Happy New Year 2025

FM4 Calendar - Supporting Mental Health

One of my photographs is featured in the FM4 calendar for 2025 - my photo represents calendar week 38. The overall theme of the calendar is "colourful" and creatives have submitted many wonderful interpretations, and the best part is that each motif - there are 53 in total - can be used as a postcard!

The reason why I particularly like contributing to this calendar is that every calendar sold supports an important project of Austria's most popular charity campaign "Licht ins Dunkel" - this time the net proceeds will go to Mental Health Days in Schools.

Mental health is such an important issue and it is never too early to start strengthening your own mental health and finding ways to support it. Mental Health Days discusses issues such as bullying, body image, depression, addiction and suicidal behaviour and breaks down taboos - and I am very happy to be a small part of this - when I was young there was no such support or sources of help.

Read more about the calendar (in German) here:

I would also like to mention that there will be two Pickmotion calendars for 2025 with my photos in them. I haven't received them yet and can't show them to you, but you can find them in the "Küste & Meer" (coast and sea) and "Wien" (Vienna) editions.

2024 Recap

I would like to keep it short and say a big thank you to everyone who visited my blog this year and hopefully got a bit of inspiration and motivation to be creative. I am truly grateful to each and every one of you who enjoyed reading my thoughts and joining me on my travels.

You especially seemed to like my analogue story - I can already guarantee that you will see more analogue photography next year as it is one of the most favourite ways to take pictures at the moment. One of my favourite blog posts was the one about my Leica Minilux. I got such a lovely response from the son of the previous owner, which was definitely one of my highlights.

I am also very grateful to have been able to shoot content for Hetkinen again as a brand ambassador and to have spent several months supporting this great brand by creating reels and product shots.

2024 was a great photographic year, not only because I got to see new places in Europe, but also because Pickmotion released a couple of postcards with my photos on them. One in particular sold surprisingly well, so for the first time I was able to cover my Adobe licence costs with money from photography.

For 2025, I hope to have enough time to continue working on these small fun and personal projects that fill my heart with joy. I am still very passionate about all the things I can still learn, discover or write about and I hope you will continue to follow my journey.

Thank you again for being here and supporting me. I wish you a wonderful new year filled with creativity, health, happiness, love, magic and everything else you wish for!

My New Pickmotion Postcards

It was my birthday this week, which I celebrated with a day off. How lovely it was to stay in bed a little longer on a Monday morning and enjoy the little things the extended way. The number of phone calls piled up on a day like this with lots of advice and wisdom that I could use for the coming year. My favourite was from my aunt, who said that I am now in the right age to really enjoy life. And that's what I'm going to do, make the most of this new year. The new Pickmotion cards with my photographs on it fit in very well to this motto and convey a great deal of joie de vivre. My sister discovered them in a shop in Graz and surprised me by gifting them to me on my birthday. I am happy to share the stories behind the photographs.

Happy confetti to you

This typewriter is one of the treasures I found in our basement a few years ago. Its light blue colour makes you feel empowered to write some happy words, and even the sound of typing helps you get the message right.

It was always a pleasure to use it. I remember when I was a child, I often visited my father at work. He had a second desk next to his main desk and I used to spend a lot of time there pretending to work there too, hitting the keys on the typewriter, doing all sorts of things that you normally do as an office worker - or at least what I imagined they do as a child. His colleagues already knew me, and no one seemed to mind that I was "working" there too.

Whenever I see that typewriter, it brings back all the happy memories of my childhood. In those days, the typewriter could have had colourful confetti keys, because I'm sure the things I typed didn't make much sense. I wanted to emphasise this in the picture by showing how to write a happy, cheerful message without using any words. I submitted this photo to one of the Pickmotion photo competitions a long time ago and I was delighted to see it chosen for a postcard years later.

A Day by the Sea | Ein Tag am Meer

A Day by the Sea was actually just a day by the sea. I remember I was having some problems at work at university and my mum surprised me with a one-day getaway to Italy. In less than 2.5 hours we were in Grado, enjoying the still beautiful weather of an October weekend. It was our first visit there and we used the day for eating ice cream, strolling through the town, buying new jeans, walking along the shore, enjoying the sea breeze - just having a good time. I don't remember the problems at work anymore, but the memories made on that day are still very fresh and fond to me. I really like the colours in this photograph - if you look closely you can even spot a ship in the distance.

Favourite Spot | Lieblingsplatz

The Favourite Spot postcard shows one of my favourite places near my home. The picture was taken in Pörtschach, Carinthia, Austria. The Wörthersee always fascinates me with its turquoise water and the many events around the lake. When I need some time for myself, I like to go there early in the morning when it's quiet and the tourists are still in bed or having breakfast. For me, this picture represents a light-hearted summer day with watching the sailboats crossing the lake. It always makes me happy to be there. It's one of those photographs that shows a feel-good moment - the kind we should incorporate into our lives more often.

An exciting year ahead

A big part of being happy is being excited. Being excited about everything - the sunshine that comes in through the window when you wake up in the morning, the warm and cosy bed you can stay in for a few more minutes, the fresh fruit for breakfast, the great song you listen to on your headphones while you brush your teeth, the sweet good morning message you get from a friend, the funny conversation you have with a colleague, being able to leave work early, the moments you take for yourself, the next episode of a show you like to watch, the beautiful sunset, the lovely family dinner, the extra dessert you order just because you feel like it, the meeting with friends you love, the smile of your favourite person, a walk in the warm summer rain, saving money for an album, a camera, for travelling or for your own home, the bed after a long day, the time to daydream.

Every day offers many opportunities to be happy and excited - let's never run out of the magic of the everyday and the feeling of gratitude for every beautiful moment.

2024

I have already put up the new calendar for 2024, the Pickmotion “Blütenzauber” (“A Year in Bloom”) Calendar. One of my first personal pleasures in 2024 will be turning the calendar over to the January page, because this month features one of my photographs taken in our garden. I can't think of a better way to start the year than to be reminded to keep doing what I love so much: photography. It's the third year that one or two of my photographs have been featured in the Pickmotion calendar. There are now four different versions of the calendar: the wall calendar with large format photos, the monthly planner for the more organised among us, the family planner to keep all your appointments in one place and the birthday calendar.

The birthday calendar is the newest addition and one of my favourites because it is not tied to a specific year - it is a very slim, perpetual calendar with space for all the important dates such as birthdays or anniversaries.

Let's hope that 2024 will be a year that tells a story of happiness, health, love, peace and joy. Let's look forward to all the small and big moments, the firsts, the happy repetitions of beautiful things, the birthdays and anniversaries that will make us feel excited.

If you would like to own a Pickmotion “A Year in Bloom / Blütenzauber” calendar, you can order it directly from the Pickmotion webshop (the birthday calendar is also available in English), Amazon, Thalia or Weltbild.

Happy New Year!

The reusable Postcard

On some days happiness lives in the letterbox. When you come home after a busy day at work, opening the letterbox and finding, among all the bills and piles of advertisements, a colourful postcard from a friend you haven't heard from in a long time can really make your day and bring a smile to your face.

Taking the time to sit down, picking up a pen and writing a few lines might be a bit old-fashioned, but also very lovely. The Pickmotion cards in their Polaroid retro style are perfect for it: No matter which purpose - a birthday wish, a little note of thank you, an invitation or just for fun – you can find a suitable card for every occasion.

I am fascinated by handwriting and I am always happy when I receive a handwritten letter or postcard. I already have a large box in which I have collected many letters and postcards from the past: They go back to my childhood, like letters from my best friend from whom I was separated by a move, to little love letters, birthday wishes and holiday greetings.

Pickmotion’s sustainable greeting card

Adapting to the needs of the present time and especially of the environment, Pickmotion has now developed an environmentally friendly postcard that can even be used twice.

The card comes in a package made of 100% recycled paper - completely without plastic and glue. Inside you can find a folded card that serves as a passe-partout for the postcard and on which you can write your text or wishes. By simply lifting the postcard out of the passe-partout, the card can be gifted a second time. So you can make someone happy by sending a card in an envelope and the receiver has the chance to do the same by reusing the postcard.

I am pleased that my motif "pink poppy in the garden" (ZG-1316) is part of the sustainable Pickmotion nature edition and will hopefully bring joy to many senders and recipients.

Pickmotion calendar for 2023

One of my favourite subjects to photograph are flowers. I just love stepping barefoot into our garden, walking straight to the flowerbeds, watching the blossoms grow and photographing them. Their uniqueness, bright colours, different shapes and textures fascinate me - and certainly make me happy.

Researchers found out that the presence of flowers triggers happy emotions and enhances feelings, they can make us feel less depressed, anxious or upset - honestly, has a bouquet of flowers ever made you unhappy? Unless you react allergic to it - but I hope that's not the case.

I believe that flowers have a positive impact on my emotional wellbeing, and if you take a look on Instagram and check the hashtag #flowersmakemehappy, 1.7 million people currently feel the same way.

Pickmotion Calendar “Blütenzauber”

Not only do flowers belong in our garden, but I also like to display them in our home. Since their flowering time is limited to certain seasons, I'm more than happy that Pickmotion has created a flower calendar for 2023 called “Blütenzauber” - the calendar helps to create an inviting, floral space all year round.

One theme - three sizes

The Pickmotion calendar is available in three different sizes: as a wall calendar with large-format photographs, as a monthly planner and as a family planner. Each calendar has a different cover - the covers of the wall calendar and the family planner feature my pictures and there are also two of my photographs inside the calendars.

I decided to dedicate this blog post to the brand new calendar format: the family planner. The planner is a bit wider than the monthly planner and offers a lot of space to write down appointments of the family, the team or the flat-sharing community. The selection of photos is definitely a best of 2023 - each image represents a month beautifully and in addition, a lovely mindful quote has been added to the calendar page.

You can see my favourite photos from the calendar here:

Pickmotion Blütenzauber Cover (also August) | love grows here

January | winter magic

February | believe in yourself

March | spring awakening

June | enchanting world

September | small things, great happiness

December | magical moments

My photographs can be found on the cover and on the calendar pages August and December.

If you too would like to own a calendar to brighten up your days in 2023, you can use the promo code PICKMOTION25 until the end of the year to get 25% off a purchase in the Pickmotion online shop. The code is not only valid for the calendars, but also for all Pickmotion products such as postcards, magnets, bookmarks, art posters, etc. This post btw. is not sponsored.

You can also find the calendar in the Thalia or Weltbild, Buchhaus.ch online shop.

Many thanks to Pickmotion for another wonderful collaboration!

Happy New Year 2022

Doing something good can be so simple sometimes: I contributed one of my photographs to the Radio FM4 calendar 2022 – every calendar sold supports the FM4’s "Licht ins Dunkel" project and benefits women and children affected by violence.

I wish you all the best for 2022, lots of health and happiness!

A botanical year

A week ago I was travelling for the first time after two years. I was just arriving at the airport in Vienna and was waiting for my connection flight to Klagenfurt when I decided to visit the book shop at the gate in hope of finding a lovely magazine until boarding. In front of the shop there was a display with postcards when I remembered that I still need a birthday card for one of my friends. While looking for the right card, a special one in the lower third of the display immediately caught my attention: it was my own!

Although the collaboration with Pickmotion already happened two years ago, it still fills me with joy and happiness whenever I spot my card somewhere in a shop. It is really lovely to see my work out there, waiting for others to get discovered and bringing joy to the recipients.
In case I have ever sent you a card and you were wondering why you get the same motif again and again, that’s because I always buy my own card as an act of gratitude whenever I see it somewhere.

New collaboration

In July Eszter from Pickmotion contacted me for a new collaboration and I was really excited about the offer that my pictures could be part of their new product line, a photo calendar series for 2022.

Although we all might have a digital calendar these days, there is no comparison to a traditional paper calendar. There are two different versions of the calendar available – a wall calendar and a monthly planner – and there are different themes like mountains, coast & sea, magical world, travel, botanicals, city spotlights etc. You can find two of my pictures in the botanical series.

Wall calendar

The wall calendar comes in a great size of 30x40cm and features 12 botanical motifs – one for each month. The motifs represent the diversity and beauty of nature. Pickmotion picked the designs by searching for great, minimalistic photographs on Instagram. The calendar is printed on thick and matte high-quality paper. In case you like the motifs you can cut them out afterwards and frame them or use them as wrapping paper.
The wall calendar makes a great gift and/or is a wonderful decoration item for your home.
My pictures represent the months October and December. We have a huge print of the fern photograph in our living room and I am happy that my pictures will be soon on your walls too and accompany you during two months.

Monthly planner

The monthly planner is a great aid especially for those who like to plan and organize the next year. The pictures are printed in square-format so there is enough space for all your appointments and notes. There are three columns for each month which you can use individually for your needs: you can share the calendar with your family and fill in all important tasks of each person or you can use the calendar just for yourself dividing the columns e.g. in birthdays, self-care and work appointments or travel, friends, and social media postings – as you can see there are unlimited possibilities to make the calendar your own.
The design of the calendar with the square-shaped pictures and motivational quotes on the photographs reminds me of the traditional Pickmotion postcards – so if you like the cards, you will definitely like the calendar too.

The calendars are available in German and designed for Austria and Germany (due to the mentioned holidays on the calendar). You can buy them in selected shops as well as in online shops such as Amazon (wall calendar / planner) or Rivashop (wall calendar / planner).

(Kunst (Haus (Graz

Last year I took part in a photo competition of the Museum Joanneum. I am happy to announce that my picture has been selected as a “special Kunsthaus photo” and has been printed in the new architecture book - available in German and English.

Find out more about the publication:

A Year full of Surprises

I live for the beautiful moments in my life. In the past years I have experienced a number of wonderful surprises that I never expected to happen.
At the top of this list you can find my trip to Lapland where we stayed in a glass igloo and had an amazing time driving a traditional wooden sled with huskies and keeping an eye out for the northern lights. By this time I could have never afforded such a trip myself; fortunately I was very lucky and won a photo competition so I was able to travel to my favourite destination for free. I remember me and my sister smiling the whole time during this trip and I am still so grateful for this experience. Another surprise which I will never forget was the possibility to take part in a meet & greet with my favourite band Hurts. I received a mail from Sony Music at the beginning of the New Year; I was so excited to finally meet Theo and Adam and love to think back to this amazing evening. Not only these big surprises, but also the little ones brought a lot of happiness into my life. It can be someone taking time or going an extra mile for you, a home-baked cake, tickets for a concert or just a smile from a stranger – especially in difficult times little surprises and unexpected beautiful moments can cheer you up a lot.

Another great surprise occurred in February this year. I received a collaboration request from the Berlin based company Pickmotion asking if I am interested in turning one of my pictures into a postcard. I couldn’t believe my luck - it was always one of my dreams to create my own postcard. I so love the idea that someone uses my card to write something nice to their partner, friend or colleague. I personally use Pickmotion cards already for years and admire the vintage look due to the Polaroid shape of the cards together with a cheerful or beautiful photograph a lot.

You can find my card in the New Years section, but it actually can be used all over the year for birthdays, as a reminder of beautiful memories or that great moments are just around the corner. The card is available in German and in two different English versions (one of them is glittery) and should be available all over Europe. In case you spot my card in a shop near to you I would appreciate it if you could let me know about it.

If you take a close look at the card you might find out how this motif is connected to one of my favourite moments I shared at the beginning of this post. The audio cassette is titled “wonderful life” – one of my favourite songs by Hurts. The picture does not only refer to this song, but is also a metaphor that life is actually beautiful and it’s in your hands how you want to create it.

First Edition

This week three big parcels arrived in the office. I was really excited because the first edition of my “Kunst im Werk” art collection catalogue got delivered: 30 books with dust jackets arrived properly packed. I really like turning my ideas into professional print books. I hope there will be similar projects coming up in the future – no matter if it’s about art, birthdays, music, weddings or something else...   

Everyday Cards

Handwriting fascinates me. I’m still one of those people who like to write personal cards and letters to friends. Sometimes it’s difficult to find nice everyday cards in stores, so I created my own customized pack. All cards are printed on a thick premium quality paper with a textured eggshell finish. They come along with matching warm white envelops to hopefully bring joy to the receivers.