Welcome to Sophie's Nature Art!

Today I would like to take you to beautiful Upper Lusatia, in the far east of Germany. There is a small town called Zittau on the Czech-Polish border. It used to be a thriving town, but after reunification the entire textile industry was relocated abroad, which led to a population fluctuation. But in this beautiful, albeit somewhat deserted little town, there are many beautiful old houses. I was allowed to live in one such villa for two years. The parents of my flatmate Carolin own this villa. The story of how they came to own this little house is a miracle, but it would go beyond the scope of this article. In any case, the family has turned some of the rooms in the villa into beautiful guest rooms and a vacation apartment. So if you want to enjoy the unique landscape of the Zittau Mountains, this insider tip is highly recommended.
The house is also home to a small health center and an Adventist congregation. If you would like to find out more about Villa Vetterlein, please visit the Website take a look around. 

Thanks to my knowledge from my training as a painter, I was able to decorate and embellish the villa and one or two of the guest rooms.  

I had the privilege of living in this house for two special years.  

Last year Carolin and I celebrated our 30th birthday. To mark this special occasion, I naturally painted her a little picture. I decided on a Tutorial by Angela Anderson. It is a red gerbara on a dark background. To the picture I added a short Bible text added. Caro really liked the picture and wanted to hang it in one of the guest rooms. So I offered to paint a second picture for her. The first picture was painted on acrylic paper so that I could send it more easily by post. But this time I painted it on a proper canvas. 

The motif was quite easy to realize. What I learned while painting this picture was that the background colors should be colder and the further forward the colors were, the warmer they should be.  

Originally, I wanted to present Caro with the picture for her wedding, which was planned for May 2020. Unfortunately, it had to be canceled due to the corona situation. So I wanted to send her the picture by post. But how do you send a canvas by post? Luckily, there's the internet and plenty of people willing to share their experiences. So I wrapped the picture in bubble wrap and packed it in cardboard. It wasn't a nice package, but the picture found its way to Zittau in one of the guest rooms. Perhaps it will be a source of encouragement and a blessing for one or two viewers. 

The verse I have painted on this picture comes from the Bible and is one of my many Favorite verses: 

I can do everything through the one who makes me strong. 

We often come up against the limits of our own wisdom and strength. But with God, nothing is impossible. Even if I see no way out and have no strength left, God carries me through the difficult times and gives me strength for the next step. Caro and I were able to clearly experience the reality behind this verse last year. We had both imagined 2020 to be completely different and reached our limits. But despite all this, we were able to experience how we were carried and were able to experience heavenly peace in stormy times. I hope that everyone can have this experience. Nothing is impossible for those who make God their strength!