Art By Tali Landsman

Today is the start of the art show in Wellington NZ. I hope it will be successful. I have been reading that this winter in NZ has been very rainy with flooded roads and many area submerge under water. Luckily our area is very hilly and even a cataclysmic tsunami would not get the water up our property. It is still amazing to see the photos of the floods.

When all goes wrong- I head to the studio. It is the best place for me to gather my thoughts and feel some measure of peace. We are having a fan installed in our upstairs lounge and the electrician is making such a mess. I feel disheartened. What sustain me with hope is that he is a really great guy and very well meaning, plus he knows his craft. So into the studio I go. I worked and finished the painting that I call “The Runner”. It has one main figure and many practice drawings and joyful expressive doodling.

I am having a fast day today. It is a cleansing fast to allow my body to clean itself from within (with the added benefit of dropping some pounds). I have an electrician in the house and when he leaves, I will go to the studio for few hours of painting. I will not work long today since on a fast day it is more advisable to rest.

I love reading. I recently started reading memoir books written by Palestinians that grew up in Israel around the same time that I grew up there. It is fascinating, sad and heart touching to read their stories. It is like looking at the other side of the mirror. I believe it makes us more tolerant and sensitive when we open up to understand the plight of another. As a child growing up with a father that got seriously injured in the six days war, and living in a country plagued by war and terrorism, I really did not take deeply in, the misery and terrifying journey that the Palestinians people has gone through. I was too involved with my own culture fear and paranoia real or imagined. Not to say that I was oblivion to their misery. I did work with some while I own my restaurant, hearing their stories, helping to provide them housing, even dating a Palestinian man for a short time, but only now when my existence is so peaceful and quiet, can I truly reflect on the sad reality they endure...

I photographed the oil paintings I have done few weeks ago and posted them on my web site: http://www.talilandsman.com/art42.html I find that I am creating now in many of the styles I used to play with in the past. I am most challenged by my new series “The Artist’s Sketchbook” but who wants to be challenged daily? There are days in which one wants to take shelter in familiar easy things.

We have been having some rain in the past week which provides a lovely break in the hot weather. It also washes down the dust and nourishes the plants. These very hot evening bring clouds of bugs that are attracted to our house with the evening lights. Some enter the house through the fly screens and die by our windows, but to keep all the windows closed without air-condition is not an option. So to console ourselves, we bring to mind the beauty of the winter here with no bugs and the mountains painted in white while the house is warm and filled with the scent of a sweet fireplace. I went into the studio today delighted to have finished the transition into the new studio and to be able to finally paint. I placed on the easel the painting I have started before our trip to Denmark. It is always slow starting after a few weeks without painting. Luckily this new style of painting is very free and soulful and does not engage my inner critics too much. I started by practicing drawing of peo...

I took Jules to the Eagle airport this morning. He is flying to Miami on a week long trip. I did not blog in the past week as we were fully engaged with the studio relocation. But it is finally done and I am happy to announce that my new studio is ready for me to work in it and to create great art. It is lovely and large with natural light and plenty of room. The next step is for us to replace the carpet with a bamboo floor. I am working on getting estimates to get it done before our flight to NZ. I chose the Zebrano strand woven bamboo which is harder than most hardwoods and will not shrink in our Colorado very dry climate. It also looks fabulous.

Saturday was lovely. We got up late, read in bed and meditated, made ourselves some toasties and tea and took them to our lounge to enjoy with a book. Later we packed our bikes and drove to Aspen. On the way we stopped in Glenwood Springs to have some coffee and a sweet conversation. We downloaded the bikes in Aspen and took a long cycle down the Rio Grande trail. We got back to Aspen at almost 9pm just when the sun was setting down. We had a vegetarian meal at the Explorer Bistro, took an after dinner stroll and enjoyed the Aspen nightlife and drove home. Today was a rest and organizing day. As I have mentioned, we are planing to exchange work spaces this week. The movers will be coming on Tuesday to move the heavy furniture, but there was a lot of things we had to pack and make ready.

I decided to give myself a long weekend starting with today. I rested all day, read a book, watched a movie, meditated and reflected. Sometimes rest and reflection are as important to me as creating. When I read about artists who say that they work everyday, never take a vacation, I wonder what compels them to do so, to avoid life in favor of their art. I value my rest days just as much as my creative days. I value my art tremendously. It is the center of my earthly life, but still I do not view creating it as starting and ending in the studio in front of the canvas. You take in life by viewing it in and around you. You process it by reflecting and meditating on it, by taking it in and living it. You create art that expresses your impression of the life around you with symbols and paints.

The closets in my studio are installed now and it is so lovely to have the extra room to get our house more organized. This morning I went to the dentist for a teeth cleaning. I stayed in Edwards to have a lovely japanese lunch at Satos. (Vegetable roll, miso soup& seaweed salad). I shopped for groceries and went for a swim at the Avon recreation center. (did 100 laps) Next week Jules and I are switching work spaces. I will move my studio into the free standing building that we have next to our house that is now Jules’s office. Jules will spread his work space onto the garage and the office upstairs. This means that I will have few days to reorganize my work space ( and help Jules with organizing his), before I will be able to comfortably paint again.

I am still getting adjusted to the different time zone and to the changes in climate here in Colorado. In the next two days I am having some closets installed in my studio so I am not sure if I will be able to paint. In any event, I like to take my time after being away from my studio and my art. I noticed that my eye gets more critical after being away and viewing a lot of art along my journey. Maybe it also got something to do with the fact that I was not able to create much on my trip. I need to find more compassion inside me and reconnect with my vision and my art before I will create again.

We are finally home after a long journey that started in the island of Aero. We took the morning ferry to Svenborg, then a bus to Nyborg (since the train got canceled). Then we took a train to Copenhagen, stayed the night in the city, took a metro to the airport at 5am the next morning, flew to Frankfurt, then to Washington DC, then to Denver where we picked up our car and drove to the Ritz Carlton in LoDo - Down town Denver. We stayed two nights at the Ritz, visited the Denver Contemporary art museum, ate good vegetarian food, browsed and bought some books in the Tattered Cover book store and finally today drove home.

We were greeted this morning with a heavy rain. The sky looked so dark, we decided to change our plans to cycle around the island of Aero. Instead, we took the local bus to the town of Marstal which is the largest town on this tiny island. We strolled the colorful streets, had lunch at a modern cafe', bought me a new pair of sunglasses (I broke my good pair) and a fabulous pair of gumboots. Gumboots are a utilitarian item that I wear while walking on our property's muddy hills, typical of New Zealand. Usually they are black and ugly. These were stylish red with stripes of white and black and I couldn't resist them. Tomorrow we take the ferry back to Svenborg and then the train to Copenhagen. I loved this little island, especially the ice cream store that served fresh berry sorbet topped with my beloved childhood candy - KremBo - (Jules tells me in is called "Mallomars" in the USA) I loved the whole trip we had in Denmark.

This morning we left our hotel in Svenborg and took a large ferry to the island of Aero. It is the most picturesque island we have seen so far. The houses look like ginger bread homes. The streets are paved in cobble stones. The old town has homes that are still standing since the 1600s. All still lived in, well kept and beautiful. A few were converted to stores and cafe's but most are homes filled with figurines in the windows. An interesting story says that in the old days prostitution was outlawed. The working women use to put figurines of dogs in the windows to signal customers. If the dogs were facing one another- the woman was available. If the dogs were not facing one another, the woman was with a client or unavailable. Instead of getting paid for their services, the woman used to "sell" the dog figurines to the customers. While strolling the streets we photographed the dog figurines; none were facing one another. We also photographed the many amazing doors of the ...

We decided to do this trip with very little luggage, only a backpack that has a detachable day pack. The cycling part of the trip will only last 11 days, but we are going to be away from home and living off our luggage for more than three weeks. We hope to go on longer trips in the future carrying with us everything we need on our bike panniers. Therefore I am compiling a list of the actual items we used in this trip. Clothing: 2 pairs of cycling socks 2 pairs of travel underwear (made from soybeans and nylon; fast drying) 2 pairs of short cycling pants 1 long cycling pants 2 short sleeve cycling shirts 2 long sleeve cycling shirts 1 rain cycling jacket 2 pairs of light pants for evenings and days off 3 t-shirts 1 fleece 1 sweatshirt cycling gloves hat sport shoes (sneakers) sandals Personal items: Sunglasses Bandanna Mini computer & cables  A camera & a charger A drawing pad with pens & pencils A wallet Passports Travel guide & map A reading book (for rainy days) Cell ...

Today was a leisurely day of easy cycling (under 30 Km.) We cycled through a wildlife safari park to a ferry that took us to explore two small islands. Tomorrow is a long cycling day back to Svenborg.

Today is another "rest" day. We will cycle to the wild life park and visit two small islands. Yesterday was a relatively easy day of only 47 Km. We cycled through farms and villages, had a picnic lunch across a large lake. We arrived at our hotel in Maribo by early afternoon. Maribo has the feeling of an old Florida beach town. It is full of retirees, boutiques that cater to their fashion and almost no good food. We ate dinner in our hotel and luckily had a very good vegetarian meal. We are having a wonderful time cycling in Denmark, but if you take away the cycling element from our trip, I am not sure that I would have enjoyed this trip as much. The US dollar is so low that everything in Denmark is very pricey. A dinner in a modest restaurant of two main courses and two beers is over $100 USD. Hotel rooms that in the USA would be priced at $150 a night or less, are priced here at $400. We have not stayed in a single luxury hotel, because in the areas we are cycling, there a...

The cycling is getting harder. On day 4 which was meant to be our "Rest" day, we cycled 50 Km on steep hills against the wind to the white cliffs of Mons. After the cycling we climbed up and down almost a thousand of steps to see the cliffs from above and below. My legs are very sore, but it is hard to tell if the cause is the cycling or the steps. The weather is continuing to be sunny without a cloud every day. In fact both Jules and I have minor sun burns on our legs, arms and faces. Yesterday was the longest cycling day of our trip (around 70 Km). We took a ferry connecting two islands and cycled along the coast on mostly gravel bike paths that runs through the forest. It was very scenic and very windy.

Cycling long distances in designated bike paths is a pleasure. Most of the small villages do not offer much for the passing tourist. Not a cafe' or a restaurant or even a local shop. Only in the cities can we get real food. We do stop at least once a day by a roadside stand at the edge of a field, that sells fresh strawberries on the honor system. Just place the money in a small box and enjoy the sweet juicy strawberries. Today we arrived at the island of Mons after cycling around 40 km. We sat in an open air cafe' on the water and had a lovely lunch of salads, roasted potatoes and local beers. We toured the old churches and enjoyed the 600 year old frescoes which had painted biblical themes done in a whimsical and amateurish way and were a very refreshing departure from the traditional well executed frescoes around the world. For dinner in our hotel, we made a special request of sauteed summer vegetables and new potatoes which were delicious.