Inspiration Thursday: Creating Atmosphere with Textures

With the help of textures the atmosphere of a photo can be completely changed and I like to use this effect a lot! Today I want to show you the transformation of one of my new photos which I have made last week in Zurich.

First I used a texture by les brumes (she is an artist who creates the most beautiful textures - I love all of them) and then I added a more experimental one I had made myself. There were many road works going on in the area where I lived in Zurich which was a bit annoying but I really liked the texture of one of the construction site containers. I took some quick snapshots and when I was working on the photo with the swans some days later this texture with the yellow borders suddenly came to my mind.

Interesting surfaces are really everywhere and perhaps you will also like to use them as beautiful textures for your photopraphy!

Some days ago I took a lot of photos of the old working table which is standing in the siebenmachen shop and studio. It is covered with stains of paint, coffee mugs and there is even some nail polish ;-) Perhaps one of these new textures will be used in one of my next photos very soon...

Inspiration is everywhere!

Inspiration Thursday: Be Like a Kid!

Sometimes, the best we can do to find inspiration is to be like kids!

 

"Play is the most important element in discovering who you are." (Kerry Smith, "Living ou loud")

PS.: This week I gave myself permission to play and created these textures/backgrounds with acrylic colours and really had fun!

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Inspiration Thursday: Don't Forget the Simple Remedies

Yes, sometimes I forget the simple remedies that are really good and uplifting for me like going out for a walk. I need to walk without having any special reason or goal but to walk and perhaps to take photos. When I walk I feel free, I'm going at my own pace (not running to get somewhere just in time...), I can breath deeper and I begin to relax. My mind starts to wander in a very good way and I often have the clearest and most inspired thoughts when I'm out for a walk.

This week, beautiful Spring weather made me go out for a stroll in the neighborhood. It was so very good to enjoy the warm sunlight and the beauty of all the first signs of Spring that nature is offering right now! I just reread a very moving quote from Anne Frank's diary where she is talking about what nature means to her:

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. (...) I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles."

What is your simple remedy that makes you feel better?

Inspiration Thursday: Dream your Life

Do you also have a special word for this year? I have found one when I was not consciously thinking about it. It was there, in the morning, like a word - a leftover from a beautiful dream: "allowing". And yes, it felt so right. I want to be more allowing this year. Gentle and allowing with myself. I want to allow myself to dream big, allow myself to make mistakes, allow myself not to be perfect. I trust my intuition, I trust my heart and I know it's all working out.

And so I also allowed myself to get some guidance/mentoring by Andrea, an intuitive coach with a lovely soft voice and a charming Swiss accent. Her e-course and mentoring class was called "Was Dein Herz begehrt" ("What your heart is calling for") and I felt it was perfect for me. Now the class is almost over and I'm still in the middle of all the process of opening up my heart and being more allowing with myself but I can already recommend Andrea's work.

Foto: Andrea Hiltbrunner

Next month Andrea is starting another e-course which also sounds very inspiring: "Traumlabor - Entdecke das Wunder in dir" ("The dream lab - Discover the miracle inside of you"). This class is only available in German but Andrea also has a website with special offers in English.

For all my German readers I want to let Andrea present her new e-course (registration is open and today you will get an extra early bird bonus if you decide to participate!) with her own words:

"Wäre es nicht wundervoll, täglich aufzustehen und mit purer Lebensfreude den Tag anzupacken? In diesen inneren Fluss der Inspiration und Kreativität zu kommen? Abends mit einer warmen Erfüllung im Herzen in die Kissen zu sinken? Seit einigen Jahren begleite ich Menschen darin, ihre wahre Berufung zu erkennen, sowie den Weg einzuschlagen, der sie voll und ganz in ihr Herz bringt. Ich habe unzählige Frauen darin ermutigt, zu sich zu stehen, das zu tun, was ihnen leicht von der Hand geht. Ihre pure Stärke wieder zu entdecken, die sie in sich tragen.

Darf ich dir dabei helfen, deiner eigenen Lebensfreude enthusiastisch entgegen zu blicken? Ich habe dir eine kleine Anleitung zum Glücklichsein zusammengestellt!"

Andreas Anleitung zum Glücklichsein sowie alle genauen Infos zu ihrem E-Course findest du hier auf ihrer Seite. Ich bin froh, dass ich mir ihren "Herz-Kurs" gegönnt habe und genieße vor allem weiterhin ihre geführten Meditationen und die vielen praktischen Übungen, die mir helfen, mein Jahreswort "allowing" nicht nur zu träumen sondern auch zu leben!

I'm happy to have taken Andrea's "heart class" and I really enjoy here guided meditations and the many exercises I can use daily that help me not only to dream my word of the year "allowing" but to actually live it!

Dream you life and live your dream!

Inspiration Thursday: Sewing Silk Stories

Did I tell you how I got all the wonderful sewing threads you can see from time to time in my photography? I found them when the premises of an old lady living in my neighborhood were getting cleared. It was sad to be there and witness it, but it was also like discovering a big treasure box. There were a million things gathered together that were telling stories of an interesting and long life. The old lady had been a collector (and also a seller) of beautiful fabrics (many with hand stitched motifs coming from the Netherlands), clothes (for babies and for adults) and all kind of pretty wares. But the thing that really made my heart leap for joy and emotion was a simple big plastic bag!

It was filled with the most beautifully colour coordinated sewing silk! The old lady had found the perfectly matching ones: Each little package was a treasure in itself and such a big yet simple source of inspiration.

I love to take some of these reels of sewing silk out of the bag, put them in a jar and of course I love to take photos of them! They are filled with the old lady's love, passion and patience who I have never met but who I still think of and honor simply by looking and treasuring her colour coordinated little packages of sewing silk.

Do you also have a simple yet precious treasure you really love?