Welcome to Sophie's Nature Art!

Welcome back to a blog entry! 

I have had an eventful few weeks. I am writing these lines from my old-new home in Leipzig. A month ago, I landed back here after almost nine years of wandering through Germany. I'm slowly arriving in the beautiful trade fair city and have the time and the nerve to devote myself to my hobbies again. 

Today it's about my latest acrylic painting that I've conjured up on a 40x60cm canvas. I started the painting a few months ago, but due to all the moving I couldn't finish it for a long time. Today it was finally finished! 

The picture shows the Brig Roald Amundsen to see. She is a German sail training ship on which I sailed for a week last year and learned a lot about traditional sailing. The reference picture was a photo I was able to take of the ship off the coast of Sweden with the sails almost fully set. That was a particularly impressive experience. During our trip, we were accompanied by an employee from NDR, who filmed us at work and interviewed some of us. As a result, (almost) all the sails were set and we were allowed to sail around the ship in the dinghy and enjoy it at full speed. It was a spectacular sight! 

This week was fascinating in general. We sailed as if we were on a ship 100-200 years ago. That means there was also a watch system. I was in watch 1, which was on watch from 0-4 am and from 12-16 pm. It was an exciting experience for me to get up in the middle of the night and work on the ship in almost complete darkness. I particularly enjoyed doing the lookout during the night hours. It's exciting to see how much is going on on the water at night. Not to mention the starry sky! I could see the Milky Way and watch lots of shooting stars. The rising of the moon was particularly impressive, as was the first hint of morning light flitting across the horizon at around 4 o'clock.

Then I quickly scurried back into my comfy bunk and slept again until 10 or 11 o'clock. I've probably never slept as much as I did this week. You wouldn't believe it, but I came back from this sailing trip rested and well-rested!  

Another special aspect was that as soon as you stepped onto the ship, you were immersed in another world. Everything that had gone before was forgotten. You were simply part of the crew and everyone had their job. It didn't matter who you were in life outside the Roald. So it could happen that a dentist, a social worker and a student set sail together. Incidentally, our captain is a double bass player in the MDR symphony orchestra in his other life - also from Leipzig! 🙂 

That was one of the aspects that impressed me the most. We grew together as a team within a week. Unfortunately, the five days were over far too quickly!
Here you can see our guard, by the way:

This year I actually wanted to sail on the Roald again. But unfortunately the 2G rule applies on board and I fall through the cracks. That was a huge blow for me! But I knew that I had a God to whom I could hand over all my worries. Before Christmas, I was despairing about my overall situation. But when I look back over the last few weeks, I see a lot of grace and blessing in all situations. Where I didn't see a way forward at Christmas, everything has now miraculously smoothed out. I am very grateful for everything! 

I was also able to put sailing in God's hands. I am prepared to give up this dream if God would ask me to. It was not easy for me to put this subject into his loving hands. Nevertheless, I did it. I knew I would be guided correctly. As a result, I was suddenly able to start my motorboat course this week at very short notice - and for €100 less than originally planned! Once again, one thing led to another! I don't see this as a coincidence, but rather the loving guidance of an almighty God, for whom none of our problems are too insignificant or too big! It's so much fun to finally learn more about chart reading and navigation! 

But of course I was still disappointed that it didn't work out with the Roald this year. Nevertheless, I wanted to paint the picture as a reminder of the wonderful week last year. After painting for a while, I finally finished it. I struggled a bit with the water again. Somehow I haven't yet discovered a technique that I'm completely happy with. 

Nevertheless, I am satisfied with the overall result of the picture. It is not as detailed as my picture of the USS Philadelphia. But the picture is also almost half the size. Now it is waiting for its new owner. I offer it  HERE for sale! 

Now I'm excited to see what direction the journey will take and what else this year will bring! 

See you next time! 🙂