Back from Germany – Angelika Ann Kammerer

There’s no place like home.

Today I’ll start with a picture of my home – taken with a drone. We have a lot of space for 2 people, but it’s not just our private place but also our workplace. My husband has his workshop and wood storage here, there’s a garage for the three lawnmowers, the chickens have a summer shed and a winter henhouse and we’ve built a holiday apartment above the café. My studio is on the first floor of our house, but I’m also planning to set up a visitor’s studio in the former toyshop. It’s in the barn on the far left of the picture.

I’ve been a big fan of picture books since I was a child – especially by the german artist Ali Mitgutsch. That’s why I painted our farm in his style for our advertising brochure, as our mainvisitors are families with younger kids. I painted the first picture in 2009 with gouache on canvas and then in 2015 – after it needed an update – I painted another picture in acrylic, which I was then able to paint over with the new features in 2018. For the 10-year anniversary we sold the last picture as a 500-piece puzzle in the toy shop. Here are the three versions:

While the first snowflakes are falling outside, I am planing my next painting session in the „One year – one island“ project – we are back from Germany after several weeks. Now the time has come to get back on my bike, this time with a scarf and gloves, I guess. I am excited to see if I can stand the cold or if I will give up quickly. The sun is supposed to shine on Saturday, alltough at 0 degrees, but it will probably not get any better this week!

The reason for our trip was to help to renovate an old house that my son Lukas had bought a few months ago. Shortly before he had become a father for the second time and probably underestimated how much a baby can stop him from renovating. In any case, he somehow didn’t get on with it quickly enough and the move is firmly planned for the end of this year. Since my husband has a lot of experience and I also have wallpapered and painted several rooms, we drove down to lend some helping hands. Here are a few pictures from our last 2 weeks:

We have made really good progress and the chances of having the upper floor ready by the time we move are now very good. During the two weeks we not only workedin the house, but also lived there – very spartan with a electric kettle and a microwave and a sink in the basement. To take a shower we then had to drive to my son’s place in the neighboring town, who has no room for two visitors in his current rented apartment. Despite hard physical work and minimal comfort, we had a good time. We even managed to take half a day off to go for a walk in the beautiful „Zipfelbachtal“ (see on map) along a creek in the most beautiful autumn weather.

My daughter lives nearby and asked me for help with her horse. The veterinary dentist was coming and she had to work. Could I stay next to the mare until she woke up from the anesthesia? Of course I said yes. As someone who prefers to avoid dentists, it was an impressive experience. The size of the drills and grinders! Skyline, that’s the name of my daughter’s horse, doesn’t like going to the dentist either and doesn’t tolerate the anesthesia very well, which is why my daughter wanted to keep an eye on her. I spent the day in the stable, my daughter worked with her laptop in the car nearby so that she could be there immediately if there were any complications. But everything went well. Here are a few photos:

The lowest point was definitely when we found out that Trump had actually won the election. Unbelievable! As a citizen, I voted for Kamala Harris and really believed she could make it. What a terrible decision the American people have made – for the country, for democracy and the entire world. Because Trump will not only push the climate change, but also increase the risk of war, I am sure of that. And what it means for women in particular to have a sexist misogynist at the head of America is something you don’t even want to think about. From a feminist perspective, this man probably catapults us back a 150 years.

Last Sunday we started our journey home. After 3 days of driving, an overnight stay at my mom´s and a night on the ferry we got back on our island. We were enthusiastic when our home came into view. Finally sleeping in our own bed, cooking in a real kitchen and a functioning bathroom within the house!

While my husband was going on his „house round“ (the monthly holiday home inspection for his customers), I threw myself infront of my easel. It is the fourth human rights picture, Article 10 – the right to a fair trial – that I am working on. I had already finished the collage before we left, today I sketched on the base and tomorrow I will apply the tonal values as an underpainting.

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