magdalenaarte.com

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Hello!

I’m happy to welcome you to my website. A friend of mine encouraged me to start this thing – so, here I am – really excited what will happen on this page in the next few months and full of beans and enthusiasm to show you my works …

First things first. My name is Olga-Venla Magdalena Krüger and “in real life” I’m working as Technical Documentation Professional of a well-known company in Bremen (Germany). I do that for nearly 12 years now, but never forgot my actual passion – art.

I draw/paint pictures since I’m 1 year old – will show you some first works as soon as my mom finds them ;). In school, I graduaded in art as advanced course – then I prepared 6 different portfolios for the art college, but never went there. I decided to study German and Italian language plus literature instead, graduaded, then found the job at the company mentioned above – and now I find myself creating this website for art, funny.

What else to tell about me: I’m born in 1988. Besides my work and my passion for art, I love to dance ballet. I dance for more than 31 years – actually, my mom is a teacher for Ballet and Modern Dance in Bremen. So, don’t hesitate to visit her website if you are searching for a new great way to get in shape :). Then, there is a hobby I really should pay more attention to – the piano. I used to play on concerts in my teens – even long pieces from Debussy, Mozart, Beethoven, Bartók – but during my university studies I became unmotivated and my carrier as a concert pianist was over before it started at all.
I’m living with my lovely husband Thomas in a nice little township in Bremen and we love to decorate other people’s homes (and ours) and to refurbish old furniture.

I will show you shortly some of my/our newest but also older works – so you could get an impression of what I do and whether you like it :).

Text you soon!
magdalenaarte

People 2023 –Best Of …

Happy 2nd day of the New Year 2024 to you all :)!!! Hope you enjoyed some relaxed time-out with your friends and family. Winter in Bremen is so rainy and warm this year that it is really hard to believe it’s January (already!).

Nevertheless, I wanted to start my New-Year-Post with a Gallery update and a recap of all the dear people I had the honor to create portrait cards of in 2023 :).

First to start with, our dear friends Bella & Falk, married in December 2022, but the surprise invitation was on January 14th, 2023 ❤ love you, guys ❤

Next one to continue with, a very creative board-game creator and great developer named Tim:

Third one – 5 Years of Love – My lovely Sonni and her hubby ❤ You are so sweet together both!

Followed by Baby Liam Sem (unfortunatelly, I had to redo his name from “Sam” to “Sem” and no time to capture it correctly, what a shame! Please, imagine an “e” instead of an “a”):

In May, we had to say Goodbye to another developer colleague, Marco:

10 years felt like yesterday … It was so nice to celebrate with you at your party, Genny & Jonathan ❤ You looked like a fairy tale from A Thousand and One Nights ❤

Helloooo, School-kid!! Our little fellow Joel had his first school day:

13 years of love – and we love you, you Three (or Four – We know there will be another Schmidt Girl waiting for her debut in 2024 :)):

60 Years filled with Love, Loyalty, and Happiness ❤ Harald and Lydia, you are such a great example how to live a marriage ❤

How would you describe a perfect multi-talent wish granter? Whom ever you would suggest, no one can hold a candle to Traude!

20 Years of Love – You made it, Sören & Jacqueline!!!

Developer Kristin made her choice and started her new adventure …

… followed by Alex. Sad, but that’s how life works sometimes, Wish you all the best for your new challanges in your new jobs!!!

However 2024 may have started for you, remember to enjoy every great moment, to learn from a missed one, and to dream of the next one 🙂

Find out about some more portraited people?

magdalenaarte

DIVE INTO SYMPHONY

What comes out when music meets an empty canvas? This blog post is dedicated to free-mind art and two special friends and wonderful artists which inspired me to try out something special.

After having worked very close together day per day, week per week, month per month from 2021 to 2023 (some little time-outs included), and spending a lot of beautiful after-work-evenings and special gatherings together, there it was at the beginning of May, 2023: one short, sad moment of time-to-say-good-bye. But, before it came to that point, there were some really sparkling moments we shared – the progress of the preparations for your upcoming wedding, Gian Luca and Volha <3. From that point on, it was clear to me: your wedding gift had to become special, as special as you both are.

I decided to do a thing I never did with a painting before – just listening to music and painting what I feel and see in that music. I know this is no new invention – a lot of artists and even art therapists use this method to express themselves or to help others to express themselves. But, in this case, it might also bring experiences, situations, and thoughts shared on both sights to another level.

If you, dear reader, search for the perfect music to get inspired, concentrated or to dive into beautiful vitalising soundscapes, listen to Gian Luca De Bonis and Volha Zakreuskaya on Spotify (or on Apple Music). My absolute favourites of their works are Love Storm, Timeless, and Raining Thoughts – so fascinating <3.

Wanna see what came out by listening to those beautiful and exciting sounds? Here comes DIVE INTO SYMPHONY – the single steps can be followed at my Gallery page as usual :).

Best thing on real relationships is: they will last even if time and space cause changes <3. And if art is included as well, there will always be a magical connection only artists know how it works and how it feels like ;)!! And we all know: Closing one door often opens a lot of new another ones :)!!

Wishing you all the most fantastique for your start to the new week!!
magdalenaarte

The Secret of Well-Being

A step out of the daily routine, a sunbath in your 10-minute break, a good drink or meal, or a walk through the woods – you might have experienced the same light-bulb moment as I did couple of times: Feeding our basic needs can bring us the most satisfying joy of well-being and balance in our lives. Of course, we’re not perfect and it is not easy to keep up that inside balance all the time, day per day, BUT there is a secret key how to deal with stressy situations and to build up resilience: never give up doing whatever you love and what helps you guys best to find to yourselves and to your inner centre.

For me for instance, drawing and painting were always my secret spot to escape from a long challanging day. Even if it’s late, creating one little watercolour card or working one hour at some acrylic or oil painting make me feel to step into another world … 2023 started with some huge projects at work. I wasn’t able to start/continue a bigger art project at the same time, but knowing my secret key of happiness :), I decided to keep it simple and to create some cards for special occasions just to be prepared in case.

Here are some of my card-works from the past months :). For example, my FLOWER BOUQUET TRIPLET (May, 2023). Watercolour on paper. Sizes DIN A5 and 11*16 cm (in the middle).

I love to create anniversary cards of those flower-bouquet motives like this one (March, 2023. Watercolour on paper. DIN A5.):

In January and February, I tried some new conceptual art motives inspired by two fantastic musicians: Gian Luca and Volha ❤ love you!! SYMPHONY. January-February, 2023. Watercolour on paper. 11*16 cm.

Of course, there have been created also some new portraits of wonderful people in the last couple months. To be continued, next post in preparation 🙂 …

Other card-works can be found here:

Wish you an awesome and inspiring weekend!
magdalenaarte

Review 2022 Part I – Once Upon A Time …

There are moments in life you feel it deep inside: moving foreward is better than marking time. Having a chance to catch-up with the flight of fortune is a WIN-WIN-NEVER-HESITATE situation! Saying YES to one new thing often means to say GOODBYE to another thing.

Starting with The Rainer, I was asked to paint several portrait cards for colleagues who decided to leave the company, or had to because of retirement. In 2022, we had a lot of “goodbyes” to say, unfortunately. 2022, the year of restart after COVID pandemic, is a remarkable indicator for change, reorientation, and breakup. “There is nothing permanent except change”, Heraclitus said 1500 years ago.

January 26th, 2023 was the latest goodbye-celebration – already planned in 2022 – for our developer Tim. I will start from the latest one up to the early bird … Here you go:

Hopefully, 2023 will be a year of less losses – but to all of you: Tim, Tom, Julia, Christina, and Myriam – wish you all the best ❤ it was a pleasure to work with you guys!!!!!

magdalenaarte

My Top 5 Motivation Keys for Getting Creative

Wow! 1st day of the 1st month of a new year. I don’t know how you guys feel about it (you can tell me in a comment :)), but for me, it is every year the strange same feeling of a certain excitement.

There is that old year we all left behind – with its great and special moments, but also dramatic or painful ones. And then, there is this new year in front of us – full of new adventures and challenges – some of them continuous, some of them unique. As a child, I thought every new year is a new chance to start again from the beginning. Now, with some decades of experience collected :), I’m still a fan of new chances, BUT I learned that staying realistic is a good thing, not a bad one!
Everyone should consider his/her circumstances and reflect his/her goals from a balanced point of view: WHAT DO I WANT? IS IT A LONG-TERM OR SHORT-TERM GOAL? WHAT AM I WILLING AND ABLE TO RISK TO REACH IT? The answers may be complex, richly layered like the frozen bubbles in the ice I caught in the photo above two weeks ago.

In my first post of 2023, I want to share with you what helps me best when I feel a bit trapped between non avertable liabilities and high demands on myself:

First Things First: Sometimes, you’d like to start a project, BUT a friend or family member needs your help, or your boss calls and asks you to work overtime to finish an important job. Those situations require a lot of ability to discriminate – there might be occasions which never come back again, if I miss the right moment to act. BUT remember: there is an appointed time for everything ;)!
Self-Reflection: Why do I feel confused/anxious/blocked? Can/do I have to change the situation now, today or tomorrow, or is it something that includes others and their decisions as well, and therefore needs time? Most time we block ourselves easily because we think we have to fix everything right now in the moment.
Keep It Simple – Ideas on the Fly: Do you know those moments sitting in a bus or train, even at work, and there it comes up to your mind: a great topic, motive, or theme to write/paint/sing/dance (…) about!! See Point 5 – there was the muse! If you have no time to realize it immediately, keep it simple, AND write/sketch it down! The best ideas come on the fly. I love to use the notes app on my phone to collect ideas. It really makes me happy to look at them from time to time and to memorize the works created on the base of them :).
The Step-By-Step Hack: Do you only see the big ominous mountain of to-dos in front of you?? You have time to start with it, but you don’t know at which point, YES, you’re right – this is the worst! Only way to break down the mountain is to destroy it step by step. When I have a deadline to meet, I try to focus on the basics. I have only one hour time per day to invest – OK then, I should use that hour in the best possible way! For my art projects, I often use my evening hours left after work – step by step, layer by layer, hour by hour: use your individual time, split it if necessary, BUT get started! A famous Japanese saw says: Better to do one single pushup every day than doing none – in one year, you could have done at least 365 pushups! Isn’t that encouraging? So, let’s take our steps guys!!!
Use the Muse: See Point 3! To finish with the best, this is the moment – you feel it, you imagine it, you have time to react to it: the spirit of the muse! This is the ultimate momentum every artist is waiting for: the right time, the right place, and everything is prepared ❤ USE IT! Nothing should keep you back now – best things happen when they are supposed to happen – so, let it happen!

If you have some other tips and tricks which help(ed) you to resolve creative blockades, please share with me, I would be glad to hear from your experience :)!

Wishing you a big bunch of energy and creativity for 2023!
magdalenaarte

Graduation Girls – ABI 2022

With this blog post, I want to remember some beautiful, exciting, and emotional moments in the lives of three great young ambitious women: SARA, JOSI, MAYLEEN – you three did it 🙂 – 2022 was your graduation year, congratulations to you all!!! Now, you are preparing for the next important chapter of your lives in university/vocational training school. Big hugs and all the best for your future goals ❤️❤️❤️!!!

*DANCING SARA.* Pencil and ink on paper. DIN A4 format.

*NOTHING CAN STOP JOSI.* Pencil, ink, and watercolour on paper. 20*25 cm.

*MISS ALWAYS COOL – MAYLEEN.* Pencil, ink, and watercolour on paper. 18*25 cm.

Colours Of The Universe

It had been a while since my last post … some very intense projects at work keep my full concentration at the moment – summer time is drawing to a close (unfortunately!) – BUT there is always a little moment left for creativity and art: I’ll always take it for my own hapiness!!!

Remember my friend Daniel from some earlier posts? He was the one who invited me to his Zoom-Drawing-Group thing when COVID started in 2020 … Guess what happened? After he and his wife moved away from Bremen to support her parents near to Dresden (Saxony, Central Germany) last year, he asked me to continue with it, and to keep the group alive because of the great drive in there. AND: I accepted :).

I changed the concept a bit. Instead of proposing the “Theme Of The Afternoon” for all participants, or provide THE idea, it should be a round robin. Every time it’s someone’s new turn to choose a keyword, or theme, or preference … Last time, on our meeting on Saturday 6th of August, 2022, a great young lady named Kecja had the idea to do something referring to INFINITY. She gave us some advice: infinite like the universe for example. What a wonderful thought. I was immediately in love with it. I searched for some beautiful images of different galaxies on Pinterest – and found a real beauty to interpret.

You know what? I think I will start a new series with those “colours of the universe” – with acrylic or oil on canvas … See the result from that afternoon? Here you go with my step-by-step progress:

It became part of a surprise gift for the 50th-year anniversary of our dear friends Birgit and Klaus on August 13th, 2022. Birgit, Klaus, may your marriage last for ever ❤ love you both!

magdalenaarte

What You See Is What You Get

WYSIWYG – known from different HTML design tools and website editor programs. No worries, this blog post is not supposed to tell you something about backend-frontend user experience :D, BUT there is a deeper meaning and profoundness which could be conformed to art and artists of every artisanry as well:

WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET. What distinguishes a professional photographer, or artist, or artisan from a beginner? Exactly – it’s never a fortuitously caught moment, or a great thing created by accident – it’s not only about using skills either! It is the way how he or she sees certain things, how he/she places them into a right context, how he/she makes others feel or react to them. It’s about detecting what is under the surface – pointing and cutting something out in order to arrange it inside a new scenery: the beauty, the special, the extraordinary, the scary … With these focused and sensitised eyes, ears, hands, and heart a piece of awareness can be concentrated and transferred to a master piece. A nice goal for everyone of us who loves to be creative from time to time, isn’t it?

Creating cards for others and their special occasions, became a valuable possibility for me to share comfort, sympathy, and encouragement with them – BUT also joy, positive energy and beautiful thoughts. Here come some little new landscapes in card format I created during the past 5 weeks:

*FOXEGLOVE SUNSET. Watercolour on paper. 11*15 cm.*

*BE LIKE A TREE. Watercolour on paper. 11*15 cm.*

*LIVIN’ ENGLISH. Watercolour on paper. 11*15 cm*

*BEAUTY AND THE ROCKS. Watercolour on paper. 11*15 cm.*

*EVENING RAYS. Watercolour on paper. 11*15 cm.*

Study: *A BREEZE OF BREMEN*. *Watercolour on paper. 11*15 cm.*

More card-art projects can be found under

Wishing you a splendorous weekend!!!
magdalenaarte

Spot on!

Everyone who loves home design and highlighting some beloved pieces of furniture, knows: LIGHT makes a difference – in most cases even THE difference!

When watching TV or having friends around, there was this one corner – beautiful at day time, but very dark and uncomfortable at night. We did a lot of research finding a nice, special wall lamp which wouldn’t proclaim “too much”, or steal the show from our beautiful paintings created by our dear friends Natalie and Reinhard … a disappointing search trip started: either they were too big and present, or too unimposing and boring, or at over-price :/.

One year ago, my friend Jacqueline gave me this old wooden candle board in order to use it for a painting, e.g. a seascape or a still life:

In February of this year, I added a base coat of coral-pink to it to get started somewhere, but didn’t continue with a next layer of colour straightaway.

After having experienced a long, unsuccessful rummaging for the perfect lamp for our dark spot, we decided to design our own one – finally :). Thomas found a black bulb holder in the internet, with a long stylish pink cable. We thought: it would be nice to have a bird or a flower with a hook or something on it, to be able to fix the cable carrying a big vintage light bulb. We did another research and found a lovely golden cockatoo-hook at Amazon. Time to add some gold to the lamp-frame as well to create a symbiosis :):

Next steps were easy: fixing a peg to be able to hang them up to the wall, and a screw to attach the cockatoo-hook for the bulb cable:

As you see from the last pic, the concept worked pretty well – except for the black bulb holder we first liked a lot! But, never give up when building up your own thing – there is nothing, I say NOTHING (!) acrylic painting couldn’t fix. My motto for this project: GO FOR GOLD! So, the bulb holder got a little makeover:

And the result – we are so much in love with it – is our brand-new cosy corner light transferring some jungle mojo to our living room :)! We used a retro 2 w, 1800 k, extra warm-white bulb to create a sort of lounge feeling, here you go:

Wanna see some more furniture creations? Check also my posts

Wishing you a big bunch of energy for the new week!
magdalenaarte

Lilies Unwanted (1970)

“And they all lived happily even after.” … Famous words only known from fairy tales? Not in this case! There is true love existing in this world! This blog post is dedicated to two of my favourite people – my dear parents in law <3.

In 2020, after their 50th anniversary, my mother in law expressed one big wish – she wanted me to paint her a flower bouquet – not an arbitrary one – HER ONE! She asked me kindly to interpret the flower bouquet she held on her wedding day on March 26th, 1970 – 52 years ago!! Fun fact: she got another one than she ordered! She wanted lilies and blue gentian in a little round bouquet. But, she received a large long bouquet with lilies and irises instead … Something goes always wrong on special days – it’s a preassigned law ;)!

“Ok, let’s have a look at your photo, Mami!” – she went to the living room and fetched an envelope from the wall cupboard – “Here you go!” – and the photo was – well – really monochrome :):

OK … this means a real challenge – to bring that bouquet alive again – but “try first, and quit later” I thought by myself. I decided to use oil on canvas – I love how the layers develop their individual shades of spiritedness. Unfortunately, I had to interrupt the work on the painting many times by reason of more urgent projects at work and family issues – but 1 year and 3 months later, on March 27th , 2022 – the handover finally happened <3:

Wanna see some single steps? You will also find a selection in my gallery 😉 …

Nicest words someone could tell you after receiving an art work: “That one lives!” – thanks, Ingrid and Jürgen! I’m so glad you’re happy about your LILIES UNWANTED :)!!!

magdalenaarte