art inspiration : erika blomgren

again i've lost a little bit of what i was trying to do with this blog.
...... somehow i got carried away with not posting any inspiration entries.

oh well, blame it on the hard drive crash.

swedish illustrator erika blomgren.

fun, simple but yet also complex lines, splash of colour,  blocks of black ink.

very similar to some of my other art inspirations. but i still love it.

and i think you will too.

I love how she mixed a little bit of architectural drawing into this piece. Look at that detail in her building!

that ordinary moment

December 27 – Ordinary Joy. Our most profound joy is often experienced during ordinary moments. What was one of your most joyful ordinary moments this year? 

I remember it being a bad day.

I remember being angry, frustrated, upset, alone. My road rage was at its height, I screamed at people through the glass of my car window, muttered curse words under my breath annoyed at every movement the other motorists made. Everyone seemed to be in my way and all I wanted to do was get home and sulk.

Then it came. The moment I had been waiting for since I moved back home, on a highway that sits in the landing path of the international airport. Right underneath the gigantic body of a Boeing 707, my car sat underneath the huge roar of its engine as it neared its destination.

Oh, how I laughed. I laughed on my own and I giggled like a little school girl as if i had reached a goal that was unachievable, as if it were a dream of mine that I longed to have for years and years. But it was MY ordinary moment, my simple ordinary moment that made me smile the rest of the way home.

I don't even remember what I was angry about.

Photo by Lauren Treece

if i had known

If I had known....

If I had known one day we would meet...

I would have counted the raindrops to mark the days

I would have danced beneath every full moon

If had known one day we would kiss

I would have sprinkled my hair with golden stars

and bathed my feet in the milky way

If I had known one day we would touch

I would have clothed myself in the wind

and caressed my skin with the morning dew

If I had known one day we would embrace...

I would have made a bed of moss

and covered it with wild flowers....

If I had known one day I would be your bride...

I would have bathed myself in the sun

and veiled my face with clouds

If I had known one day I would speak your name...

I would have had the nightingale teach me his song

and fairies teach me to fly

If I had known one day you would seek me out....

I would have the fireflies light your path

and sent angels to guide you

If I had known you would one day love me....

I would have gifted you the rainbow

    Kyssus 2004

 Because it's been four wonderful years. 

 

..... and because there are many more years ahead of us.

 

December 27, 2006

Photos by Dino Lara

sleigh bells ring, are you listening?

*sigh*

okay, who was I kidding?

I jumped on the #reverb10 boat knowing that December is ALWAYS crazy for me. Between Christmas, my birthday, my anniversary, friends visits, in-laws visits, December has come by as if it was a huge gust of wind that shook me off my feet. And now it's almost over.

I could have spent every day of December reflecting and manifesting, perhaps silently I was as the prompts came through my emails daily. Perhaps as I read them, I knew the answer immediately, or perhaps I had to think about the questions in depth before answering them.

All I know is that as I had time to think about my past year, whether I shared it on here or kept it private, I couldn't have asked for anything more as this year reaches its end. 
Very grateful and extremely blessed.
 ❤

finding her

 December 10 –  Wisdom. What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out? (Author: Susannah Conway)

i thought i had lost her.

emotionally raw. emotionally out of sync.

then the year became about my wisdom of acceptance. accepting who i had become, who this new person was replacing her.

it became about my  wisdom of understanding. the understanding that things were supposed to be exactly the way they were.

it became about my wisdom of patience.  knowing that if i waited patiently but looked hard enough she would resurface.

it became about my wisdom of strength. about embracing the courage as it swelled, about rejoicing as the walls broke down, and about celebrating the bravery as it intensified.

so my wisest decision yet?

finding her again.

and realising that it finally became about the wisdom of

chosing to be me again.

the night they rocked my world

December 9 – Party Prompt: Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans. (Author: Shauna Reid)

these ladies.

manila streets.

'Nuff said.

More here.

beautifully different

December 8 – Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful. (Author: Karen Walrond)

Beautifully different?

                   Me? Not sure.

I've never seen myself as different, sometimes I feel like I blend in with a crowd too much, 

sometimes I feel like I just ride the waves that come in my direction, 

simply walk the paths that I cross; merge with the routines people do to just survive. 

Perhaps listing it all down will pave my 

search for all the things that make me beautifully different.

So.....

•  I always cry when I'm angry. I always cry when I'm happy. So needless to say my emotions ALWAYS get the best of me.
• A small scar sits on the middle of the bridge of my nose, scars on my elbows, scars on my knees. See next topic for answer.
•  I am the queen of all klutzes. I was not meant to have toes seeing that I always hurt them, I was not meant to have feet to steady me on the ground as I always trip over them. There is not one day where there is no scratch or bruise on this body.
• My daydreams take me away more than they should.
• I really don't like being wrong and I'll fight for it until I know I'm right. But I'm also shy, so if I don't know you, sometimes I let the fight slide. Yes, I'm shy, but get to know me and the extrovert comes through.
• I give all that I am to those that I love,  sometimes too much.
• I like to peel my nailpolish, peel labels off anything, peel glue off my hands, peel melting wax off a candle, play with melting wax, and peel paint off surfaces.
• I can be very girly but a true tomboy at heart. 
• My teeth are crooked, my thighs are chunky and my legs are short. 
• I love to read but sometimes skip through words just to get through a chapter.
• And I love trashy novels. I really do. 
• I need to listen to music everyday. I need it to vibe with my daydreams. I need it to vibe with my realities.
•  I sing. But I don't share it. 
• I am a true and utter idealist no matter what I make myself believe. My optimism makes me fall hard sometimes.
• When I turned 30, I wanted to believe that I knew everything about myself.... there are still some blank spaces in this puzzle that need to be filled.

Beautifully different. I like it.

Maybe I really am beautifully different and I haven't realised the depth of it yet.

for #reverb10

the 100th post

Jump, and you will find out how to 

unfold your wings as you fall.

Ray Bradbury

the contagious vibe of creativity

"so the real cool shit is, when people aren't looking at you, you know, like when nobody is looking, when the cameras are off... what you are made of when you are by yourself.... that is, kinda like the essence of cool for me...."

"this is right....."

                         "that feels right for me"

Oh, the contagiousness of the creatives.

INFLUENCERS FULL VERSION from R+I creative on Vimeo.

INFLUENCERS is a short documentary that explores what it means to be an influencer and how trends and creativity become contagious today in music, fashion and entertainment.

The film attempts to understand the essence of influence, what makes a person influential without taking a statistical or metric approach.

Written and Directed by Paul Rojanathara and Davis Johnson, the film is a Polaroid snapshot of New York influential creatives (advertising, design, fashion and entertainment) who are shaping today's pop culture.

"Influencers" belongs to the new generation of short films, webdocs, which combine the documentary style and the online experience.

influencersfilm.com
facebook.com/​influencersfilm
---
Director's Note: on.fb.me/​bQ3kHj
Playlist: on.fb.me/​cve0yF

catching up for #reverb 10

December 5 – Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why? (Author: Alice Bradley)

to let go. hmmm.

do I even know and understand the meaning of these two words?
have I even fully realised that I have things that I need to let go of?

perhaps this year has been the time that I  began to realise that letting go is a process.

letting go is a journey.

and letting go is necessary.

so I'll get there eventually

but there is way too much shit i hang onto. way too much. 

maybe next year I will have the answer to this question.

December 6 – Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it? (Author: Gretchen Rubin)

under the wings of the sparrow she flies 3/ 6

mixed media on paper

Rachel Le Roux

Dec 2010

I've started painting again.

I realised that in the middle of chaos, all I needed to do what sit down and do it. In the middle of all sorts of hectic, all I needed to do was escape.

And I did. And now, all I can think of doing is filling up canvases.

Now I realise that my methods of research and methods of finding inspiration is my subtle way of making excuses for not being inspired and it's my subtle way of procrastinating. Yes, subtle to me, but perhaps an obvious fact to others.

my goal for 2011? an exhibit.

No excuses, no procrastination. Just a goal to reach to put together an event to display work that I am proud of. And now, all I want to do is clear time for this.

art inspiration : reality in oils

Realism at it's best. Her work seems so real you can't take you eyes off them.


Linnea Strid's art strokes are so defined that you need to take a second look at some of her paintings. Her ability to make water look so real is just absolutely amazing.

Inspired? Yes. Completely.

through his eyes

December 4 – Wonder. How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year? (Author: Jeffrey Davis)

my sense of wonder?

my son.

If i could walk through a day through his eyes, life would be such a wide spectrum of colours, one that seems so complicated but also a simple one. I would constantly have questions and answers that don't make sense, I would be curious and amazingly intelligent, my eyes would light up daily with the discoveries that come into my life everyday.

his growth, his intelligence, his personality, his creativity, his curiosity of the unknown.

my sense of wonder. 

that one moment

December 3 – Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). (Author: Ali Edwards)

I remember waking up that morning on the other island miles away from home. Hungover, upset and missing my family, I sat and had a ham and cheese omelette in a cafe around the corner from the hotel I was staying at with my friends. The air was cool and the sky was grey, with not one pocket of sunshine attempting to creep through the thick clouds.  It was quiet, the locals went about their business and I watched the island life creep past as they began their routine around me as I sat there with a pounding head eating my breakfast.

I went for a walk that took me to the end of the stretch of beach, a little girl and her mother were collecting shells, a toned woman was doing her yoga, an older man was jogging on the beach and me, well I was breathing in this moment that I knew would not last forever. The smell of the salty ocean was stronger than usual, the sand was damp and cold and not its usual powdery texture; it stuck to my legs as I sat watching the silver traces of light on the oceans surface. 

I don't know what it was that morning, whether it was the stillness and quietness of this grey morning on a tropical island or perhaps it was my emotional hungover state after a friends big birthday bash or perhaps it was the simple life that my eyes grasped that morning.

But in that moment, it all made sense and in that moment, I felt alive. 

Original post here.

one word

December 1 – One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you? (Author: Gwen Bell)

2010. Change.

It has been about change all along. The struggle to adapt, the struggle to settle in, and the constant refusal to understand it and accept it.  

I've never been good at accepting it and when it comes through my way, I fight it. 2010 has been the year where I have learned to accept it gracefully and understand that it is there to help me grow, to make me wiser with my decisions and to help me become that better person. 

2011. Strive.

In this year that I see coming, I see that I will achieve these dreams that I have, these dreams that I have been hanging onto, the ones I let slip when life hit me with good and bad challenges.

I see that will aim high and not doubt that I can be that person I have always dreamed of being. I know that my procrastination will stop, that I will fulfill each dream and make them a reality. I know that if I try hard enough, I can start believing that I will no fail like I think I will.

I see that ahead of me, I will slowly begin to understand that my art has a purpose, that I will and do what I want to do without worrying about what other people think. And I'd like to see that when I look back at the end of 2011, I would know that I tried everything that I could to be that designer, that artist, and that I finally took those first steps into forming my stamp in this creative world.

Reverb 10

I've decided to jump on the wagon for this online project suggested by none other than, my Unravelling mentor, Susannah Conway.

Reverb 10  is an annual event that gets the online world reflecting on their past and to manifest what is next, an online initiative to respond to daily prompts through a blog, twitter or any other platform through words, photography or  whatever else you chose to do. I like this challenge.

 I can challenge my mind and my memory through my reflection.

I can challenge my goals and my passions through manifestation.

There's a few days to catch up on but I think I can do this and why not end the year with this?

Tonight, my journey begins.

and click here if you want to join in.

....and now the day ends with letters.

I am obsessed with random letters popping up in interiors.

They are there for no other reason than that to decorate; to sit beside bits and pieces, hang on the wall, sit on a shelf or even on its own.

Love it.

and oh.... just look at the vintage phone.....

Photos courtesy of emmas designblogg