.because I'm a mama.

As a mother, I always like to read other mother's stories, how they raise their children, about their special moments, and even about our similarities in motherhood. It helps me know and realise that I am not alone and that in another part of this world,  someone else has gone through an exact same situation or emotion.  So then an offer came to participate in a parenting interview by Dorothy from Feet on the Ground .  As I slowly answered each question, deep down I sat there wondering if other mothers would relate to me, would share my experiences, or would feel my emotions.

And now it's up on Dorothy's wonderful site and as I read it over again, I know in my heart that there are mothers out there who feel the same way as I do.

A mother's experiences are wonderful to share. We all share this language, this understanding, the exhaustion, and the overwhelming love we have for our children.

Check it out here!

Photos by Aiza Cruz-Wing Photography

.washed out beauty.

I don't usually post my photography inspirations here, it's always been about the art, the lines, the colours, and the details. But I can't help myself this time around.  Maciej Leszczynski on Photography Served immediately caught my eye.

Here, it's the washed out sky, the washed out water that to me, creates power to the subject, power to the photograph.

Her black and whites are also stunning, crisp and detailed but yet she still captures the movement with her slow shutter speed. Her subjects are simple, with no contradictions around it. Just shadow, light, and lines.

And when she shoots in colour, the shots are vivid and alive. It is as if she gives life to still objects, as if they are breathing through the photo.

And now I sit here, with pure camera envy. I sit here dreaming of my next photographic excursion where I can challenge my imagination and my lens. I sit here hoping that it will come soon.

.a Utopian in East London.

There is this pleading voice echoing in my head, an urge and rush of adrenaline. It had been lingering and hovering over me these past few weeks and I want to share.

I have been thinking about my last year in university. The previous years had already been a challenge and the last year had raised its stakes. I was scared for what would happen after, yet confident that my creativity would take me somewhere.  I walked with my head held up high, after two years of constructive criticism, and somewhat berating as well, I decided to finish the year without tears. After all, I was showing them who I was as an artist, who I was as a designer. I had my brave boots on and succumbed to their challenges. There was a world that I created where the design strategies were mine and my voice constantly backfired and exploded with reasoning and purpose. My fingers worked with my imagination and I became the character I created, that old Utopian, a wanderer walking down the paths of East London. Needless to say, it ended up as the best digital concept work I have ever done. So now two years have passed, and the folder that holds these designs are constantly viewed. I remember how creatively passionate I was, where sleepless nights were not a chore but a genuine commitment to my craft.

For so long, inspiration has always come from other people, other artists and designers, but today I want to inspire myself. I want to believe that the person who created that world before still exists. I want to remember that I can do this, I would like to be brave again and believe that my art matters.

Because it does. My art matters. It is part of who I am.

.slipping off the track.

So yes,  it's been ages. Ten days is a long time to be away from my online home.

I have not had the words to blog. I have not had the photographs to show. And I have not had the creative inspiration to share.

There are too many things happening in real life that my creative dreamland has been put to the side. I've slipped off the creative track that I was on but it is only a little slip. Reality has kicked my butt a bit, but I can still find my way back onto the track.

It's about getting right back up and not letting these breaks damage the rest of the path.

So now I must say that I am only looking forward to what September is going to bring me. A second round in Unravelling, new design strategies, creative challenges, time with friends and a weekend on a tropical island.

Right. I think it's time that I find my way right back onto that track.

.sketchbook diaries: camila do rosario.

Goodness, the pages of this moleskin make me happy. Camila Do Rosario makes me happy.

She mixes fabrics with sketches, layers words and notebook paper with her beautiful drawings and her dainty details make her lines so wonderful to look at.

The vintage feel to her pages. The use of old negatives. The slides, postcards and stamps.

I am absolutely fascinated and captivated... and of course, totally inspired. I can't stop looking at her work.

Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not, and a sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is.

Oscar Wilde.