Germany Is Hot For 15 Days A Year

A wedding of a dear friend brought me to spend a couple of weeks in Europe this summer. The trip started in Germany. I went a little early before the wedding started to spend time with her and help out with prep for the wedding. She lives about an hour outside of Stuttgart in a small town called Backnag. The wedding took place in Schwabisch Hall which is where the groom is from. There was a small town and the surroundings were a bit more rural. The wedding was a combination of German, Bosnian, and American traditions. 

Next we spent a day in the Western wine region called Pfalz. There we went to a few wineries and drove around the country side while exploring a few of the small towns. The landscape was truly beautiful set among all the vineyards. We spent the night in Kaiserslautern and the next day we were off to Berlin! 

You see, Germany is hot for about 15 days a year so there is no air conditioning anywhere. You better believe we were there during that heat wave. Actually most of our trip was during unseasonably hot weather. We decided not to really do any touristy things, but instead just explore by walking around. 

I remembered seeing on social media that my old friend from Pratt had moved to Berlin. We hadn’t been in touch for quite some time, but I wrote to him in Instagram and we met up the next day for coffee. It was like no time had passed and we just picked up where we left off. That turned out to be such a pleasant surprise of Berlin. He was describing the neighborhoods to us. He mentioned that the young hip people will move into an edgy neighborhood and stay there to settle. So those areas get a bit gentrified and then turn into an area with hip parents and kids. Until, its the next neighborhood’s turn. So, right now Neukolln is a little on the edgier side and still pretty raw in my eyes. 

Some of the neighborhoods we hit included: Mitte, Museum Island, Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain, Neukolln, Tiergarten

Recommendations for food and drinks: Limonadier, Umami, Amrit, Monsieur Voung, Silo Coffee

Thus ended our time in Germany - next up: Malta!

Billowing Textiles

The textiles I have been working on started in India a few years ago. I used my same monotype process, but instead of adding paper to the plexi plate I added a sheer fabric called georgette. When I started this project in India I had this vision. I wanted the fabric to drape and dance along the wall. Well, I couldn’t pierce any holes into the wall so I had to hang them instead. Since then I have had the opportunity to continue to play with the textiles. I still needed to figure out how to make my installation to get some good pictures in order to propose to galleries and museums. 

Then one day I met Chelsea Suddes from Pearl Weddings. We were working on a styled shoot for a magazine together - The Perpetual You. Chelsea has got to be one of the most genuine kind hearted people I have ever met. She was putting together a moody/ethereal styled shoot and the color of my textiles were totally on par with the color scheme. I was a little apprehensive about going because I was afraid everyone was going to love love and just be too happy. Well they did love love but, each vendor brought together was so talented in their medium. Mike Suddes helped me install the fabric and the floral designer from Pine and Petal added the perfect touch of pink cherry blossoms to finish off the display. 

Vendors:

Venu: www.mylittleladiesfarmanddesign.com

Planning & Design Coordination: www.pearlweddingsandevents.com

Photographer: www.rowanberrylavender.com

Veil: www.aevamade.com

Textiles: www.meghanshah.com

Hair & Makeup: www.alluretravelingbeauty.com

Florals: www.pineandpetal.com

Catering: www.riverhousecatering.com

Videographer: www.newenglandcreative.net

Models: Johnathan and Falak

Decorations & Stylist: Heart of Gold Decor Design

Side note… Mike Suddes is a singer song writer and has the most stunning soothing voice. I have been fortunate enough to see him perform a few times and I see a collab in our future. His original songs are the exact type of folk music I like to listen to while I create. I had my students listen to Blind Pilot last year and most of them got into while they sketched in their sketchbooks. One boy drew a demon because he hated the music so much. But, they all reacted to the music and that was the exact point of the lesson. 

Next, I decided to make a warm series of textiles. This just happened to be in the color scheme of an elopement styled shoot Chelsea was helping coordinate. Shaina Lee had this vision and Chelsea brought it to life. So, there we were the day after a hurricane at Yale University’s Harkness Tower about to bring magic to life. I’ll just let these pictures speak for themselves. This shoot had a few features including British Vogue and Let’s Bee Together!

Vendors:

Photographer: Shaina Diaz Photography

Planner & Designer: Pearl Weddings & Events

Bridal Gowns: Gypsy Bride

Hair & Make up: Belle Noelle Beauty

Flowers: Fizz and Fluers

Signage: This Delightful Design

Cake : Cake Lore Co

Artist: Studio Strata

Furniture: Gather & Lounge

Models: Leesha & Andrew Wheeler