.SOMETIMES RAW.

Hello and Happy Tuesday! 

This afternoon I spent some quality time with my dear friend “mon amie Sylvie”. We know each other from VHS French courses that we attended together. Great times and we stayed in touch all this time. She is so sweet and after she showed me her amazing house, garden and pool! we took a little walk with her dog to the local playground so Petit Joel could play around a bit. If you are from Coburg and have kids, you most likely know the playground just close to Seidmannsdorf. This is a great place for kids to run around all day and play their little heads off. I have been to this playground when I was a kid; however, a lot has changed – to the better. If you get a chance, do check out this place. We will be back for sure as well! 

So petit Joel was in awe most of the time, climbing on everything, going down the slides and back up. Nonstop. Needless to say, he is out cold and most likely dreams of all the amazing tunnels, slides and whatnot. As soon as we got there, he took his shoes and socks off. He sees me doing it all the time; I walk either barefoot or wear TOMS in summer. Since the playground was mostly sandy, it was no problem. He ran around all over the place and at night when I bathed him I found a tick on his leg. This was not his first one. He had had several, since we are in nature a lot and take advantage of the great outdoors. It did not freak me out. I have had many ticks myself and I am aware of the effects of Lyme and other diseases one might get from being bitten by one of these things firsthand with a former neighbor in the US. She had full-blown Lyme disease and it was horrible to watch how she lived, her hands all stiff and needed to take medication every day.

When I grew up, my mom used to tell my siblings and I every night to check each other for ticks once we took showers. When you know what and where to look for and take the necessary precautions it is all good. I remember even a time when I worked as a cop and we had to search for a knife (evidence) in the woods. When I returned home that night, I had 15 ticks all over my body. Even at spots were I certainly did not expect it. Damn you, horny ticks! Tick bites make a lot of people nervous but actually, it is not that scary. However, one tick I removed and the head was still stuck in my leg. I did not see it and got a pretty big infection after a couple of days. So bad that I needed to go and see a doctor to get a vaccination. I am fine. It happens. I never felt any muscle aches or pains, I never had a fever. Just a big rash around the area where the tick bit me. The key is to get treated in the early stages after the bite. “What am I going to do if I don’t know right away that I have been bitten by a tick?” Well, you will know. It will itch. You will scratch and when you look at it you will see that it is not a regular bug bite. 

When I play with my son in the grass, I usually make sure he wears socks or long pants. But this is of course not always happening. It is hot outside. He wears his short pants and sandals, or is barefoot. So at night I always inspect him closely. Check his head, his ears – especially inside his ears [the other day, he had a tick behind his ear that still crawled and I just happened to see it], legs and arms. And of course I throw all his clothes in the clothing bin every night to be washed. Sometimes, ticks stay on the pants for days. “Where do ticks hang out usually?” They love grass – especially long grass, woods, yards and leaves. When I go hiking or walk thought the woods I usually tuck my pant legs into my socks. There are some repellents and even vaccinations you can use precautionary but I have never done that. Neither has my son. 

So I found this tick on my son tonight. Usually, you are fine if you find the tick before it has been attached to you for at least 24 hours. I removed it with a small fine pair of tweezers because it has not even had the time to fully bite and suck blood. I made sure to totally crush and kill the tick after I removed it. Remove the tick slowly so you won’t leave part of the tick in there. Sometimes, if the tick is in a little deeper I use this:

With this card, the tick can easily be removed. If there is still a little part of the tick in your skin, observe the area and if there is any pain, swelling or redness see a doctor! After I removed the tick, I cleaned the area, applied  Arnica    Gel and put a little bandaid on the bite. Done! 

After the doctor gave me the vaccination he told met that after I have been bitten by a tick and it had been removed completely I still have to make sure I don’t develop any rashes, chills or fever, weakness, muscle pain, severe headaches or even confusion [My husband would say now that I most likely have been bitten by thousands of ticks as confused as I am sometimes!] Well, if you develop any of these symptoms you should definitely see a doctor ASAP. Most likely you will get some antibiotics. Most importantly, listen to your body. If there is something wrong or off, your body will tell you. 

SideNote: Cats and dogs get ticks as well and they do get a lot. I have seen some when my aunt removed them from their dog. They are huge. [and disgusting, yuk!] However, it is important that you remove them as soon as possible. The animals are just as susceptible to Lyme and other diseases as we are. I had two cats once and they had to wear their tick collars. I always made sure to brush their fur to see if they have any ticks. 

Do you have any remedies or insight on ticks? Do tell. I would love to hear from you. 

Mischa Schenkel loves to teach and show children how to paint. 

Hello and Happy Saturday! 

“Drawing is the honesty of the art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad”. Salvador Dali

 When I first walked into Mischa Schenkel’s atelier I was speechless. There was just so much artwork to look at, brushes, paint, talent and so much more. And there he stood, in the middle of it all, looking at me with a puzzled look trying to tell me that it is all not a big deal. I am not an art dealer, but I have been to the world’s best museums and have seen them all. Picasso, Dali, Rauschenberg, Monet you name it. There were weekends when I literally spent the entire day at the MET. I could totally picture and see some of Schenkel’s artwork at some big museums. He is talented, no doubt. He has drawn and painted since he could hold a pen in his hand and came up with fantastic work. His appreciation of art emerged at an early age. I saw old notebooks from his days in High school and was blown away. “There might be still some in those notebooks that might work on a huge canvas, ” he said. 

Finanzfuck 

Now, Mischa Schenkel is 39 years old, was born in Coburg and lives currently not far from there in an atelier/home in green Franconia. He is a Lebenskünstler/Life artist.  One would translate this term as a master of the art of living. And this he does. His house is a piece of art itself. Art wherever you look. When I first walked through the rooms in awe and saw all those painting I felt like being in a museum. The vintage door that leads to his garden, the old oven in the living room and the vintage kitchen are places where I would like to sit, rest, stay awhile and have a cup of tea with the artist. Why does he do what he is doing? “I simply love it. I eventually would like my house to look like Salvador Dali’s house,” he said. 

Art supply. 

Talking to Mischa Schenkel, I realized that a childhood full of painting and drawing, especially when talent runs in his family, foreshadowed his artistic future. In school he loved art classes and he kept painting here and there for fun after he graduated from High school. Schenkel said he saw the movie Surviving Picasso with Anthony Hopkins and realized how great it would be to make money with his art even though that was not why he paints in the first place. 

Sometimes Schenkel scribbles something down in his notebooks and keeps it to later use it for another art project. Then, if it feels right, he goes in his atelier and starts painting. Other times he just watches something really closely and gets inspired. “Then I focus like a laser,” he said. He definitely likes to think freely and independently and use his phantasy while painting. How did his work change over time? He is trying to think less. Just stop overthinking many things, going up to his atelier and paint. Just doing it. Paint. What art does Schenkel most identify with? Pointillism, wish a mix of visionary expressionism that works really well together. He basically paints what comes to his mind, what he likes, what works for him. “Why art,” I asked him. “Why not,” he responded and smiled. 

Doesn’t this woman seem to glow and explode at the same time the longer you look at it? I love this painting so much. 

Schenkel loves to be in nature, live in the moment and enjoy life to the fullest. “Those were chapters in my life that are over, ” he said when I asked him what his strongest memory of his childhood was.  Past is past. He lives in the here and now. He has many favorite artists and art work but one that came to his mind instantly when I asked him was Der Thunfischfang by Salvador Dali. His artistic outlook on life is to simply enjoy life and it’s beauty and ugliness equally while looking at it in fascination and awe. 

Spinwheel

Sometimes music by The Residents inspires him to paint, on other days it might be loneliness. Mischa Schenkel loves to be alone and sometimes “it is not lonely enough“. He dislikes that there is barely any support for artists in Germany but otherwise nothing gets him angry; not even his headaches that he suffers from occasionally. His dream would be to leave Germany and live somewhere warm, with a beach and a lot of sun. As long as he is in nature, everything is okay. He loves to enjoy life to the fullest because everything could be over in a heartbeat. Time goes by way too quickly. 

Dante

Mischa Schenkel’s art work is a glowing collection of fascinating and somewhat grotesque paintings. Sometimes, like in real life, it is important to look really closely to see hidden details and secrets in these paintings. He has much more in his repertoire, a plethora of oil and acrylic paintings and a great amount of portraits of beautiful women. Schenkel does not limit himself to one style or a particular medium. His life and art are very closely related, I believe. There are no major changes in his work or styles but some I pieces represent important turing points of the artist. One thing is clear while looking at all his artwork: The artist is very talented and dedicated to his work. 

Some of Schenkel’s painting seem to hold up a mirror to society and show in what ways certain things are wrong. Currently, we are working on an art exhibit and to display Schenkel’s work in an art gallery. Stay tuned for more information. In the meantime, see more pictures and send me a message/email through Contacts if you need  further details on the artist or his paintings. Enjoy and Get Inspired! 

Hello and Happy Wednesday! 

“We have a tendency to want the other person to be a finished product while we give ourselves the grace to evolve.”

Initially, I wanted to write about something completely different but I decided otherwise. Just because of certain events that took place during the day. Blogging is so strange sometimes. I wanted to write this story down just for myself but here I am, sharing it and not sugar coating anything. Capturing this moment exactly for what it was or how I perceived it. Writing for me is like therapy. When I was a child and felt sad, I wrote the most. This way it got out of my head. 

I try to keep it breezy and light when I write posts on this blog. If you followed Sometimes Raw for a while you know that I have the most posts in Inspiration, Art and Parenthood. Things that move me, bother me, tips and tricks and I am also careful what I am sharing, not sharing too much and  keeping certain things private. Today, however, I want to say so much more. I want to talk about how upset I felt about a certain situation that I had to deal with. First of all, I want to say how grateful I am for this life I am living, with my husband and our son that I feel like crying sometimes. It is perfect. For me. For us. Today, we took a long walk in the afternoon, as we usually do, since my husband is here in Germany. When we came back we stopped at our local little bakery to get some bread and pretzels. Our son was in the stroller, happy, content, waiting for his cheese pretzel. An elderly man walked out of the store, approaching us. He looked at us the entire time and just before we passed him he spat on the street. 

Le husband did not even care. Not in the slightest. He kept on walking but I felt disgusted by this man. How can anybody do this? Okay, maybe he just had something in his mouth that he wanted to spit out. Maybe a piece of tobacco, maybe a piece of bread. Who knows. His look on his face said it all, however. This mean and angry look to show us he is annoyed and disgusted by “our family”. By us.  This is how I felt. This is how I perceived it. This is what made me so sad and then angry. Just because my husband has darker skin and I am white? Who the hell cares. It took me about an hour of thinking and being angry until I was able to let go. I talked about this whole thing with my husband and he said, “Snap out of it. You don’t even know if this all was directed towards us. You let him win if you still think about it and are mad!” He is right. Of course, I don’t know exactly, what this man’s intentions were, but I do also remember the look on his face. For me, this is what counted. I did snap out eventually, but then decided to write about it. And to write it off in a way. And to share this with you. I am amazed but not surprised that racism still exists in this way. Sad, don’t you think? 

I don’t want to harbor bad feelings or anger for anyone. Today, I reached this point when I realized how important it is to just let go and move on. It is difficult for me because I am the type to obsess and obsess until my brain explodes.   I realized that I cannot change anyones else’s behavior. Just my own. Everyone on this planet lives in their own reality. Maybe this was the best this man could do while walking towards us. Maybe not. Maybe who cares. I have to stop asking myself why he spat on the ground right in front of us. I also have to stop being frustrated why this man reacted the way he did. I don’t want to excuse his behavior and  I cannot change it. This man has his own reality he lives in, full of his own reasons and truths for his actions. Another thing my husband said was, “Just stop it and put your energy in the right place.” I have to stop wasting my energy about things like that. Just let it go. He spat on the ground, that is his thing. I let it go and don’t waste my energy overthinking the whole thing. Easier said than done. I am not too successful at this point, but I am trying to get better at it. Seriously, I was so mad but in the end  I forgive him in my mind. I let it slide like water off a ducks’ back. I want to end on a positive note. Life is good. 

Black and White and Love All Over.