My 2012 Calendar has been published! :)

My beautiful readers, I finally published my limited edition calendars for 2012! I'm so happy and excited.
This is an amazing Christmas gift and it is filled with inspiration, love and joy.
This Calendar will inspire you and encourage to Dream BIG! I wrote a few lines for each month that inspire and invite you to expect miracles! It is now available on my Etsy shop.

Here are some pictures:

Friday Evening... Bookstore, Celebration, Wine and Jazz...

It's getting colder and colder outside, it really feels like winter is around the corner and I'm so inspired to go to the bookstore tonight for at least half an hour and have a freshly brewed coffee, indulge flipping through the pages of the new books, and relax.

Today is a special day, it's been 15 years that I moved to Canada! It's going to be a night of celebration with wine, candles and jazz dancing! Really looking forward to start cooking my signature chicken! :)

Outside my window

I have such a desire to curl under a cozy blanket next to my fireplace and enjoy a cup of lavender tea with French roses. It’s beautiful outside, leaves are slowly falling and dancing with the wind. It this perfect time of year to write down what you would like to let go of and release, just like trees let go of their leaves. They are getting ready for the winter season, beautiful time for dreaming and writing your wishes on paper and preparing yourself for spring blossom. 

These are the pictures I took a few days ago in a park around my house. 

Inspiring message from Design Thinkers Conference

This week was so incredible, it was filled with lots of learning and inspiration. I had a chance to attend the Design Thinkers conference in Toronto where the brightest and the most talented designers presented their work and shared their thoughts on design, life and future. Jessica Hische particularly amazed me. She is so young and so talented; I could feel passion and inspiration flowing from her. She was sharing her life story, showing her beautiful work and sharing stories. What really touched me was when she said: when you have an idea, just get up and do it! Don’t wait until everything is ready for you to work. You have to work whenever you have a little bit of time, don’t waste your time. She gave some of her examples of how she was working at the beginning of her career. She had a job from 9 to 6, then went home and was working on her own and freelance projects till 3am!! Practically everyday! This really touched me; I could imagine how many beautiful things we could create if we only spent more of our time on bringing our ideas to life. For example, I’ve been thinking about creating a journal for years, it’s been sitting around for all this time.

After listening to her, I understood that when we get an idea, we need to rush and bring it to life. If you make a mistake, so what, you learn from it. Next time you do it, you’ll be so much better or otherwise, you’ll be standing at the same place for years. I feel like these waves of inspiration and wisdom touched me so much, I need to rethink my ways of working. I’m so happy that I’m going to have my own studio in a month. Believe it or not, I never had a studio!! Dreams come true.  So I’ll be able to start working harder and spend more time on projects.

My suggestions to you, don’t wait, just get up and do it. Think of things that you’ve been postponing for so long, think of your big dreams, these goals that you are dreaming to achieve. You need to do work and bring them to life. I hope this message inspires you to rethink the way you work, the way you look at your work and encourages you to make this extra step towards your goals and dreams.

 

This season...

I absolutely love this time of year, it is so magic and special to my heart. I love wearing warm sweaters and beautiful cashemere scarfs, wrap myself in a warm blanket and enjoy a freshly brewed chai latte in front of my fireplace. It feels so amazing, so heart warming. It feels like her majesty autumn is slowly becoming colder as is getting ready to embrace the winter season. Beautiful pumpkins are now everywhere making this time of year blossom. I really like this quote by Albert Camus "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower".

I'm so inspired by this sweet burning aroma of the woods coming from the fireplaces. It makes me desire to paint and dream. Even if Christmas is not here yet, I can hear it slowly coming with tender whispers saying - I'm almost here. I'm inspired to attend the biggest Christmas choir performance here in Toronto, Messiah by Handel and various classical and ballet performances. Ah, so amazing.
Sending you lots of love.

 

What do you wish to make time for?

What do you wish to make time for?

This is a question asked by Jamie Ridler Studios on Wishcasting Wednesday.

I just love Jamie’s questions, they are so deep and inspiring. It feels like they are filled with magic and sparkles.

I really wish to make time for so many beautiful things in my life. I wish to paint more, I have a desire to create a big painting and show azure shining sea that I’ve seen many times in my dreams. I wish to make time for reading more, I really feel that it is so important to read a lot… reading brings so many interesting ideas. I also wish to have more time each morning to do these amazing brazil exercises that I started a year a go and then stopped.

I desire to start making dream boards and writing in my journal. It really feels like time passes by so quickly and there are so many things I wish to fit in my calendar. I wish to attend performances, concerts and exhibitions, travel to Europe and get inspired by it’s beauty and charm.

I also feel that because the world is filled with so many interesting things, there will be always a time shortage as it’s impossible to do it all. I wish to make time for just relaxing and enjoying the moment.

Autumn days

It can feel the freshness of the autumn breeze and the sweet scent of the fallen leaves and the burning woods in the fireplaces. This time of year inspires me so much, I feel that there is a sleepy and peaceful atmosphere all around me. This season is so magical. I am ready to embrace it and follow its flow. It's also a time of year that allows you to spend more time with ourselves and quietly think of our dreams and desires.

I encourage you to feel peaceful and quite in your heart. Enjoy the sweet scent of this season.

French Earrings

Today, I've been walking around the old part of Nice and going inside different french boutiques. These earrings captured my heart and attention, I could not stop looking at them. It felt like they hold the beauty of the Mediterranean sea inside... They inspired me to think about a new series of illustrations called Marie Antoinette. I bought them from a charming French lady, they are now mine! :)

Today's inspiration

Everyday moments can be so beautiful and special. Today, I've been sitting in my terrace, indulging a rose petal tea with lavender and admiring these incredible roses that I bought a week ago at the Flower Market. It was so peaceful, so quiet... only the singing of different kinds of birds could be heard from a distance. I've been drawing all day. I dream to create a lot of new illustrations and paintings. I dream to have my own exhibition...

My yesterday's walk in Nice, France

My beautiful readers, I'm having the most amazing time here in France. I'm eating croissants and indulging French champaign and wine. The weather is gorgeous and the sea is like a dream... It feels home. Here are some photos that I took yesterday with my new camera that I bought especially for this trip.

This is a very famous umbrella boutique in Old Nice... it's absolutely marvellous.

 I absolutely loved this boutique, it's is filled with gorgeous French style dresses and jewelry... it's a pearl.

This is one of the finest bakeries in Nice... the have the most delicious desserts and hot chocolate.

I as well, discovered this Au nom de la Rose boutique!!! They sell only roses, vases for the roses, desserts made out of roses, candles with rose perfume... It's all about Rose.

Trip to France!

My beautiful readers, my heart is overwhelming with excitement and happiness. Tomorrow I'm going to Nice, France! I feel like writing I'm moving to France but for now I'm only going for a trip, at least that's what I think.

I started packing my big hats with flowers and pretty dresses with floral patterns. It feels so amazing...
I cannot wait to swim in a salty refreshing water filled with azure colour that reflects the beauty of the sky.

Winners are announced!

I'm thrilled to announce the winners of my end of summer contest: Martin Newman and Elina Ellis! Congratulations! These winners won one of my beautiful matted signed prints. Stay tuned for more coming up contests and you will have a chance to win unique artwork. It's a real treat!

Desire to Inspire Contest!!!

My beautiful readers, it’s already end of summer. It feels like it passed so quickly. I really enjoy this time of year, it feels like inspiration is in the air. I like wearing warm sweaters and scarves at night and walk around the park indulging the fragrance of early chrysanthemums.

To celebrate this time of year, I decided to create a contest! You can win my handmade greeting cards, prints on matts, journals or bookmarks! How exciting is this? :)

The names of the winners will be pulled randomly from a beautiful Italian hat!

All you have to do is:

1.Become my follower on my blog if you aren’t already.

2.Send me an email or comment on this blog post by answering a question: What inspires you? You can answer in one word or write an essay! Deadline: September 6. 

 

The winners will be notified on September 7, 2011.

Cannot wait to ship my artwork to you!!

See below for some inspiring images!

Interview :)

Hello my beautiful readers! I'm so excited, I've been interviewed this month by Illustrationweb. Click on the image to read the rest! :-)

Aux Champs d'Elysees...

It is Saturday and it makes me so happy.  Today, I painted for the entire day. I was so inspired by this autumn breeze from the lake, I could feel this beauty in the air. It's Champs d'Elysées. This place is absolutely magic and beautiful. It is filled with luxury and beauty. Fall is just around the corner and I hope to be able to go to Paris during this trip!

You can see gorgeous and elegant people walking, ladies with fashionable hats and gentleman with good manners... This is one of the beautiful photos by Bardot in Blue

You can see flowers everywhere in Paris...

My upcoming trip to France!

I'm now sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to Richmond. My heart overflows with joy when I think that in a month, I'll be sitting in the same airport but flying to Nice, France. I cannot wait to smell the perfume of French Riviera, to indulge its charm and to fill my soul with inspiration and beauty.

It seems like my last trip to Nice was so long time ago... but when I close my eyes, I can see this place in its splendour and charm, as if I'm there.

On my first day, I am planning on buying a lot of roses, I love roses, there is something so unique and special about them. It is going to be a huge celebration of my return. I might buy a good camera before my trip so that I could take lots of breathtaking pictures.

This place is absolutely unique and heartwarming. I like everything about it.

Dreams

Here is my new painting - San Jean Cap Ferrat dreams... I wanted to express my joy and happiness being in French Riviera. This place inspires me so much! I understand many artists who moved there like Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, etc. They moved there because of this beautiful colour and light. I dream to move there too, I feel that I'm going to paint so many more beautiful paintings while being inspired and captured by love and peace. 


About the painting:Lilacs are filled with tenderness and spring atmosphere. These flowers are very special and unique. I feel like indulging a glass of Monbozilliac white wine on my beautiful terrace in San Jean Cap Ferrat overlooking the sea. Dream and Inspire, inhale beauty and exhale love and peace.

Inspiration

I can feel inspiration all around me just by looking at this beautiful landscape, how it is illuminating peace and love. This lavender sky looks so royal and majestic, romantic and pure, relaxing and tender; I feel that I'm going to use this landscape for my next painting.

Giving gifts is a blessing

I’m fascinated by how beautiful and charming gifts can be and how much joy and happiness they can bring. Gifts and presents create this special world of celebration and beauty in our lives. We associate gifts with events that are so special and dear to us. I’ve been thinking about it and realized that we can create these moments in our everyday, bring this magic of giving back without waiting for holidays. Let’s celebrate every moment in our lives by giving gifts to special people around us and ourselves.

Heavenly Morning

Today, I woke up around 6a.m. and was amazed by this beautiful, heavenly light in my room. It felt like everything was covered with gold. I had to take a picture of it and I'm so glad I did. Here is one of my paintings from Heaven.

Inspiration and Stories

I decided that I’m going to start writing. It will be different stories about each of my illustrations that will bring them to life in words. It might be abstract and surreal or dreamy and romantic. I might also describe my feelings while I was creating it.

Here is my first story:

French Riviera – Cote d’Azur is a very special place for me. I created this painting immediately following my first trip to Nice, France. I admired the abundance of Mimosa flowers both surrounding Nice and within the city limits. Its perfume filled every caffe and boutique, it was heavenly. The sweetness of the French pastries and Italian cappuccino highlighted this celebration of life.

 

Dreams of France

Today I feel like indulging macarons. There is something so beautiful in these treats, something so special. It feels as if they are always ready for a celebration.

I want to paint my nails with different colours of the summer, climb on the Eifel Tower and sing “Plus je t’embrasse” up high.  I miss France.

These beautiful photos have been taken by the beautiful Making Magique