how-to: ivar

attention, attention!

david and i have made our first video together in london.
thank you to the 8mm iphone app (totally rad, download it if you haven't already) and a trip to ikea. i think the result is pretty funny, especially the epic (and equally corny) instrumental soundtrack.

enjoy.

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how to be an artist

i an effort to draw more (part of my 25 before 25 list) i picked up this book, how to be an artist by michael atavar. okay, i know. probably most "artists" would say that someone can't tell you how to be an artist or that "everyone is an artist in their own way" but let's face it. i'm out of touch.

practically no arting went on at all while i was living in budapest. mostly because i had little spare time between a full-time job, teaching english, writing freelance articles and spending a lot of time at the buddhist centre.

but since i've been in london, i find myself with (almost excessive) free time, my fingers have been aching for creative-making these last weeks. so, it's time to get into it again. i picked up this book because it's a simple guide for getting starting, taking an idea and seeing it through to a finished project. then finally, getting that piece out into the world. it's written simply, with some great exercises along the way.

this book is about developing your creativity.

pick up a pen and without thinking begin to write. it's not important what it is, or what you say, simply write.


easy enough? not! there's nothing more intimidating than a blank white page staring back at you!
i just started the book, but so far i'd recommend it to anyone who needs a practical guide to getting back into their old artistic groove.

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impressions from the tate

i met up with a special friend this afternoon for some art and coffee. we met in high school, in small-town spain outside of madrid. we both we exchange students there for a semester and our host partners were best friends. we both ended up not really liking our host families and bonded over rose wine and valencian beaches, frida kahlo and brooding in a small cafe called jamaica.


cafe con leche please.

that was 8 years ago and we still seem to find each other in cities around the world, catching up and travelling apart again. i really like that about us, both of us are everywhere yet when our paths cross it's like distance is just a concept.

we took in some great pieces at the tate modern before heading for lattes and cappuccinos at monmouth near borough market... only the best place on the south bank for coffee.

[clockwise from the top left: giorgio de chirico, joan miro, cy twombly, jackson pollock]

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25 before 25

okay, i know this is lame, or at least seems to be but somehow making lists is cool and somehow because i will turn a quarter of a century old in but a few months i should get down and accomplish something. as if being an expat by trade isn't an accomplishment but really. i saw mygirl.thursday's list the other day and thought, now i should really write down some goals too. now, let's see... i've got about 5 months to get on it. that's enough time, right?

so here you go.

1 - go to a new country. [UPDATE: ireland]
2 - go to another new country. [UPDATE: russia]
3 - make a dream catcher. [UPDATE: dreamcatcher]
4 - read charlotte brönte's jane eyre before i cave and see the movie. [reading + coffee]
5 - take my camera out for a date and use a whole roll of film in one day.
6 - start a knitting project... and finish it! [UPDATE: cosy hand warmers]
7 - visit Goldsmiths and apply for graduate school. (aaaah!)
8 - cook thanksgiving dinner for four... with 2 hobs and a microwave oven.
9 - buy cheap dining chairs and spruce them up! [UPDATE: IVAR]
10 - visit at least 15 english heritage sites in the uk. [UPDATE: 9 down, 6 to go]
11 - treat myself to a mani/pedi for the first time ever.
12 - draw more.
13 - visit a third new country? can i do that? [UPDATE: kazakhstan]
14 - make a brooch like this one.
15 - meet someone from the royal family. [david met princess anne, does that half-count?]
16 - surprise someone far away with a care package made by hand.
17 - see a painting i studied in art history in person. [manet's a bar at the folies-bergère]

18 - publish a zine. (ideas: illustrated guide to east sheen? diy? craft?)
19 - get my hands on another rad lomography camera. [UPDATE: welcome to the family diana mini]
20 - master cooking a new vegetable. kholrabi? romanesco broccoli? beets? [UPDATE: not a veg, but  as an ex-vegetarian i'd say i'm making big steps learning to cook creative meats like pigeon breasts and ox cheek]
21 - give high heels a try. (never have i ever)
22 - make a 5 minute short film!
23 - upgrade a dress following these easy steps.
24 - stick to my budget (so i can afford to travel to russia in january). [UPDATE: departing jan8!!!]
25 - by the time i do this one, i should be twenty-five. so i challenge myself to get all prettied up and go out on the town like a real londoner would. [UPDATE: celebrated in budapest, but wow, what a wild party!]

it actually took me at least a week to come up with this list. and to be honest, nothing on it is out of my reach (okay, except maybe the royal family bit) which is cool but really, should challenge myself to be wilder. one step at a time.

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wall art

here is my inspiration for introducing some colour into my radically neutral apartment. would my landlord go crazy if i painted a wall without asking. should i take the chance?

anyways, the blonde wood and white needs some sprucing up and i thought about recreating this painting for the wall above our bed. cool, no? i sketched it out in watercolour on graph paper. now, to get my hands on some cheap and large canvas, not an easy task even for those who know where to look!

finding countless inspiration at the park lately, in jane austin's short stories and by the bottom of my coffee cups.

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