Long weekend in Prague

There was a several free days here in Slovakia which I spent in my favourite town , Prague , capitol of Czech republic. This city has always full hand of things to see , to hear , to visit , to taste. This time my visit was so "artsy" , I visit performance of several musicals ( dark Excalibur , monstrous Golem , crazy Láska je láska ) . I try make some sketch there , but actors was so quick and dynamic , that I finally had only pictures of several pieces on the stage :-) So , in my sketchbook is picture of official banner of muzical Excalibur , done in pen and watercolor.
One of the place, I always don´t forget to visit, is lovely little tearoom "U zeleného čaje" . Great variety of tea from all over the world, good for snacks too. When you seat here over the cup of smelling tea , you can see exactly the same picture of shop´s windows like past several hundred years. The nearest is in my sketchbook now, done in color pencil.
Greatest joy waits for me.. I find the shop where sells Moleskine notebooks . Now, I am proud owner of small watercolor Moleskine, too . I have to test it, of course, so first sketch is done in pen and watercolor on place Kampa , under the Charles bridge.
And they sell not only Moleskines, actually it is a bookshop, probably the biggest in Central Europe , Palác knih . And right there I met one of my favourite writer , Mr. Robert Fulghum . Mr.Fulghum wrote new book What On Earth Have I Done ? and here was book signing (I am not sure this is right meaning - simply he signed new books )

I must mention visiting old Prague castle , famous Cathedral of St.Vit,...and so on. You must visit Prague , you feel history on each square meter there. And because , human body need food not only for soul , there was some pub visits during these days ,too :-) . Do you know famous Czech beers ?

Gumball 3000 (finish) in Bratislava

Today´s entry in my blog was planned quite another way....First time in history of Slovakia was route of rallye Gumball 3000 crossed through borders of Slovakia and checkpoint was right on the Hviezdoslavovo square.
Gumball 3000 this year means 7 days, 17 countries , 3000 miles (4800 km ).It starts 29. april in London and through Amsterdam,Frankfurt, Istanbul, Thessaloniki, Athens, Tirana,Dubrovnik would come to Bratislava, later to Berlin and back to London.
Today´s entry was planned be full of drawings of nice cars , but ...I wait for several hours on checkpoint but no cars occurs until midnight. And it seems that Gumball 3000 finish its 2007 route here in Bratislava.

Issued by Maximillion Cooper on behalf of The Gumball 3000 Rally - 21.30 / 03 May 2007. : Following our earlier release reporting yesterday’s accident - As a sign of respect we have decided that this year's Gumball 3000 Rally will not travel any further and will end in Bratislava this evening, May 3rd 2007.
As the organisers of the rally we feel that it should be stopped as a mark of respect to Vladimir Cepulyoski who died today after an accident involving one the participating drivers.
We are very saddened by what has happened and feel that it would be wrong to continue. On behalf of Gumball 3000, we once again extend our deepest sympathies to his family and we are doing everything we can for them.
This is the first time anything like this has happened in 9 years of travelling through over 40 countries with 1000's of drivers and it is with deep regret that I make this announcement.


This is picture of bridge SNP over river Dunaj in Bratislava, on top of pillars is rotating Restaurant UFO , where tonight party was planned.

Dinosaurs from Patagonia

One of the most important in South America, THE EGIDIO FERUGLIA PALAEONTOLOGICAL MUSEUM , Trelew, Argentina (thanks for the link, Martin) prepared unique exhibition "Dinosaurs from Patagonia". This touring exhibition is now installed in one of shopping malls in Bratislava , in Aupark. It is really fascinating to see this enormous dinosaur skeletons which lived some tens of millions of years ago.
Done in ink liner Centropen and watercolors in daily sketchbook.

EDM#116 : Draw something green

Done with watercolor and watercolor pencils. Believe me, in reality it is more greenish , it seems my scanner is blind for green .Second picture "green" is from past , yesil is green in turkish. This is a manner, I try to learn and remember foreign language on my vacation holiday place.
Done in watercolor and liners.

Happy birthday Miška

Today my clever daughter is 16.
All the best to you, Miška !
This is real "personalized" post stamp !

Deň narcisov - Daffodil Day

Today was a Daffodil Day in Slovakia. It was 11th year from 1997 when collectors from Cancer Society (Liga proti rakovine) are exchanging small yellow badge in shape of daffodil against small voluntary contribution in favour of oncologic patients.
* This daffodil is done in ink roller Centropen and watercolor pencil in my daily sketchbook.

Dnes už po jedenásty krát sa na Slovensku konala verejná finančná zbierka na podporu mimovládnej organizácie Liga proti rakovine Slovenskej republiky. Táto organizácia ako jediná medzinárodne uznávaná organizácia riadi na Slovensku program boja proti rakovine spoločne s VAMI všetkými. Minulý rok sa v rámci kampane Deň narcisov vyzbieralo 18.373.517 Sk. Táto suma umožnila podporiť mnohé regionálne projekty, psychosociálnu starostlivosť, klinický výskum a informačné programy zamerané na prevenciu, starostlivosť a poradenstvo.

Illustration Friday - Green

Done in watercolor pencils .

Happy Easter 2007

Short trip to Egypt

* new Blogger :-(

it seems not working :-(

*new blogger from now

Sunday Evening in Old Town

Start of the Christmas season

For most Christians, the Christmas season begins on the Sunday closest to November 30th...the Feast Day of Saint Andrew, one of the Twelve Apostles. This Sunday is known as the First Day of Advent.Because the day it begins changes from year to year, so does the length of each Advent season. This year, Advent begins today.
Advent has probably been observed since the fourth century.The word "advent" is Latin for "coming towards" ("ad" meaning "towards" and "ven" or "vent" being the core of the Latin verb "veno," which means "to come"). In this context, Advent refers to the coming of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day. Even as the Christmas season has become more secular -with advertisers urging holiday gift-givers to buy and buy some more - Advent still brings joy and the observance of ancient customs.The four Sundays of advent are often traditionally celebrated with four candles with one to be lit each Sunday. Each candle has a specific meaning associated with different aspects of the Advent story. The first one almost always symbolizes expectant hope sometimes associated with prophecy. The others are organized around as a way to unfold the story and direct attention to the celebrations and worship in the season, such as Peace, Love, Joy. A fifth, white or gold, candle -- called a "Christ Candle" -- is often lit in the center on Christmas Day or used to replace the wreath altogether.
According to old German tradition, on the first Sunday of Advent, the children should write their Christmas letter to the Christ Child. Accompanied by Angels, it is Christkindl...the Christ Child...who will bring the Christmas tree, together with all the good things to be found both on and beneath it.Hmm, but question is, to whom I should write my Christmas letter ? :-)

Illustration Friday - Invention

When you say invention , the first person I would have in my mind like probably the best inventor has name Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). He is best remembered as the painter of the Mona Lisa (1503-1506) and The Last Supper (1495) . But he's almost equally famous for his astonishing multiplicity of talents, he is celebrated as the inventor of extraordinary machines and mechanical devices that entered our culture several centuries after his death : he dabbled in architecture, sculpture, engineering, geology, hydraulics and the military arts, all with success, and in his spare time doodled parachutes and flying machines that resembled inventions of the 19th and 20th centuries. Unfortunately, many of his scientific projects were never completed. He recorded his technical notes and sketches in numerous notebooks. After Leonardo's death, Francesco Melzi, his favourite student, brought many of his manuscripts and drawings back to Italy. In fact, Leonardo's manuscripts are today nothing like the way they appeared and were grouped together during his lifetime. Pompeo Leoni, a sculptor at the court of the King of Spain, split up the original manuscripts, cut and pasted pages and created two separate collections.
One is now called the "Codex Atlanticus". This Codex, kept in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, today consists of twelve leather-bound volumes, comprising 1,119 supports which gather together pages of different sizes, contains some of Leonardo's most famous drawings and notes.

There is a my contribution to this week theme , done in sepia ink and with watercolor pencil.
In Leonardo’s day, systems for working at a deep level underwater were already being studied. Leonardo devised a leather diving suit. Cane hoses fixed together by leather joints enabled the diver to breathe through intake/outake valve. Steel spirals were inserted into the joints so as to prevent them from being crushed by the pressure of the water. The tubes used for breathing stuck out of the water and were held in place and protected by a dedicated cork floating device which served as a buoy. Leonardo also came up with webbed gloves and flippers which are very similar to the flippers now used by frogmen.
*
This photo is from summer 2006 exhibition in Slovak National Museum - Leonardo Da Vinci -curious genius , which was based right on "Codex Atlanticus" (exactly on 68 pages only and 21 models) . It is european project of itinerant exhibition in cooperation with Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy and various cultural institutes and UNESCO. It is worth of visiting it !
*
Leonardo wrote in Italian using a special kind of shorthand that he invented himself. People who study his notebooks have long been puzzled by something else, however. He usually used "mirror writing", starting at the right side of the page and moving to the left. Only when he was writing something intended for other people did he write in the normal direction.This practice contributed to his discoveries and observations remaining unread and undisseminated for centuries after his death.

Illustration Friday - Smoke

The topic at Illustration Friday this week is 'smoke'.



Watercolor and woodless color pencil Progresso (both Koh-I-Noor).

Autumn is here - Grid project

Today was a wonderful sunny day. Inspired by Nina and Renate (they originally inspired by Patty ) I decided to take part in "grid challenge", too. Here it is , my autumn memories from today !
Watercolor & inkpen on Terra 250 g/m2 paper 148x210mm