It's that time again...
I've not continued on with my 30 Days in Europe posts for 2 weeks, Whoazers! Well for the first day of May I'm posting double the pics for your enjoyment. I really think Inspiration steams from culture and other art and these Europe photos are at the forefront of where my inspiration come from. So I want to share these with you as well!
Florence! Or as they say in Italian “Firenze!” Like Siena the city is filled with red brick rooftops as far as the eye could see. It’s also the motherland of Renaissance art. Much of the 14th and 15th Century architecture is still very much intact. We started the day exploring the city with a free tour provided by our hostel Archi Rossi. Our tour guide is a Florence native and showed us places that I’ve never even been to during my first trip here! From Medieval Fortresses to Bottecelli Paintings, we soaked in the Florentine culture and realize why this was the hot spot for all things creative. The city is surrounded by the Tuscany scenery and split in half by the Arno River. We took our break and headed for Florence's Santa Trinita Gelateria shop. Needless to say that I went crazy for Gelato ice cream, (my excuse was you’re only in Italy for so long…)
After the tour was finished we headed off to the Pitti Palace Museum, home of the Medici family and patrons of the arts. Like all European palaces, they were ornate, grand, and highly decorative. But I find the Italians had a flare for bold colors and design, whereas the French was light and airy. We walked through markets near the Ponte Vecchio Bridge and found street artists drawing famous works of art on the ground with nothing but colored chalk in their hands. Everyone stopped in their tracks at the sight of 3 artists sitting side by side drawing like a kid in the playground.
Nearby was Florence’s Dumo or catherdral. Every town and city in Italy has one. Florence’s is the largest dome made out of brick in the world and still standing as if was build yesterday! We climb up the 400 Steps, it’s quite a feat I know but the view on the dome is worth it! The painted interior ceiling is a masterpiece as I tried to take pictures without that bullet proof glass in the way. Our day passed by so quick it was evening by the time we got out.
Florence…An awesome city with rich history is one of my top must sees!
Until the next adventure in Europe…
Click on the “30 Days in Europe” link to follow our travels around Europe.
Photos are free to take as stock images. Crediting is appreciated!
25 Days in Europe – Florence the Hyping Art Scene
Mother's Day Special: A Week of FREE SHIPPING
It's my first Etsy PROMO! ^_^
Since that special day for MOMs is coming up I'd thought I would celebrate by offering a Promo of Free Shipping for a Week on ALL ITEMS in my shop.
Tired of paying for those extra shipping expenses? I know I am! So buy 1 or multiple items and not pay a cent on shipping! I offer free shipping WORLDWIDE. Doesn't matter where you're from, I never exclude anyone in the world.
This Mother's Day promo last for 7 DAYS, beginning April 27th - May 4th.
Click on the banner below to my shop. The countdown starts now!
Why Do You Love Art?
Art Through the Ages....
A thought hit me when I was watching a PBS program. Don't ask which, I always black out with my own thoughts. Why do I love art? Well the world revolves around art. Yeah I know it sounds a bit egocentric, but really it’s true. You see it everywhere. You can't escape it. Media, movies, ads, etc... Many would even go as far as saying it feeds our very souls (Me included).
But let’s go back to the question. I love art because I love the impact it has on people and culture. Trace it back thousands of years to where cave men use it to communicate and record their history, or when storytellers used art to communicate to illiterate people, or when political leaders used art as an influence to their campaign.
You get the idea...
There are a number of significant ways art shapes culture. I guess I love being a part of it. I love history. I love storytelling. I love communicating to the masses.
Why do you love art? Art is a relative term that doesn't have to involve painting and drawing, but something done creatively. The dictionary describes art as “Creation of beautiful things” or “techniques and craft”.
Share your thoughts!
Surprise! Surprise! A blog Award!
I was shocked and delighted to receive this Sisterhood Blog Award from Natasha AKA Thursday Sweet Treat! The sweetest person ever! Her blog radiates with inspiration and positivity that I can never go without creating something after reading one of her interviews or her posts on the latest Thursday Sweet Treat Project. If you've never been to her blog I suggest you do so immediately!
Now it comes time for me to nominate the next 5 blogs with this award. And man oh man it's super duper hard. But these 5 blogs always makes me smile whether it be their blog on everyday life or inspirational images, I'm sure they'll make you smile as well.
Meekiyu's Dream
Wunderbug
Harmony Quest
Beholden To Nature
InkiHandMade
The rules for this award:
Share the love! ^_^
Off to do some creating! Till next post!
26 Days in Europe – The Tuscany Charm
***To all of Italy in regards of the earthquake that occurred on April 6th. Prayers go out to those who have been injured and to the families who have lost loved ones. We hope that we can bring the city devastated by it back to it's original state***
Siena is one of those marveled towns of Italy that seem like the Middle Ages never died. Actually most of Italy is pretty much like that. You’re surrounded by stone buildings and red brick houses, vibrating rich colors as far as the eye could see. Hardly anything in Italy is modernized which truly makes history come to life. It’s hard to choose a town that is the best but I have to say Siena has a special place in my heart.
Just 2 hours away from Florence we traveled by train then by bus, catching up with fellow tourists as they also arrived to soak in the sights. It was a bit of a dreary day but that didn’t stop us as we headed off to see the Siena cathedral or as they call all their churches, the Dumo. Out of all the Dumos in Italy Siena is by far the most beautiful there is. A massive structure with a black and white strip bell tower; it’s one of the most unique churches in Italy. The interior itself is also something to behold. You’re surrounded by so much decorative detail it’ll make your eyes water. From paintings, to statues, to mosaics, it’s really a must see in person.
I could go on and on but I won’t bore you to tears. For the most part, Siena is a day trip outside the city of Florence. Little nooks and alleyways add a lot of charm to the town. It’s easy to get lost and end up in someone’s doorstep but it’s small enough that you’ll easily find your way back again. We caught up with some local students that were just getting out from school, casually walking and joking in Italian with their buddies. You can tell they all have a playful and fun charisma about them. Art exchange student sat on the near by steps sketching away the landscape. We followed them and ended up in the Piazza Del Campo, which is the town square. It’s one of the main attractions of the town that has a huge circular opening, where you see tourist and locals alike taking it easy and sitting on the ground eating gelato. And that’s how we ended our visit, plop down on the ground, eating gelato!
Till next post…let these images inspire your creative process!
Click on the “30 Days in Europe” link to follow our travels around Europe.
Photos are free to take as stock images. Crediting is appreciated!
The Importance of "The Artist's Space"
I've been seeing a lot of photos where artists are showing off their work space and to be frank, I'm envious! But it's also made me realize that a space of your own to work on is ESSENTIAL! Quite often I don't feel any sort of motivation or drive to do art work, because my space looks like a toxic wasteland. I don't think a space should be as sterilized as the cover of Martha Stewart, (Those kinds of art studios scare me...are there artist really that neat???) but it should be somewhere you're really comfortable with.
I should really take my own advice...as a matter a fact I'm trying to do it right now.
One day my friend came over to my place and took a peek at my room...needless to say the shocked look on her face, told me all I needed to hear...which is a major overhaul cleanup.
Currently my space looks like...(please don't scream in terror)
This is only half of the room...(Don't ask about the other half) Really I think I can qualify for Extreme Home Makeover, don't you think?
But check back the next couple of....oh whenever I get this done...@_@
Artist Tip 101: A private art space of your own can do wonders for creativity! Be sure to look into it and mold that perfect area into your own. Regular clean ups are a bummer but necessary!
27 Days in Europe – Journeying the International Route…Italy Here We Come!
Needless to say we had a blessed 3 day touring of one of Europe’s most fashion forward and avant-garde cities, Paris. Now it’s time to pack our bags and head out to a city where the Renaissance movement thrived. You guessed it, Florence, Italy.
We’re traveling European style with first class seats on France’s SNF train. The total travel time of 12 hours! (With a pit stop transfer in Milan, Italy.) It does make your mind boggle on the amount of sitting we had to do, crossing countries. But it was a very pleasant experience overall, mostly due to the fact that our seats had leg room and we dozed off 90% of the time. We found it funny that the train staff miraculously changed from French to Italian right between borders. We wondered where the French staff was hiding. Maybe the Italians stuffed them in the closet? Languages suddenly switched and we found ourselves having to quickly skim our Italian dictionaries. Saying “Grazie” instead of “Merci” Luckily nowadays the universal language is English. We traveled from 7 AM – 7 PM and we were pretty tired by the end of our leg. Dropped in our amazing hostel and plopped on the bed. Next day is where the real fun begins!
How were two broke youngsters able to get their hands on first class seats you may ask? Well it was all thanks to this drawing 
and Eurail.com’s travel contest on Facebook, which enable me to win two first class train tickets of unlimited train travel for 15 days. I’m forever grateful to Eurail. I was pretty shocked that I even won something at all, but it was one of those "meant to be" moments. The topic post of that particular contest was “Which European Nationality Should You Have and Why?” There were all sorts of crazy answers, mines wasn’t any different saved my drawing which was the only leg up I had, using art to my advantage. I wanted to be an Italian Renaissance artist...a particular fantasy of mines, Hehe. There were awesome posts of people making their own youtube videos even. 5 of us were chosen and as they say the most eye-catching and original posts won. ^_^
FYI: If you’re ever heading off to Europe you can try your luck at winning Eurail passes by entering in their contest here: Eurail Facebook under discussions (Contest theme change monthly)
Another FYI: We stayed at this amazing hostel in Florence, Italy that I highly recommend to any traveler: Hostel Archi Rossi
(Don’t let the movie “Hostel” scare you. Hostels are a great budget alternative to more expensive hotel chains, a lot of the times even better! They’ve got friendly staff, free breakfast, free internet, free city tour everyday, and a private room at half the price from a standard hotel in Europe. Their walls are artfully decorated with murals. It’s catered mostly to backpackers, but family friendly as well. 5 minutes walk away from the city’s train station. With its price, I rate it 5 stars!)
Click on the “30 Days in Europe” link to follow our travels around Europe.
Europe Photos are free to take as stock images. Crediting is appreciated!
A Blast from the Past… Some Early Drawing Attempts
I’ve found some old art work of mine when I was 8 or 9 years old. I was cringing and slightly amused at the same time, while flipping through my sketch pad, which is miraculously still intact. I don’t think many artists would even want you to look at their early drawings but I just found mines funny. I loved drawing Disney characters. I remembered I pulled most of these drawings from old Disney magazines I use to subscribe to. I worked on that Mulan figure for hours!
My parents taught me at a very early age that tracing and erasing are a big no, no. It sorta stuck with me all these years, but I’m still lenient on the erasing part. I realized as I got older, people who trace other works and pass it off as their own are absolutely shameless and an insult to artists. I think one day I have to thank them for instilling me with this thought. It provided a strong resistance to taking the easy route out, especially in the art field. You’ll be surprised at the amount of no, no’s I see in my design class.
Artist tip 101: Trust me when I say that you'll feel 1000 times better when presenting something drawn out your own hands.
28 Days in Europe…The Paris Finale in Versailles
Haven't updated in 2 weeks?...@_@Ouch...It's that pesky thing called life that gets in the way of everything doesn't it?
Looks like our days in France have almost run out. We had a blast and ran amok trying to soak in everything we could. The day before it rained, damping our Versailles trip, but I guess things worked out for the best because the next day was a perfect day to go to Versailles, sunny, not too cold or too hot. The grounds were stunning and immaculately well taken care of. It was autumn so the gardens weren’t in bloom, but I could only imagine what it would’ve looked like with the rose bushes, bursting with color. It took us a whole day to get through. And yes I was thinking of Sofia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette” movie all the way! I was totally prepared and watched that movie beforehand. I annoyingly pointed out the rooms that they shot in to my friend, who I think was more interested in French bakery shops then royal palaces.
Coincidentally, artist Jeff Koons, known for his large out of place sculptures, was features in some of the rooms of Versailles. I have to say I’m not the biggest fan of his work. I would have like to see the paintings on the walls without a giant plastic lobster in the way. But nonetheless it didn’t hinder my experience too much, and Jeff Koons will be Jeff Koons.
So our last day in Paris was by far the best. Until the next post... first class seats to Italia!
Click on the “30 Days in Europe” link to follow our EuroTrip.
Photos are free to take as stock images. Crediting is always appreciated! ^_^
Off to be a busy bee! BUZZ BUZZ!
A Sunday Flicks Edition: Reminder there is Persepolis...
Back with another review, this time an animated feature film called Persepolis. Based on an autobiographical graphic novel, it tells the story of the author Marjane Satrapi and her early childhood years living within a intolerant government regime in Iran. Outspoken political beliefs are banned, western culture is looked down upon, and all woman must dress modestly including wearing the black hijab veil.
This is a French language film. But with DVD there is English dubbing. Even though it's an animated film, it's smart and poignant about the politics and war. The animated style is also refreshing. Most of the film is drawn in simple black and white colors, representing the past of the author's childhood and adolescent years. There is nothing Disney about this film, but a very honest look during the Islamic Revolution through the eyes of a person who lived through it.
For the curious...the trailer and images:
Click on the "Sunday Flicks" link for more film reviews on the overlooked and underrated....
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