Censorship in Western Society & Losing Our Freedom

Posted by on May 11, 2012 in Art, Blog, Ideas & Inspiration | 2 comments I was just reading a blog post by my artist friend Janice Tanton about a tax audit that she just recently had to go through. It was painful for her. Please read her post, it’s passionate and I love how she is speaking the truth. Most of the times, auditors do not understand what visual artists do. And it’s everyone’s fault why that is. Now my thought went even further: we are...
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Upholstering a Small Bench

Posted by on May 7, 2012 in Blog, Upcycling & DIY | 0 comments Amazing things are happening and as you can see I have been very busy (by the minimal number of blog posts…). Weekends are stuffed with shows and fairs; means getting up at 6 driving down to Dallas, and then all the time throughout the week, getting prepared, selling online, lining up at the post office and all the awesome street finds along the way (and restoring them)!! Taught two cooking...
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Upcycling an Old Rocking Chair to Bench

Posted by on May 1, 2012 in Blog, Everything Green, Upcycling & DIY | 5 comments A while ago, I found this broken rocking chair at the curb and I knew it had potential. It’s been sitting in the garage for way too long and it was totally in my way so I decided to throw it away -tomorrow or so. And when I made that decision, I finally came up with the idea of turning it into a bench. I didn’t really have a plan, I rather went from one step to the next, hoping to...
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Upcycled Wine Bottles

Posted by on Apr 29, 2012 in Blog, Everything Green, Upcycling & DIY | 5 comments Today, I made something out of old wine bottles. Maybe someone else came up with this idea before me, but I think it’s a great and unique one. Earlier, I turned empty beer bottles (Shiner beer, yum!) into hanging vases -and someone came up with this before me, too, as I found out later! So here’s what I did… Recycle wine first (that’s the best part), then use the bottles...
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A Milestone in Art History: Spot Painting

Posted by on Apr 26, 2012 in Art, Blog | 2 comments 25 years Spot Painting. I just opened a bottle of champagne and a can of caviar to celebrate this milestone in art history. In fact, I am a little late with celebrating, Damien Hirst came up with it in 1986. So I should have partied last year. Maybe this was the only good thing that happened that year because all I remember is Tchernobyl, 1986. Or did he get his inspiration from the nuclear...
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Discovering a New Fruit: Loquat

Posted by on Apr 24, 2012 in Food | 0 comments My father-in-law planted this beautiful tree in our backyard a couple of years before I moved in with my husband. We both knew it’s a loquat tree but we didn’t know much about it. Last winter, I decided to give it a good trim and this year it grew fruits as big as apricots. The years before, they weren’t bigger than hazelnuts. My father-in-law told me about the healing...
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A Letter From My Chiropractor

Posted by on Apr 24, 2012 in Blog, Everything Green, Food, Ideas & Inspiration | 3 comments As I walked into my chiropractor’s office yesterday, I found this letter on all the chairs in the waiting (actually it’s the exercise) room. And if you have read my mission or know a little more about me, you know that his letter speaks to my heart! I asked him if I could quote him. It’s passionate, honest and straightforward. We need more people like Dr. Rick and I know there...
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How to Preserve Parsley

Posted by on Apr 22, 2012 in Blog, Everything Green, Food | 8 comments My herb garden is exploding! Help! Three years ago, my hubby and I built 3 vegetable beds -in fact he was, I was just watching. I decided to use one just for herbs. I got oregano, thyme, chives, parsley, mint, lavender, cilantro, chamomile, sage, rosemary, dill and onions & garlic (to keep mice and vampires away). It really has established itself very well but it’s getting a little too...
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We Don’t Need Earth Day

Posted by on Apr 18, 2012 in Blog, Everything Green | 1 comment Earth day is coming up this weekend and I actually couldn’t care less about it. Do we really need a theme or a specific day to celebrate earth? Common sense please! While on the one hand, it’s nice to raise some awareness to stop malicious destruction of our planet. Because it seems like the majority hasn’t heard how we (the ones on top of the food chain) kill our own and only...
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Upcycling a Street-Find: a Dresser!

Posted by on Apr 8, 2012 in Blog, Upcycling & DIY | 6 comments I am very excited about my latest find. On my way to the chiropractor, I passed a house that had this cute little dresser on the curb. Thanks people!! I am so happy I am driving my new (used) Subaru and I don’t have to guess whether it fits into my car or not… My old 3-series BMW was a problem, I had to leave so many treasures behind just because they didn’t fit inside. I took...
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Painting as a Language & Journey

Posted by on Apr 6, 2012 in Art, Blog, Ideas & Inspiration | 3 comments It’s been a while since I painted last. I am not a mass produce artist and I rather paint when ideas come and I feel like it, than forcing myself and ending up with meaningless stuff (well, meaningless to me). Or let’s say: when I don’t have a question, problem, task, or am under pressure I can’t paint. My mind needs to be busy in order to paint. Painting is my way of...
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Northern Texas Tornadoes & Its Inspiration on Canvas

Posted by on Apr 4, 2012 in Art, Blog | 1 comment I am sure everyone has seen the tornado destruction here in Northern Texas, if not in person, at least on TV or online. Wow! My sister, my parents and many of my friends in Germany got in touch with me even before it hit us in McKinney. They heard that the DFW airport was shut down and people led to tornado rooms. Luckily, we didn’t get any tornadoes but we had some pretty rough storms. I...
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My Latest Upcycled Projects

Posted by on Mar 30, 2012 in Blog, Everything Green, Upcycling & DIY | 3 comments The last couple of days have been filled with picking up scrap wood at construction sites, building stuff, painting and getting ready for my next shows. I am so excited about all the cute stuff I made and that will (hopefully) find a new home this weekend. Here’s a slide show of some of the things I made this week from scrap to upcycled home...
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How to Save Money on Art Equipment

Posted by on Mar 28, 2012 in Blog, Everything Green, Upcycling & DIY | 2 comments Some of you know that all my artwork is painted on all kinds of recycled materials and I am proving that it is not necessary to buy all this expensive equipment to make high quality art. Who says that you have to use artist linen from the art store? Who says that frames have to be built professionally and how does that look like? I paint with oil and I paint on anything I find. All I need to know...
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Life is Supposed to Be Easy Not Hard

Posted by on Mar 19, 2012 in Blog, Ideas & Inspiration | 6 comments Tadah, I am back to blogging, painting, sewing, building and selling at the art markets! It’s been two weeks since my last blog post and I just wanted to give you a quick update what happened in my exciting life. First, my parents announced themselves for a visit and of course all my attention, love and care was on them, sorry dear readers After almost 4 years in Texas, they finally...
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CREATIVE MINDS – Nemo

Posted by on Mar 1, 2012 in Blog, Creative Minds | 5 comments I am very pleased to have Nemo on my blog for my monthly CREATIVE MINDS interview! The very first time I came across Nemo was on Lori McNee’s blog in her series #PowerArtists (I just checked her blog, that was in May 2011), and I loved his answers, his honesty, sense of humor and his lifestyle with his wife. And so I followed him on twitter and we connected. Read and find out...
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About Suburbia, My Undies & Saving Money

Posted by on Feb 29, 2012 in Blog, Everything Green, Living & Design | 11 comments It’s this season again and my laundry can’t wait to smell the fresh spring air! If there’s one thing I really like about Texas, then it’s the short winters and the free clothes’ dryer. Even though we live in suburbia (which I can’t stand, I think I’ve said it before?! Counting the days to leave…) and there’s a homeowners’ association...
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Can I Call A Blog Post “Miscellaneous”?

Posted by on Feb 27, 2012 in Art, Art Marketing, Blog, Everything Green, Food, Ideas & Inspiration, Living & Design, Upcycling & DIY | 1 comment It’s my blog, I can call it whatever I like! This is a little visual review of random things I did, that kept me busy in the last couple of weeks, days… Here’s a sneak-peak into the life of Franziska! Enjoy Can you change the color of your leather boots? Hell yes you can! Will they last? I don’t know but I painted my boots from purple to brown to glossy black: I made...
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Mardi Gras, King Cake & Things That Can Go Wrong

Posted by on Feb 24, 2012 in Blog, Food | 0 comments I was lucky to be teaching a cooking class on Mardi Gras! Of course, I made some classics like Chicken & Sausage Gumbo, Crawfish Etouffée, Jambalaya and Bananas Foster. I think everything turned out really good and my hubby was happy I brought some leftovers home for him to try. I am always prepared that something might go wrong during (or before) a class but luckily I am a pretty...
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Silly Things People Say at a Fair

Posted by on Feb 20, 2012 in Art, Blog | 19 comments I had another long weekend at the Third Monday Trade Days in McKinney (an antique and craft fair) with my upcycled home decor, some of my artwork and other handmade things. It’s once a month for an entire weekend before the third Monday. I love going there because of the interaction, I meet a lot of interesting and very nice people and I get to sell my items! But sometimes, there are people...
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Did you Know Monet Won the Lottery?

Posted by on Feb 15, 2012 in Art, Blog | 0 comments I am sure some of you knew this already. But for those who didn’t: yes, Claude Monet won the lottery, quit his job and painted full-time. Thank you lottery! In 1891, he won 100,000 French Francs which he used to travel France and paint, sometimes he had several studies going and worked on up to 10 pantings at the same time. There are quite a lot of interesting stories about Monet and...
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Selling Your Art Prints Online

Posted by on Feb 12, 2012 in Art, Art Marketing, Blog | 7 comments Just recently I was asked by one of my twitter friends if I could write something about art prints and what my recommendations are. Personally, I use Fine Art America for orders within the US and MyGall for my German friends. All you have to do is take photos of your beautiful artwork, upload them (for example on Fine Art America), add the commission you would like to make on each piece and they...
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Because I am REALLY Bored, I started a 2nd Blog…

Posted by on Feb 10, 2012 in Ideas & Inspiration | 13 comments …and no, I am not bored, not at all! I just had a big aha-moment recently. And because after an aha-moment there needs to be some kind of action, I took action and started documenting my progress in my new blog. Is there a better journal than a blog? That way I can share my experience and document my progress. It’s more for myself than anything but if I inspire someone else, why...
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Date Night Out: Recipes!

Posted by on Feb 9, 2012 in Blog, Food | 2 comments As some of you know, I have been a trained Executive Chef for more than ten years in Germany, England, New Orleans, Switzerland and worldwide at sea. Now, my life is dedicated to a renewable lifestyle concept that combines all my preferences like art, decor & design, living, gardening and food. My focus has always been on sustainability, balance and creating a connection between ourselves...
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How to Make Home-Made Chai Tea

Posted by on Feb 8, 2012 in Blog, Food | 0 comments A friend of mine just recently asked me if I know where to get decaf chai tea and I thought, honestly, I don’t know. As a former chef, I typically know where to get what at what price. I am a walking encyclopedia when it comes to anything food related. It’s probably because as an Executive Chef I had to deal with so many different deliverers, products and food prices on a daily level....
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