Mischa, Thank you for sharing your story and your work.
Perhaps you've already read that I live on a farm in rural Kentucky...I do love the city, just as much actually, and would be happy living in one. It is my husband that is so attached to the land and farm life and I must admit, it is quite lovely and cozy here...so for now I simply travel to the airport (2 hours away!) and fly to location for commissions.
I'm going to tell our youngest son about your motorcycle experience. He has spent his life worrying me with his pursuits..an award winning offensive football player and soccer goalie in high school, he is now playing Rugby in college. I can't count how many times we've been through MRI's and x-rays due to sports injuries, no broken bones yet, so he's beginning to feel invincible. My guess is that he will proceed with the purchase, but maybe with more caution.
Where do you live in relationship to Bad Godesburg and Bonn? We once hosted an exchange student from there. He actually came to our town through the University exchange program in town. He had dreamed of a true rural American experience, you know....the Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Annie Oakley thing...hunting and fishing, splitting firewood and preparing one's own food etc. A professor friend brought him to visit our farm and then he kept coming back. Our 3 children were all still at home and family and friends were constantly dropping by. He fit right in with our family and loved our big potlucks.
One overnight became a week until he asked to move in for the remainder of his exchange. He went hunting and rode horses, he learned to skin, prepare and cook squirrel, rabbit and venison, he gardened, fished, robbed beehives, made bread, read to me while I worked in the studio and he even modeled.
After his year was complete and we were preparing to take him to the airport, he approached me with my large portfolio in his hands and asked if he could take it back to Germany to share with his family and friends, he promised to return it by post, so I agreed.
A week or two later, he called from Germany to tell me that his family had unanimously decided to commission me to do "portraits for everyone". As it turned out, his family owned a large optical franchise and collected art!! He had never told us that and lead us to believe that he was from a regular working class family...he always seemed short of money! They flew me to Bonn and met me at the airport. Parents, grandparents, cousins, and siblings showered me with flowers, food, wine, beer and my own guest apartment with studio space. I completed seven commissions in one month
all from life . The paintings included landscapes, still lifes and portraits. Family and friends set up schedules so they could watch me at work during the day... and then we would sight see and party at night and on the weekends. What fun we had!!!
One of the excursions we took was to Worpswede in Lower Saxony, Germany, near the city of Bremen. It is in Northern Germany near Holland. If you haven't been to that historic artist's colony you should plan to go there for a few days...I had been researching it 's history and the impact the "Naturalists" that worked there had on the realist art movement during the turn of the last century. As a plein air painter myself, I was particularly interested in the work of Fritz Mackensen, Otto Modersohn among others...including poet Ranier Maria Rilke. He wrote a book about the area in which he described it as "a strange land. If one stands on the small sandy hill in Worpswede, one can see it spread out all around, like the farmer's cloths that show deep vivid flowers against a dark background. It lies flat, almost without a fold, and the paths and waterways lead far into the horizon. There a sky of indescribable variations and magnitude begins".
When I asked my hosts to take me there, they had never been themselves! So we formed a caravan and made reservations for a weekend. If you have already been there I'm sure you found it inspirational, if not...then you simply must go, it will be a life changing experience...and be sure to take the short side trip to:
Otto Modersohn Museum
In der Bredenau 95
28870 Fischerhude
T (04293) 328
F (04293) 1435
[email protected]
www.modersohn-museum.de
Enjoy and be sure to post your experience for us!
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