When it comes to fashion, I try to buy my clothes second hand or eco fashion. More and more brands are producing their materials in a sustainable way. That is awesome!! You have to invest a little bit more money, but in the end this is the future and a smart version of investment.

ECO Fashion is the new black

In the shooting the model is wearing a printed shirt with one of my Berlin paintings on it, which took place in the Berlin Underground. The shirt is 100 % ECO.

Stay tuned for more... soon!!

Painting: View from the Warschauer Brücke, Berlin

And here we are in the middle of the second lockdown, same for Austria and many other countries. This painting was a moment which was caught in Vienna, Alterlaa in the first lockdown during April. People were standing at their windows and applauded for nurses and medical staff while outside no social life was existing. 
 

Covid 19 made summer 2020 difficult to travel. What was left were trips in our home countries and it really gave me a new perspective of Germany.

"Sometimes the most beautiful things are the things just in front of you"

From Berlin I started my route to the north and drove along the German Baltic Sea. From there to Hamburg and back to Berlin. When I arrived in the north, I had a short stop at my place of birth. This small town is called Baabe and is located on the east coast of the biggest island of Germany named Rügen. For a long time I haven't been here and actually it was the pandemic, which brought me back to this beautiful and calm island. It may not has the fanciest reputation, it is not Bali, it is not New York and not Tokyo, but what I can say, it is absolutely worth coming there and sometimes the most beautiful things are the things just in front of you. 

Germany - Baltic Sea

Walking through a German city at the end of autumn could be a quite grey thing. But what I‘ve learned is that it is a question of how do you see things. When you expect grey, you will see grey. When you are looking for colors and moments that lightens up your heart you will find them. So here I was in the center of Hannover on the search for something.

The first thing I found was this amazing street art by Ramon Martins. What a bright orange!!!  Afterwards I found the Brazilian painter on Instagram and told him my appreciation about his art. A great advantage about social media is that you can stay connected and get inspiration from each other's work. 

So in the end, this two hour walk brought me so much more than just a grey city, because my eyes and mind were open.

In October 2020 I made a trip to the Portuguese island Madeira. The capital Funchal has a really vivid and artsy Street named Santa Maria. Every morning I walked through this street for taking a coffee and connecting to Madeira’s locals. I got inspired by those traditional and positive atmosphere.

"Madeira surprised me like no other place"

Madeira with all its hidden and green places surprised me like no other place. The first time in my life I took a bath in a cold waterfall and climbed on a top of a mountain, where I could see an ocean of clouds below. The top of Pico Ruivo is simply breathtaking. 
 

After I was filled with adventures and full of impressions of Funchal and its environment, I needed time to process it. And for this I found at the right time the most perfect place on earth. So if you are looking for white beaches and reload your battery, there is the possibility to go by a ship from Madeira to the island Porto Santo within two hours. I stayed there for three days and found my favorite coffee shop, where I painted for hours almost every day. No worries I ordered a lot of food and coffee so that the owner wasn't annoyed of my presence. :)  

So sitting there and working on my painting "Rua Santa Maria" at this beautiful place with the beach in front of me and even with some good friends around, was a moment I realized, this is something I want to do for the rest of my life. 
 

How can I find the right words to tell you my impressions of this town in an equal way. It is an amazing city and country.

Ok before I start to report from my inspiration of Comuna 13 in Medellín, I have to say that Colombia was actually not on my list. At the beginning of December 2019 I traveled to Panama and planned to stay the entire two months of my trip only in Panama. But somehow, even it was not on my mind, I booked quite spontaneously a flight from Panama City to Medellín and had no idea what to expect.

When I arrived in Medellín I took a walk through Comuna 13. A part of town with an interesting history. Not too long ago Medellín was one of the most dangerous cities in the world and especially Comuna 13. It was a place of drugs, the home of Pablo Escobar, lootings, tears and misery. 

Today almost 15 years later it is possible to go there as a visitor and get a short insight of Comuna 13. I know this is only the surface of what you can see and it is made for tourists. But what my Colombian friends told me is, that this means hope for a better future. You can see people dancing on the streets and you can see a lot of colorful streetart on the walls. If you look in detail at the painting you understand, that this is how they process their past.

Colombians are proud people and now I know why. They have an extremely beautiful country with all its art, culture and music. Did you know that the singers Shakira, JBalvin, Maluma and Karol G are from Colombia? If you like spanish music, you know them for sure :) And for creatives like me this is really adorable, because music gives me the drive I need for my art process. 

When I was back in Germany the vibe of Comuna 13 was still there. Also its history what the locals told me about. I started painting with all the memories and I tried to express what words can’t do. It almost hurted me of being back at home and not being able to be there. I am sure it wasn’t the last time that I was in Colombia.