Don't fret for the beautiful water siren who appears to be taking shelter from the torrid storm, for she is our latest Toil nymph Antje and she's actually revelling in Mother Nature's fickled temperament.

 

Our winged and well-formed Antje has a long way to fly as she was born and bred in Germany. To be more geographically precise, she lives in the south west of Germany very close to France and the Swiss border. According to Antje, she also doesn't live too far from The Black Forrest, and if fairies as fetching as her are frolicking in its meadows, I'll make sure to bring a woman-size butterfly net if I ever decide to do some exploring there.

 

"I love the sea and the waves and I like swimming and diving sooo much, that the only possibility for me was a picture where the ocean is a part of."

 

Initially I did envision Antje with a look of despair on her face due to the torrential weather, but I had to agree with her that discomfort is probably not the best expression to have when being immortalized in a portrait. 

 

I remembered when Les and I talked about the motive of a water siren. He said he imagined her with a sad face. I told him I see myself as a very relaxed person who always thinks positive and there is normally no picture of me without a laugh in my face! I told him that I would love to be his water siren but I would prefer to be a smiling one. He did it for me and I think he did a marvelous job.

 

Working with Antje was better than perfect. She's one of the most tender, thoughtful, generous and inspiring people I've had the pleasure to create for. Through the internet and through my art, I've been given the gift of communication to kind people from faraway parts of the globe. With Antje, the gift I've been given is friendship. The web has truly helped to close that gap that once divided us culturally. We've discovered through this amazing mode of communication that there really is nothing foreign about us.

 

In addition to a huge package of German goodies dear Antje sent me at Christmas time, she's also given me these touching words that go so aptly with the art she wrote it for:

 

It is the dawn of the day.

 

You are sitting on safe ground, water is all around you and above is only the sky. 

 

You are at peace with the world and yourself. Your life and your body.

 

Only power, light and love surrounds you.

 

It is one of those moments where just taking a breath makes you happy.

 

You can feel inside of you that you are an adorable, breath-taking big, beautiful woman and that just your smile would melt all the ice in the Arctic.

 

If you want, you can spread out your wings and fly away!

 

If my art could be half as expressive as those words, Antje, I'd retire tomorrow a very happy man. :)

Much love and gratitude.