Merry Christmas Folks!

Hey everyone,
I wish you all a wonderful festive season with your loved ones and I
hope 2014 brings everyone good luck, good health and extra cheer!

Illustrationen für Roman Herberth

Im Garten räkelt sich die Rose.
Vom Schlaf zerzaust ist die Frisur.
Sie steckt noch in der Trainingshose.
Und schaut sich um in der Natur.

Es blubbern schon Kaffeemaschinen.
Man greift zur Tasse und man trinkt.
Im Einsatz sind schon flotte Bienen.
"Moment, ich bin noch nicht geschminkt!"

Dann rennt sie schnell ins Badezimmer.
Sie pudert jedes Blütenblatt.
Und wer sie kennt, erkennt sie nimmer.
Es fand dort die Verwandlung statt.

Jetzt strahlt sie über beide Ohren
und wie ein Honigkuchenpferd.
Schnell hat sie den Verstand verloren.
Jedoch sie meint, das ist es wert.

Die Honigbienen warten lange,
und zeigen sich diszipliniert.
Sie stehen vor der Rose Schlange.
Bald wird ihr Nektar einkassiert.

Roman Herberth schreibt lustige Gedichte über den Alltag, Politik und Tiere, die etwas menschlicher sind als uns bewusst ist. Ich habe bisher acht Illustrationen für ihn gemacht. Die Bücher kann man hier und hier kaufen.
Romans Blog:
http://roman123.blog.de/

Prints at Artflakes

Now you can order prints and greeting cards of my illustrations at Artflakes. Link here.

Week 28

Figures - just as soon as it's time to have a holiday, I get sick.
Maybe due to more stress on account of the parents getting here next week (!) and the flat needs to be CLEAN. I still managed to make some lemon cupcakes this week with the new KitchenAid (hands free is da bomb).

Prints

Ihr könnt jetzt Grusskarten und Kunstdrucke von meinen Illustrationen bei Artflakes ergattern:
I've made some of my illustrations available as prints and cards on Artflakes:

http://www.artflakes.com/de/shop/jaztoons

Langsam werden mehr hochgeladen, aber falls Ihr einen besonderen Wunsch habt, sagt Bescheid.
Stay tuned for more, and if you have a special wish, just let me know.

Week 27

It was a week of highs and lows; endings and new beginnings.
We figured out, however, that it's easier to say goodbye with a mouthful of cake and rice crispie stars/squares. : )
Anthea also bestowed upon us articles of her own making - to be seen here.
The KitchenAid Saga has also come to a happy end, and the results are DELICIOUS.

Week 26

My scanner can't do neon colours.
There were actually a lot of zombies involved in this week's Adventures. I like to do some doodling while my other half role plays with his buddies. Mostly I make use of plays-on-words or the character weaknesses. Fun fun.
It also stormed quite a bit. Warm, summer showers one can thoroughly enjoy with the right shoes and a water resistant backpack. Oh, and Happy Canada Day!

Week 25

Another week to cook an egg on.
Summer in the city with some encounters with nature -Thursday there was an awesome display of electrical storms -sheet lightning en masse. I even got some photos, hanging out my fourth floor window.
The longest day of the year was a sunny friday -I dawdled on the way home from work, with camera in hand. There were pictures of the moon, bubbles and barbecues.
Ahhh... Summer :}

Week 24

Happy Birthday Natalie!
The nice weather has been holding, a perfect chance to get out en velo and get the bbq out. It was also the perfect chance for mosquitos to eat me from the ankles up. My record of bites from one sitting totals 24 (16
left leg, 7 right leg, one on my left elbow. Fun) The trees outside our apartment have (finally) stopped pollinating everything, so I figure it's finally safe to do my spring cleaning.
Those of you familiar with downtown (ha) Hohen Neuendorf will know the great big whopping chinese restaurant temple... thing. They serve dim sum! As well as all the usual tasty morsels found at asian restaurants. We biked up there on a pleasant path skirting Spandau and the Tegel Lake. A lovely trek in any case, (though we did take the train home) but I was sure tired by the time I got home.

Week 23

I am happy to say that I spent most of this week OUTSIDE.
Barbecue and sushi were high on demand, and a good friend of mine recommended a wonderful event in the south of Berlin -Malzwiese. A festival of sustainable goods, food and energy from around town, all at the backdrop of the old Malt house, which was offering tours of its derelict halls, as part of the day's programme. (the factory stopped production in 1996 and it is currently a place of cultural events)
All things happening at the Malthouse can be found here:
http://www.malzfabrik.de/en

Week 22

WILL IT EVER STOP RAINING?!!?!?!??
One good point -when it does incessantly precipitate, one has all the more reason to go to the movies. This week we took in the new Gatsby flick, which put more perspective into the book, I was not terribly disappointed, though the hip hop music was not really to my taste -except for Gotye's "Heart's a Mess" -a pleasant surprise during the end credits. The more I think about it, the more I like the movie. Epic was also, as its title suggests, quite a big movie. The artwork is stunning. For a kid's film, it also deals a lot with death, which I found refreshing in the genre, and makes the story just that little bit more believable. Not everyone has a Disney childhood.

Week 21

T'was an eventful week.
Plunging temperatures and rain even brought snow to some parts of Germany. It's nearly June! Someone remarked to me the other day that they suspect our orbit has been altered... If Summer (let alone Spring) ever turns up, I'll dismiss the theory, but until then... Anything's possible.

Week 20

Oops, forgot to post this last week ^^
I love to cook. Eat. Both. Whatever. We got out the barbie, played a round of zombie frisbee / meteor frisbee, and basically brought the entire kitchen to the Tempelhofer Feld to kick off the bbq season. Some sketches (no children were harmed in the making of this drawing, but it was close):

I also made it to another session of Dr. Sketchy and nabbed Daniela Uhlig's gorgeous book Sugar Girls:
http://stuartngbooks.com/sketchbooks/uhlig-sugar-girls-vol.-1-the-art-of-daniela-uhlig.html
A big Thank you the Dr. Sketchy team, Daniela Uhlig and the voters. My drawings from the afternoon are here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152889703780691.1073741825.575840690&type=3
It was a beautiful day, I also did some doodling beforehand -including a sketch of a kid who wandered over to see what I was doing. I hope I inspired him to a career in art. :}

Week 19

I watch too many movies.

:D

Frustration Friday

A sure way to unwind after work: draw stuff you can't draw for your regular customers!

Week 18

Spending way too much time watching movies and eating ice cream, but hey, it's spring! Finally kicked off the bbq season, and enjoyed some nice bikerides too. Like, without having to bundle up my ears. Or wear a coat. It was crazy!

Week 17

Spring is officially here; nightingales and lilacs, sun and summer tires for the car. I have a batman shirt now and progress on the kitchen counter continues, in a slow, wax on, wax off kind of way. Except the wax is varnish and the motion is with sandpaper. All coming along in a nice, shiny, dusty kind of way. There was cake. :]

Week 16

Another week of pleasantries - a visit from a long lost friend and continued renovations. Mr. I. achieved his doctorate with flying colours and temperatures have been soaring, as if it's already Summer. The plant life around town hurries to catch up.

Week 15

I spent the dying hours of each working day at Hellweg this week stocking up my tool repertoire to repair the sorry excuse for a wall in my kitchen. New windowsill... scratch that - I put IN a windowsill (the 'board' previously occupying the space under the window I would not in any universe define as such)
I also figured out that I need to watch more Hitchcock films. Saw the new one about his life (Hopkins portrayed the great man wonderfully) The weather has also been getting continually better - no earmuffs required while bikeriding! Spring, Spring, here we come...

Comic Messe Berlin

The Stenarts Team and the Light Littlies presents this year's Berliner Comicmesse - Be there!

Week 14

It was a snowy Easter, and I pray to the holy bike gods that my dear Errol stays fixed for another year. The kitchen project is also officially underway -chaos is the daily order. Oh, and wild boar are incredibly cute.

Week 13

13 Weeks into 2013 -it is April- and snow still lies in dirty piles on the sidewalks and streets of Berlin. The sun is making every effort to rub in that temperatures hover merely a few degrees over freezing (or
under it) and the days are steadily getting longer. I spent a great amount of time reading Life of Pi (again) this week, using the easter long weekend as the perfect excuse, instead of chowing easter bunnies and eggs. In fact, I was too busy destroying Zerg, Protoss and Terran forces to notice. Also saw Les Miserables, which, for a musical, was quite spectacular. And attempted to learn to play Mah-Jongg (the real way) My only conclusion is that this game was contrived to render any hapless foreigner utterly confused, as there appears to be no particular logic to the rules. Why I drew us as crickets? I don't have all the answers.

Week 12

It was a week spent with friends, and let me say, there was an abundance of cake. Also, I cannot draw chihuahuas from memory. Girafficorns seem to be no problem.

Craig MacMonroe

A very Happy Birthday to Julia and Christian - thank you for a lovely afternoon and as always, the wonderful food!

Happy Birthday Time

Herzliche Geburtstagsgrüße schicke ich an E-Hörnchen, auch als Pitifleur bekannt (ihre süßen Tierchen findet man hier), die meinen Reisebegleiter Anouk erschaffen hat. Alles alles Gute!

Week 11

A turbulent week, marked by some shocking news and yet a few spots of sunlight, some good food and good company. I finally took the time to play a few games again, and READ. It can't always be all work and no play. : )

Week 10

Finally! Corrections are complete, everything's handed in. My parents always wanted me to be married to a doctor... Though there's still a defence to get through in April. But the worst has passed and spring is apparent in the heat of the sun!
Also got some plants for work, Much needed chi. Sunshine and more flat tires... Also finally got myself a sewing machine -yes!

Week 9

This week saw the return of the sun to this part of Germany. Berlin enjoyed some spring-like weather (though rumour has it, Winter will rear its frosty head again in the coming days) -Some last minute reparations while being sick and more corrections for the thesis. We have made headway, next week is deadline.
Also said goodbye to our furry friend, who had to go to his new home. *sigh*

Week 8

Lots of fun this week building furniture, baking quiche and pavlova, having to deal with a flat tire again and relying on unreliable public transport... New couch is awesome, thanks a billion, K.

Week 7

More housework - changing light fixtures :D - this week, babysitting
and all manners of food!
The upside is that I've been able to go furniture shopping -downside
carrying things up five flights of stairs. Went to a nice Vietnamese
restaurant; Onkel Ho and had a beef and glass noodle salad. Flavour
explosion! :D

Week 6

It was an eventful week in spite of a busy work schedule; Cinema (Django Unchained), Ikea, more snow and picturesque Berlin landscapes burned into my mind, baking lemon meringue tortelettes, and lots of elbow
grease, lots of change. -Oh, and guinnea pigs fit in there too.
Also used a circular saw for the first time and can understand the respect people have for heavy machinery with sharp turning bits. I finished my work smiling, all limbs and appendages attached and merely covered in a layer of sawdust, while my inner self was screaming like a maniac in a pool of sweat...
I've almost finished replacing all the lights in our appartment with LED lamps -let's see if that leads to any changes in our power consumption.

Week 5

We bought a fridge, there was good food, lots and lots of bad grammar, and visitors from far away lands.

Week 4

As the snow once again dissipates, it leaves behind a barren landscape, encouraging the lowly soul to seek refuge in the theatre or to stay at home. The last remnant of Christmas - a gingerbread house- bites the dust. I have a fair bit of proof reading to do this year...

Week 3

The year is already speeding up...
The week was full of snowy bikerides, remnants of Christmas, thoughts of spring, birthday celebrations and evenings in front of a beamer, cat sprawled in lap.

Week 2

Much rain, snow and website construction plagued this week. Highlights were Korobeiniki @ work, movies in the home theatre and a glittery rendition of 'Fever' at a burlesque life drawing session.

Week 1 - Post its

This year I am going to be collecting my daily impressions in form of
mini doodles in a book of post its. This is week one.

Happy New Year!

Wishing you Love, Peace and Happiness, whoever you are and wherever you are.