My name is Carolann Kaiser [site still under construction]
I'm an artist and writer, born in London. I've travelled the world ... oh, okay, some of it in my dreams. In fact, as much as I love to travel, it doesn't seem so important now. I live in just about the most beautiful place on earth; Andalucia takes some beating, I tell you.
I came here almost ten years ago when airlines turned a blind eye to a bit of excess baggage. You know, things like seven foot tall easels and a few imflammable paints in your hand luggage. Oh, yes, I came here to paint. The light is unbeatable, and the place is full of artists. In fact they're two a penny. Still, I've managed a few exhibitions and had a lot of fun with a very special group of life study artists. I was so lucky to have fallen into a group like that when I first arrived here. They were wonderful, supportive and encouraging people. I say 'were' because most have moved away to far flung places, like Arizona and New Zealand. Around the time of the the group disbanding, I discovered a love of writing fiction.
At first, it was just a scribbling down of a few ideas relating to whichever painting I was working on - every picture tells a story, that kind of thing - but it gradually drew me in. These days, instead of mixing up paint for half the day, I'm mixing up words. My head's full of them!
Not long ago I won a competition, and the prize, along with six other short-story writers was a published Kindle book. How exciting! The book is up on Amazon [there's a link on Guest Authors] and I did something I never thought I would. I bought a Kindle! No, it will never replace my life-long love of books, but it has a special place in my heart right now. Not least because I appreciate how damned clever they are. I mean, you just click a button on Amazon and lo and behold, a complete book appears on my Kindle. I still travel a bit, and for the first time, on a recent trip back to London, I didn't have to pay excess baggage caused by books overflowing from my suitcase. I think I could devote a whole page to my Kindle, but I'll shut up, 'cos I bet I am just about the last person on earth to own one. My kids tell me they're old hat now!
Although I miss my kids in London, I don't feel isolated here in Spain, I have many friends, and life on the coast is conducent to outdoor living; restaurants, long lunches on the beach and even longer walks along the paseo or up in the moutains where you're likely to meet wild horses. It's a secret life because I write, and everyone knows that's a solitary occupation. Like an addiction, I'd need serious therapy to make me stop. A secret life because often, I find myself putting off meeting up with friends. I just have to get an idea down, or just have to edit one of my stories, or just have to try and borrow some more hours from somewhere. I usually borrow them from the early hours of the morning, where I lose all sense of time, and reason, not able to drag myself away from my laptop when I'm in the middle of creating characters. Like I said, it's addictive.
I hope you enjoy these pages of my art, stories and blog. I invite you to browse my secret life of writing and painting. Leave me a message if you want, I'll do my best to write you back.
Carolann
x
I came here almost ten years ago when airlines turned a blind eye to a bit of excess baggage. You know, things like seven foot tall easels and a few imflammable paints in your hand luggage. Oh, yes, I came here to paint. The light is unbeatable, and the place is full of artists. In fact they're two a penny. Still, I've managed a few exhibitions and had a lot of fun with a very special group of life study artists. I was so lucky to have fallen into a group like that when I first arrived here. They were wonderful, supportive and encouraging people. I say 'were' because most have moved away to far flung places, like Arizona and New Zealand. Around the time of the the group disbanding, I discovered a love of writing fiction.
At first, it was just a scribbling down of a few ideas relating to whichever painting I was working on - every picture tells a story, that kind of thing - but it gradually drew me in. These days, instead of mixing up paint for half the day, I'm mixing up words. My head's full of them!
Not long ago I won a competition, and the prize, along with six other short-story writers was a published Kindle book. How exciting! The book is up on Amazon [there's a link on Guest Authors] and I did something I never thought I would. I bought a Kindle! No, it will never replace my life-long love of books, but it has a special place in my heart right now. Not least because I appreciate how damned clever they are. I mean, you just click a button on Amazon and lo and behold, a complete book appears on my Kindle. I still travel a bit, and for the first time, on a recent trip back to London, I didn't have to pay excess baggage caused by books overflowing from my suitcase. I think I could devote a whole page to my Kindle, but I'll shut up, 'cos I bet I am just about the last person on earth to own one. My kids tell me they're old hat now!
Although I miss my kids in London, I don't feel isolated here in Spain, I have many friends, and life on the coast is conducent to outdoor living; restaurants, long lunches on the beach and even longer walks along the paseo or up in the moutains where you're likely to meet wild horses. It's a secret life because I write, and everyone knows that's a solitary occupation. Like an addiction, I'd need serious therapy to make me stop. A secret life because often, I find myself putting off meeting up with friends. I just have to get an idea down, or just have to edit one of my stories, or just have to try and borrow some more hours from somewhere. I usually borrow them from the early hours of the morning, where I lose all sense of time, and reason, not able to drag myself away from my laptop when I'm in the middle of creating characters. Like I said, it's addictive.
I hope you enjoy these pages of my art, stories and blog. I invite you to browse my secret life of writing and painting. Leave me a message if you want, I'll do my best to write you back.
Carolann
x