My Art Year 2020

Since I did not post regularly this year, I will look back at what 2020 brought to me in terms of Art Experience. 

In January I experimented some Gouache painting corners of Munich at home in order to prepare the exhibition planned for March. 

In February we did a great trip to Lanzarote and I was flashed by this island influenced by the artist Cesar Manrique, I loved to meet the Urban Sketchers of Lanzarote who were incredibly welcoming. 

This picture of our table during the meeting with the local USK Group in El Charco nicely summarises the time I spent there. 

In March I had an exhibition in the offices of the church here in Munich, the topic was Munich and Bavaria. I enjoyed preparing it and inaugurating it, however due to the lockdown that started shortly after, almost no one from my friends and family could visit it. I sold some paintings to the staff which was encouraging! 

Still in March, lockdown started... at the very beginning I enjoyed sketching outside which I did on one occasion, and then I realised this was not allowed. 

This first sketch was done in the morning before lockdown was announced in Bavaria around lunch time on March 20th. 

This one was two days later and the last sketch done outside during lockdown. 

In April, I sketched inside and the views outside from our windows, and I enjoyed that very much under the motto "USK at home"

In May, I sketched Linas friends 

In June, after the first lockdown I started a daily coffee series and I enjoyed so much my first Cappuccino outside. I realized how much I had missed that, my cappuccino moment in a café sitting outside, by myself  is something I enjoy endlessly. 

In July, we did a great USK Meetup at Schloß Blutenburg, it was so nice to see my fellow sketchers again! 

In August, I continued sketching things I own, like my beautiful oliv tree and fig tree... 

            

and I started taking notes of my daily walks and runs in the english garden. These were also really nice moments, with just a few coloured pencils and a tiny sketchbook that fits in a pocket. 

In September I spent one week end alone at Schliersee to walk and sketch with Neocolor 2, a technique I had discovered back in 2011 but that I did not use since then. 

Also in September we travelled by car to Northern Italy and it was great - much greater than we could expect in these Corona times. We were very careful, and nothing happened but we enjoyed a change so much, I only sketched very little as here in a little town between Meran and Bolzano. 

In October, I found a studio very close to my home and I enjoyed going there and painting from pictures remembering all the nice places I was missing, I started with a large series of Moroccan pictures and then moved on to Brazil, France, Italy and other beautiful places (see all the posts of my Adventskalender). 

I felt happy and released every time I went there, even if it was late a night for less than one hour! 

In November, I enjoyed some sketching activities with Lina in a co creation process. 

... and in December I ordered my calendar for 2021 for my family, with my favourite neocolor 2 paintings done in 2020 of places I visited or I would have loved to visit! 

If you want one, send me an email at: miriam.benmoussa@gmail.com, I am selling it for 30 EUR (+ shipping). 

Despite all the suffering around us and the difficulties we faced in 2020, I am thankful 

for what I learnt and for what I have. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021!