240. Raspberry and white chocolate ice cream in blue and white porcellan (Himbeer- und weißes Schokoladeneis in blau-weißem Porzellan)
240. Raspberry and white chocolate ice cream in blue and white porcellan (Himbeer- und weißes Schokoladeneis in blau-weißem Porzellan), 2025, Öl auf Leinwand, 15 × 20cm, (Darryn Ansted)
And this ice cream is perhaps one of my favourites from the group. The sludge-like transparency of the berry ice cream crystals reflecting in the white chocolate ice cream came through quite vividly. It did not sell during the exhibition and I am glad that I can look at it a bit more. I don’t always like my own work but occasionally I can find something that is reassuring.
It’s been a month since a blog post. I had a break from the studio after the exhibition. We went to Mallorca for a week and did some relaxing. The weather was great. On the last morning, I went down to watch the sun rise on the Mediterranean. There I decided on making some positive shifts. There is more news coming in the next few weeks.
The first quarter of this century is almost done. ‘Done like a dinner’ as they say. Who knows what will remain. It has been a historical moment of lowering expectations in my experience. So, new country, new language, new family and soon yet more news to come.
It's been hard to get back in the studio since getting back from Mallorca. I was pretty burnt out by the time the exhibition came around. An aside, I really like the interview of Ugo Rondinone by Louisiana art channel. He talks about the necessity of an artist to ‘stretch the persona’, or otherwise the audience will eat you up. It is a good suggestion about constructing a self that is more between the audience and one’s innermost identity. It is good advice for those of us whose tendency is to lay things out on the table clearly.
So, indeed, there were a couple of weeks without a solid painting session. However, my energy returned and I have been steadily finishing some more paintings in the twilight of this year, as the Christmas markets slowly pop up in our region of Germany. I might be looking for a scapegoat here, but I do find books are linked to the flow of my creative process. At least, if I am not reading a good book, I find it harder to write this blog! I just finished one that held little interest for me. It was too much of an assault on the senses. It was the opposite of the confessional tone of Knausgaard that I enjoyed in his My Struggle series. It was a text that concealed the author completely.
On a separate note, I used AI to write something recently. It was able to make my writing so readable and friendly. I can understand the seduction of it. However, I think it is best that this blog is actually my own clunky mess and not massaged into something else.
