Lost, Stolen or Strayed

After being in denial for months, I have to accept that this wonderful postcard from Albrecht has gone missing, having been posted last year (December, or November?) Aren't they just beautiful sketches of tits on his balcony - at this time still in the middle of winter in the Rhine Valley. I hope they've all survived the cold into the coming Spring!
Albrecht sent me an email saying,

"If my tits on the postcard would have been live birds, they would have had arrived in a few days.

8.619 km, that's nothing for them.

Obviously Lufthansa's crane is a lame bird in comparison...

Next time I will use trained pigeons for delivering my cards.

But that's the wonderful thing about our postcard project.

We are testing our post offices. Who knows how long they will go on existing in times of internet, emails, facebook, twitter..."

 

Who knows indeed. Our post office has been on strike so I haven't sent or received mail for weeks - and I was behind on my postcards even before that! Perhaps once they get back to work and clear the backlog, Albrecht's card will emerge from under a pile of neglected mail and they'll find their way here yet...I can live in hope...

 

Sheep - With a little French Chic!

This is Ronelle's card to me.  A gorgeous array detailing some of her neighbours sheep.  I love the way she has managed to catch their expressions.  The one on the far right looks extraordinarily haughty, looking down her nose as if to say "La, who are you interrupting our lunch time?"   I think she has been to see a coiffeur to have her eyelashes curled - only a French sheep could look that chic!  

The envelope matches the card with another wonderfully expressive painting. As others have said in previous posts, Ronelle's use of gouache  against the brown of the envelope works really well.  I don't have any gouache paints nor do I have any brown tinted paper - but I might have to go out and purchase some! 

Trees in Scotland - a golf ball catch

Bridget Hunter sent me a nice card with a tree grove in typical Scottish colors. She critically reflects her latest ambitions in playing golf which at present mainly seems to be an excuse to have coffee and a giggle at the club house after a couple of golf balls have been buried between the tree trunks. She calls that exercise.

I think that it is this tabooless exchange of international customs that contributes a lot to the excitement in this postcard exchange. I am impressed by the quality of the gouache which arrived here in perfect condition. Thanks Bridget and good luck with golfing :).

Zion, a Place for Rest and Refuge, plein air from Desiree

Zion a Place for Rest and Reguge, drama in watercolour by Desiree

 This lovely plein air of dramatic cliffs, reflected in the rushing melt water in  Zion National Park, trees catching the light and a terrific sense of place, dropped through my letterbox this morning.   It really catches the drama and scale of the scene, the cliffs towering above.   Her title shows her feelings for this place that come through in the work.   I know what she means with the title - I have the same feeling at the coast.  It's lovely to see all these places that are special to us, so very different with each country.

Desiree describes sitting in  a cold wind, heroically working on this - It was well worth it wasn't it?   :>)

There are great details on the back of the flowers and even park stamps that she has used as a frame for one.  It came through the post safely with not even a smudge or wrinkle.

Her use of watercolour is confident and assured.

A pause in a wild spring garden: a postcard from Pat to Ronell.

Sometimes words aren't necessary to describe beauty. It should be left to be silently admired by each beholder.

...a pause in a wild spring garden...
acrylics and ink on watercolor paper, 12.8x17.6cm

For me, who loves "story painting", this beautiful card by Pat says it all: A pause in her wild spring garden.

Pat, who is a professional gardener among other things, captured so much of the exuberant energy and optimism of this moment with her brush and acrylics... and the poppies, of which the seeds simply came from her spice rack, call us by name out to our own gardens!

A detail of the thick luscious strokes of the acrylics on her poppies and the watery colors melting into one another to form the background. Great skill and comprehension of perspective and depth of field.

...detail...

Thank you for such a special card Pat!

Bolsa Chica - An American Wildlife Reserve

This is a beautiful postcard painted by Pat Reese. It's a glorious view across part of the Bolsa Chica Wildlife Reserve in Huntington Beach California. It looks like a very serene and special place. Pat told me a few days later she was visiting Las Vegas - I can't begin to imagine what the contrast must be like going from a place of such beauty and solitude to the bright neon lights, traffic, noise etc that is Las Vegas city.  I am so glad Pat chose this view for me!   Thank you Pat!

A Little Gem From Felicity Grace

I knew whatever Felicity sent, it would be beautiful.  I didn't need to open the envelope once it arrived to know I was right.  Even the envelope was lovely, with a tiny leaf carefully painted on it! The card itself  has more beautiful leaves, visually held together by the little border.

Felicity tells me she had been walking in the countryside, not far from her home in Geneva, and she picked up the leaves en route. It's a great way of linking some exercise with ones art. The walk becomes becomes an opportunity to spot things of interest, which can be collected to paint or draw later. Brilliant if it's too cold to actually stop and sketch in situ!

This is such a gem! I really love the colour work, it glows (so much more in life than the scan shows) and the detail on the veins, just super! There are delicate tiny splatters of paint across the paper, deliberately mottling it to give an aged feel, like an old treasured letter or note. I will treasure it - Thank you Felicity!



A postcard from Albrecht in Germany.

Thank you Albrecht!
rissler art | drawing landscapes | photo community

The last time I can remember being so excited about my mailbox, was two years ago, when I've been doing the Flying pictures project...an international sketchbook exchange.

And once again, like that time, I've been all over the mailbox every day for the last week or two, which is unnatural behavior for me, because I don't answer a telephone and I don't check the mailbox.





And so my post card from Germany finally arrived...a beautiful view on the main street of Heidelberg in Germany. And he wrote on the postcard..."cold!!" With his choices of color he added, it does look cold! (Image to the right)

A week later, another one. This time, a graphite sketch from Ladenburg, at the Neckar river, andIi'm sure it's a willow tree...his favorite tree to draw and paint. (Image at the top)
Both of them, true Albrecht Rissler style.

I also want to show a video where Albecht was interviewed while drawing a willow tree by the Rhine river in Germany. Arte was doing a 4 episode broadcast on the Rhine river and its life and activities..


You can start watching at 8:54 to see Albrecht draw.

For those not understanding German or French,
"Albrecht expressed his love for drawing the willow tree, a robust tree growing on the banks of the Rhin. From the first time he saw the willow he knew it would be a tree he would enjoy capturing, because of its impressive form and shapes and the special balance between the massive trunks and the branches spreading out above."

Follow the link to see his television appearance.

EDIT: It seems the video is offline, which renders it unavailable for the moment. I hope it will be back online soon.
thanks!!

a bientot!
Ronelle
Africantapestry