The Golden Lemon

Spice it up!

A new little lemon collage painting, mixed media and vintage paper, scribbled over by my artistic grandmother.. I called it the Golden Lemon, because - the background here is golden.

 I discovered this metallic paint and went a little crazy with it, covering several canvases with its subtle, golden glow. I love it, because i paint in layers and the gold is a little transparent to let shine through, what is underneath, yet it adds a certain structure and "body" to the painting. And i think yellow and gold is a great combination anyway. 

"The Golden Lemon" here in germany is something not so nice - a prize for the worst piece of architecture - tee her, please forget about this, while looking at my post!

Hope your week starts out lovely - sometimes a little bit of lemon is all you need to spice it up!

Painting: Martina Voigt-Schmid, Stillife-photo via Poppytalk

Mix it up!

It's all in the mix!

Of light and shadow, of sweet and bitter, of different colors, of textures, of fabrics ... Life, like art, needs contrasts - and life, like art needs balance to find harmony and  - transform potentiall chaos into richer meaning and happiness. 

I hope, your week is going well so far - and you do manage to find the magic ingredient, that makes your day sparkle and shine. 

Above you see a new corkage painting from a series of six i've recently worked on, using vintage magazine paper, tinfoil paper from italian sweets along with other bits and pieces and some layers of acrylics and gouache. To give you a feel of the size, i've montaged it into a stillife picture i found in my archive - thanks to Lonny Magazine, they're always good for some great interior inspiration - check it out!

Painting Martina Voigt-Schmid, photo: courtesy to Lonny Mag

New flower paintings

Draw your pleasure, paint your pleasure, and express your pleasure strongly.

Pierre Bonnard 

Fresh from my studio: a little series of smaller canvases with little collage elements i've been having fun with lately.In the first picture,  To give you a feeling of the size, i've put them into a pretty styled setting from Oyoy, a danish design company worth exploring!

It's quite hot here in Germany. Many people suffer from the heat. but i do enjoy the summer feeling, including fresh, sunny morning hours and warm. tender nights. I just love to run around wearing nothing but a light dress and sandals - it makes me feel more free and easy and it inspires me tp work with colors. This weekend, i have planned nothing but more painting - and visiting the local wine feast with friends and family. What are your plans?

Paintings: Martina Voigt-Schmid

Cushions:  Oyoy

New lemon painting

If life gives you lemons ...

make gin & tonic!

OR make a painting! Hubby and i start each day with a dose of lemon in our tea. And, since he always says he can't live without lemons and gets really cranky if we don't have them in the house, i thought it might be a good idea to paint him some for his birthday.  Besides that i like painting them anyway. Have combined the yellow with caribbean kind of blues, some collaged in specks of gold and added a black background for a male accent in the picture - do you like it?

In the second photo, i've put the painting in a setting from Oyoy, so you can see how big it is in reality.

Hope your week get's off to a super start. Will come round and visit you all this evening!

Painting: Martina Voigt-Schmid

Coffee break!

Come lovelies, take a break ... 

and have an espresso with me in the colorful mess of my studio! Nothing revives us better sometimes, than some caffeine - mixed with sweetness (yes, those papers underneath the cup are from all the italian cookies i've eaten ;)), And a good dose of vibrant colors!

I'm still trying to find my energy again. It does come back, but slower than i want to. It snows here now, and is very cold. I make plans, shape ideas and try to get a new project on it's way - more about it soon! 

Have a fabulous start to your week - 

and don't forget to 

be bold, be fearless and shine! 

 Photos: Martina Voigt-Schmid

touches of lemon

When life gives you lemons and for some reason you can’t make lemonade, find a recipe for a lemon cake. The secret is to turn bitter into sweet and darkness into light. 

And anyhow, happiness is in the right mix, i think. A dose of lemon, or, at least some bright yellow color, adds instant brightmess and cheer - to a wall, a day, an outfit, a drink, a mood - especially in winter! 

Photos/paintings: 1, 3 Martina Voigt-Schmid, 2 Atlantic-Pacifik

Peachy painting

Colors are the smiles of nature.

Leigh Hunt

How's your week going so far lovelies? I must say that i'm in a cocooning mode at the moment and try to spend as much time as possible at home - maybe i need that after a really strenuous year. 

I do some planning and recherche for a vegetarian cookbook for kids right now, which is nice because it's a fun project and i can do it on my own. Also, i'm getting back to my studio and try to fifnish some paintings i have started. 

The picture above is  a recent collage-painting, using bits of pretty paper a friend brought me from China. It' available as a print in my shop now.

Painting and photo: Martina Voigt-Schmid

Orange Art

Happy November bloggy fellows! 

This month arrives here with full force and a mouth full of wind that just stripes the trees naked in almost one go. Here's some vibrant color mix for you to keep warm. A recent collage painting featuring a fruit i can't live without: Oranges! Aren't they just like little suns, so pretty to look at and so delicious to eat? Hope the week goes well for you - i feel like snuggling in with a goos book and lots of tea - and a lot of oranges! 

Painting: Martina Voigt-Schmid, also available as a print in the shop.

Blueberry monday

How was your weekend lovelies? Did you enjoy the lovely fall weather and vibrant colors? We had a brilliant time on saturday, strolling through town, along the river, and sitting outside in the sunshine for a bite to eat and looking at clouds of birds assembling for their flight towards south.

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Some art vitamins for your monday: Two different blueberry collage-paintings i did recently. The first one was a custom order, painted on a vintage cardboard, the other a little canvas which is now available as print in my shop here. 

These prints and  on canvas and paper ship directly from the USA, which is great, because i had problems several times with sending something overseas from germany. It took weeks and weeks to arrive and everyone thought, things had been lost. So this sounds like a good solution.

Have a fabulous start to your week and see you soon!

Little boat sailing - Update!

Raise your sail one foot, and you get ten feet of wind. 

 Chinese Proverb 

A little collage painting i did over the last weekend, with vintage paper from China. For kids - or for the kid in you - Just to wish you a smooth journey this week, and beautiful sunsets! Cheers lovelies, enjoy the trip!

Great news:
You can now buy prints on paper or canvas of this painting and many others here If you enter this code, you get free shipping until Oct. 14th.

Photo and painting: Martina Voigt-Schmid

New shoe painting

 

 

"Pink is the navy blue of India" 

Diana Vreeland 

 This is with a twinkle to all my friends from India here in blogland. Even though i've never been to that mysterious and exiting country, it's colors seem to be in my blood somehow. Pink and new shoes - what better way is there to add some extra energy and exitement to the week to come?

Here, the  crisp, clear light of late summer days shines into my office and brings out every detail and color so brightly. I just love this time of year, don't you? Come and have espresso with me!

Photos and paintings: Martina Voigt-Schmid

Fruday art: Happy tunes

Music is what feelings sound like ...

 and so are colors, to me! Are you whistling and singing already, because another weekend is here? These are some happy tunes from my studio, where i played with layers of color and bright bits from italian coockies mixed in. On sunday, i'm invited to a musical evening in another artists garden - this is my way to prepare!

Have a fun time lovelies, will come round to chat later!

Photo and artwork: Marina Voigt-Schmid

Monday Love: shoes!

Isn't it cool when the days that are supposed to feel good, actually do?  

Jim Carrey

 Monday greetings from my studio! Although i do have a lot of work, i was painting quite a lot these days and am getting back in toi the swing and groove of colors. To me, painting is a bit like composing a piece of music - and it feels good wehn you manage to strike the right notes!

Have a lovely start to your week and see you soon!

Photo and painting: Martina Voigt-Schmid

Monday Love: Art vitamins!

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.  Art is knowing which ones to keep.  

Scott Adams

Some  vitamins are always a good thing, right? And aren't they so much prettier and yummier in form of fruit than of pills? To me, fruits are so inspiring in their combined force of beautiful shape and color, good smell and even better taste, so, before eating, i decided to paint them. And don't you think, something pretty to look at is healthy as well? Some new little paintings on canvas, fresh from my studio, with collaged bits of pretty vintage papers and maps. Have a splendid start to your week!

Photos and artworks: Martina Voigt-Schmid

Monday Love: Art & Flowers

Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.
Wayne Dyer

Cheers to a happy new week lovelies! My garden is full of little blue "forgetmenots" at the moment and i found they make lovely "mini-bouquets" in tiny vases - some girly way to get more fun out of the little things! In the background you see one of my new collage- painttngs, featuring raspberries (yum!) and pretty bits of vintag paper, handcolored by another great artist: my grandmother!  Yes to abundance lovelies, i wish you plenty of it in the days to come!

Photo and paintig: Marina Voigt-Schmid 

Monday Love: Colors & Tea

Genius is the ability to renew one's emotions in daily experience.
Paul Cezanne

Have a colorful day lovelies and don't forget - some dark hues are needed to let the bright ones shine! Some happy colors and warm tea (maybe a croissant too ...) is all i need to brighten my spirit and get my energy going on a cold January morning, even if i don't have time to paint right now. What is your secret to keep warm and joyful in winter?

Painting & photo: Martina Voigt-Schmid

Friday Art: New collage paintings

Fresh from the studio: some new little canvases in a mix of acryllics and collaged parts of vintage books and papers - the first one got sold already! I hope to present some of my smaller works and prints in a little online art-shop soon and hope to find time to work on that "between the years".

How's your christmas preparations going so far?  I hope to accomplish most things over the weekend and just take it easy. After a very busy year, i feel a great need to slow down and let go and allow for some me-time. Happy 4th of advent dolls - will come round for tea and coockies and see what you've been up to!

Photos and artwork: Martina Voigt-Schmid

Fun with paper and magazines

Things are only impossible until they're not.  
Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation

I love this quote today, because it helps me reach for the stars, even if, for now, they are made of paper. As golden leaves start to cover the pavements, paper leaves are covering my floor. Inspiring bits and pieces from magazines i like, and cut out paper-doillies for a little project for the Christmas-edition of KidsLife. It was such a joy this morning, to discover Hana Lynch, a photographer i worked with, has featured our magazine  in her beautiful blog, the mom tog diaries. 

We published some of her work about the makeover of her kids rooms recently, and i love how it turned out. Have a look at more of her amazing work!

The air was chilly this morning, and i actually liked it - so fresh!  For a little extra fun this weekend, visit my friend Susan. She has a lovely giveaway over at  Mary Janes Tearoom.

Love for a happy weekend!

Photos: 1t: Martina Voigt-Scmid, 2, 3 and 4: Hana Lynch

Friday art: Art journal pages

Bloom!

Is my "theme" for 2011 and these 2 pictures from an older art journal seem to resonate with that. I'm currently working on a new set of canvases, currently covered in a golden yellow, and am so happy, that the sun is still warm and lovely around here. Light is so important for painting, and best of all, natural light. But light is vital for our emotional life as well. Did you notice, how many people are smiling, on a fine, sunny day? I hope the sun will be smiling on all of us this weekend!

Friday Art: Raspberry treat

A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?
Albert Einstein 

Hmmmm - a bit of sunshine, lovely friends, a hug, flowers, chocolate? Whatever you need to be happy, i hope you'll get plenty of it over the weekend! 

I have planned: A stroll over the fleamarket along the river, an art exibition, portuguese food hopefully enjoyed sitting outside, and sunday - just some time to catch up with myself!

Photo: Martina Voigt-Schmid