Working

The weather has been wonderful lately. Trees look beautiful and I'd like to spend all my time wandering in the nature. But I can't... too much work. It's a terrible excuse, but true. I have five collages under work, and they must be ready in two weeks. Well, I should get back to them now... bye!

Foxy lady

I was working on a collaboration calendar project a while ago. Actually I wasn't very pleased how the final calendar came out, there wasn't enough money to print it on quality materials and I had no saying on that. But anyway I had so much fun doing these illustrations for it.

I cut dozens of foxes out of orange paper and made them brighten up the blue and gray autumn months. The first one is September and the other is November.

Typography

This was fun! You can try it too here.

Autumn in ATC:s

Once again I took part in Hiekkaoliivi's ATC swap. I'm slowly but surely getting hooked on these... So, here are my autumn themed cards I sent to Sari:


and here is what I got from Jaana:

Biscuits for breakfast

Last couple of days have been a whirlwind. Getting the art courses going, worrying about them at nights, making sure nothing has been forgotten... I hope it'll settle down a bit next week. This morning started with coffee and biscuits. I've been neglecting the grocery shoppings this week. Fortunately I had these bosnian vanilla biscuits in my closet, a souvenir from my trip to Montenegro. They tasted yummy.

Inspiration lost and found

I teach art courses in open college, four evenings a week. My students are a mixture of beginners and advanced. It's sometimes difficult to find a common interest for everyone. The beginners are always enthusiastic, they are so open to all new information and tips, their creativity is bloomig. But it seems to me that some of the advanced students loose their spirit quite quickly. After painting for three years or so, they think it's a done deal.. nothing more to learn. They get frustrated if they can't learn to paint like Rembrandt (it might be the teacher's fault of course) and they are not interested in trying anything new.

What I'm really wondering about here is the meaning of inspiration. You can teach people all kinds of techniques of art, but you can't give them the inspiration unless they're open to it. It's very surprising to notice that those people who say they can't draw or paint, often turn out to be more creative than those who count too much on the technique itself. Technique without spirit and heart is empty and hollow.

Well, I'm also kind of worried about my own teaching abilities. This is a temporary job for me and I should concentrate on more traditional styles and methods, not like the ones I'm working on with my own art. But you must always learn and grow. We'll see how this goes.

Lanterns for autumn nights

It's been raining for two days. The summer is definitely over and so are the lazy days when I was just thrifting and searching for inspiration. I should really get on with my work now, the duties are piling up.

Here are some unfinished collages I've been working with for a while. They are getting ready slowly but surely. Well... they'll have to be ready in five weeks, when I have a small exhibition. Making collages is like wave movement, sometimes all the parts click together very fast, and sometimes you just need to let it rest. Usually a little pressure is good though. If I did'n have any deadlines, I'd get nothing done.

This is my "Physalis alkekengi". I think it's called Chinese lantern plant or winter cherry. Anyway I like it a lot, it really brightens up my balkony.

I actually like autumn.. soon the trees will be full of colors, nights are getting darker and I can light candles. I just wish it wouldn't rain so much. It's not funny to get soaking wet every time I ride my bike. And I do that a lot because I don't have a car! Maybe I need to buy a nice colorful raincoat that'll make me smile every time I wear it.

Oh boy!

This cute fellow is my parents' new puppy. He's a handsome little Tibetan Spaniel. So now, instead of doing my collage projects, I'm just gonna have to go to my parents house for the weekend and play with this adorable creature.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

ATC swap with birdies

I took part in Hiekkaoliivi's ATC swap for the first time. The theme was birds. I sent these four cards:

...and I received these beauties:

They are from Jansky, Ansku, Anne S. and Elina. Thank you for everyone! Kiitos!

Loveliness from the mailbox

I got these beautiful handmade goodies from Ellene today. I'm actually wearing the necklace right now. It's an altered domino and the dots are on the other side. I love it!

Sorry for the unsharp photo, my camera has very poor zooming qualities.