Porto USk Symposium - part V (Lisbon)

Last post about my Portugal trip dedicated to my love - Lisbon!
Since the first Urban Sketchers Symposium I attended was in Lisbon, streets of Lisbon will always be connected for me to the sketches I did and sketchers I met there for the first time. Discovering this wonderful community 7 years ago for the first time in real, not online, was amazing revelation! I visited this beautiful city a few years later, when I was invited by the local branch of USk to give a workshop, so I had another opportunity to know the city better, and to add more sketchers to my Lisbon collection.
So now it was like visiting an old friend - exiting, nostalgic, full of emotions.
This time I came there with my husband, who came to Lisbon for the first time, so I was kind of a guide for him :)
We strolled the streets a lot, and sometimes I just wanted to be there, without sketching. Some places that looked to me too iconic were the most difficult for me for sketching, as for example, the Belem  district, with all its touristic sites, where I did no sketch. From the other hand, there are places I sketched during my previous visits, and I wanted to make another take on the same location.

Following sketches were done during our last day in Lisbon, when we joined to sketching tour to anti-touristic places leaded by Mário Linhares. It was just perfect ending to the whole Portugal tour!

Miss this time and this place, grateful that I have with me my memory-keepers - my sketches! Every sketch is like a concentrated capsule full of views and faces, words and sounds, smells, moods, and so much more - magic of sketching that forces us really observe and feel the surrounding!   

Porto USk Symposium - part IV (Portugal trip)

I could stay and sketch in beautiful Porto forever, but as every trip, ours had limited time, and in our plans was to end Lisbon, to which I had special sentiments. Here are sketches done during our way from Porto to Lisbon - we did several stops. These are from colorful and very authentic Coimbra - city with very old University and breathtaking panoramas:

These from Medieval town Obiedos - very special place, still keeping his antique look:

And one - I couldn't resist - from the local Portuguese beach:

Wait for the last Portuguese post - from Porto!

Trip to the North

Last weekend we had a short trip to the North. Its always relaxing - change of the landscape, a lot of nature and some sketching, of course ;)
I did this sketch at the entrance to Fassuta - Arabic Christian village in Galilee, decorated for Christmas.

 

 Series of sketches done during our dinner:

barmen telling us the story of his life

These two paintings were done in Haifa on our way back. I miss painting!

Sketchcrawl at the Fleamarket

Sketches from our last Sketchcrawl at the Fleamarket of Jaffa - always vibrant place, full of colorful characters and stories!

started sketching together with my guest from Germany, Karin

people at Shafa Bar

municipality official arguing with a peddler, both of them cursing in Russian

Ethiopian boys managing the bussuness

after the sketchcrawl - hummus at Danny's buffet - yummy!

What a fun day!

Trip to South America - Part I, Buenos Aires.

It's almost 3 weeks I'm back from our family trip to South America. It was my first time in this continent, we were travelling for a 3 weeks, landed in Buenos Aires, then went to Montevideo for a family wedding, and after that traveled to Brazil ( Rio and Paraty). It was a very colorful trip, full of various places and situations. I wish I could sketch everywhere we went. But of course it was impossible , I wasn't alone, and a lot of great moments will remain in my memory. But, I'm happy and grateful for the sketches I could make during the trip, they are my best memory keepers, allowing me to taste again salty air of the Ocean, to hear tropical birds singing, or to feel the rhythm of tango. And of course to share it all with you!
So, I'll start from the begging, from the sketches done during our 3 days in Buenos Aires: