Painting summer

I have been quite busy in my studio lately. trying to make the best out of summers expansive energy. The big canvas paintings i'm just about to finish capture the warm, yellow golden glow of sunshine in the garden, the play of light and shadow, the sense of things blooming and ripening, while we feel relaxed like the black cat, sunshine on her fur..
I hope you're all having a bright and wonderful start to the your week and enjoy the best of August!

Happy Circles

Happiness is like a kiss. 

You must share it to enjoy it.

Bernard Meltzer

Dieses Bild ist im vergangenen Frühling entstanden, und es wurde verkauft an eine Innenarchitektin die sagt; "Ich hätte mir nie im Leben vorstellen können, dass mir ein pinkfarbenes Bild an meiner Wand gefallen könnte. Aber jetzt blicke ich jeden Tag darauf und es macht mich einfach glücklich!"

This canvas got finished last spring and it sold to an interior-architekt who said: "never in a million years could i imagine, i would buy a pink painting and be totally happy with it, but now i did - and i am!! " Have a FUNtastic week of spring and colors lovelies!

Painting: Martina Voigt-Schmid, Second photo, cushions & rug: courtesy of Gudrun Sjoeden

Happy weekend!

So I say "My dear if you could give me a cup of tea to clear my muddle of a head I should better understand your affairs." And we had the tea and the affairs too.... 

Charles Dickens, "Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy"

Tea, books, good magazines -  sprinkled with love and laughter -

sometimes the perfect mix for a happy weekend! After last weekends party which was wild and fun, my plan for the next 2 days is to just take it easy and relax. A hint of spring is in the air here in germany. I see the first little flowers in the gardens, there is birdsong in the morning and - yes, the air seems warmer and brighter too! 

The picture above is a little photo experiment with  picture i took in our living room and did some artwork on - to catch the golden atmosphere of the morning hours.

2 Kids

Drawing is the honesty of the art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad.

Salvador Dali

This is a sketch i just finished, of my gorgeous niece and nephew Emma and Jakob. 

They live in Munich and the drawing's supposed to be a present for their dad's birthday, which will be celebrated on saturday night. It's going to be a party in a club, with a wild 60ies theme - just thinking about what i'm going to wear ... Off to an early weekend flowers - time to let our hair down and dance!

Have you got anything planned yet?

Welcome to a new chapter ...

... and relax into Abundance! That's what came up, when i was pondering on a  motto for 2015.

Relax - and allow the year to unfold, as you also allow yourself to unfold and tune into what is already there: The richness of your inner being, the treasure of your experience!

I'm curious, as to what 2015 will bring for me - and for us. New challenges, new adventures, new beginnings. I personally feel a desiree to simplify. To do less. To trust more. Of course, as always, i see tons of things i'd like to do, bring on their way, finish or to go on with. And i'm sure that as always, i will be busy. But somehow i also see a change of energy - subtle, not easy to grasp for the mind - and it has to do with the motto above. 

I hope the New year will be healthy, happy, prosperous and wonderful for you dear friends. Stay tuned and see you soon!

Pictures 1 and 3 via Pinterest, 2 is a painting of mine from the "Little Garden" series

Blue Flame Painting

Happy new week lovelies, 

hope you keep your light shining, as we move into the dark season and days are getting shorter and shorter. Even though November is a bit gloomy and the lack of daylight can get people down, i like this months spirit. The misty "Fiametta" painting you see above was done in summer in the garden, but it also reminds me of a fire in winter, of morning and evening mist, of sundown and lights flickering in peoples houses or in the sky.

This weekend i will be hosting a little Art & Chocolate" event in our house and also in blogland.

Come back here on friday and link in to share your best chocolate recipe or a piece of art you've made or you simply adore. Can't wait to meet up and share the fun!

Pink & Mustard

Romance is the glamour which turns the dust of everyday life into a golden haze.

Carolyn Gold Heilbrun

A small painting of mine from my summer garden series. Played around with it a bit and put it in the pretty living room setting above. found on ELLE Decor. The soft shades of light pink, pearl grey and golden, mustardy yellow create a  delicate atmosphere and play in tune with the misty mornings and bright afternoons of october we have here. Hope your week is swinging along nicely - dare to dance to your own tune today!

Mexico Feeling in germany

Happy Summer Blues

Yesterday, i delivered some paintings of mine to a lovely client who lives not far from me. We tried and tested several pieces on the walls of her unique attic flat and she chose 2 that she liked best. I loved her mix of rustique elements like wooden ceiling beams and terra-cotta floor tiles with modern design classics like the sienna chairs in her kitchen and flashes of bold bright colors, like the little yellow metal locker. 

The blue painting "Summer Blues", from my latest summer series looks amazing in this environment. Surprisingly, it adds a sense of both spaciousness and   playfulness and brings a mexican feel to the environment.  The "Little Faun" painting also looks really bright and happy next to her bespoke kitchen and wounded staircase.

The late summer sun made the colors dazzle and shine, and we sat for a long while in her beautiful green roofgarden, having coffee and cake with another friend, who helped hanging the paintings.

It's one of the best experiences as a painter, seeing how ones work looks in a new environment and how - if well chosen -  it transforms the whole room and brings it to life - like music.

I hope you're all having a delightful late summer weekend. Excuse my slowness in blogging at the moment, but since i'm busy putting another issue of "KidsLife" together and lots of social life going on here, time just flies. Will come visit you over the weekend though - put the kettle on!

xox

Writing a blog ...

Some time ago i was asked by my dear friend Anita, from Castles Crowns and Cottages, to post about my blog writing experience. Thinking about it, it's been quite a journey and it is - an ongoing one.

Looking back 5 years ago, it started with a wish - i WANTED to have a blog, mainly to showcase my art and have a kind of website, i could update and manage myself. I didn't even think about all the other things, that are involved with blogging and keeping the blog up to date and worth visiting.

Showing my art

 Writing about my adventures

Start your own blog in 5 minutes - ha ha -  it took me much longer. Figuring out a name, building a header that would actually fit, finding the kind of design that would match with my expectations, providing pictures that looked good and also - finding the words ...

I have always loved writing - and keeping a diary, as a way to keep in touch with my inner life and also to digest and accentuate what happened in the world around me. But a blog is something, that is open to everyone and not all things can or should be communicated here.

Making friends

.... and featuring them in my magazine KidsLife, like Libbie and her amazing family.

.... or actually meeting them for coffee, shopping and art like the fellow painter Barbara von Enger

And a  blog is really not just about writing, but about COMMUNICATING. about SHARING and about GETTING BETTER in just about everything you do. It is about meeting new friends, about broadening ones horizon and about getting more inspiration, than you can take.

It is also more time consuming than i would ever have guessed. But still worth it.

                          Sharing my designs

Being quite busy as an artist, an editor, a designer, a mother a wife, a friend and some other things i decided to keep my posts mostly short and sweet. If i could, i would spend MUCH more time preparing for my posts and making them super special. But since time seems to be faster than me on most days, i just go with what there is in my archive, my head and my heart.

... and some fashion

I have aimed at being able to post mostly original content, that means, my own art, my own photography and designs. And i did make progress. with that- To have enough content i also post about fashion, which is one of my hobbies and something i love to distract me from what i ought to do ;)

Blogging reminds me daily, to be BIGGER than what troubles me. To be part of this amazingly creative, inventive and fun community that i share with all of YOU.

So,
Thank you my lovelies, 
for being part of my world and making the blog writing experience a never ending adventure!

Since i was asked to also nominate 2 people, to write about their blog writing experience,  i nominate my  friend from India, Arti, and fellow artist Jess.

Summer Flowers - Summer Art

Art is always good for happy surprises!

Happy weekend lovelies! A bouquet of wild flowers in a simple vase or sophisticated  Murano glass art out in the green - whatever it is you need to make this weekend special, i hope you will find it! 

The photos were taken by me at an art event in the Eiffel,  created by a bunch of super creative friends of mine.  I just rediscovered them in one of my files and thought, they catch the spirit of the season so well! 

Woof to a brand new week!

Alistair der Whippet wünscht Euch einen netten und relaxten Start in die Woche. Er erinnert Euch daran, immer entspannt zu bleiben, aber wach für gute Gelegenheiten, Eure Energie spielen zu lassen und Eure Ziele zu verfolgen. Alle Hindernisse mit Eleganz und Leichtigkeit zu überspringen, jeden guten Bissen zu genießen und bei alledem stets gut auszusehen!

Er ist neu in meiner kleinen Hunde-Galerie hier..

Alistair the Whippet is wishing you a nice and easy start to your week. He reminds you to be relaxed, yet on guard for opportunities to let your energy play and run fast, conquer all obstacles with elegance and candor, enjoy a yummy bite if you get one - and always look great!

He's new in my dog gallery - you can get prints of him here-

“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”

Coco Chanel

A recent illustration of mine that got featured on BLACK FASHION, an inspiring magazine and blog about black fashion and culture - check it out!  Those of you who know me know, how much my art has always been inspired by colorful women and works of art from Africa and Haiti. Even as a kid i used to draw black women in colorful clothes and my husband likes to say that i must have lived in Africa in a former life! This illustration however was inspired by gorgeous model  Lais Ribeiro on a cover of VOGUE Germany some years ago.

Hope you enjoy summer as much as i do and have a fun week!

Illustration: Martine Voigt-Schmid 

Friday art: Franz Kline

I have no fear of making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own.

Jackson Pollock

Happy weekeend lovelies, how's your summer going?  I do enjoy to be outside a lot and paint out on the terrace,, whenever i can. Currently i'm inspired by bold black brushstrokes by american painter Franz Kline. His work is very male i find and it shows a lot of energy and powerful expression - a trust in the life of a painting that i want to achieve as well - even though my own style is different. 

Hope you'll have a lovely time ahead - am sending you sunshine!

Pretty things

Painting from nature is not copying the object; it is realizing one's sensations.

Paul Cezanne

Have been painting outside a lot lately, and enjoy how nature and the spirit of summer flows into my work. I don't paint what i see right now, but what i feel - energies, vibrations, how one thing communicates with the other, water, air, light, stars, molecules - you see, i'm a little high on summer right now and a bit "off" - which happens, when i paint.

Here's a little peek into my home - with some new paintings in the background. The pink orchid amazes me daily with her glamour, the little plate is something my son brought from Zimbabwe recently  and the round thing is actually a beautiful candle holder i got from a friend - it makes beautiful shadows when lighted!

Have a happy weekend lovelies!  

I've listed this post on "Flowery Friday!, a Link up celebrating the beauty of flowers,initiated by the lovely Trishe. Want to play along too?

Summer Blooms

Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

A recent painting with ornamental Hydrangeas floating on on a cool, turquoise and white background. 

Hope you enjoy the best of July and have a fantastic week ahead. Beauty, colors, heavenly scents and fine textures - nature is just too precious to not be enjoyed. And with all the madness that happens in the world around now, it's important to choose: peace, abundance, beauty and joy! 

Allora, let's go!

Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important. 
Janet Lane 

This is a new illustration i did for my dear friend Anne-Claire. She's a fabulous Lady who has lived through some hard times lately. Now, after a bad depression, she's getting into full swing again and i just saw her riding this vanilla scooter, wearing a pink dress and a fancy, handmade bag. This is a Look from Kate Spade - and it fits her so well,. She's  a talented needleworker and knits and crochets the sweetest things, But she also is a great writer and just started her very own blog to tell her story. If you'd like to laugh and cry at the same time, have a look at it here.

Have a sweet weekend my dear ones - can't wait to have a good blog-hop and come visit you all!

Pastel Pug

Percy ist neu in meiner kleinen Hunde-Gallerie hier - 

und wünscht Euch einen guten Start in die Woche!

Percy is new in my little dog gallery here - 

and wishes you a lovely start to your week!

Monday Love: White Hot!

A new fashion portrait of my gorgeous artist friend Barbara von Enger,  who knows how to ad the WOW-factor to everything she's wearing.  When i last met her in town, she wore a little A-Line white dress under a bright red trench. along with beautiful red lips - and looked so fresh and cheerful. We visited our favorite Vintage-shop together and she found these earrings you see in the sketch - just perfect for summer! 

I wish you a bright and happy start to your week and to the lovely month of July!

Illustration Martine Voigt-Schmid

Little Garden Painting

Summer set lip to earth’s bosom bare,

And left the flushed print in a poppy there.

Francis Thompson

Something that came to me, while i was painting outside, in a soft summer breeze. It's a small painting 30 x 40 cm, mixed media on canvas - one of a series of 3. Hope you enjoy June so far - for me, it should be 3 times as long! This coming weekend brings the summer solstice and the longest night of the year. And it falls on a saturday - anything planned yet to celebrate?

Painting: Martina Voigt-Schmid

Into the PINK

I fell off my pink cloud with a thud.

Elizabeth Taylor

Happy weekend flowers! And hurry up to make the best of your weekend! Wait a moment:Isn't the weekend ll about slowing down? Just find your own tempo and go with it - no matter where you go!

The day kind of overwhelmed me with a can of Espresso exploding on my stove and covering the whole kitchen in Coffee! This is why i fell from my pink cloud and have keep this post really short and simple - much cleaning to do!

Have  a super time and enjoy all the lovely moments of summer. And if you feel like chilling with a new magazine, check out the new Summer issue of Scarlet Pink magazine Some of my art is featured there

Drawing: Martine Voigt-Schmid