Welcome to Sophie's Nature Art!

The abilities that lie within a person are greater, than he knows, and the abilities that God
are greater than he dreams. 

- Charles Haddon Spurgeon 

What would life be without dreams?
Each of us has dreams and hopes that motivate us and move forward in life. 

A dream of mine - as in previous Contributions mentioned - is sailing. Nothing compares to the feeling of standing at the railing, feeling the wind, perceiving the gentle movements of the ship and listening to the waves splashing against the ship's side. 

Almost exactly a year ago, I went sailing on the North Sea for the very first time. I managed to persuade my younger brother to join me on the trip. I booked on the Internet with jadesail.com. This is a very friendly couple who offer sailing trips on their sailing yacht „Solveig“. We had the luxury of sailing alone with them, there were no other guests apart from us. In addition to culinary delights, we were treated to lots of interesting information about the Jade and sailing. It was a cold, overcast day. But ideal for sailing. We even saw a seal that seemed to love spending time in the lock. 

This trip was a small fulfillment of my dream of sailing. Of course, it also influenced my painting. After my first attempt at painting a sailing ship, which I presented to you the time before last, I wanted to try my hand at another motif.  

I collected pictures of sailing ships many years ago. I went through this old collection and discovered a motif that I wanted to try out.  

At the beginning I failed because of the sky with the clouds. For weeks, the sample picture was barely started on the table and at some point even ended up in a drawer. The project had actually failed. But somehow I couldn't let go of it. So it became a resolution for 2020 to paint this picture. I finished the test painting in the first few weeks of the new year. I was amazed at how well I did it. I was even more amazed at the result. I would never have thought it possible that I could have done the ship so well. I began the large original painting with a motivation that I hardly knew I had. I painted it every evening for a week and then suddenly it was finished.  

This picture is my centerpiece, the absolute expression of what sailing means - pure freedom! 

Never in my life would I have believed that I would have managed to get this picture like this. But it is almost perfect for me. 

This thought fills me with gratitude. Nobody taught me acrylic painting. I learned everything I know from YouTube. But where does such a gift come from? Is it just practice? 

Or is there someone who has endowed each of us with certain gifts and talents? 

I believe in a God who has a sense of beauty. He created it and delights in it. He has also placed these abilities in us. We can create beautiful things and enjoy them. The process of creation in itself is already something wonderful and the joy of the finished work even more so. How much more pleased must our Creator have been when, after six days of creating, he looked upon a perfect, flawless world? No wonder he took a day to enjoy his work with the crown of his creation, the human being.