Saturday Mix

Hi Everybody!

For Art Journal Journey, Back to school, I have another

hybrid piece.  I placed lots of figures on a water coloured background, all from a Gecko Galz collage sheet. The fence at the front was added digitally, as was the blackboard.. I also popped in some little girls from my family - My mum, Erika and me - who's who?

On Thursday I started my little outing at the tram stop down the road:

In Oberkassel they had very interesting containers for recycling old glass, paper etc - the stuff gets stored underground, so no unsightly huge containers to see. Great idea!

I walked down to the Rhine - Oberkassel is opposite the Altstadt - old town - of Düsseldorf:

The connecting bridge:

The post office tower:

Beautiful, old houses from the beginning of the 20th century along the Rhine:

The round building used to be a planetarium and is now

 concert hall:

I kept walking:

I was heading for this bridge to cross the river again, but made a detour to Old Niederkassel first (The photos I showed yesterday)

 The sheep were dozing in the shade:

There are more photos to come, but I think it's enough for today!

Have a great weekend, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

This and that for Friday

Hi Everybody!

It's nearly weekend again, so time for Paint Party Friday, hosted by Eva and Kristin, and for Elizabeth's Second on the Second and it's always time for 

Art Journal Journey!

For the Second on the Second we re-show posts from previous times,

and I am showing some Van Gogh rip-offs I made last year, showing 2 members of the family Roulin, with whom Van Gogh was friends:

And for Art Journal Journey, back to school, hosted by Elizabeth, a have a hybrid page, using an image from Gecko Galz, with some additions and alterations, and starring my balcony starling :

 Yesterday started off bright and sunny again:

I made a little outing by tram and bus to the other side of the Rhine, where I used to live and work before my husband died. This is a little village where there are lots of pubs, cafes etc, near to the Rhine, and very popular for a stopover.

There was building work going on, so there was a lot of traffic, which got in the way of my photos:

This is the old village pub:

This is how the barges were moved in the old days:

Here they make and sell beer and spirits, and more recently wine:

This pub is famous for it's bacon pancakes - they are sooooooo good!

One view (almost) without traffic:

Hope you enjoyed your tour today!

Have a great day, take care, 

and thanks a lot for coming by!

New month, new challenge at Art Journal Journey

Hi Everybody!

Hope your week is going well!

Today we are starting a new month and a new challenge at

Art Journal Journey 

-Back to School-

And our lovely Elizabeth and Bleubeard of

Altered Book Lover

are our charming hosts this month.

Elizabeth writes as her introduction:

'Greetings!  We are Bleubeard and Elizabeth and you can find us at Altered Book Lover.  We are delighted and incredibly honored to be invited by Valerie and Susi to host AJJ.  Bleubeard is the face of our blog and I create the art, usually in an altered book. 

Whether you are pre-K through high school, heading off to college, or conducting post graduate studies, it’s time to head Back to School, our theme for September.

So grab those back packs, fill them with crayons, rulers, iPads, notebooks, colorful pens, and pencils.  Put on your new clothes, and head Back to School.  And don’t forget to honor those teachers who shaped or will shape your mind over the years.'

As I have spent the best part of my life at school - 16 years as a student and later 35 years as a teacher, I love this theme, and here is my very simple starting piece - Art journaling does not always have to be complicated or take up a lot of time:

I always loved grungy blackboards and writing and drawing with chalk. The energetic kids were drawn and painted with felt pens. I was always amazed at how much energy the kids had when they stormed into the classroom each day!

You have the whole month to get creative and post to our blog!

We had another great start to the day - I would sometimes wish to sleep longer, but I do love to watch the sunrise:

Today a stork was standing on the freshly plowed field on the way down to the Rhine, probably looking for edible goodies. It stood very still on one ringed leg, just moving its head back and forth:

And this pigeon found itself a great vantage point on the top of a willow tree:

As usual I watched the boats, and the people getting on and off of the ferry:

And I love to stand at the bottom of the Market Street and watch the ships pass:

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!