Looking back…

31st of December. Wow! The year went fast! And it was so exciting – so many things happened!!! My own exhibition, new career and education developments, amazing travel destinations (Fallingwater!), some burned bridges and lost friends – but luckily many new friends, too (even a  virtual one)!

September was officially the worst month of my life. Everything went wrong.

But then, something absolutely unexpected happened in November. All I can say – I am really looking forward to the start of new year.

And then in 2012 I also started a new hobby. It is really cool, I love it, one might think the choice is very unexpected for a girl like me, but I enjoy it enormously. Unfortunately, I’m not really good at it yet, though. That is why I won’t reveal what it is, but it will be a new year promise to practice regularly and become better and only then I will post some pictures.

Do you make NYE promises? The occasional “lose weight”, “quit drinking and smoking” etc. Do those who make the promises actually fulfill them? I hate making promises I can’t keep. Thus…

…I’m going to make only the ones that are fun, so it is really easy to fulfill them. Here we go:

1. Draw more often. Every second day (?). Even a little.
2. Try to travel more, and always keep a camera in the pocket
3. Continue regularly practicing that new hobby of mine
4. Search for new music and visit live-gigs and concerts
5. Spend more time with friends
6. Learn to cook tasty stuff (I absolutely cannot cook, but if I start with smoothie, cake, and salad recipes, that should be fun, right?)
7. Arrange more parties for friends (why not try to show off those new cooking skills?)
8. And of course some health related activities like learn to eat breakfast, learn to sleep (and really stop hanging out till 2 or 3 and whine every morning how tired you are)
9. Shop less, prefer quality over quantity and really start wearing more of all those clothes… it seams I wear 20% of my wardrobe. So yes, be more stylish!
10. Maybe even post some outfits in the blog. I have not really done this, because I am shy about it. But maybe that is one way to be creative too.
11. Get rid of useless things, clothes, furniture. More space for living. At the moment especially my kitchen table is a disaster, with all the painting attributes.
12. Finally, go to the doctor to run some thorough tests to find the reason for the regular food allergy. I’m tired of it!
13. Be nice to parents!
14. Get a kitten!!!
15. Let go of the previous disappointments, old habits, old memories, states of being offended. After all, one has to move on. It is such a relief to say out loud that something is SO LAST SEASON or SO 2012!

I am sure there will be more items invented along the way in 2013, so a really good advice is to be open-minded and try new things. But before I move on, for the very last time, I choose consciously  to drown in some memories, own sentimentality and melancholy. The science of feeling lonely. AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER.

       

  

(no, i don’t own these images, except for one with veil collar. the sources are found in Pinterest on  boards: Gentlemen, Illustrations & An affair to remember)

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013!

Golden Ink

whoever invented the golden ink, thank you!

 

Golden moment

Somebody has been watching some Bond movies… I’m having a golden moment. Clearly.

So yes, I bought the Anna Dello Russo for H&M shoes.

Snow Queen ballet

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen has always been my favourite fairy-tale. Today, I went to the Finnish National Opera to see the general repetition of the new ballet, which is already sold out till the end of the year and the premiere is tomorrow!

It was magical! (pic via HS.fi)

1st balcony, right in the middle:

And then during the break, the Snow Queen and her “helpers” came out, I was very lucky to get few close ups:

In the foyer, there were on show some costumes from other productions. The Mouse King from the Nutcracker has an awesome mask:

And this is what the Snow Queen looks like (pic via HS.fi):

The make up is very well-done, but to be honest I wished there was a bigger (read: more grandiose) crown. In fact, that is the only part I wished was different in this particular production. I envision the queen as very tall, gracious, authoritative – in my opinion this was not really evident from the ballet. In fact, her costume was not much different from the snowflakes twirling around. And she is my favourite villain after all!

So, here is my collection of what a true Snow Queen should be about:

Tilda Swinton in Narnia

This is a Soviet fairy-tale movie The secret of Snow Queen, I loved it when I was a child:

Above: gorgeous crown.

Below: Ok, this is not a Snow Queen, but still a queen and a very evil one:

I love this accessory, I NEED to get one asap!

Yes, this is where a Snow Queen should live.

And this is what happens is Snow Queen doesn’t like you:

The sources of the pictures are in Pinterest.

Pittsburgh through my camera lens

Remember my post about the city of love – Paris through my camera lens? Well, it is time for my second travel post - Pittsburgh through my camera lens. The trip was awesome! Yet again I tried to fit beautiful bits and pieces into my tiny camera. Enjoy!

Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright

Designed in 1935, this piece of architecture is a true masterpiece. It has always been a coveted must-see destination for me and finally (by a mere accident) I had a chance to visit. Absolutely astonishing. I had an amazing day!!!  And the weather was perfect too…

Halloween 2012

Apparently last night I did look like one of my paintings!

On my phone camera

There are so many beautiful pictures on my phone, I thought it is time to share them!

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Veera L.

Here is a portrait illustration of a friend based on a photo:

The frame was very nice, wooden painted into white but you can see the wooden texture through and also the color is a bit blue-ish to suit the mints and pastels on the illustration.

Here are some close ups:

And now without the glass:

Earlier at some point I mentioned that I need a better camera. Well, I got one. I just don’t know how to use it yet! :)

But here is Veera’s picture, she is a dancer, so that is why I chose that pose and puffy dancing skirt. She loved the picture!

Smoking Diamond

I’ve been trying to study shadows and how to draw skin and face features with shades of grey (using diluted ink):

Triangle is my favourite shape

I found this awesome song by alt-J “Tessellate”, but I really don’t like the video. The lyrics say:

Triangles are my favourite shape
Three points where two lines meet.

So yes, triangles are my favourite shape, so here are some better visuals to enjoy the music with:

Love AQUA

pic credits in Pinterest.

Flirty

Amanda Seyfried in V magazine (via Daily Mail)