Monday 30 September 2013

molly


one of the hardest things about this move
was knowing that molly would have to become
an indoor cat

something which in principle I'm against

cats should be free to roam,
explore, pounce, run, hide, smell,
bring home earthworms in the middle of the night

we had a family lined up who were willing to take her
if she didn't adapt to her new life
on the forth floor

but
we are very happy to see
that she's adapting brilliantly
it means that we all have to play with her even more than before
but that's no hardship

we've made little 'preys' of bunched up pipe cleaners
which we toss and she chases
and brings back to us
or deposits in her food bowl

she watches pigeons from the windows
chuntering at them with a trembling jaw
and twitching whiskers

she seems content, happy even
and so are we

Thursday 19 September 2013

settling into a new home

Well, I'm finally emerging from moving hell.    



After five years in two different places in Munich, we've settled down into life in the centre of Regensburg's old town.  The view from my studio room is to Haidplatz, the town's main square.



It's a beautiful Mediaeval city with narrow streets and twisty alleys everywhere.  Some impressive remains of Roman walls can be seen in a few places.  And whimsically coloured buildings each with their own distinct style and personality.




Being on the forth floor, we have a view out the back windows to the hills that rise above the Danube not a ten minute walk away.  






The skies are different here to Munich.  Someone who once lived here told me that it's rainy and cloudy from September 'till April.  Good thing I love the rain.  



And that's another thing about being on the top floor:  we can hear the rain falling on the roof, something I've missed for years. 

The building of our place was begun in 1250.  Our flat was once part of the attic.  The beams in the ceiling of the main room have (thankfully) been left exposed.    




Slowly, order is being made of complete and absolute chaos.



I always feel better once my art supplies are in place.  

 


A couple of weeks ago, in the thick of the move, we escaped to see an art exhibit at a local gallery: Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie.  It featured the figure drawings and prints by German artist Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945).   



Not an easy exhibit.  Her art is powerful. Her subject matter includes exploited weavers; peasants on the verge of revolt; women in their raw grief after losing a child.  She sometimes worked in cycles, working on a specific theme and utilizing motifs and symbols over a period of years.









An amazing photo of the artist, a woman who lived through much in terms of her own personal tragedies, as well as living through the the horrors that were the first and second world wars.  



As I slowly get to know my new home, I'll be taking photos and posting them here.  

We discovered that right next to the gallery where the Kollwitz exhibit is running there's marionette theatre: Regensburger Figurentheater im Stadtpark.  That's something which I'm very much looking forward to seeing.  

I'll leave you with a couple of Regensburger pigeons settling on a rooftop in the rain.  



No, we don't eat them.