lovely gifts

My friend gave me these beautiful "Aizome" (Japanese indigo-dyeing) bag and a bookmark.
She tells me that her uncle is a "Aizome" expert in Japan.
She plays fiddle beautifully with Cross the border.
Any suggestion what should I use this lovely bag for?
As for the bookmark... which book should I read first... "Winnie The Pooh", "Alice's adventure in Wonderland"..?

Casa Vicens.

With your camera always in the purse.

When Straberries turn into pure evil.

Breakfast with Moomin

Found a shop near my home. They have a lots of Moomin goods...
I must go back again... :-)

This is a nice fall.

My sister is over for a week and today we visited the botanical garden. We took many pictures and wished we had packed a wee picnic with us.
The most amazing thing was the silence you could find and how peaceful it was.
I´ll probably be back soon with a nice book.

Homesick at a supermarket.

Found these snacks from Japan.
Then, Thought about my sisters whom I used to fight over these snacks with, thought of my family.
I miss home.

Speaking of lights

These are photos I took when I visited Paris for the first time.
Speaking of lights, This is for you Chiara.
Without the lights we do not see anything, without the shadows we do not see the lights.

Studying the light.

Drawing and painting makes you think a lot about the light.
You look around and try to understand how it works and how you can make it work when you are painting it, trying to reproduce it but make it different too.
Sometimes I find myself daydreaming about my mountains and I always go back with the memory to a special part of the day when the light is a soft tone of indigo .
When I think about my parents home, I imagine it in the late hours of the afternoon at the end of summer, all is warm and quiet and you can almost feel it on your skin, not see the light but feel it with your body.That I would like to be able to paint.

Be wise.

Be wise. live your life in full.
I thought a bird in a shopping mall said something like that.

Beautiful food, wine and a conversation.

We found a lovely italian restaurant around a corner from our home.
People there were so lovely too.
Waiter singing .. amore....♪Brilliant.
You feel your heart and stomach are content with beautiful food, wine and a conversation.

Just where I left you.

I know when you rent a flat you shouln't get attached to it but I will always think about the number 3 of Glen street in Edinburgh as the first real home I have ever had.
I will always remember the first time I saw it and the day I left it. I still miss it...

Things I see, I do these days

In Scotland, my days are filled with indoor activities these days. Since I have signed up to do some study, it has been so difficult for me to properly rest. My brain is constantly thinking... and other corner, my heart is screaming to do more creative stuff. It's all to do with balance, perhaps. It will soon be over, then I will be able to appreciate how creative stuff can release all negative powers sometimes accumulate within you.

I promise, to myself, that I will treat me with many more crocheting, painting and any things tickles my creativity in coming months!!

Porco Rosso wait for us.

If here is something that I really missed in Scotland, it was the chance to go out as much as I wanted, to be outdoors all the time.
Now, I must admit that choosing to be an illustrator is not the smartest move if you want to be outdoor all the time but now that we moved here I am enjoying it as much as I can.
Today we´ll go and watch the Red Bull Air Race , I hope I´ll manage to get some nice pictures. Porco Rosso we are coming!!!

When you cannnot sleep.

When you cannot sleep you watch tv, you have a glass of hot milk, you count the sheep, you make a list of things you want to do the next morning, you make a list of the cleaning products you need to buy, the cleaning you need to do, the places you want to see, the people you want to meet, the animals you would like to save if there was an ecological disaster, the people that influenced your art, the people that influenced your life, you imagine your wedding day even if you say you'll never get married, you imagine your funeral because at some point you'll get one for sure.
I could go on and on about the things I am doing in my head these days to fall back to sleep but nothing is working so if you have any suggestions please come forward and send me back to that beautiful place that is my head asleep.