yo recuerdo Montenmedio - I remember Montenmedio

afternoon update:

several metal samples connected with nylon thread and hung into the tree

+ + +

Yesterday morning I found myself becoming aware of that I had entered the second week on self-imposed resting. Gosh was it true?
The last days rushed by, unnoticed and loaded with everyday-life-tasks. I still find myself fidgety and it´s hard for me to focus on one thought/project/task at one time.
How long does it take to calm down and center, or should I better ask WHAT it takes?
I returned to mind what these resting days were ment for... I printed out my personal manifest for the next weeks. I had written “I am taking time to….” followed by a list of not very specific topics.
I grabbed the list, a pen and without intention the catalog of the NMAC foundation (Montenmedio Arte Contemporáneo) and sat down in the garden. I read my list over and over again, unable to concentrate. So I started leafing through the catalog.
There´s nothing special in this thin, blue catalog. The printed sheets are showing the artists works that are situated on the ground of the foundation. But there it was... again! Something magic seems to be within this little book and it often worked before.
While turning the pages, I smelled the pinewood, heared the chirring of the crickets and felt the Andalusian sun on my skin – memories of a place I loved. But memories seems the wrong word to describe what happened then. My mind and soul connected with this special piece on earth and the creative energy and spirit of all these artists, that had left their signs and "landmarks" in the nature. The book seemed to open “the creative channel in my head”. It brought me back to my personal situation, touched some aspects and topics I try to find clarity within and showed me a way how to find my answers. Pure inspiration in many ways.
I had to take my sketchbook and capture the float of ideas popping up. Some of them I´m going to share with you very soon, so stay tuned.

Since my visit to NMAC in 2003, no other place left such a long lasting and inspirational mark on me. Maybe it´s only a memory, but full of magic, which I´m carrying in my heart.

barracks, used as exhibition space for artists

I´d love to hear from you if have a personal magic place you can "travel to" when seeking for answers or inspiration?

weekend pleasures

plashing under the apple trees

a lifeguarding goldfish

bitty booties for a friends newborn baby

butterflies meeting
carrot cake

a homebuilding process

postal address : cloone, co. leitrim, ireland.

wouldn´t it be nice to have an address like this? no postal code, no street name, no number. Yesterday while spending the evening outside with my husband, we were discussing about the growing energy costs and how great it would be to be independet, autarkic and building a simple, low-cost house. The upper picture and address is the home of architect Dominic Stevens. It is one of my favorite and most inspiring home and living models. After Stevens and his wife had to move out of their appartement in Dublin, they decided to buy an undeveloped real estate on the country, where at this time land was "cheap as chips", as he said. Starting with an old refrigerator container which he remodeled and now functions as his bureau, Stevens built a kind of a LEGO house, where he is working and living with his family. Several boxes followed over the years, depending on the family´s life circumstances and needs. A homebuilding in progress.

"I run a one-person practice from rural Ireland. I divide my time between architecture, caring for my children and growing food. Just as I believe that buildings are inextricably linked to the lives that happen in them, my practice as architect is bound closely to my consciousness as father and farmer. My office is not a citadel protected by expertise, rather, it has fertile edges that actively absorb the life that surrounds it. I carry out one building project at a time informed by ongoing theoretical work!"

Dominic Stevens http://www.dominicstevensarchitect.com/ (website under construction)

SABBATICAL

thanks to everybody who left a comment on the previous post. Bogi and I appreciate your supporting words very much!

*****

Friederike! and I are taking a break, a working sabbatical. While I am {Sandra} typing these letters

B . R . E . A . K

I feel a bit guilty, admitting I´m needing a rest. I could have told you and make you believe that I´m on vacation for the next weeks, but I want to be honest. Not posting in my own mother language doesn´t allow me to write in depth anyway and sometimes I have the feeling that my posts are sketchy, due to the lack of English vocabulary, expressions, grammar....

I honestly love what I´m doing, but running this creative business has become an all time and also energy consuming thing.

In the last months there was always a good reason why a break seemed impossible and mistimed. Still I have to stop my mind telling me and specifying why it is not a good idea at all. But this noisy mind is also tired and knows that there will never be "that perfect timing" and that the time to do this is NOW.

Therfore...

I am taking time to reflect upon 3 years of herzensart

I am taking time to checking in with my heart and listening to my inner voice

I am taking time to think about what I need to hold onto and what I need to let go

I am taking time to explore new streets, new sounds and tastes

I am taking time to feed my inner child

I am taking time to find my voice

I am taking time to regain clarity and trying to develop my vision of my future life

I am taking time to surround myself with beautiful and happy things

I have to write these thoughts down to make them clear and true to me. It feels like making a contract with myself, my personal manifest for the next weeks.

Although there is still a bit of a guilty feeling showing up, I´m also totally looking forward to all of this. Giving myself the permission to rest feels right intuitively.

This also means, that I won´t accept new orders during the next weeks. But I will share my thoughts, ideas and emotions with you here in this blog, while being on my "sabbatical journey", whenever I feel the need to do so. So long, wishing all of us well balanced times... yours Sandra

some tasks others can do better...

excerpt from Craft Inc. "Being a small-business owner means doing many tasks yourself, even if you might not be very good at some of them. So you should focus on hiring people..." for tasks others can do better.

Thank you so much to my friend and photographer Bogi Bell for capturing great moments with her camera. This is the second shooting Bogi did for me and again it was so much fun and so relaxing to lean back and enjoy watching her acting with Emil (5 years old) and Emma (5 months). I could not resist to share a few pictures with you.

Emma and Emil are the children of a customer of mine. We had not met before, all our conversation was done by email so far. But when I wrote her, that I was looking for a little "viking-boy" she immediately agreed to meet us and lending her kids for the shooting. A big thank you to the parents of these two amazing sweethearts. Emil and Emma you are great. THANK YOU for your modeling! I´d love to adopt you, think of it! :o)

S:T:O:L:A

this beautiful stola is a gift from Cornelia. I love to recieve handmade gifts, they are of the most value for me, as they are created from the bottom of one´s heart. Somebody is taking the time to make something specially for another person. That is an act of love. Vielen Dank liebe Freundin!

This morning when I just thought about searching for a successor and new partner for Friederike!, I decided better to go to a dermatologist to end the thriller in my head. I lay awake this night convinced of having 2 melanomas and that my end was near. Now one of the 2 "making-me-crazy-melanoms" had to go, the other one the doctor allowed to stay. Ok I will blog a little bit longer...

Amsterdam

some impressions from the weekend and fair (no.1-8 at the fair "kleinefabriek", no.9 & 11 dear friends, no.10, 11-17 my works exhibited, no.18 my love, no. 19 & 20 the Grachten

Our trip to Amsterdam was so good. We spent a short but great time together.
This time we even did what tourists do and made a canal boat tour :)

The fair kleinefabriek was amazing, although I had not expected that most of the exhibited items were kids clothes. My knights and horses are displayed at the entrance of the fair, it made my heart beat faster when I first saw them....

39

it´s my birthday today. My mom must have been already 3-4 weeks pregnant with me (which I´m sure my parents didn´t know at that time) when this picture at their wedding was taken. This pic is one of my treasures, as it reminds me I was made in love. My parents won´t read this post, but I´m sure they feel that my heart is filled with gratitude.

30 minutes...

...to make a garland
all you need is: fabric scraps, thread, a long ribbon, a sewing machine (sewing by hand might take a bit longer :))
The fabric pieces are sewn into a folded ribbon by using a zig zag stitch. I used conventional fabrics, so this garland is not really waterproof, it also will fray out, but I´m sure it will survive the summer.
Inspired through ninainvorm & Sophie Cuvelier (through Debi)