Movie Monday

same animator Mikhail Aldashin
this one is about humanity , and surprisingly with a happy end

Replanishing my paint and inspiration

Today I splurged, and bought a new box of watercolors. After trying many different brands and types of watercolor I have settled on Yarka. No, it's not only because they are made in Russia, although that adds to their charm. Somehow the texture and the opacity of the paint itself seem to me superior to the others. Also they are honey based:) and my cats always love to drink the watercolor water, while I paint.

So now I have new paints, a few new pencils (I prefer Ebony) --the only thing is that I need some time without the kids and some phone calls ,and jumpy thoughts and irritating ideas to do the laundry and wash the dishes. I will have to block out the rest of the world and concentrate on the inside .

This is my inspiration board. Can you find 3, no , 4 Etsy Artists that I admire?

(in no particular order Lisa Hurwitz ,Rima (intothehermitage), Elsita, Dilkabear, Natalya Sots)

IF: Strings

Can you tell I was into Chagall for many years?:) This is a piece that I will never sell. It is an epoch that I was going through at the time, the blues, the Snow Show, the horses. I have a few pieces with these themes. Plus this is the first piece where the scarfed "no mouth" people appeared, which started to frequent my art more and more. There is something about these guys, that is hard to put into word. They have big eyes, but yet no mouth.Hmm...actually my fish do not have mouths either. Looking, yet staying silent. Let the music replace the words. At least the horses like it.
and on a more serious note: why is violin called a violin? wiki take it from here

The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello.
A violin is sometimes informally called a fiddle, regardless of the type of music played on it. The word "violin" comes from the Middle Latin word vitula, meaning "stringed instrument";[1] this word is also believed to be the source of the Germanic "fiddle".[2] The violin, while it has ancient origins, acquired most of its modern characteristics in 16th-century Italy, with some further modifications occurring in the 18th century.

A Matryoshka revelation

Ever since I was little I have seen them, played with them, broke them...One of the favorite things little kids love to do (and it is actually recommended in books on parenting in Russia) is to give these nesting dolls to kids, so they can grasp the concept of small , larger, the largest. So they can put them into each other, and figure out which one goes where. A brilliant toy if you think about it, very safe and beautiful,a puzzle in itself. Those of you who have kids know, how around the age of 1-2 they love to play with containers placing them inside each other. Usually kitchen wear is their favorite;) But back to matryoshkas, they serve the purpose beautifully.

I painted one yesterday. Just because. It is a very easy and appealing concept to play with, colors, shapes, and after having done one picture I realize that there is really much more to it, I think I will keep working on them.
And then for the first time in my life I did some research of the subject. And how surprised I was to find out that this symbol of Russia is really not Russian , but came from Japan in the late 1890s. A Buddhist doll with a round face was brought as a gift to a Russian monk, and he decided to make a doll of his own. Only a female one. And a different artist painted it--and that's how it all started.

I've discovered Youtube:)

rather how to add video's to the blog

This is a wonderful animation by Mikhail Aldashin "The Other Side". Life, Love, death and destiny in the life of a worm.
Beautifully animated, amazing drawing and some thought provoking content.
Is there really no "other side"?
My husband brought in a ladybug yeasterday , by accident from outside. My cat ate it within minutes. I wonder if it felt the same as the worm

Slava's SNOW SHOW is back in NYC

We went for the first time 4 years ago. I fell in love at the first sight, the music, the lights, the pantomime alltogether grabbed me somewhere deep inside and would not let go. I bought the soundtrack (which never happens ), I listened to it time after time..and painted like crazy. After a long break in making Art--the Snow Show opened some door inside of me and I could not stop the flow of images. The music brought those images to life and I had to put them on paper.

It has been 4 years since than. The door that was opened is still open:) And I am very grateful to the creator of this magical show for that. I am taking my son to see it this time.

This is taken from the Snow Shows original webpage , the words of the author Slava Polunin

What Is My Kind of Theatre?or The Theatre I Love
- It is a kind of wedding cavalcade,where I try to marry everyone to everyone;
- It is a theatre of ritual magicand festive pageantry,constructed on the basis of images and movements,games and fantasies,that are the common creation of the audience and the people of the theatre;
- It is a theatre which inexorably growsfrom dreams and tales;
- It is a theatre of hopes and dreams,full of longing and loneliness,losses and disillusionment;
- It is a theatre which always changes,which breaths spontaneous improvisationand cares scrupulously for tradition;
- It is in the vein of contemporarymulti-layered synthesis,on the boundary of life and art;
- It is a theatre that works in an epic-intimate alloyof tragedy and comedy,of absurdity and naivity,of cruelty and gentleness;
- It is a theatre which escapesdefinition and the unequivocalunderstanding of its actions,as from attemptsto usurp its freedom.
Slava Polunin

Black and White Birds

what do you think of these?

Somebody else is into Teapots (teacups, and tea parties for that matter)

A beautiful treasury by ImagineStudio, that I am in . And a few of my all time favorite artists as well, like natalyasots( Hi Natasha!!!!)

I love to be in treasuries, and I love teapots (some day I will show off my collection and invite all of you for a virtual tea party)
Please smile and wave if you like it:)))))

What to do on an Autumn Rainy vacation?

Pick mushrooms, feed seagulls, watch sunsets, pet horses, walk in the dunes, see the stars in your lovers eyes, watch the kids play in the sand, play chess, drink tea with lots of sugar, collect autumn leaves, and sketch , sketch, sketch....

IF: Sugary

Mice like sugary jam as their winter holiday meal

Time for a Pre Holiday Giveaway!

Hey all:) I am on my way back from vacation in Cape Cod, pictures , sketches, and story will be coming soon. I know I promised another Give Away- so here it is.
A pendant with my Art in it, a beautiful little piece of wearable Art that a skilled Pendant master did for me:) What do you need to do? You need to go to my shop, pick out a pendant design that you like best and say something about it (plus leave the email for me , so I can contact you if you are the winner)
Giveaway will be going on until October 10, 10 am.
Ready , set , go!

IF: Packed

Now , this is a real sketch:) They are packed with details. I find it comforting to add detail after detail, untill the drawing is almost claustrophobic , but my characters feel more comfortable in the winter time when they are prepared. In a warm place, with lots of strawberry jam

Cape Cod, Bord Games and elephant in the appartment above

We are going to Cape Cod tomorrow.

My son will skip Kindergarten shamelessly, I will forget about my "business" part of Art, and my hubby will hopefully leave his laptop behind.

Pine trees, mushrooms, dunes, board games, and evening by the fire place--that's what I am looking forward to. Also I hope while the kids will be running crazy in NATURE, I will be able to sketch.

We have been there 4 years ago, but it seems like an eternity has passed since then.

these photos are of us back then

Also, for those of you who love board games that challenge the mind--we have discovered Pylos. A very meditative and challenging version of Tic Tack Tow in 3D with wooden balls instead of Xs and Os. About a year ago a fiamily friend of ours introduced us to the world of board games, and we are hooked now. Mancala was the favorite so far, but Pylos is on the way to become a leader:)

And last, but not least, I have a sneaking suspicion that we have an elephant in the apartment above. It wakes up at 6 am, every morning, and starts walking just above my bed:( has anyone else had this kind of trouble? How do you deal with an elephant in an apartment? I am not sure

IF: Clique

I've got two cliques going, one for the lovers of Tolkien --who do not mind standing in the night wood and gradually turning into trees..

The other for the less patient ones, who like tea and are slightly crazy, but happy at the same time.

Which one do you fit into?

From my Treasury chest--Ekaterina Belkina

From now on I will try to have a regular feature on various Artists and Photographers that I find outstanding and inspiring, and that have been stored in my mental treasury.

I have found Ekaterina Belkina several years ago, and was mesmerizes by her photographs. She creates a magical realm that is made out of ordinary objects. I do not know how she manages to make this transformation, but I think you will agree with me that it is extraordinary.

Belkina

My best students

The new school year has started, and I resumed my Art lessons. This time we were sculpting with air drying clay, and making a zoo. But everyone made elephants:)

My cat Totoro, with his keen love of books. This is the Art history book he is studying.

Busy working little hands, and Totoro as always being in the middle of everything.

One of the inhabitants of our zoo. I like him, he looks like a newborn, with shaky bending legs

IF: Island

Jonah had lost count of time, and had no idea that the fish was coming close to an island, where she would let him out.

Princess Who Loved Animals

The winner of my last weeks giveaway is micale6955, the Princess Who Loved Animals will start her travels to the new home.

And since this is the print that got many votes I will expand on the story a bit.

Girls love princesses, we all know that. Why? Beats me, I always was a tom boy. But here I am with a 2 year old, who already knows she wants to be a princess when she grows up. A great addition to the son, who is convinced that Knights should be payed more money and then there will be a job like that again.

So here we are, I have a Knight and a Princess. I never painted princesses before, at least not after I was 14 years old and spent all the boring school lessons doodling in my notebook . Actually my classmate who shared the table with me used to have contests, who would draw a better princess. She is an economist in Moscow now, and I probably won since I actually keep drawing them.

My princess is supposed to be loving, compassionate and SMART:) Beautiful? well, may be that would not hurt as well. I wanted her to be outside rather than inside the castle. I wanted her to be closer to nature than most princesses are.

In Russian folklore there is this character Vasilisa the Smartest, the princess who would always find the solutions to the most difficult challenges and this way help out her 'not-so-smart" husband. I wonder why is it, that in Russian folk tales women are always the smart ones, and the main male character Ivan are the opposite. Ivan durak=Ivan the stupid?

IF: "Clutter"

"She wanted simplicity in her life. Minimalism. Space. She could not stand clutter"

I despise clutter, I can not stand it, I try to get rid of it as soon as it starts forming, I have a phobia of clutter, "clutterphobia" would be a good word

DRUMROLL-my Blog opening GIVE AWAY!

Just to celebrate my victory over laziness and the fact that now I am a blogger, I would like to have a give away. You get a print of your choice from my Etsy shop (http://www.vusova.etsy.com), all you need to do is leave a comment with your email address, so I can contact you if you win. The hat drawing will be held in one week, on September 10. So take it from there, and don't forget to pass it on:)