Tuesday Love

I love love! It is such a blinding feeling. In a good sense. You can see only the good in people and your surrounding. And you are good to others. Love gives you strength to smile even if your love is not reciprocated or even when others hurt you. I am talking about all love. Love of a friend, a boy-friend, a husband, a mother, a father, a brother, a cousin, God, angels, a home, a pet.

When I got pregnant I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I felt that this new person that was residing in me was going to take over not only my body and mind but my entire life. But when my son was finally born I discovered that this love was so strong to the point of paralysis. Overwhelming, breathtaking, dumbing and enriching at the same time! I think it was only natural that I wanted to call on all the powers of heaven to always protect him from everything that could ever hurt him. The following is an expression of all the feelings that I carried during my pregnancy and after. 

"Cello Player"

When I was pregnant I would constantly rub my belly and think that this person would be a cello player. Also, I thought it was going to be a girl named Hana! Hence we have here Studio Hana. This name represents my love and adoration to this person that today is Aleksander and completely rules my world! Hana means a flower in Japanese. He truly is my love flower!

So here we have |Alek sitting on his Guardian Angel's hand that carries him over a storm. Alek enjoys the safety and warmth of the sun. The cello in his hand represents my hopes for him.

"Angel and a Boy"

This is my favourite drawing ever. I love how safe this boy is. He is completely submerged in the angel's arms. No harm can come to him. Outside of the embrace the storm is growing wild. The sky is black, the wind is furious and the leaves fly everywhere in confusion. But my boy is safe.

Both pictures have a poems at the back. I wrote them for my son to read to guide him and to ensure him that i will always be there for him. Both pictures are not for sale. They are for him to remember that love i have for him. They are in my son's possession for as long as his decides to have them.

Ordinary-Interesting Weekend

The weekend was eventful. Not with obvious and grand events but the ones that you see with a corner of your eye. They are small, ordinary yet interesting and meaningful. I always keep them in my head for a long time because they usually inspire me to analyse my deeds and to be a better person to the people I meet in my way.

Saturday morning I take my son to the Japanese school. When he is there getting knowledge I sit at the close by Tim Horton's and work on my art, read, observe people. This Saturday as I was drawing more circles in my sketchbook, a tall Chinese man approached my table. He put a tooney, a looney and a dime next to my coffee. I looked up in surprise and amazement. He explained that someone had given him the money but he already had tokens. No further explanation. Why me? Do I look like I need money? Of course I do! We all do, but why did he choose me? Highly generous and unselfish act of kindness! He sat across from me with his coffee and his thermos still looking at me. After a while he added, "You don't drive?! Use it for TTC! Good luck!"

At noon, after I picked up Aleksander from school, we decided to have lunch at the same Tim Horton's. As we were sitting down I noticed an interesting man coming out of the washroom. Shaved, bald, tall, very clean-looking. He wore red sports pants, snow white t-shirt. And in his hands he had a black laundry basket. The basket was filled with things you normally don't bring outside. A pillow, cover sheets, clothes, a book, and a few other things. Everything was spotless and extremely clean looking. I knew this man was homeless. So did my son. He started asking questions about homelessness and about this particular man. I tried to answer the questions the best I could to encourage a good and sympathetic heart in my son. This man looked very strong, confident and proud. I wanted to offer something but I was afraid he would be offended by my donation. I wanted to give him the money I got earlier from the Chinese man, but decided not to. Instead, I remembered about a "roll up the rim to win". I had a "coupon" for free potato wedges. Still very hesitant, I decided we should give it to him. My son went to his table. I couldn't hear anything but I saw very well they had a conversation about that coupon. After a few more sentences exchanged my son came back with the coupon in his hand.

"Mama Chameleon"
Mother's job is so hard. We have to adjust to ever-changing situations. We always have to know the right answers. We have to be flexible yet strong to carry the world on our shoulders. All for our children. We are everyday chameleons. We hold our children in our arms firmly to cuddle and to protect while holding on to the branch that we live on. This painting is very important to me because it is exactly about that. And we, chameleons smile all through that even if it is hard and overwhelming.

This painting was sold in Japan after the Aleksander's Dream Box exhibition.

Aleksander's Dream Box

It's year 2012. After three years of carrying the idea of an art exhibition,  painting and collecting pictures on paper, I finally work up the courage to approach the owner of the local gallery organized in a beautifully renovated "kura" building. Kamiishi-san says "yes", in fact he is wondering why I haven't done it sooner!

Kamiishi-san. I don't know if I should say this but every time I speak to him and look at him all I can see in his face is "the divine stone", the exact translation of his last name. He is calm, gentle, sensitive yet a very good businessman. There is something royal about him.We have known him for the last three years of our residence in Chichibu. We were introduced by the other Polish person in this town.

Oh my goodness! Kamiishi-san and his family turn out to be the most gracious host of my art. He helps me organise and hang it the night before the opening. I have goosebumps. They become a very normal thing now! Aleksander's Dream Box it very much happening! Aleksander's Dream Box is a collection of very light pictures. They are what I think is in a child's collection of dreams and thoughts. An illustration of child's psyche. I don't dispute I simplified them, making them easy to understand for adults.

This event in my life was made so easy for me! This is HUGE! All I can say is "Thank you" to all the people involved, the earth they walk and the air that surrounds them!

The day of the opening. November 1st, 2012. We come to the "Kamiishi Gallery" at 11:00. As it turns our Kamiishi-san opened it an hour before. I walk in with some snacks and some drinks for the first guests. I am incredibly surprised. No! I am blown right out of my boots by the kindness of some of our Japanese friends. I find amazingly beautiful, magnificent arrangements of flowers in the corners of the gallery. They are sent to me with little notes of appreciation. I read them and I cry. Wow! I belong here! These wonderful people see me for who I am. Thank you Ikeda Family, Ideura-sensei, Hikaru and a few others. This is too much! I am too lucky! I am accepted!

This picture was added to the collection on the day of the opening. I painted it the same night that we hang all the pictures in the gallery. When we finished we realized that there was one more spot empty and available. I came back home. Got my paints and pencils, brushed, and just made lines without planning or thinking about the painting. I guess this amazing subconscious came out on paper. I call this 'Mother's Love', although most of the pictures in this collection have no names. They are for you, the viewer to develop them for yourself. This almost octopus looking hair, resembling arms and hands,  covers and protects her son. There is a lot of peace and comfort in this picture. Her eyes are closed while she is embracing her little son who is also sleeping. Pure harmony and safety. We all crave what she is feeling at this moment. 

This painting was not planned. It was meant to be. 

Manna

We all have certain aspirations, plans, ambitions when we grow up. But some of us grow with a sense that the world owes them everything, that everything comes in abundance for free. When I first met my husband I was blown away by my luck. I thought that since that moment nothing can conquer me, own me, nothing can harm me. I also thought that from that moment the world would give us everything because we are so incredible, larger than life together! "Manna From Heaven" relates to that cocky and eccentric period in my life. I was studying Anthropology, painting, travelling and spending money that wasn't mine to keep. I am relating here to the ever present student loan. Although life has not spoilt me one bit, I can't complain. I won't complain. I am not really going to say that I am haven't got my  "manna from heaven."

"Manna From Heaven"


Many years later, while living in Japan, when we experienced life beyond "free manna from heaven" I decided that it was time to reach higher. "Star Gazing" came to life. We had everything handed to us on a silver plate. Japan was kind, inviting and generous. The symbolic sky was right there within our reach!

"Star Gazing"

There was one more idea called "Surprise from Heaven" which i sketched many times but always threw it in the trash can. So part three doesn't exist in the physical world. I am certain that it never will. It was supposed to represent the same two characters. One of them is turned sideways to show us a big belly. Yes, you are guessing right. There is a surprise hidden there waiting to be born. My surprise has been born in 2008, so the element of reference and relevance for me has gone irreversibly. There will not be another.

Self-Portret

I. There is a lot of preoccupation with "I" these days. Why? What turned us to be like that? Have we always been like that? Why in English language "I" is a capital letter. You know, one of the first things i have learned while growing up in Poland and studying Polish language at school was that we always put capital letter when referring to "You", "Your", Mr., Miss, Mrs., etc. It was a culture shock for me at the age of 15 to start using capital letter for the selfish "I" as opposed to my listener, my friend, my correspondent "You". So sometimes when you see me type my own "i", please don't mind me...I am just practicing being "me" once in a while.

It feels right to give you one of my recent works today. It is one of many "Colouring Pages". I have produced most of them while being inspired by my work with the disabled persons. I hope that one day I get to use my "Colouring Pages" as a form of therapy. It has been my therapy to draw it for sure!

My idea here is that whether you want to colour each circle a different colour or just colour the entire thing in one hue, it will serve it's purpose of getting your mind of everyday things. It will make you start thinking about nothing else but this picture. Or it will calm you enough to re-think your problems, your issues in a different view. This way my work of art will be a shared work of art. Egalitarian work of art. And definitely there is no one way of doing it either. I love choices because choices make a person special, a genius in his/her own way, and included.

Let me know what you think? How would you colour this? Would you decompose it into different colours, if so, how? Or would you simply go for the entire picture in one colour. Would you choose crayon, pencil or marker? Let me know. I am curious;)

Ste. Sault Marie Weekend

A Monday after a long break can be very depressing. But there is nothing worst than a Tuesday that feels like a Monday after the long weekend! However, you have to look on the bright side of things!
Let's face it, we had an amazing long weekend! We couldn't have a better weather! It was glorious! I am smiling just thinking about it! Also, on Friday as I drove my family to Sudbury, I saw the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. The clouds were like strawberry swirl ice cream. The pinkiest pinks and purplest purples. That reminds me of one time when I painted a sunset with only purples and pinks in it. Absolutely no blue. The clouds were swirling around each other and expanding their bellies full of water. My husband said that there were no sunsets like that in reality! Well, there it was! Last Friday, February 17th, 2017.

Today, I don't have a painting for you but I am offering you three pictures of the place I visited this weekend. They truly inspire me to pick up the brushes! And I can guarantee you that there is a painting coming very soon! That place is my muse and my inspiration. There is nothing more breathtaking than standing in a complete silence that is broken by a sound of crow's wings up in the sky. I hope this paints a picture for you. Also, I want to tell you that I have always known this but it surprises me every time when I see it. As soon as you leave the city you see how much colour there is in winter! You have brown leaves over-sleeping on tree branches, white bark of birches, deep browns of the ground, greens of pines and other evergreens, and bright reds of twigs here and there. I saw that with my own eyes last Saturday as we were leaving Sudbury for Ste. Sault Marie.  All that goodness was crowned with a morning fog and virgin snow. Amazing. Romantic. Real!

Jiving Alek and Viktoria

This is it my friends! Friday is here! I have been busy all week working on a painting. This is an image taken at The Falls Premier Dance where my son and his dance partner competed. They won the first and third place. I am one proud mama!! On January 29th, we all got in a car and drove to Niagara Falls for this competition. It was held at Marriott by the Falls. Surprisingly both kids were not nervous at all as opposed to us, parents! The first dance was Cha-Cha, then Jive at 14:00. At 14:30 they danced again, only Cha-cha. They did a superb job! I had to hold my breath to stop myself from crying. I will not pretend that I thought they were the best pair on the floor even though they just did the basic steps. But after only a month of lessons to be able to compete with your head up high... that is an achievement. To win the first place after just a month of learning is the whole new ball game! Watch out people! These are the Champions in the making! And I am not just saying this because I am his mama! Mark my words!

When I saw the pictures from this event I knew I had to paint them. They look amazing together! She is so beautiful and elegant. She reminds me of a graceful and a delicate swan. Tall, slim and so incredibly straight like a real dancer. And he beside her looks like a grown up gentleman! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this feeling of adoration that I have for them! I love them!

This is jive. It is a very fast dance. Dancers must move very vigorously yet manage to raise their knees high and keep they posture straight for 1 minute and 30 seconds (at this competition). This dance used to be popular in the 1940's in the U.S where it found its origins in Afro-American culture. It quickly became popular as the American soldiers danced and partied in Europe after the WWII.

Keep jivin' all weekend long!! See you on Tuesday! I am off to Ste. Sault Marie for the weekend!

Jiving Alek and Viktoria

Kamikawa

Happy Thursday! The week is getting better! We will have a long weekend! We will be celebrating a Family Day! Family is the most important thing in the world! Where would you be without it? Who would support you the most in your weakest hour if not your family? They will argue with you, judge you, scream at you, call you names but in the end, they will hug you, kiss you and love you forever! They accept you for who you are because they have seen you ugly and small, big and strong and they have stuck by you all this time! What I am saying here is... LET'S CELEBRATE! I am starting the celebrations with a parent-teacher night. Then, I am going to pack for the long weekend. Ste. Sault Marie awaits!! 

Hang in there friends! To cheer you up I have here a really nice piece of work. One of my favourites from a great time in my life!

Kamikawa.
I love this atmosphere. The sun is setting somewhere in the distance. You can see only silhouettes of objects and people. From the parking lot of our apartment building, across the fields, I could observe this image every time sun set. My life in Kamikawa was good! I can't say that I produced a lot of paintings due to my vibrant social live at "Melrose Place". We would have bonfires, get-togethers, soccer nights, rugby nights, eating and drinking nights, "my music is the best" nights, "watch my skiing videos" nights,  Mizube Koen nights by Kanna river as well as "hide your neighbour's plants"nights. If you were there and you are reading this, you certainly remember what I mean!

Whenever I had a quiet moment I would sit myself with my sketchbook in the parking lot and sketch and re-sketch this house. I couldn't get enough of this fascinating and mesmerising structure of the roof. I don't know this for certain but I think somebody had told me that there was a handicapped person living in that house. Come to think of it, I had never seen any people around it...  I lived right next to it for three years (2002-2005) and I don't know anything about it...  No regrets. Shoganai-ne!

My Beginning

One day during summer vacation, sometime before grade three i felt the unstoppable urge to paint on canvas. I had always known that arts was my favourite subject at school and not only because the otherwise strict and eccentric art teacher loved my work. But because there was freedom in it. I grew up in a communist Poland so getting materials for art was not easy.  In fact, it wasn't easy to get anything apart from vinegar. Without asking I snuck into my mom's sewing stash and I picked up some of her white and blue checker pieces of fabric with a white reverse side. I had stretched it over a picture frame and put a few thumb tacks in. I had sat down with my elementary school poster paints and began to make strokes with my brush. The result was three yellow pyramids with a proportionally huge black cat sitting in front of them. Since that day the need for creating and art has never disappeared nor diminished. I have painted and drawn many pieces that have reflected my travels in Asia, personal experiences and most of all my family. They are the main source of inspiration.

Today, I have four paintings from Japan. Naruto beach in Tokushima prefecture, Mamba in Saitama prefecture, Trekking Ryokami-san in Saitama prefercture and Geisha-san from Kyoto.

Naruto Beach. This painting was done just for the sheer need of painting. There had been many days in my life at that time when i missed being a kid again, worry-free and careless. I missed having things that i lost and feelings that i wasn't sure come back for good. Naruto encases that uncertainty and the need for renewed feeling of love and marriage.

Mamba. I painted while surrounded by friends from different parts of the world. It was an amazing day by the riverside. We shared happiness, Asahi, Kirrin, BBQ meat, conversations that were typical only to this mixture of people and only at that point in time of our lives. We lived like campers, endlessly partying, working, listening to music and complaining. We called ourselves "Melrose Place", like the TV series.

Kanna river (Kannagawa), in different parts of it's flow,  gave us a lot of great memories. This is one of them. It is worth mentioning that Mamba village is now called Kanna, Saitama Prefecture.

Trekking Ryokami-san. My husband is a man of incredible vitality and energy. Once, when we lived in Kamikawa, he had made up his mind to go trekking in the mountains by himself while I stayed behind and enjoyed the company of my friend and neighbour. In preparation for it I had made him some nice rice balls, simple sushi and snacks to last him three days,  Fortunately and to my happiness, I had him back after one night. I always miss him when he is away. I hate sleeping alone. He kept me entertained with some amazing stories and pictures from the trek for days. This is one of the sights he saw during that walk in the woods of Mt. Ryokami (Ryokami-san). We did a day trip there together a year later. It truly took my breath away!

Mt. Ryokami (1723 m) or as the Japanese say Mr. Ryokami (Ryokami-san) is an amazing and a dangerous walk. Every year there are at least a few who die or get seriously injured while trekking that mountain. It encompasses ropes and chains on its way that help you pass the most dangerous spots. Yet it is worth the climb for it's magnificent views and animal spotting of Chichibu Tama Kai National Park!!

Geisha-san. This is a painting that came to be after my family's first stay in Japan ended. We had lived there for 6 years. Suddenly, i found myself back in Canada, underappreciated, underpaid and over worked. It had been nothing like we imagined it would be when we made the decision to go back to Canada. The longing for life in Japan struck me badly.

I looked through some pictures that we take millions of whereever we go and chose one of a Geisha standing on one of the romantic bridges in Kyoto. In the background you can see the sun had already set and there is a flat view of the fall leaves just lifelessly sleeping on a tree. In an instant I decided to take a shot at this beautiful lady, the ultimate symbol of Japanese mystic beauty in the western eye.