I've been Tagged!

twice...

Thank you justine and Cat Mallard for remembering me!

the rules are tell 7 little known things about yourself then tag 7 others (be sure and link everyone!)

Now off to a rather difficult task to think of 7 things about me that might be interesting enough :)(brain wheels turning and squeaking in faint attempts to produce some quality content)

1. I used to pick and plant acorns in our family garden. My parents were very surprised and rather unhappy when all those trees started to sprout in most unappropriated places. Below I am caught in the act (2 years old)

2. I met my husband on the Internet, while writing a paper in college during my senior year. I was very tired and frustrated and decided to do something different to relax the brain:) This is the first picture of me, he saw:)))) I did loose lots of weight since than:))) And yes, I painted those huge oil pieces that you see in the background. My style has changed as well . A lot.:)

3. My son is named after Andrei Rublev.

4. I burn everything I cook. I have a very special relationship with Fire, and even though we love each other dearly, it does make cooking rather difficult.

5. I am a Godmother to a 28 year old young man who lives in Austria, and a 7 year old girl that lives in Brooklyn.

6. I wanted to be a tiger tamer when I was little, as well as a veterinarian, teacher and artist.

7. I always make the same cake for New Years. It does not envolve baking and I learned to make it when I was 14. Everyone loves it:) The picture shows me making it back in Ukraine, I am 16, my best friend who lives in Poland took it. I am wearing a T shirt that was donated to our local church by american missionaries--and I thought I looked really cool in it LOL

And I am tagging

Rima

yulechka

KittyD

paintandink

Natalya

Distressing Delilah

Kim

Tessa

Ink drawings and good books

I have had a very productive day today. The kids were at Grandma's all day, and from 9 am till 4 pm I had TIME. Time to do whatever I felt needed doing! The luxury of having time to yourself, I savored every minute of it.

First I finished several watercolors that I had been working on.
One is another take on princesses and knights, and will be for sale either as a print or as an original in my shop (I have not decided which way it will be)
Another is a song illustration for a friend of mine, that I was asked to do. Actually I was given the whole album to listen, and had an option of illustrating one of the songs. They were all good, but not many had strong visual images in them. The strongest one was a song about a couple , where the woman dreamed for them to be cats, sit on roofs, spill ink on owners poems, drink water from puddles etc. But later on she forgot all about it and became this typical boring housewife. Sad. But often times true.

And while I was doing it, I wanted to have some ink drawing references, so one of my ALL TIME favorite books about a great animator Nordstein came to mind. I will be showing off his animation soon, but so far here are a couple of drawings from that book. His wife did them. He was the director, she was the animator. Wonderful lively line, composition and free style that I admire.
Also from that same book a photo of their family. I love looking at it. I have always dreamt to have artistic parents. Did not happen:) our house was always spotless and very cozy, but not artistic at all. This photo represents something that I envisioned as an alternative reality, while growing up.

Movie Monday 5

If everything was paper, and we could shape our life as origami folders...

IF: Wise

I wise owl, a chest full of fairy tales, a not-so-bad wolf, a fairy that lives in a teapot, a cat that has an enchanting smile, even though he is not Cheshire...A bunch of creatures that keep me company while I paint.

My Tea Party

A while ago I promised to host a virtual Tea Party for all my Blog Friends.
I think it is a good day to do it today. It seems that all of America is celebrating the results of the elections. I am not into politics, and the most support our president got from my almost 5 year old son, who seemed to genuinely care about the process and kept me updated.

So on this slightly chilly New York morning, I would like to offer a cup of warm tea to all the ones that stop by my blog today. Sit down and grab a cup that you like the best. You can also pick the teapot you like...I personally prefer green tea with jasmine, but I also have some chamomile tea, and black tea with strawberry jam. All of them are freshly brewed and ready to be enjoyed.

I personally adore the pottery by the MonsterOpMaat, this cup resembles one of the animations that I had here--worms and love:)

And one day when I am rich and famous I will get myself one of these

In our Slavic tradition, tea is a symbol of being hospitable. Tea is offered to anyone who stops by your house. For more than 250 years, the samovar has occupied an honoured place in Russian homes as the centrepiece of the table, around which life revolved. It remains most stable attribute of domestic coziness. Step by step a peculiar ritual of tea-drinking emerged and was adopted in every Russian homes. Drinking tea from the samovar was a way of life. I need one of those as well, told you I can not be a snail:)
Here in US, tea is viewed more like a "girly" thing. Little girls traditionally have tea parties, and until recently I did not realize it. My little girl is growing up with a mix of the two, she has tea parties with our cat when the boys are away and I am doing my computer work. So please, join in!

Movie Monday 4

Another great creation by Ivan Maximov.
Rainy day, a girl dreaming, a boy with a grey flower , SOME GREAT MUSIC!!

Little things count, or counting the little things

Those of you who are married, especially for many years know that make us happiest and irritate us the most are the little things that happen...

Several weeks ago we had dinner with some good friends of ours and the parents of one of them came along. As I was watching that couple who have been together for almost 40 years, since high school I believe, I realized that there is such an unspeakable warmth between them!

No traces of irritation, aggravation or those small sharp words that could have added up over the years. A little smile here and there, a small pat on the shoulder, a quick caring question. That's what I want to have 35 years from now.

Little things, little paintings, little surprises, little miracles.

You know what was one of the best gifts, I received from my husband during the past 7 years we were together? Several magnets for the refrigerator. Yes, I have gotten many beautiful things from him, but this one stands out. Why? Because it was a surprise, because they were beautiful, and because they made me feel very special on that day, I felt like the woman in the cave receiving the skin of a tiger :)

I used to be very upset that I cannot paint a HUGE painting, like in the old days. An oil giant,t hat would take up half the wall...I am past this feeling, and to tell you the truth, I love painting ACEOs (tiny watercolors, that take up not too much time, but end up looking like a finished creation). They are my main artistic endeavor at this point in life. Just because I have tiny bits of time to work, I have tiny moment of inspiration, I make tiny little colorful bits that travel all over the world.

Here are a couple of my latest minis.

IF: VACANT

The apartment was vacant, and as soon as the Fish figured it out they decided to move in

I Would not be a good Snail

Just thinking about carrying everything I own on my back makes my head spin.

Since we moved into our new apartment a year and a half ago, I was trying to make it as homey as possible. And that includes painting on walls and growing basilica on the windowsill.

Yesterday I made a visit to Ikea, got another few things that I just had to have, and then came home with a sudden urge to change something. SO...I moved a bookcase:) Now I have my very own corner of the bedroom, that can be called MY STUDIO. I have all my supplies organized, I have the reference books that I need at hand, and most importantly I have an almost clear table, to work on.

Another benefit of that is that the paintings on the wall in my kids room are visible again. We had to block them during our last room rearrangement (Anna sleeps in a big bed now, and a big bed takes so much more room!) Andrei and Anna have been complaining that they can't see the knight and the princess anymore. And that made me so happy . NO, not the fact that they were upset, but rather the fact that they missed my Artwork. So the princess and the knight, and the cat for that matter are back. The final touches with chalk are done by Anna.

Moon Huggers and Custom Illustrations

I just finished working on a custom sequence of 5 images I did, illustrating a song that someone wrote for their son. And you probably have already guessed that it is about the Moon.
Custom work is the most challenging for me in turns of fitting the idea that someone has into an image I grow inside my head. But what I have noticed is that the harder the custom work is, the more growth happens afterwords. So I enjoy a good challenge once in while:) And besides, some customers (like the one I did this order for) are just a pleasure to work with! So cheers and THANK YOU to all of you, that bring your ideas to me and make me grow !!!

Movie Monday 3

This one is just great!!! Whimsy, modern medicine, love and an amazing ending!

Today I will tell a story...

About how the Cheshire Cat learned to play the piano, and how I almost quit painting and an Internet miracle to top it off.

About 2 years ago I was going through some kind of quarter-life-crisis (if there is a thing like that, I think there has to be) and all kinds of crazy ideas about changing my career were passing by.

I was a stay at home Mom with a mediocre BS in Fine Art, I was painting for myself , but there was no way I could see this turning into a more or less serious occupation. My husband kept telling me that I should find some artistic group to hang out with, but it was very hard with a cranky 2 year old boy on hands all the time. So I turned to the Internet, once again. It has never failed me before:) It did not fail this time either. I found a site that had open gallery for Artists , just to show off the works and to leave comments. Started posting, getting feedback, and all of a sudden I felt that I am doing SOMETHING and people are seeing it. For all of you Artistic folk, you know how important that is! To know that your work is seen:) And then I joined a Mommy forum to talk about good kiddy books and organic diapers and ways to reward and punish your little bundle of joy/frustration...And then Julia came along:)

And not only did she come along, she started buying my works. She was my first serious collector, and eventually became a dear friend of mine. Julia had the most amazing ideas for custom pieces, and they sort of clicked with me. A Cheshire cat playing the piano?! Perfect, I can already see him. A family walking their cat in Central Park at night? OOOO...delicious:) And I would instantly get the picture in my head. She has excellent imagination and a very harmonious sense of color, which you can see the best in her knitted works. Here is my daughter Anna wearing of them and loving it:) And I must tell you she is a very picky girly girl (have no idea where she gets it from!)

This is how I see Julia :)) Actually this is a combination of how I see her and how she sees herself

To make a long story short, I did not become a nurse, or radiologist, or X ray technician. And the idea that I could seems ridiculous today, but I was seriously considering it;) Luckily for the unsuspecting future patients of mine, I think I am much better off with a paint brush in my hand

P.S. And for the grand finale an exclusive showing of a couple of pages in a book I did as a gift for Julia's son , the-always-beautifully-smiling little Gabi

IF: Repair

Some things are beyond repair. Like this crack in the wall , the wall separating the real world from the imaginary one. It is good, and it is bad, since such cracks in reality can bring miracles and cause horrible happenstances.

Does it need repair? I am not sure. May be it creates the balance of magic in our daily life.

This is a very old illustration of mine, when I just was figuring out what watercolors are all about.

Making Treasuries is not easy

I have been on Etsy for almost a year. I never managed to get a treasury, even though I could make a pretty good one.
Today as I was going through my morning routine, which now includes twitter I heard someone say that there is an Treasury spot opening soon. So I ran to Etsy, and indeed withing a minute or so I had an opening at the bottom of the page asking me to enter the Treasury Title. Boy, was I ready? NO! But I decided to go with the flow, and made up something sounding like Whimsy in the Air. The key was NOT to refresh the page, while waiting. Thank you twitter, I would not have know that otherwise. And then, I just went through my favorites (and I do happen to like whimsical creatures of all shape and form) and fill it out.
So here it is--my first Etsy Treasury! Cheers to all the featured Artists, may be we will make a good first showing:)

Please leave a comment if you like it!

I found my perfect companion for the winter

I've got hatty birds, hatty cats, Mad Hatters...and now I've completed it with a hat for me:)

It seems to have been just waiting there for me, the last 3 days I was passing it by and thinking that I need to stop and try it on. But I am always running, to school, from school, to the pool, to jujitsu, arr...Most of the time I have to run, not to walk.

Finally I slowed down, stopped,and walked into the fancy boutique (feeling slightly uneasy about myself, I was not wearing my best clothes at the moment, and the lady owner probably does not get too many customers wearing different colored socks.What?:) I was late, again.)

To make the long story short--I bought it. I love it. I think I look like one of my paintings :) I hope I do not look too funny, but even if I do--oh well!

Let the winter come--I am ready, ready for some Mad Tea parties.

What do you think? Isn't it just perfect?:) Now I am the Hatty Artist!

The Wind

I was very surprised how hard it is to find a good image of the wind!
I am doing a custom illustration of a children's song, that involves the moon, the wind and a mother with child. In my mind the wind is this cheeky fellow , blowing his head away, with big nose, and big lips. Did I image him, or did I see him somewhere?
My attempts to google this image were useless. So I had to come up with something without any references. Which is also fun, but a bit harder to do.
I will keep looking, and if any of you have any ideas where to look, it would be greatly appreciated. Meanwhile, I introduce to you The Wind. (available in my shop now)

Movie Monday 2

For all of you cat owners:) A sad life of a cat with kids

IF: Late

Late evening walk in central park. A custom family portrait, that I did for a friend of mine. I hope I will write a story about her, and how I almost became a nurse:)

a bit frustrated

Does anyone know how to get rid of these ugly white borders on the left and the right?
I can not figure it out :( is it "side bar" or is it "margin"?
any advice would be MUCH appreciated

Work in progress

A new batch came out last night. I recently went to a bookstore with my kids and bought a few books from my all time favorite publisher А-БА-БА-ГА-ЛА-МА-ГА, and just looking thou those books always makes me want to paint. And mind you, paint something good:)

I do now know if I have accomplished it, but at least I tried. The hardest thing for me now , is to concentrate. I get only good 2 hours a day when I can work without distraction, and that is not much, because even if I sit down at my work table it takes at least an hour to clear the head from all kinds of useless thoughts. So I get 1 hour out of 24 to create. However, I try to use as much of it as I can. My goal is not to loose my drive, and in a couple of years when the kids are in school and I will have more time to myself to embark on a crazy-paint-all-the-time journey.

Would not it be wonderful to paint like this? I am mezmerized by this artist