I had just arrived back in Vancouver on Thursday February 14, spent the weekend getting over my jetlag and was looking forward to a quiet week of catching up in my office when on Monday February 18 I got a call from the college where I’m signed up to teach as a substitute. They asked me to come in to teach, and I said yes.
So I’ve had no time for a new sketch this week but I am posting the gorgeous view from the window of my classroom which I drew last year.
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Being back home in Vancouver feels surreal, as if I’ve dreamt my 3-month stay in Berlin. I went back to sketching which gave me a feeling of continuity, bridging the Berlin-to-Vancouver transition.
I had a coffee and scone today at Dose Espresso Bar, sat in the sun at the window and sketched the view of the street and part of the coffee bar. It’s a tiny place near the corner of a busy intersection, Broadway and Granville Street here in Vancouver.
The open door that says “nu GREEK” belongs to the restaurant next door.
The interesting older building across the intersection houses Kaplan Education Centre; I think it’s an English language school and/or a business college. Their old building is one of the more interesting ones in Vancouver.
It was a warm, sunny day again. The light was coming in from the street and creating shadows on the wall and across the paintings in the coffee shop.
People were waiting for the bus just outside the coffee shop, so they unwittingly stood still for me.
Great coffee and interesting music — the friend who recommended this place was right.
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It’s a sunny day in Vancouver.
I had a good trip back and when I stepped out of the Vancouver airport, the temperate, soft air of the northern rain forest greeted me. And my husband, who had too many meetings to pick me up, was a welcome sight when he came home around 6:30 pm with flowers!
I am in my office today, catching up on work while listening to the music I brought back from Berlin.
Read MoreIt’s a sunny day in Vancouver.
I had a good trip back and when I stepped out of the Vancouver airport, the temperate, soft air of the northern rain forest greeted me. And my husband, who had too many meetings to pick me up, was a welcome sight when he came home around 6:30 pm with flowers!
I am in my office today, catching up on work while listening to the music I brought back from Berlin.
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“The hole that we leave behind replaces us completely.” Kind of true, when you think about it. Sort of existential, a bit cheeky, and so very Berlin.
For the last week or two, I have been aware that I have to leave here soon. I’ve been walking around the streets of Berlin, looking at everything with a tinge of sentimentality.
I’ve been able to create a new life here: I have made friends, learned more about art, and have seen and experienced a lot of new things. And now I have to leave all of this behind to go back home to Vancouver to my old life. Don’t get me wrong, I look forward to going home to Jeff, to my comfortable bed and my more ergonomic computer desk. My shoulders, back, and legs are killing me from sleeping on a cheap foam mattress, sitting hunched over a laptop, and walking the crooked cobblestone streets of Berlin most days. I desperately need to get back to what I exaggeratedly call my “health care team”: my massage and physio therapists, my dentist, my doctor.
But I walk around and think: Next week when I’m gone, those yellow subway trains will continue to spit out hordes of young people at Eberswalder Strasse Station all night, ready to have a great time and to experience Berlin. Concerts will play until 1 or 2 a.m. and then people will get a bite and go out clubbing around 4 a.m.
There will be line-ups at the Berghain, that world-famous, quintessential teutonic temple of techno, where people will be face-controlled by a former East German punk. DJs will spin tunes in almost every bar, people will be chilling out and mingling and sometimes, they will come up with new ideas. German, English, French, Spanish, Japanese and other languages will drift in the air. Clubs will be open from Friday night until Monday morning continuously. The graffiti outside the Berghain will still read: “Don’t forget to go home.”
Berliners will still complain about not getting paid enough, not getting good work, about real estate prices and rents going up and about government cutbacks. They will flood the museums and galleries and concerts and bars and Christmas markets. They will still eat their currywurst outside at -10 degrees and have a smoke afterwards.
There is no doubt that I still have a romantic impression of Berlin, even though I have lived here for 3 months. But the fresh air of limitless possibility and improvisation I have breathed here, has been real, and rejuvenating. Berlin is like a young person: poor in material things but rich in ideas and plans, inventing herself anew every day. Sure, she may complain about not having enough money or support, but she’s got freedom and opportunity. And I’m pretty sure she knows these are the best days of her life.
Read MoreOf course I didn’t really spend my last day in Berlin with the Luminous Pariah. Just like you, I have to make do with this video. Although I did want to say hello to him. After all, he’s from Seattle, so we’re practically neighbours. But apparently he’s originally from Alaska and knows a thing or two about fishing, which will become clear to you if you watch this video. Take that, Sarah Palin!
The video above is the same routine he performed between the two periods of modelling for us sketchers at Dr. Sketchy’s Berlin on Sunday. I was thrilled to see a man on stage for a change. The ladies are always wonderful too, but I say yay for Boy-lesque!
It’s such a wonderful, creative world out there when you seek out artists and performers, and Berlin’s got a large chunk of it.
So on February 12, I did a bit of work and then had the last sauna visit of this Berlin stay at Meridian Spa in Spandau. See my sketch below.
On February 13, I packed, cleaned, and also went to Berlin Mitte once more for last-minute shopping, mostly to buy small gifts for a few people.
I have a post prepared for my departure day already; stay tuned!
This beautiful painting is by Katrin Merle and she made it for me! We exchanged art before we said goodbye. I am going to frame this and hang it up at home.
February 11 was a low key day. I had planned to go to the Berlinische Galerie once more, with Katrin, but she was sick and I was tired, so I stayed home too and caught up on some work and blogging.
Blogging every day, selecting and editing photos, writing and editing text and captions, has been far more work than I had imagined (about 1 to 2 hours per post, I am not kidding!), but I was determined to keep it going. When I am back in Vancouver, I can read up what I did almost every day, and then additional memories of how I felt or what I did that day will come back more easily.
Already I am realizing that November/December felt like a different era than January/February. I was new here and in a state of constant excitement. I wasn’t able to sleep much, but I woke up early and had time to make art in the mornings. The first five weeks, when I was completely on my own here with no visitors, were probably my best time.
Christmas was spent with Jeff and visiting a lot of people, in January I travelled to Leipzig and to my friend E. in Worms, so I was either visiting or had visitors, and my precious alone-time was over.
I am definitely hoping to do this again, and in the not-too-distant future. Maybe in a year or two, if I can afford it. Maybe just for 6 weeks or 2 months, with a visit from Jeff in the middle again, but less separation time for us. Because I do miss him painfully by now.
But to continue my daily report: In spite of being sick, Katrin came over briefly anyway to do our art exchange, and we had a coffee at Manolo, then said good-bye. I wish she lived closer, I don’t have a friend like her to go sketching with in Vancouver, and most importantly, she is a great person.
Then I caught a subway to the University of Fine Arts to see the graduating class exhibit with Nina, but the students were already dismantling it when I got there. Nina and I then had a beer at “Diener”, an old cafe where boxing fans used to gather, near Savignyplatz. She graciously gave me more suggestions on how to work on technical stuff in my art, so I will have to try and visit an art supply store tomorrow and pick up some things. And hopefully she will visit me in Vancouver.
Then we said a rushed goodbye at the S-Bahn because my train was there right away.
Both Katrin and Nina have been great to get to know and I can honestly say that I’ve made two new friends in my three months in Berlin, which is pretty amazing.
At the University of Fine Arts, Berlin.
Diener Bar Berlin, an old dive bar for boxing fans. The walls in here are full of photos of famous, semi-famous people, and boxers. I am just borrowing this photo from the Unlike City Guide, but they didn’t credit it properly so I can’t link to the photographer.
Dr. Sketchy’s Berlin No. 34 Picknick Session — with the Luminous Pariah and Marlene von Steenvag.
Dr. Sketchy’s Berlin took place on Sunday February 10 at the Kookaburra Comedy Club on Schönhauser Allee 184. I was very happy about this extra session since I hadn’t expected to catch another Dr. Sketchy’s before my departure from Berlin.
Starring The Luminous Pariah & Marlene von Steenvag, the two performers were fantastic models and actors. I tried some new things in my sketches, trying to capture these models’ bigger-than-life impression by using wild colours and shapes.
After the 3-hour sketching session, Nina, Peter, Stef and I had drinks at Café Chagall, a pleasant faux-French dive bar across the street, then I went to meet my friend B. and her husband M. at Belluno at Kollwitzplatz for pizza and another glass of wine. They are leaving on Monday morning, so we had one more pleasant evening together, then said another good-bye.
It was a great day.
Dr. Sketchy’s Berlin No. 34 Picknick Session.
Dr. Sketchy’s Berlin No. 34 Picknick Session.
Dr. Sketchy’s Berlin No. 34 Picknick Session.
Dr. Sketchy’s Berlin No. 34 Picknick Session.
Dr. Sketchy’s Berlin No. 34 Picknick Session.
Eberswalder subway station. I sketched this as a souvenir for Katrin, and she gave me a painting. I had been hoping for an art exchange of this sort and was glad she suggested it.
I don’t have any more house guests, but my old best friend B. from grade 5 and her husband M. have arrived in Berlin for a weekend away from their three kids, to have some couple time, to tour Berlin, and to visit me. They came by at 11:00 a.m. for a chat before sightseeing, and before we knew it, it was 2:00 p.m.
They left to see a bit of Berlin while I went to Manolo, a coffee bar at the corner of Schönhauser Allee and Danziger Straße and Kastanienallee and Pappelallee and one other street, to sketch the Eberswalder Strasse subway station for Katrin.
In the evening, I had B. and M. over for dinner and we had another good talk.
I must say, I caught up with many friends and family in the last three months, made new friends like Katrin and Nina, met many other nice people, spent a lot of quality time sketching in coffee shops all over Berlin, saw a ton of art and cultural events. It’s all good.
My three months here have been even better than I had hoped.
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Sketch of view from SowohlAlsAuch Cafe.
Brunch and sketching with Katrin, experimental play at Ballhaus Ost in the evening “The Black Glass” in English, troupe from Atlanta.
Berlin offers some pretty good hot chocolate drinks. This was my afternoon treat at Cafe SowohlAlsAuch. Doing my best to make it look bigger than my head.
Katrin sketching at SowohlAlsAuch. You can see how she draws a fairly reduced line drawing, then adds life by adding colour.
Katrin sketching at SowohlAlsAuch. You can see the more final-looking colour now.
Here is Katrin’s final drawing. Click on it to see her Flickr page.
Berlin window shutters at a bar. So true.
Seeing an experimental play at Ballhaus Ost in my neighbourhood.
At Ballhaus Ost. Somehow, art is always around you here in Berlin, and it’s not always just the officially sanctioned stuff. This was just sitting in the stairway at the theatre. Apparently nobody will steal it either. Art lives here!
