07.05.2016

Finally – it’s Spring Again.

07.05.2016

Finally – it’s Spring Again.

the little green 940x360

Last year I found so much inspiration for my illustrations in my garden and blossoms, leaves, and plants made up a big part of the objects I used. Then one day a friend on Instagram asked me what I would do when it was winter. Dried flowers? Pot plants? Or maybe even a photo break? Every since she had asked this question and I became aware how much of my work ultimately depended on the material available to me, I kept looking with trepidation at the ever decreasing number of flowers in my garden which clearly heralded the approaching winter.

I think every creative person is worried that they will run out of ideas; and in my case, this worry was suddenly linked to the days getting shorter, decreasing daylight, and nature coming to a standstill.

kite lily

However, if you look at my gallery of the last few months, it is also certain that winter as such couldn’t stop my ideas and associations. Maybe it made me a bit slower and quieter, but it couldn’t stop me altogether.

yes balloons hurray

And so, instead of blossoms, I took twigs and grasses and let their bizarre shapes and simplicity inspire me. When everything was gray and dreary and I was stuck for ideas, I would go for a winter walk through the fields and bring home some of the objects I found on my way: bare twigs with shriveled up berries, dried hortensia panicles, and birch fruit, which was still clinging to the thin twigs, long after fall had passed.

meet mr deer

Even my husband gave me a bunch of flowers one day, saying: “I purposefully picked out flowers for you that look a little bit skewed – so that you might be able to use them for a photo.”

look-out

I also notice that I have increasingly used objects which I would normally file under the category things on my website. Just things that are around me on a day-to-day basis and that I happen to come across. For example, I found small paper birds in the craft cupboard at my work at school, which the little monster lets fly in my illustration. I took rice from the pantry to design a photo for the new year 2014. Using colored cardboard, I punched out countless small snowflakes and asked my Instagram followers whether they had ever considered what the world would look like if snowflakes were colored instead of white. When I cleaned up after Christmas, I even found a small moose in a broken Christmas tree ornament.

wings to fly

I think that I made it through the flowerless season quite well; and yet, I experienced great joy when the first flowers appeared in my garden after a pleasantly short winter. The snowdrops announcing the oncoming spring in the illustration “spring preparations” are very conventional, followed by the first green shoots of the lily and a single crocus blossom. Finally, it’s spring again!

spring preparations

And now that I’ll be starting into a new year of Spielkkind illustrations utilizing my garden and plants, I discover that my gallery is, apart from all the things, also always a reflection of the seasons in nature. I am already looking forward to tulips, strawberries, and roses.

Kerstin Hiestermann

Teacher, illustrator, and photographer from Hanover, Germany

http://spielkkind.de

http://installer.com/SPIELKKIND

http://facebook.com/spielkkind

http://twitter.com/spielkkind

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