take us back to Richmond, Virginia. In the meantime, have a wonderful Saturday!

❧ Silke

Edward Hopper Exhibit

A few weeks ago we drove to Richmond, VA especially to see this Edward Hopper exhibit. We are both great fans of this magnificent artist.

I have much more to share of Richmond, but first I wanted to show you some photos I took at the exhibit.

They aren't the best photos. Even though it was allowed to photograph the art, I always feel like I'm doing something I shouldn't be doing.

What I found most fascinating were seeing some of his preliminary sketches next to the final artwork and the changes he ended up making. 

Now, here we have an actual hotel room (below) that was recreated from the painting above. 

What we found out just this morning from a radio interview, you could book this hotel room for $150 a night. There would be guards around at night, but we could have slept in a Hopper painting! If only we had known...

❧ Silke

Happy New Year!

I still remember when we were all worried the world might end with January 1, 2000 because of Y2K. Our neighbors back then stocked up on firewood just in case, which they gave to us after midnight came and went and nothing happened. We didn't have to buy firewood for years!

And now it's 2020. Hard to believe that 20 years have passed. Especially since none of us are getting any older, right?!

This last year has been really wonderful at my new job. I really, really love what I do and I finally feel settled enough with working full-time after so many years of not working in a "regular" job that I am finding time and the frame of mind for other things. 

 

The Christmas season was cozy and quiet for us. We both seemed to want to cocoon rather than entertain or be out and about. We did travel to Richmond, Virginia one weekend to see a fantastic Edward Hopper exhibit, which was so inspiring!

Speaking of cocooning ... our year ended with this minor miracle in our garden. We got to watch a monarch butterfly transform from a caterpillar to butterfly in five weeks. I think it took so long because it's not so warm at the moment.

 Isn't the cocoon gorgeous? A little work of art!

And then one day you can see the butterfly through the now translucent cocoon and you know it will hatch that night.

The next morning, I got to watch it unfold. Nature is nothing short of amazing! 

Even though I haven't been in my studio yet (there's still hope I will get back there... :)), I have been doing a lot of knitting. Right now I am finishing up another entrelac scarf with gorgeous Noro yarn. It's such a fun pattern and I finally don't have to look at the instructions anymore while knitting!

I found a link on another blog of a site in Scandinavia, where you can create your own calendar/planner and use your own photo/artwork on the front cover. It arrived just in time for 2020! Let the planning begin! 

On Monday, the quarter starts for our students and things will get much busier at work. It's been nice to have it a little quieter to get caught up on a few things, but I'm looking forward to seeing the students and professors again.

I hope your 2020 is starting out well and wish you health, joy and happy surprises for the next year!

❧ Silke

Checking in...

Hi there! I just wanted to drop in and say that I'm still here. Working full-time really has not allowed me much time for blogging and even my art! However, we've done some traveling since I last wrote. During the summer we went to Germany and a couple of weeks ago to Washington, DC (that's where this photo was taken).

I'm going to get my photos organized and post them soon. Especially those from Germany - we visited some new and beautiful places!

For now, I've committed to getting my studio set up to make more art. I've been at my job now for a year and LOVE it! I've also become familiar with it enough to free up mental space to get back to my art. Luckily I work in an art and design university, which has me surrounded by art and creativity all day long. Still, I miss my own art!

I hope you have all been doing well!

❧ Silke

Big Changes

Friends, I have not blogged in soooo long. The reason is that I started working full-time again. A position opened up at the same art school (Savannah College of Art and Design), where Daniel teaches and it sounded too perfect for me to not go for it. I'm now an academic adviser for graduate students and I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute so far.

Poster-sized color pencil drawing for Norm's, a restaurant  in Yakima, WA. 

I work with a fantastic team of women, am surrounded by art and get to work with students, administrators and professors. I feel like I'm completely in my element!

24 x 30 inch painting, commissioned by a client in France

At the same time when I started working last fall, I had a solo exhibit for which I created some bigger piece of art. It was a very busy time!

The bear painting is older, but I changed it some for the exhibit and like it much better now.  During the opening, I sold quite a few pieces, so I created these three to take their place.

During the months of November and December, Daniel and I had three deaths in the family, all in our generation, which was very hard on both of us and our families. Two of them had been seriously ill for a short period of time and the third death was completely unexpected. It derailed both of us for some time, always waiting for more bad news, but the arrival of spring with it's new growth has helped put life in perspective again.

Because of all of this change, I haven't spent a lot of time in my studio, nor have I blogged at all. I've thought about deleting my blog, but somehow that doesn't feel right at all. So, I'll just go with the flow and see where life, my art and my connection to you takes me.

I hope you are all doing well, my friends!

With love and gratitude,

❧ Silke