Friday, 3 October 2014

An autumn green man, ducks and fun.

Hi everybody!

Hope you have had a good day. Here we had great weather, so I was able to have a long walk after getting my dressing changed, and in our little town a new bank celebrated their opening with an 'Open Day', and fun and games - more later!

I made a second piece for the 'deep in the forest' challenge at Art Journal Journey. ! painted my paper (12 x 12") with diagonal stripes using yellow, ochre, and some red. I have turned the green man into an autumn man this time, and have called my painting 'Down in the forest, dark and deep, the green man prepares for his winter sleep'. I sewed it onto some corrugated cardboard in a deep, plum colour, and then added some of my embossed, natural leaves. I love working with them. I added in more colour with gel-pens and oil pastels.
I am also linking to Paint Party Friday, hosted, as always, by Eva and Kristin.





This morning was misty, but we had a wonderful sunrise, which is always a great start to the day.



Then I went to have my dressing changed, and when it was finished, set out for the dilapidated castle, Schloss Kalkum. On my way I saw lots of beautiful cobwebs from the funnel weaver spider, which were glistening like diamonds in the dew.


The wild ducks were flying:


Schloss Kalkum seems to get shabbier all the time, I don't know why the powers that be are letting such a beautiful place fall into disrepair.



I loved the reflections, which were wavy because of the slight breeze blowing.




On my way back, I met a group of three painters from Taiwan, who were very friendly, and told me that they are touring 'beautiful Germany' to paint. They were happy to have their photos taken, too. I found their paintings really good.





Back in our little town, I met some strange characters, like this funny fox. He is standing next to the wheel of fortune, where I won a small, cylindrical box filled with pencils and oil pastels, great for taking with me when I go out!


They had a replica of a medieval tent built under the trees in the middle of the road, where they were serving coffee and  waffles - free. Well, it would not have been polite to say no....This gentleman was drawing caricatures, also for free, and you can see him holding the one he drew of me. It's not exactly a good likeness, but at least he left off the wrinkles - nice man!


And these gentlemen were showing replicas of various artifacts from the middle ages.



It was fun to see it all, and nice to have something going on here!

That's all for today! (Did someone say, 'thank goodness for that!'?)

Have a great day, take care, 
and thanks a lot for coming by!

54 comments:

  1. Love your green/autumn man, beautiful. Wonderful photos, too, looks like you had a great day out, with lots to see and do. Glad you are feeling better. Hugs, Sarah

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  2. Moin valerie,

    oohh was für ein tolles Herbstmännchen,sieht etwas sauer aus *g*gefällt mir seeehr gut,auch schöne Farben.
    da war ja richtig was los bei dir,tolle künstler und Bilder,du hattest bestimmt viel spass,das freut mich.
    schön das die OP gut verlaufen ist und dein arm heilt,wünsch dir gute Besserung.
    tolle Bilder aus der Natur hast du wieder gemacht,das freut mein Herz an diesen nebligen morgen.
    schönen feiertag.

    GLG Jeannette

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    1. Er sieht sauer aus weil er weiss, dass die Blätter bald fallen und dann steht er nackt da! Hier die Sonne geht gerade auf and vertreibt der Nebel.

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  3. Dein Blattgott ist ein Hammer Valerie! Fabelhaft!
    Und die Naturaufnahmen sind wieder sooo schön!
    Das war ja ein tolles Spektacel bei Euch ... großartig!
    Danke für's Teilahen lassen Valerie!
    Hab einen wudnerschönen Freitag! Bei und ist regmerisch und bnebelig und ich muss mal wieder
    an den Staubsauger, den Wischmop und darf mit mit der Wäsche entfalten!

    Knuddel
    Susi

    Ich hoffe Dein Arm ist schon wieder ein Stück witer mit der Verheilung der Narbe !

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  4. Stunning art piece, Valerie. Creative and well done.
    What a day you've had! Interesting people and wonderful ducks etc. Thanks for sharing your fabulous photos with us.
    Hugs xxx
    Sirkka

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  5. The green man piece of art is stunning Valerie-just love the way you introduced the 'real' leaves.

    More stunning nature pictures and great that you found people painting the scene and they let you take a photograph for us to share.

    Love the pics of the 'celebration' though I wish there had been a smile from one of the chaps.

    I think the sketch has a look of you but of course you are far more beautiful :)

    Have a great day-will email later--I have to go for blood tests :(

    Love Chrissie x

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    1. Yes, one of them was a miserable old bugger!

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  6. Good Morning Valerie. Love your journal pages. What an interesting town you live in. Love your commentary of your walks and seeing such awesome pictures. What great artists those people were that painted such gorgeous canvases. Hope your hand is healing up nicely. Enjoy your Day. Hugs Rita xxx

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  7. Was für ein klasse Waldgeist - ich mag solche wen sehr!
    Tolle Fotos hast du uns mitgebracht - besonders gefällt mir das mit der Ente zwischen den beiden Spiegelungen. Die Karikatur ist klasse - bei euch war ja schön was los. Danke das wir dabei sein durften :-) Alles Gute weiterhin für die Heilung deines Armes und ein schönes Wochenende - hier scheint die Sonne - liebe Grüße, Dagmar

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  8. Beautiful work, love the colours in your autumn green man! The ducks are wonderful but I love the photo of the spider web! Please that the op went well.

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  9. dein herbstfarbener "green man" ist super! und ich bin auch ein fan von den glitzernden Spinnennetzen.

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  10. Fab green man creation and great photos, sounds like lots of fun all round...

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  11. That Autumn piece really states that Autumn is here, full of the beautiful burnt colours and mystery of the season! Great to share in your walk and all you enjoyed, it looks like such a beautiful place.

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  12. AWESOME LOVE IT the colours, papers and added goodies are just beautiful. I do love the autumn colours and your photos are a delight as always...That spider web looks amazing.xxThe Journey is the Start

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  13. Well, what an eventful day you had yesterday. I bet the Taiwanese artists were delighted that someone stopped to speak to them and I think your caricature looks great, you look happy and smiley! Wishing you a happy Friday! Xx

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  14. Gosh Valerie, I'm exhausted after this. Are you sure all this didn't happen over a week?!
    Your green man is great, love the way you have sewn him to the purple cardboard. He looks as if he is ready for his winter sleep.
    That's quite a remarkable photo of the duck with the rippled reflection, looks like the sort of effect you can get with photo-editing (I know you didn't edit it).
    And what an adventurous walk with artists, winning paint supplies, your portrait done and the wild geese.
    What a fascinating and fantastic day! And a great blogpost.

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    1. Yes, a really fantastic day, and one to remember when the bad days come!

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  15. Sounds like you had a lot of fun, the photos are beautiful and I adore your green man.
    xxx Hazel.

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  16. Sounds like you had a fun little adventure. Fun to win art supplies instead of something silly or useless.I love your forest face too. He looks wise like the big old grandfather tree in the forest would be. And he's got a little sense of humor too, you can tell by the look in his eyes.

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  17. Oh wowww, das ist ja richtig klasse. Einfach super gestaltet.
    LG Carola

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  18. Gorgeous piece, Valerie! I love your mysterious face and the autumn colours. Interesting walk today with those friendly painters.
    Hugs, Mar

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  19. Gorgeous journal page Valerie, love that image and all your leaves! Your photographs are just amazing today! What a wonderful and interesting place you live. I love waking up to this every morning...takes me out of the city for a few minutes! Happy weekend! hugs :)

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  20. Very interesting these exquisite delights of Autumn! I love them, very good.

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  21. Great work I love the autumnal colours in your green man.

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  22. What a fun day! You know I'm going to love any Autumn piece! The reflections with the ducks is amazing! Great photography! Looks like you had fun and what luck to win art supplies!

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  23. wow, you had a lot going on that day, what a lot of fun it looked like too! The green man turned out great, and I enjoyed the pictures you shared.

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  24. Love your leafy piece, it looks great with the beautiful leaves and the purple really lets it stand out too! What a fun day you had, lots of beautiful pictures, so much going on. Great that you won the pencils, the perfect gift! Love the caricature of you, glad you had such an exciting day. Big hugs, ~Diane

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  25. WOW Deine neue Collage ist der Kracher und Shiela hat ihn toll beschrieben! Deine Fotos sind auch wieder der Kracher, aber der Oberhammer ist die Karikatur, einfach genial gekonnt. Bei Schloss Kalkum kam mir sofort "mein Schloss Benrath" in den Sinn, Du weisst, dass ich da zur Schule gegangen bin als es noch ein Gymnasium und ein Heimatmuseum beherbergt haben? Von da aus nach Urdenbach direkt am Rhein hab ich gewohnt. Danke, dass ich mit Deinen Fotos immer ein Stückchen alte Heimat sehen kann:-)
    Schönen Tag wünsch ich Dir,
    hier scheint mittlerweile blauer Himmel und Sonne durch den Nebel,
    lG Anja

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  26. What a fabulous day you had! I love how you personified the leaves and stunning photos. What talented artists all.

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  27. Beautiful work! And how cool to run into painters like that! I've never been too excited about how a caricature of me has turned out. haha! I have really big features so they LOVE to play on that.

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  28. First of all I just love the warm hues of your leaf journal page and those eyes really brought it to life. Then you had such a fun outing and your photography is once again amazing.
    Hugs Desíre {Doing Life}

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  29. What a fun event you attended and won art stuff at! Your deep in the forest painting/collage is lovely. I like it that you used natural objects like the leaves. Thanks for showing off the scenes of Beautiful Germany in your wonderful photos.

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  30. Love your post today. I really think your leaf man is quite adaptable to all kinds of creativity especially at Halloween! Love your leaves Congratulations on your win - you can't bear free and I love free food!!!
    Sandy xx - oh - surprise, surprise! I posted a make yesterday!!,

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  31. That looks like so much fun! I love your autumn leaf man. So neat. :D

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  32. What a treat you gave us today. Your leaf man is a bit scary with those piercing eyes. The photos are just wonderful and I'm so happy you could get out and attend the autumn festivities, have a little breakfast and win a great prize. A good day for you!

    Hugs,
    C

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  33. Da war ja richtig toll was los bei dir heute. Ich habe das Wetter genossen und den kompletten Nachmittag im Garten gechillt. Heute am späten Vormittag haben wir einen längeren Weg durch den Wald gemacht - ganz so bunt wie bei dir ist es hier noch nicht. Und Kastanien habe ich gesammelt.... Berge :D Die fielen gerade munter von den Bäumen.
    Dein Herbstwerk ist klasse - das Männlein schaut herrlich grummelig.

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  34. Interesting reflections duck photo, very creative composition!

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  35. Dein Eichenblätter-Gesicht ist super geworden!
    ...aber ehrlich gesagt finde ich das Enten-Reflektionsfoto noch viel interessanter, einfach klasse!
    Wie schön, dass du offensichtlich schon wieder werkeln kannst.
    Ein gutes Wochenende für dich.
    LG Ulrike

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    1. Ich fand das Foto auch sehr schoen. Ich habe noch eine kleine Bastelpause, ich habe letzte Woche eben vorgearbeitet.

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  36. fabulous autumnal man and love the photos..I have been watching the geese fly overhead too.love the v in the sky

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  37. I have realy enjoyed reading your post and looking at the photos of your walk today. The page with the green man looks fantastic love the colours.
    Yvonne xx

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  38. Stunning artwork Valerie and your Autumn green man is fabulous.
    Love those beautiful photos too.
    Thank you so much for your lovely and kind comment on my difficult times post which I really do appreciate.
    Hugs, Fliss xx

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  39. I love your project and that Autumn Green Man! It is fabulous and talking about fabulous, what a lovely walk you had and so much fun going on! Enjoy the weekend. Hugs!

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  40. that was an amazing walk, I enjoyed every step! Your work is always beautiful, thank you for sharing

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  41. Ah the wonderful green man. Always loved the image. What a web you caught in your photo and the heraldic costumery, fun. xox

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  42. Amazing work as always and what a wonderful day you had - love seeing all the artists busy at their work

    Hilda x

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  43. Herrlich anzuschauen ist dein Waldgeist, eine tolle Kreation!

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  44. Love your autumn man - and that pop of corrugated cardboard in the back is fabulous! Great photos

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  45. Was für eine tolles Werk ... dein Waldgeist ist wunderbar!
    Sehr beeindruckend und interessant sind deine schönen Fotos! Macht soviel Freude, sie alle anzuschauen!
    LG, LonettA

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  46. Love your journal page and so glad that your walk became a fun adventure. I wish someone around here were ginning away free waffles ...I'd be eating too ♥

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  47. Well what a day you had. Thank you so much for sharing.... I wish Fall had good stronghold here...but instead i have the aircondition on and it is 95 degrees during the day..... I absolutely love your Autumn green man.....beautiful! Hugs! deb

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  48. After your comment had to pop back to find this. He (The green man) is awesome he must look brilliant on the wall. Love the cartoon of you as well such a happy friendly face. XOXO Zoe

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  49. The man in the Deep Down Forest wants for a story. Love him. The photographs and your trip to town is a thing of beauty both verbal and sight. The artists (all of them) were excellent, you are correct. I haven't tried working with corrugated cardboard yet. Blessings, Janet PPF

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