Time goes....

Hi Everybody!

Another week has flown by, and not only in my journal pages do I wonder what happens to time....

Today I have another mixed media A3 collage. I collaged various bits and bobs from my bottomless bit-boxes - scraps of printed matter, cut outs from 1950's magazines and some left over embellishments, and then painted the top half of the page with a mix of gesso and titan buff. I sprayed some dark brown ink, and then added the clock. I used one of my own stencils to draw the men with charcoal. The middle one was coloured with pastel chalks and the others collaged. I used a clock stamp for their heads. To finish it off I added some stenciled diamonds in vintage photo DI and wrote the text with a stencil.

I am linking to Art Journal Journey, time, and to Paint Party Friday, hosted by Eva and Kristin.

Today I am showing some photos of the harbour in Düsseldorf, which has changed over the last years from being a rather shabby, industrial harbour to a modern media and communications harbour, with modern architecture, over-priced bars and cafes everywhere, hotels, very expensive flats and a marina where the rich can park their boats in style - a place to see and be seen. It is not my type of architecture or place, but definitely interesting.

The bridge across the harbour to the island in the middle:

The crooked buildings were all built by the Canadian Star Architect Frank Gehry in the 1990s. The middle building is mirrored and reflects  the buildings left and right from it.

On the other side of the marina is a mix of old and new buildings.

Here you can see the 'Flossis' made by Rosalie, an artist from Düsseldorf.

Hope you enjoyed seeing the buildings, although I must confess I was happy to get back to where I live afterwards, cobblestones and old houses are more to my taste.

Have a great day you all, take care, 

and thanks a lot for coming by.

The times they are a changing....

Hi Everybody!

Hope your day is going well.

Today I went on the tram into town, and spent hours walking round the 'Altstadt' (Old town) and the harbour, and of course, I took a lot of photos. They still need to be sorted, so I will be showing them in the next few days. I walked all the way home, too, so clocked up over 23,000 steps on my pedometer, and feel that I have a right to be tired this evening.

For Art Journal Journey I made 2 collages, which I cut out using my head - err, you  know what I mean! The left collage was made using photos from 

magazines, the right from antique images. Our lives change constantly, technical improvements and discoveries have made our lives very different to the lives of those in previous centuries, and we have to move with the times. But it is still very important to learn from the past while living in the present and looking towards the future, whatever it may bring us. 

Yesterday there were 2 herons out fishing at the Rhine:

Watching the ships is a very relaxing pastime,  and I love to see all the different names, and where they come from. At the moment none are fully loaded as the water in the river is very low.

I wonder how many ships have passed the castle in the course of the last 1300 years?

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks for coming by!

Embellishing Time

Hi Everybody!

Today we have a new challenge at Moo Mania and More - embellishments.

As always, you have 2 weeks to enter, and projects of all formats are allowed, not just 'moos', so get embellishing and link up to us!

I made another face, also meant for Art Journal Journey, time. I used a clock photo which I digitally lightened for the background, and added it to an A3 sheet which had been prepared with gesso. I drew the face, stamped the flowers and clocks (LaBlanche), and coloured them with water colours and Gelatos. I drew in some leaves, and stenciled the vines. I added a textile leaf with a metal clock as embellishments, threaded onto a golden neck-chain. The 'ever changing' stamp is from Unity, and the clock hand on the leaf-earring is from Paper Artsy. I am also linking to Stamps and stencils, time flies, Mix it Monthly, mixed media flowers, and Kim Dellow's show you face.

This morning there was a thick mist outside, obscuring all except the first trees.

I very much enjoyed watching the sunrise, seeing the mist float away as the sun got stronger, and the beautiful colours. Somebody asked if I set my alarm to wake up for the sunrise - no, nothing so elaborate, I just can't sleep.

Thanks a lot to those who helped naming the plant I showed yesterday - Patty was the first with the answer - it is a purple loosestrife, the Latin name is lythrum salicara, and the German name Blutweiderich. It is a medicinal plant with healing properties. Lots of others sent information about the plant, too, most interesting to read - thanks to you all!

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by.