Sour and sweet

Sour and sweet is the taste of life

Some street art from Italy - just impressions i caught, while walking the little streets of the ancient town called Albenga, situated at the Ligurian coast.  The combination of zesty yellow, sweet pink and mellow grey is something i want to use in one of the next paintings. Yellow and pink is my happy combination, and the grey and creamy white ads a touch of softness to the mix.

It's grey outside here and soft rain is falling. Am preparing for a weekend visit by two close friends of mine, and look forward to an exciting film-premiere on sunday, featuring the work of some people very dear to me -more about it in the next post!

Looking at those lemons, i'm thinking about making lemon spaghetti for lunch today, so easy and delicious! Find the recipe here!

Colors of Italy

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.

Rabindranath Tagore

The vibrant colors of Italy also contain a softer palette of muted pinks, oranges, grey, beiges and blues, that are wonderfully soothing to the eyes and to the mind. To me, almost every piece of wall i see, or carefully tiled and plastered ground i walk over, contains a painting, and i've photographed a lot of pretty details during our walks in ancient market towns and villages. Above pix were taken in a medieval city called Toirrano, where we also ate wonderful pasta ... more about this in the next post ;)

Hope you all  have a splendid weekend ahead

I'm summer, come, run along my beaches, loose your thoughts in my rays of sunshine, dive into my oceans ...

Dear friends, it's been a loooooong while since i last posted here - do you guess where i've been? It wasn't easy going beach life all the time, but somehow, summer took me on it's wings and carried me away. Making the long days seem short, giving me so much to do while at the same time making me .... not exactly lazy, but stretching my inner life out in various directions. These pix were taken during a trip to the Italian riviera, and i'm going to show you more of the colors of Italy here soon.

Hope you're having a splendid summer so far and send you a fresh ocean breeze!

Fearless Art

Be original; don't be scared of being bold!

Ed Sheeran

Some bold art to wake you up after the easter break! ThereÄs something that inspires me in these black walls, adorned with big, powerful art ... Be fearless,  be bold, PLAY and let your light shine, no matter what! 

Maybe because i'm at a point with my new paintings, that scares me a little. They are not far from where i want them to be, but not quite there ... something is still missing. And adding a little thing, sometimes changes the whole painting! Let's see, if some progress can be achieved this week!

I wish you a powerful midweek and send you a brushstroke of happiness!

Pictures: Pinterest

Happy Easter!

Easter spells out beauty, the rare beauty of new life.

S.D. Gordon

Fröhliche Ostern Ihr Lieben! Ein kleiner Gruß aus meinem Atelier, wo ich zur Zeit in goldenen Gelbtönen schwelge. Gestern, als ich die Fotos aufgenommen habe ist mir aufgefallen, dass ich für unseren Osterstrauss genau die gleichen Farben ausgesucht hatte, die sich auf meiner Palette finden - gelb, schwarz, pink und ein bisschen blau und orange. Sogar das pink meiner Bluse passt zu diesem Mix! 

Für das Bild von mir habe ich die "YouCamPerfect"t-App auf dem i-pad ausprobiert - und finde sie super! Sie wirft ein schmeichelhaftes Licht auf den Teint, das Fältchen und Hautunreinheiten einfach überstrahlt. Frau sieht aus wie frisch aus dem Ei gepellt und wie nach der Frühjahrskur, die sie in diesem Jahr (in meinem Fall) noch gar nicht begonnen hat ;)

Wir verbringen Ostern in diesem Jahr ganz entspannt - lange Familien-Frühstücke und Brunches, ein Flohmarkt-Bummel, ein Spaziergang am Rhein entlang - mal schauen, was das launische Aprilwetter alles zulässt!

Was sind Eure Pläne?

Happy easter from my studio flowers! Am painting away in shades of golden yellow and dashes of pink and yesterday, when i took these pix, i realized, that instinctively, i chose the same color scheme for our easter bouquet and even for my top!

For the picture of me i played a bit with the "YouCamPerfect" App for i-pad and must say i really love it! It makes the skin look beautiful and smooth- small wrinkles and imperfections just don't show and you look like after the spring cleanse even if - like in my case - you haven't even started on it.

The weather is really moody here, strong winds that blow cold rain showers, flower-petals and occasional specs of sunlight in our faces. We'll have a relaxed easter-weekend this year, with long and lazy family breakfasts and brunches, a walk over the flea-market, maybe visiting an art exhibition or a walk alongside the river.

What are your plans for the holidays?   

DIY Citrus Body Scrub

Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin.  

Gwyneth Paltrow

 Gestern habe ich Frühjahrsklamotten anprobiert und dabei gedacht, dass es höchste Zeit wäre, mal wieder etwas für meine Haut zu tun! Vor allem für Arme und Beine, die nach dem langen Winter - um es milde auszudrücken - nicht so richtig gut aussehen. Ein schönes Peeling schleift alte Hautschüppchen ab, fördert die Durchblutung und vitalisiert den ganzen Körper. 

Dieses einfache Rezept habe ich schon mal getestet - es ist super-easy, 100% natürlich und tut richtig gut. Durch das Traubenkernöl in der Mischung ist es auch sehr pflegend. Ich habe die Anwendung von Traubenkernöl mal in dem wunderschönen Wellness-Hotel Bollants im Park kennengelernt - es enthält besonders viel Vitamin E und Polyphenole und ist somit ein super Anti-Ageing Mittel.

Ihr bracht für das Peeling nur:

1 Bio-Zitrone

250g naturreines grobes Meersalz

75ml kaltgepresstes Traubenkernöl

Zubereitung

Meersalz in ein Schälchen geben und mit dem Öl vermischen. die Zitrone auspressne und die Schale abreibem. Beides mit der Öl Salz Mischung gut vermengen - fertig! Jetzt nur noch in ein hübsches Glas abfüllen und den zitronigen Duft genießen!

Remember the body scrub DIY i posted about a while back? Meanwhile i got around making it, and it turned out great! You simply mix a cup of good, extra vergine vegetable oil - i used grapeseed-oil oil, since it's supposed to be very good for your skin - with a cup of pure sea salt and 2 teaspoons of grind lemon rind. That's it! Fill it in a pretty jar and use it on wet skin. You gently rub it in and shower it of.  Try it - and step into the week as the pretty and sparkling superstar you really are!

Photos: Martina Voigt-Schmid

Yellow shoes

Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun.

Pablo Picasso

Hallo Ihr Lieben, nachdem ich letzte Woche die Gartensaison eröffnen wollte, hat sich der Frühling wieder versteckt - hinter weißen und grauen Schleiern! Blumen gibt es trotzdem - und ein Schuss Farbe bringt Energie in den Tag. Deshalb trage ich heute meine gelben Ballerinas und spiele mit gelber Farbe. Welche Farbe tut Dir heute gut?

Spring starts wearing a white, wet, foggy gown here and the days since the equinox have been hidden behind it. Am wearing yellow shoes and adding dabs and strokes of yellow and pink to my canvases, to bring back the sunshine. Colors are pure energy - and can be used to spike up your mood and spirit. Which color do you need, to put you in balance right now?

Good Day, Sunshine!

Just a glimpse of Italy, to get your week started! Soft yellow, pale pink, creamy white and leafy green - coming across the pix i took during a holiday on the italian riviera i couldn't help feeling exited. Also because yesterday, our family has decided to visit the beautiful landscape of the ligurian coast again this coming june. Am painting away this week, feeling more inspired than i have in weeks - so be prepared to see some new work here coming up soon!

Princess Laya goes fashion

March is moving along swiftly, serving us little "Amuse Gueules" in the shape of crocuses and daisies in preparation for the big spring celebration, along with some sparkling sunshine - Ahhhh!

Are you thinking spring wardrobe yet? I find myself browsing the spring trends and fell in love with these glamorous headphones for the modern princess by Dolce & Gabbana, since a few years my favorite fashion inspiration. They are actually from the fall collection, as fashion is always moving a few steps ahead of us. Wouldn't it be fun to go shopping with a pair of these on your ears?

Hope you're having a lovely weekend. Take it easy my lovelies and keep warms, as the transition from winter to spring can be a tricky time - and covering your ears can be a good thing!

Colorful details

Every particular in nature, a leaf, a drop, a crystal, a moment of time is related to the whole, and partakes of the perfection of the whole.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Some powerful colors can work like an art-vitamin booster sometimes. As the days are getting longer and brighter, i feel that my energy to work on canvas paintings comes back. Currently inspiring to me are beautiful crystals and minerals with their crystalline structure and high-vibrating energy.

The pictures above feature a painting of mine, a collage book given to me by a friend, a small bouquet of dried hydrangea and stones from around my house.

Have a  sparkling week lovelies - the power is with you!

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.

Happy colours forThanksgiving

When you are grateful - when you can see what you have - 

you unlock blessings to flow in your life.

Grateful for your friendship, your attention, your encouragement and ongoing inspiration my lovelies! This is just a short post as i'm on a little trip to Berlin - to wish you all the most lovely Thanksgiving with your loved ones! I often find, that bright and happy colours are just what i need to keep my mood sunny and upbeat - so - these flowers are for YOU!

Pix: 1 - Pinterstt. 2 - MVS

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! 

Happy Weekend!

I have never in my life found myself in a situation where I've stopped work and said, 'Thank God it's Friday.' But weekends are special even if your schedule is all over the place. Something tells you the weekend has arrived and you can indulge yourself a bit.

Helen Mirren

I agree with Helen on this one! As an artist and an editor, i don't work from 9 to 5 and just let go on the weekend, yet i do look forward to them, to sleeping in a bit, having a long breakfast with my family, doing some gardening, meeting up with friend, painting my toenailss - and to letting myself unwind.

Some pictures from a recent weekend, that included a "girls about town" day with my lovely artist friend Barbara von Enger. Try our favorite summer drink; Rhubard juice with sparkly water (1st picture) - it's simple, but so refreshing and delicious!

Holiday at the Italian Riviera

You may have the universe if I may have Italy.

Giuseppe Verdi

Italy is maybe my favorite country in Europe and i always look forward to having the first "Espresso" after crossing the border. I just love the musical language, the great treasures of  renaissance art and architecture, the simple but elegant cuisine, the fashion and the lively temperament of the people.

It's hard to say, what region of IItaly is most beautiful, because they all are. My brother and family are living in Rome, which i simply adore. But on our last visit, we went to Chiusanico in the provence of Imperia in Liguria, the northernmost part of the mediterranean, and fell in love with it too.

Olives and  Lemons fresh from the tree,  curved streets that climb up the hillside while offering magnificent views on the blue mediterranean, ancient medieval towns and castles to discover, lively beach villages with cafés and palm trees along the Promenade - the Italian Riviera and the Landscape called Liguria is what i now often dream of when i think about a perfect holiday. 

Wandering through the shady streets of Torria almost felt like time-travelling, and even though the town was so neat and romantic in every corner, it wasn't at all crowded. We caught glimpses of a mourning family, sitting in a little chapel,  saw a river running through it's stone carved bed right through the town, looked at roses climbing up the soft pink and yellow walls. ate wonderful pizza right out of the wood oven on the market place and bought beautifully wrapped sweets in a tiny store.

One day, we drove along the hills where the air was cool and misty and  the trees were covered in ivy. We saw a flock of goats climbing effortlessly up a very steep rock, visited a sanctuary to mother Mary tucked away in the woods, and took pictures of the "Castel vecchio" - the old castle, that proudly resides over this area.

Almost every afternoon, we spent in a little beach town called Varigotti, where a grand aunt of mine used to live after marrying the italian ambassador. Varigotti has the nicest little beach with only a few people and a great many pretty stones in all sizes and colors and it feels wonderful to walk barefoot along the shore .Hubby and i  love to lay on the beach for a few hours, soaking up the sun, listening to the waves - it's what never fails to recharge my batteries very quickly.

As for having a tiny mimi break in your day, make an espresso where ever you are and close your eyes ... can you hear the ocean? See more pictures of this trip here

This post is part of  Anitas Link Party. Go to her blog here and see many more posts about wonderful destinations in Europe.

Photos: Martine Voigt-Schmid

Happy Weekend!

Little red dress, little lemon bag, little green Ballerinas, a Vespa ride and a peek of the mediterranean seaside? - what could be more perfect to celebrate a sunday afternoon in the lovely month of May? 

Oh, right, i forgot the guy who is patiently waiting for us in that little gellateria in portofino, the huge ice cream sundae we're about to share with him, the frothy cappuccino, the walk through town,  the aperitif  later in this special little bar, the seafood dinner and - the Vespa ride home, in the moonlight glistening over the ocean ....

Do enjoy your sunday lovelies,  whatever you do, even if, like in my case, it mainly consists of working on the garden while this guy, who is patiently with you since the last 20 years -  is cooking something italian to keep your spirits high :) I do love working in the garden sometimes, and so i somehow always end up having gardens, that are a huge amount of work. But working in the garden is like creating a huge 3-dimensional picture and it really absorbs me so much i don't want to stop until everything looks perfect. Which never happens ha ha - endless puzzles of life!

Love to you from M.

Picture via Kate Spade

Roadtrip to Cuba

Keep calm and smell the ocean!

Diese Fotos haben mich heute morgen auf die Reise geschickt - nach Kuba!  Die Mischung aus Lässigkeit und Eleganz, die sich vor allem durch raffinierte Details vermittelt inspirieren mich - und das Licht, das in mein Zimmer fällt ist genauso klar und sonnig heute - ich sehe das meer funkeln - Ihr auch?

These pix sent me off to a trip to Cuba this morning! The mix of cool laissez-faire and elegance inspires me - most of all, it's the details  - the chic belt, the flower, the straw-bag ---- just the small things make a special look! The sunlight, that falls into my room this morning feels so fresh and breezy - i can smell the ocean - can you?

Images: Nobody knows Marc

3 Must Have Accessoiress for Spring!

1 Espandrilles: I love these shoes - and missed them in the past years, So great they have a grand revival this season - even Chanel picked up the trend!

2. Tiny Lady Bags: They are small, they are light, they are chic and they instantly make your outfit seem more "Together".

3. The Statement necklace: Just wear jeans and T-Shirt and revamp it with such a glam
piece - it asd SPARKLE to everything!

Who needs new clothes, when you can have these?

Have a bright and shiny monday flowers!

Photos via 1, 2, 3+4 Items on the last 2 pix by J.Crew