Mary Edwell-Burke in exhibition

Archie 100 celebrates Australia’s famous and forgotten faces in an exhibition at the art gallery of New South Wales in Sydney right now! And one of the paintings is from my relative Mary Edwell – Burke. I would have liked to visit this exhibition and would have flown to Sydney to join. But unfortunately that is not possible at the moment. There is a long story behind. I found out that we are relatives until it was too late to see them in person. Mary also had a half sister Bernice Edwell which also was a great artist.  I had done genealogical research, I knew that several years ago relatives also emigrated to Australia. So I came across the two sisters who both had the same father, Henry Edwell. They had emigrated from England. I really really would have loved to get to know them personally. Sadly no chance. Bernice died in 1962 before I was born. Mary died in 1988, at that point I was 10 years old and didn´t knew nothing of their existence. Great ladies who were ahead of their time. Role models? Definitely!!! Forgotten? Never!

 

An article in the Sydney Morning Herald from June 10th 2021

The insatiable wanderlust

 

When you really can´t go anywhere far, the memories come back. Here are some pictures of my Hurtigruten winter trip from 2014. Which I have seen lots of northern lights in the Norwegian night sky. Very much the most impressive thing I have ever seen. And certainly never forget.

 

 

 

I got into the band Death Cab for Cutie as far as I can remember through the O.C. California, which I loved to watch back then. This series really had excellent music. Including this band. And if I'm not mistaken, Seth Cohen also had a poster on the wall of this band.

Northern Lights from Death Cab for Cutie

 

 

 

 

Poetry comes the way today!

 

The Storm

There is this proverbial calm before the storm!
This oppressive premonition, that something huge will roll towards you.
Still undefined but unstoppable.
Restlessness and fear seize my body.
The future is too uncertain.
But it’s too late to run away.

I freeze for quite a while.
Billions of thoughts pave their way through my head.
All at the same time.
A thunder in the distance.
I feel the wind is getting stronger.
I stand firm.
What should I do?

It will get massive, I’m sure of that.
I walk a little and look into the distance.
Quite far away.
The sky is darkening.
But there, oh see, suddenly for a second, it becomes very bright.
A flash of lightning illuminates this and my world.
Wonderful and threatening at the same time.
A deep rumble heralded this poignant spectacle.

I go a little further.
I’m getting calmer.
Strange.
There is life out there.
And there is life in me, that is
just raging inside.
Just as it is before my eyes.

A drop of water on my forehead.
Another one on my nose.
I feel it, there is a connection.
Now Heaven opens its gates uncontrollably.
Everything around me is flooding.
I’m soaking wet within seconds.
I don’t mind, I do not today.

I feel, I really feel.
I am one with nature.
She lives, she challenges me.
She calmed me down, finally.

It’s there and it’s real.
I am there and I am alive.
I rave, I’m loud, I can be loud.
I get quiet
I’m very calm.
And I will find peace.

 

I just wrote this, and I should this do fare more often again.  And some day, I do a book of poems,  for everybody to read. Well, everybody who has the affinity, too. That would be a dream come true. And I dream today, for a better world, for kindness,  for the purity of soul and for love.

 

 

The – Mut zur Wut – Competition

 

I have joined the – Mut zur Wut – poster competition this year for the third time. And 3230 posters were submitted. 100 of them were now chosen from a jury. None of them from mine. Well, I didn’t win again. I am still sad, of course, I just found out yesterday. But I´m also proud of my work. Because the three posters turned out pretty good. And to have managed all of this in my free time alongside my full-time job and external circumstances that weren’t exactly helpful. The Victim poster in particular, is certainly quite blatant and exaggerated, but the competition ultimately means having the courage to be angry. And as I mean, to show what´s going wrong. So I did. Like it or not.

 

 

Fallen

 

 

The Victim

 

The Scream

Wallow in memories

 

It’s been a long time. And it´s been a while I wrote here.

I have fond memories of the SWR3 Travis Hautnah concert for which I won tickets that time. It was on May 10, 2007, I was one of lucky hundred radio listeners who had the chance to get real close to this band. I always liked them, especially their second album – The Man Who – from 1999. So it was for sure a very special evening and I will never forget.

 

 

Driftwood from Travis ; probably my favorite song from them