I play far too seldom. Not in the actual sense of playing, but playing with material. Just doing things without any intention behind it. I was much too focused on the next exhibition/sale that playing and trying things out was pushed into the background.
Astrid Volquardsen, 2020
There is just something magical about this place. In the evening the air is filled with the song of hundreds of geese. 
Salt Marsh – Flensborg Fjord, Guoache, 8,5×15 cm, Astrid Volquardsen, 2020
My artist friend and I started a 20 stroke challenge after Nathan Fowkes. The aim is to capture a mood of a landscape with 20 strokes of the brush . The first thing you need is a thick brush to overcome the fiddling around.
Unfortunately two years ago I was diagnosed with a brain tumor that was partially removed. It left me right sided paralyzed, with aphasia and with epilepsy. This is my working hand it it wasn‘t an easy way to get back. I have a motto: »What you do today can influence all your tomorrows.« (Ralph Marston) According to this motto, I approach my motor skills, concentration, endurance and LIVE.
And this shows me after 2 and half years later, taking on plein air painting again!
In live, all comes down to this:Live is about choice and attitude.
This post is aimed at those people whose live doesn’t work out the right way and takes an unexpected turn.
NEVER, EVER GIVE UP.
Color and Light, 10×10 cm, Astrid Volquardsen, 2020
At the wheat field, Gouache, 10×10, Astrid Volquardsen, 2020