Snails and more

Hi Everybody!

Hope you have enjoyed your weekend. 

We had good weather here, not too hot, not raining, just pleasant summer weather - great for walking and looking at nature's wonders! 

Talking of wonders - this time of nature and technology - I wanted to give a report about my knee, as several people have asked how it is progressing. I had my last physiotherapy session last week, and now have learnt enough daily exercises to be able to keep up the  good work myself. And I know lots of tricks to be able to get rid of nasty pains when they turn up, which they still do - sometimes here and  sometimes there. But on the whole it is really good for 5 months since the OP. I can ride my bike, run, jump, walk and swim, and I am back to walking my 15000+ steps each day, so I am very satisfied. I don't need to go back to the orthopedic specialist till next year, one year after the OP when it is will be xrayed  and examined again.

For Nature's wonders, Gill's lovely theme at Art Journal Journey, I am

sharing my 'down to earth' page today. Last  week as I walked home I met this snail on the pavement:

And it reminded me of this drawing I made some time back:

And that inspired me to this not very serious journal page, made with a floral background onto which I digitally magicked my snails. It's always good to aim for the moon and the stars, but we need to come back down to earth, too:

It reminded me of Patricia Highsmith's rather horrible stories about snails, especially 'The snail watcher', which gave me nightmares for a long time!

The day started off again with sun:

We had blue skies, the Rhine was blue, and I walked for nearly three hours altogether, and will show more of the photos tomorrow. Here are just a few of my natural wonders from today:

I keep sneaking back to the dandelions and graffiti by the subway:

Have a great day, and keep your eyes open for all the wonders that are around us everyday!

Take care, and thanks for coming by!

Light and darkness

Hi Everybody!

For Art Journal Journey, Nature's wonders, I have another hybrid page, and I am still on a moon trip - does that make me a lunatic? (You don't need to answer that question!)I combined 2 backgrounds, and added my painted flowers, which were digitally enhanced to make them look less tatty, a candle, and some digis from Itkupilli. I love the quote from Francis Bacon. Tomorrow I will be showing a more down-to-earth page, with creatures which really stick to the ground....

And here are some more photos of Zons. If you would like to learn more about this little town you can do so here (German) and here (English):

Lots of strange creatures:

Have a great weekend, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Moon, stars and a cat

Hi Everybody!

It's weekend - enjoy!

For Art Journal Journey, Nature's wonders, I have another hybrid piece. I altered a painting I made long ago and didn't really like (4th picture). I added a mask and some digital add-ons (Itkupilli), and I like it better now.

I am also linking to Paint Party Friday.

This was the original, made with acrylics, sprays, gelatos and metallic pens.

And here another doodle - cats are definitely wonders of nature!

And for a change I am showing some photos of Zons, an ancient little town on the other side of the Rhine, about 15 miles up river:

The high water marks - all above my head!

 Have a great weekend, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Flowers, birds and ducks

Hi Everybody!

For Art Journal Journey, Gill's theme of 'Nature's wonders', I have a hybrid piece put together from 2 different paintings - a background and a flower painting which did not turn out very well. I digitally removed the flowers - they were supposed to be hollyhocks - from the background,added a filter which made them look much nicer, and the quote.

I am also linking to Paint Party Friday, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin.

And I have another doodle from my doodle journal, 

showing the 8 crested, long legged worm-catcher, followed by the 

crocodile toothed moose, who acts as his bodyguard

Today I met some living wonders of nature - a Mother Duck with 7 ducklings on the path by the castle ruins. It was almost impossible to get photos of the little ones as they would not stand still:

They were fascinated by my sneakers:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!