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“On the road in Ireland’s wild west” - Calendar of watercolours by Helga Kaffke at EDITION digital

Godern near Schwerin - The newly published calendar by EDITION digital “Unterwegs in Irlands wildem Westen - On the Road in Ireland’s Wild West” promises to be a very special artistic treat. Behind this bilingual title you discover and rediscover 13 magical watercolour paintings by Helga Kaffke, well known and revered in the art scene of Schwerin during the last quarter of the 20^th century, accomparying you through the year of 2019.

These landscapes represent a selection of works from the book “Walking Talking. On the road in Ireland’s wild west” with paintings in 2 parallel editions - German and English - by Helga Kaffke and texts by her partner, the collage artist and writer Gabriele Berthel. The selection of images for the 2019 calendar ranges from a harbour view in Killala, views of the “Swinging Town Belmullet”, the “Rock of Cashel” and fishing boats, to an imaginary dream house, “Birr Castle and gardens” and “Fahy Castle, Ballycroy”.

Under the title “Reflections” in their book of Ireland, instead of an introduction Gabriele Berthel writes about the painter who was never tempted abroad by the relentless blue of southern skies but preferred to work in the reserved expanses of the European North. Once, when asked about her artistic concepts, Helga Kaffke said “...to paint a landscape like a portrait and a portrait like a landscape”. In their calendar of Ireland you are being gently guided into these very special portraits of a landscape and into landscapes that lead you to a much larger portrait – something more reveals itself, something that at first glance you wouldn’t have guessed.

You can purchase this calendar, available from July 2018, directly from edition-digital.de as well as all good bookshops and online bookshops.

Helga Kaffke

Born in 1934 in Leipzig, Germany, Helga first worked as a photo-lithographer. She was awarded a diploma by the University of Graphic Design & Book Art in Leipzig after five years of study. She was a painter and graphic designer, and has worked freelance since 1959.

Helga has travelled academically in Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Ireland, Poland and Romania.

Her work has been exhibited in many one-woman shows in Germany (including Chemnitz, Flensburg, Leipzig, Rostock, Schwerin). She had single exhibitions of her work in France (in Rouen, Sassetot and Yport), in Belgium (Eupen) and in Ireland (Westport and Belmullet).

Group shows in Germany include Berlin, Bremen, Dresden, Erfurt, and Kiel, and her work has been in group shows in France, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland.

Since the millennium until her death in late 2017 Helga Kaffke lived and worked together with Gabriele Berthel in Mayo on the north-west coast of Ireland.

Her life and work is documented in several publications:

“Atelierbesuch bei Helga Kaffke” 1987. (A visit to Helga Kaffke’s studio, watercolours, pastels)

“Wer kaemmt das Haar in der Suppe?”, 2004, Illustrationen zu Texten von Gabriele Berthel (“Who combs the hair in the soup?” 2004, Illustrations of texts from Gabriele Berthel)

“Leben, was sonst”, 2010, Portraets mit Texten von Gabriele Berthel (“Life, What Else?”, 2010, Portraits with texte from Gabriele Berthel)

“Valse Musette. Rouen en miniature”, 2016, Aquarelle mit Texten von Gabriele Berthel (2016, Watercolours with texts from Gabriele Berthel)

EDITION digital, founded in 1994, publishes e-books (mainly authors of former East Germany) as well as children’s books, crime novels, historical novels, fantasy, contemporary accounts and non-fiction (history of the German Democratic Republic). Another speciality are prints and descriptions of historic trade and work emblems together with fiction and non-fiction of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In total publications consist of more than 900 titles, as of July 2018 (see www.edition-digital.de for more details). Every year around 100 e-books and 15 new books in print are published.

Unterwegs in Irlands wildem Westen - On the road in Ireland's wild west

Calendar 2019

ISBN: 978-3-95655-896-2

EDITION digital

14 Pages, 75,43 x 53,34 “, 12,80 Euro

ddredigital/Kaffke/Irlandkal2019/