Books that Inspire

Inspiration

It's already passed midnight and I'm sitting next to my computer, full of inspiration and ideas. Tonight was another beautiful night with my best friend Ksenia Sapunkova. We went to the bookstore together to discover inspiration and we did. We found this amazing book called "Difining Luxury" by Jeffrey Bilhuber. I got so much inspiration and now my eyes are closing but my soul longs to create new illustrations that would reflect that deep beauty contained in this marvellous book. I could not resist and I bought this book so that I could hold it close to my heart and tune in to the flow.  I will create a podcast next week about this book and will flip through the pages to show you its beauty. Stay tuned. :)

Mademoiselle Chanel Illustration

There is this beautiful lady -  mademoiselle. She is very delicate and tender, in other words she is like a flower. When she is walking down the streets of France, there is this mystery that spreads around her like a cloud.

My Process of Creating Illustrations

The Color of Love

Did this ever happen to you that you walk inside a bookstore and right away see that perfect book that was waiting for you for so long? You open it and your heart starts beating with so much excitement while your eyes dance through the pages. This is what happened to me yesterday, after a long day I decided to have a walk. I live very close to a very nice street fool of cafe shops, bookstores and restaurants. While I was walking, I could feel that something so beautiful is waiting for me. I went inside a bookstore (it is a very special bookstore as initially it was built as a theater and only few years ago it has been slightly redesigned as a bookstore but the stage and balconies have been kept as they were.)

The moment I entered, my eyes fell on that special book called: The Color of Love. I was so amazed by the title of this book as Love is something so precious to me, something so deep, something so special that I try to express in all my illustrations and paintings. This book was filled with beautiful poems by various famous poets and writers such as: Rumi, Solomon, Shakespeare and many others. All the poems were describing love in a different way and the text was written by hand with a gold paint. I think that by getting this book, I've been moved to a higher level of creativity. Something so deep inside of me is happening, I don't know if it's the early stage of inspiration or a deep longing to express love. We'll see. I feel that I've been painting so many illustrations on the theme of love and now I'm at this point when I am overwhelmed with love. I feel love everywhere around me, everywhere I turn, I feel love. 

I really liked this poem in this book by Rumi:

Happy the moment when we are seated in the palace, thou and I,
With two forms and with two figures but with one soul, thou and I.
The colours of the grove and the voice of the birds will bestow immortality
At the time when we come into the garden, thou and I.
The stars of heaven will come to gaze upon us; We shall know them the moon itself, thou and I. Thou and I, individuals no more, shall be mingled in ectasy, Joyful, and secure from foolish babble, thou and I.
All the bright-plumed birds of heaven will devour their hearts with envy
In the place where we shall laugh in such a fashion, thou and I.
This is the greatest wonder, that thou and I, sitting here in the same nook,
Are at this moment both in Persia and Khorasan, thou and I.

Promenade des Anglais, Nice, Cote d'Azur - French Riviera

Recently, I went to Nice, France and my heart was touched by beauty, elegance and style. Palm trees, oranges, flowers, aristocracy, history, wine, cheese, sea, French Provence and vacation - these are the
words that highlight Nice.

This coastline was one of the first modern resort areas. It began as a winter health resort for the British upper class at the end of the 18^th century. Nice became the playground and vacation spot of British, Russian, and other aristocrats, such as Queen Victoria and King Edward VII.

Promenade des Anglais is very famous in French Riviera and is lined with cafes and hotels, both modern and Belle Epoque, museums and luxury  apartments, the Promenade des Anglais is a long wide road which runs the length of the seafront at Nice. You walk across it and you're on the beach beside an unbelievably turquoise Mediterranean sea.
 
I decided to create my first illustration of the Cote d'Azur series by showing the romantic side of Promenade des Anglais.  I called this illustration: Rendezvous, Promenade des Anglais. This illustration reflects love at first sight and expresses beauty.

Promenade des Anglais, Nice, French Riviera

Illustration: Rendezvous, Promenade des Anglais created by Daria Jabenko (July, 2010)

New Paintings

My update about my new painting.

All about Love illustrations

So here I am, full of inspiration to create illustrations about love. It's like in that song, lets talk about love and for me its lets illustrate love :)
I would like to share with you my latest illustration that I just finished.
Love is so mysterious, so delicate and tender.

About my new series of illustrations "LOVE"