Black and white and everything in between

I'm really sorry for playing possum for such a long while. I've been up to a lot (again - life has a tendency to get in the way, hasn't it?). Like, starting to play roller derby (now that's some huge euphemism - but more on that in a later post, possibly in form of a comic). Or learning how to develop my own negatives and make prints (b/w). I love it (and the chemistry geek in me does so even more)! Here is my very first "handmade" photo:

It kinda feels like a terrible blasphemy to upload a scan of an analog, manually developed photo on my blog...

There are definitely some "errors" and things I'd have done differently that I see now, but on the whole I really like it. This is, by the way, the beautiful owner of a neat little Berlin based shop called Lashopp (she's still working on her online shop I believe, but there's also some stuff on her dawanda, if you're interested).

Also, my beloved favorite sister sweetheart sent me a real ...err... Japanese ink stone (?? what is the correct name of that stuff?). Here's my first attempt of using it (you may recognize the subject ;) This quick sketch was done earlier already from the first tiny contact print):

I can't seem to get a really dark black from it though. Not sure if I'm even supposed to. Anyone got some experience with this kind of ink?

Zine Fest Belin 2011 and a call for submissions

OMG, lookit these awesome vegan cupcakes!

Now that I have your attention: I've been at the very first Zine Fest Berlin (already two weeks ago, actually). I was way to excited and awestruck by all the amazing people, zines, cupcakes and workshops to take many pictures, but here are some:

I also participated in a workshop about perzine writing (amongst others). We came up with some nice ideas and a whole lot of enthusiasm. Which means there will be some compilation zines, one of which I'll be editing. May I please direct you to its little (very minimalist and under construction-y) site so you may consider contributing in case the topic speaks to you?

I miss you

Playing around with an idea. From manual to digital.




I've got about a million variations of this theme in my head (well, almost) which I might decide to work on for my portfolio thingy some time.

For my non-German-speaking readers: "Du fehlst mir" means "I miss you". It's supposed to be a word play (more obvious in German - directly translated it's more like "I lack you").

Sketchbook Project - Goddesses

A goddess of (everyday) life...


... and a goddess of hunt.

((Did I mention how much I love my little Diana?))

It isn't very obvious in the scan but the greenish-yellow part is actually very thick fluorescent acrylic paint (those shadows aren't painted but result from the surface structure - I didn't apply that paint particularly sparingly).
I have a thing for interesting surfaces and it always costs me tremendous amounts of self-control not to touch every single plastical looking or pastosely painted piece of an exhibition. I do hope people will enjoy feeling and touching my sketchbook when it goes on tour. May it be loved (or hated) and explored and rubbed and fumbled with to death (and then, may people take the remainings as souvenirs)!

Three instants and more Chronicles

There you go, more of the (in)famous Chronicles of E*phi. Will I ever catch up?



I think I may already have mentioned in ecstatic joy that I got a Diana F+ from my favorite sister. Unfortunately, working with medium format film is rather expensive and I was horrified to discover that my scanner's transparency unit only does 35mm film. So, I got my dear Diana a 35mm-back only to find that my trusted photo lab doesn't do development only (you need to buy prints too). I'm still trying to figure out how to actually get some (affordable) pictures with that camera (I'd love to dabble in DIY developing but don't want to buy masses of chemicals and equipment right now before traveling/moving). Thus, a few instant photos for now (still in the process of getting to know that little heap of plastic and its quirks... err... settings.):



May I present: The most overexposed photograph you've ever seen! Actually, I still kinda like it, especially the winter sun which looks a little like the pupil of an eye in close-up (not sure if you can see it in this resolution, though). I might just use it as a desktop background.

CoE - More from the Chemistress in Distress

I bet you've already been dying to read more about my... uh... fascinating life. So here's another catch up post:




Also: My cutest ever sister got me a Diana F+ for my graduation! I love it and I can't wait to take some halfway postworthy pictures with it! (W00t! It glows in the dark!)

Half a meter of giraffe spots

Do you recognize them? Last week, a very good friend (whom you really should visit on flickr if you like excellent photos) mentioned that he'd love to have a bigger version of this to decorate his room. I love friends making remarks like that shortly before their birthday. He-he. (Don't ask how long it took me to crosshatch half a meter of giraffe spots though...)

Oh, by the way, I'm now officially "Diplom-Ingenieurin of technical chemistry". Just in case anybody cares. Most probably not (which I truly understand). What some of you probably will care about is that all this retained crazy creative energy will want to discharge somehow which might lead to an increase of drawings and posts here. That doesn't mean I was able to completely suppress the urges during the last stressful days though (hellooo sleepless nights).
This is what I wore for my presentation and exam (in addition to unbelievably serious clothes, of course):

(It's the structures of the two imidazoline nitroxides I was working with and one of my EPR spectra. Just in case you wanted to know.)

And here's my little red dyke-y riding hood. She found herself a decent mobile home on my bag:

We ride our bikes up in the sky...

Just because we can.

♥Save our Mur!♥

Nothing better than spending a lovely autumn afternoon with a cute girl (and some cameras).

By the way, listening to the Johan S. Detox-club mix of Twin's Star Wars theme* in the middle of the night makes me want to embroider my underwear. Just in case you wanted to know. Is there a selfhelp group for this? Or at least a facebook group?! I think these hardcore thesis work days are finally doing something nasty to my brain...

* As Pat Ridiot pointed out in the comment section, it's not by Aphex Twin as I initially stated - he still rocks though and I'll test asap what his stuff makes me want to embroider.

Frustration times two

Another mini watercolor painting (they are all done in those miniature Moleskine watercolor books):


I'm very unhappy with this one. Especially with her lips. I fiddled around so much with them that the paper started to disintegrate. That was when I realized: it's time to move on. Just call it a pink alien that amateurishly tries to emulate human form. A pink alien it is and it's perfect. ;) (I do like the background a lot, though!)

Another source of constant frustration is this:


It's an acrylic painting I started almost two years ago and last weekend I decided I need to do something with it. But it just won't go the way I want it to. Or rather: I just don't know where to go with it (and I'm pretty sure I had no clue when I started it either, which may be the main problem here). I already thought about totally going over it with white paint and reusing the canvas for something completely different, but for some reason I just can't. I don't know, that would just feel like abandoning a child.
Also, it's so inconsistent. The red-ish part in the left is much "clearer", while the right and upper part (which I recently did) are a lot more orderless and heterogeneous. I can't really decide which way I prefer for this (if I have a choice - maybe it just tells us that my current state of mind is a lot messier compared to two years ago...).
Any suggestions or hints of inspiration? Challenges? Help! ^^

Just in case anybody ever wondered - this is the messy place fancy studio where all my messy artsy stuff is born (aka my bedroom): ((thank God, the floor isn't visible! *g*))


Just to conclude with something positive and bright and totally unmessy (picture taken at my parents' place):