Loipersdorf- Urlaub (almost) daheim

This past week I had the honor of leading an urban sketching seminar for children and young people in the town of Loipersdorf in southern Styria. Known for it's hotsprings, the rest of the town is fairly rural, but entirely charming.

Unbeknownst to me, there are actually two Loipersdorfs, and due to blindly following the GPS, I ended up in the wrong one on the first day of the course... an hour from the right one. What do you do in a situation like that? There is no good solution! I called the local organizer and apologized profusely. He was entirely gracious and treated my entire class to an ice cream while they waited for me. What a kind person.The kids did a great job that day and kept up their good attitudes and hard work over the next few days, making me so glad that my own lack of attention hadn't cost me the course.

On the second day I made a point of being a bit earlier, just in case, and was rewarded with enough time for a leisurely stroll around the village. I would have loved to do a bit of sketching myself but I am glad that I was able to capture my ramblings on film.

One of the things that small towns and rural areas in Austria do so well are gardens. With their large variety of different heights, colours, and textures of plants, I find them places of endless inspiration for art. Their three dimentionality lends to an increase in depth perception as well as light and shadow, colouring, and contrast studies. Loipersdorf is no exception. They have really lovely flowerbeds and boxes.

Today I am sharing with you a few snapshots of the lovely village and its landscaping. I haven't traveled this year as often as I would have liked to do, and have thus been savoring every short day trip for its uniqueness and individuality.

On the Hungarian border, Loipersdorf enjoys a surprisingly drier climate than the areas around Graz. This dry heat made it really comfortable to work outside most of the day. I had not realized that it was exactly this microclimate that allowed tobacco to be grown there for almost the first time in Europe. In fact Austria has never struck me as being warm enough for that type of crop. But for a while this was a tobacco producing region. Times and trends, and an understanding of health do change though, and in 1981, while drilling for oil, workmen hit a thermal spring. The origin of the famous Therme Loipersdorf. What is unique about this particular hot spring is that its high mineral content is primarily composed of salt, making it a salt water spring. I have bathed in it twice and it is really wonderful, having all of the lovely effects of swimming in the sea while also being like a giant bath.

However, we were not at the hot springs but rather in the town sketching. The town is built along a main road with a small square, a park and of course the church with a small fountain nearby. Many of the houses are associated with small farms. And most have large gardens.

Some thoughtful person added a picnic bench for tourists to sit at. It is nicely shaded, overlooking the church, just above the fountain.

The church is a relatively new one, having been built in 1711. It has had a rather busy history however, built as a catholic church, it spent a short time as an evangelical church during the reformation before being handed back to the catholic church in the counter reformation. It is fairly simply but beautifully decorated inside. I especially liked the contrast of the luxuriously colourful carpet and the simple white choir balcony.

I think that one of the things this walk revealed to me was how much I enjoy ornamental grasses. They were used generously in the village and made me wonder why I hadn't added more to my own garden. They are also absolutely delightful to draw.