IF: Winter

It was supposed to be a sketch but it surprisingly turned out to be an illustration. From our sketching session in the Botanics. I absolutely love drawing trees and cannot think about anything which is more relaxing.

Illustration Friday: Mail

An illustration I did a year ago for Garlic and Sapphires collaboration with Creative Writers. It works perfect for this weeks Illustration Friday topic.

good news

You can now find my work in another two galleries in Edinburgh! Technicolour (2 Bruntsfield Place), which is a fantastic new boutique with art, fashion and design run by Jenny, Joanne and Magda. Check it out -  there is plenty of beautiful stuff in there!
Another place is a pop-up shop - Take Out, Ooud Kitchen at Bruntsfield Place opened by Craft House Concept and REALISE. Rush, rush as it is only open till the end of December! 

The good news is that I finally managed to open my Etsy shop (to be precise, I got bribed. I only did it because Kate offered to cook cullen skink soup for us. The soup was fantastic and got eaten but the shop is still there. The effect was rather spactacular because I sold everything I'd listed there in first few hours of opening!). So now it's time to invest in my very own epson printer...

The cat above was born when I was waiting to be picked up from the airport after my flight got cancelled. For some reasons I really like this guy.

back

a break and new friends

We went for a very nice day trip to Blair Atholl, Pitlochry and Dunkeld. The weather was just fantastic, the views spectacular and I think I made new friends there! Not sure what they were after but they suddenly appeared running like crazy towards me and then pecking at my legs and when I told them it hurts they started pecking my boots. They would stop from time to time and look at me and then pecked again. Perhaps they read my Fox and Chicken book before and wanted to express they appreciation!

The break from illustration seems to be going very well. Kate came over last week with a huge bag and brought Gertruda, the most helpful and ergonomic sewing machine in the universe! Thank you! And new Harris Tweed mice were born - Heather, Alpin and Sheena.

hedgehog

I think I am tired. Everything I touch turns into dust and the things are generally going the opposite direction I would like them to. This is the sign I need to take a break from everything and go on holiday. I love travelling, being on the move, train, bus, plane, boat, this is when I come up with the best ideas and this is when I produce my best pictures (somewhere between the check-in and departure gate). So I decided no more drawing before I go on holiday. The hedgehog is my latest attempt. Not sure what this guy is thinking about...perhaps he is considering going for a trip too.

drawing trip

We had a very pleasant drawing trip last Friday. It was not as much of a trip as it was pouring rain outside and we were sitting in a warm and comfortable cafe on Mound with a tea and hot chocolate making plenty of fun sketches. All sorts of warming up drawing exercises - blind drawing, drawing with left hand, drawing with one continuous line, drawing with needle and thread.  Kate was just brilliant and I think I shouldn't believe that the last time she did some drawing was when she was eleven.
I am very pleased with my left handed watercolour. Apparently I finally found out a way to paint with watercolours - use the hand that I cannot control at all! Quite frustrating I must admit. 

fish swing golf beer

Mada and John came over to visit us (in September I think, ages ago). A very quick sketch made in a pub and another one on the way back from Anstruther. It was a fantastic day out, good food - fish and chips, nice walk with spectacular views and my favourite swings in Pittenweem - you cannot expect more from life!

journey

...but before the bears fall asleep they need to go for another important journey. Wish them good luck!

... zanim niedźwiedzie zapadną w sen zimowy na dobre, czeka ich jeszcze jedna bardzo istotna podróż.

autumnal

For some reasons autumn inspires me to draw and make animals comsuming lots of food and falling asleep. And I am not much different.

Z tajemniczych powodów zaczęłam ostatnio rysowac zwierzęta, które jedzą strasznie dużo, po czym zapadają w sen. I ja właściwie zachowuję się podobnie.

morning coffee with red

Still struggling.

edinburgh festival

The sketches I made ages ago. In August. First one is from our degree show. As I am rather scared of mannequins I was a bit a challenge for me to spend a week overlooking the show sitting just opposite this preety mean looking lady. I am pround of myself that toward the end of the week I even managed to draw her! And two sketches from my favourite event ever - Edinburgh Book Festival.

Szkice, które zrobiłam wieki temu. Pierwszy jest jeszcze z czasów naszej wystawy. Raczej nie lubię manekinów, a tutaj byłam zmuszona spędzic cały tydzień w towarzystwie tej przerażającej pani. Całkiem byłam z siebie dumna, jak udało mi się ją nawet pod koniec tygodnia narysowac. A pozostałe dwa rysunki z mojej ulubionej imprezy edynburskiej - Edinburgh Book Festival. Niewiele lepszych rzeczy wydarza się w tym mieście.

morning cappuccino with hands

I've never learnt properly how to draw hands. Always been rather scared by the vision of drawing them and quite often left people on my sketches hand-less which was a bit creepy. So now I am going to draw more hands every now and then (partly because of the project I am planning to work on soon). The drawings are ugly and awkward at the moment but hope to get better soon. Wearing funky nail polish does help though!

fox the champion!

brand new beautiful and very much awaited blog about design fashion and other fantastic stuff! le renard champion by mada! that's a shame you guys cannot read in polish because the text is as great as the pictures.
kasia and the fox are happy.

nowy, wspaniały i długo oczekiwany blog o sztuce użytkowej, modzie i innych pięknych przedmiotach już działa! le renard champion stworzony, wymyślany i pisany przez madę. kasia i lis zwycięzca są bardzo szczęśliwi.

the mice are gone!

my harris tweed mice went to a gallery and they don't live in a box in my wardrobe anymore. and i am sad because they were like my pets and now they are going to be somewhere else with other people. i think i have to sew some more now but still haven't got a sewing machine which doesn't help.  the harris tweed mice together with some of my photoetching and digital prints are now in the Marchmont Gallery in edinburgh, which i suppose is a good news.

nie ma myszy! poszły do galerii i już nie mieszkają w pudełku lawendowym na dnie szafy! to były moje własne myszy, a teraz będą musiały pójśc do innych ludzi. chyba muszę uszyc ich teraz więcej z rozpaczy, tylko chwilowo wciąż nie mam maszyny do szycia.

artichokes!!!

Had a very nice Saturday last week with artichokes, sunflowers and a particularly tasty cream tea. I realised that artichokes are my favourite flowers - they have beautiful colour and shape, and what is perhaps the most important - I can eat them!

zdjęcia z ostatniej soboty z wieloma fajnymi rzeczami - karczochami, słonecznikami i tradycyjnym angielskim przysmakiem (bułeczki na ciepło z dżemem malinowym, śmietanką i do tego herbata, ach). karczochy mnie zachwyciły, bo nie dość, że mają przepiękny kolor i kształt, to jeszcze można je zjeść! moje ulubione kwiaty od teraz.

my very own studio space!!!

I finally have my own studio space! it's true! I has been a week since we went to ikea to get the table, lamp and drawer unit but I am still so very excited about the whole thing! I don't think I've ever got such a wonderful present and I still feel like it was Christmas and birthday both the same day. And the best bit is that I finally started making new pictures. hurray, hurray! This is because the table and the drawers are not some ordinary table and drawers. They are magic!

Oto moja własne, wspaniała, osobista malutka pracownia! Wciąż nie mogę przestac piszczec i skakac z radości za każdym razem, jak obok niej przechodzę (a przechodzę często, bo mieszkanie mamy małe). Mam swój własny stolik, lampkę i co najważniejsze - strasznie dużo szuflad, do których można włożyc strasznie dużo kredek, ołówków i pędzli! No i w końcu zaczęłam tworzyc nowe rysunki, co ma pewnie związek z tym, że mój nowy stolik nie jest takim o sobie zwykłym stolikiem. O nie! On jest czarodziejski!

turkey georgia armenia

very belated sketches from our trip to georgia/armenia/turkey in july.

autumn already

first day of autumn. beautiful rain outside and the plums are in season , which means that the best thing to do is to make knedle (at the picture above), have them for dinner and then spend the rest of the day in bed with a tea, a good book and a wollen blanket. this is what i like the autumn for!

oto pierwszy dzień jesieni dziś. najlepszy czas, żeby zrobic knedle (śliwki angielskie całkiem nieźle zastępują węgierki) i potem spędzic resztę dnia pod kocykiem z herbatą i książką. i to jest właśnie fajne w jesieni - można byc leniwym i jest to powszechnie akceptowane.

my studio

This is what my studio looks like at the moment which is rather sad. A little desk and a few shelves would help...It feels like my creativity is piled somewhere at the bottom.

No właśnie, tak teraz wygląda moja pracownia, co bynajmniej nie wpływa na mnie bardzo twórczo. Marzę o małym biureczku i o kilku półkach.