Hi, I'm Petsy - Head and heart behind Sommardale

• I am a Nikon girl and I love how it feels to hold a camera.

• I have my best ideas wearing wellingtons while my fringe has a life of its own.

• I live a life by choice filled with laughter, tea and cake, cold showers, music, meditation, reading, silence, and striving for excellence. And everything is better with my darling Ylvi, a sporty 5-year old Labrador girl who meditates daily.

• Bavaria born (1969) and raised. Corporate careers and wanderlust lured me to Paris, London, Jersey Island, Southern England, Montana, China and the North Sea coast. After 35 years, I returned to the Bavarian hamlet of my ancestors. Heaven on earth.

• Japan with its unique culture, philosophies, and the touching beauty of its landscape is an endless source of inspiration for me.

• I am a 2010 graduate of the renowned Rocky Mountain School of Photography, Montana, USA. I love my work as a documentary family photographer. However, abstract nature photography feeds my soul.

FROM TOMBOY to FINE ARTIST →

I PHOTOGRAPH WHAT I HEAR

The moment I created my first abstract image, I knew I was home. Among all my creative endeavours in the realm of photography, creating nature abstracts is what I love deeply. In the dance of shadows and hues, I find solace, and in the silence between each image, I immerse myself in the purest form of meditation I know.

I wander until the sounds of nature beckon me to look. Birdsong, rustling leaves, swaying trees, the gentle murmur of a stream, or the roaring force of the ocean. Sounds confidently summon me to take a photograph. I lift my eyes and witness the abstract piece of art materializing before me. As soon as I lift the camera, the world falls silent. Only the click of the shutter and the echo of my breath remain. I am in. Exquisite tranquility unfurls effortlessly, which envelops me completely. I observe, I move, I surrender, and in that surrender, I create. I photograph what I hear, and it makes me blissfully happy every single time.

This is where I belong.

  • I VALUE

    moments of stillness and deliberation, and I aim to bring peaceful interludes into your everyday. I love to create things that have a function, a purpose and make people happy. I believe it is possible to create art that is not only beautiful but inspires transformation too.

  • COMPANIONS

    I am not interested in contributing to the cycle of short-lived 'anything'.

    I want to bring a sense of companionship to the art that surrounds you. Meticulous attention to detail, and an unwavering dedication to classic black and white photography never gets old.

  • I BELIEVE

    that the pieces we surround ourselves with should be chosen for the energy they bring to our home and the mood they evoke in us. The tranquil Japanese Shibui aesthetic brings character and grace to your home, and precious moments of quiet into your life.

they hold a special place in my heart

WHY I DO WHAT I DO

VISION

I imagine a world where the vast majority of people lead a life they love, a life by choice, in which they feel safe and inspired to be their most powerful selves. I believe this would result in a world with more love, more kindness, more compassion, more joy, and more laughter. I want to contribute to that.

HOW? BY MAKING YOU SMILE, TWIRL and EXHALE

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom (Viktor E. Frankl).

I create mesmerising nature art to make you pause, so that you can dwell in the space, hear the calling of your heart and your own truth, and choose right by it. I create abstract nature photography to break your circuit of auto-pilot and overwhelm with a meditative view of nature, making you contemplate, smile, twirl and exhale. In the moment after the exhale, you can choose growth and freedom, you can choose who you are, and build a life you love. Moment by moment, and thought by thought.

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A beautiful life is not stumbled upon, it is built. It is chosen. It is nurtured and grown through awareness of ones thoughts and actions. I want to empower you to choose a life you love.

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Come along...

creating abstract photography art, listening to nature and your heart. Discover where and how to find moments of peace and stillness within you.

TO THE BLOG ! OFF YOU GO →

Read more about my creative approach

HOW THE 7 ELEMENTS OF SHIBUI INFLUENCE MY ART & LIFE

ABOUT SHIBUI →