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:

Memories from Crete

At the end of summer we went to Crete for a small family vacation. As usually at family vacations, the decision when to sketch wasn't always in my hands, and many beautiful moments stayed out of my sketchbook.
But still, while scanning it, sketches reminded many tiny episodes from this calm and beautiful vacation, much more than many photos I took during the trip.
You can see the entire Crete sketchbook on Flickr.

Memories from Manchester

One of the biggest questions I asked myself while packing tools for the Manchester USk Symposium trip was which sketchbook to take. I decided to prepare an accordion sketchbook - format I love, but use for special occasions only. This format allows to tell stories in continuations, as if invites you to build narratives. So here it is - two-sided accordion from Manchester and London - some great memories from such a great trip!

It's almost impossible mission - to find the right balance between sketching, socializing, teaching, travelling... I wish I could sketch all I experienced, saw, felt.. Sometimes I felt greedy - "if I only could sketch this building/view/person!", and forced myself to put the sketchbook aside and to enjoy the moment without sketching it. So, here it is, the rest will remain in my memory.

You can see my entire sketchbook on Flickr.

Weekend in Prague

Here are some sketches I managed to do during the last weekend, I spent with my husband in Prague (his birthday present).
Prague is really beautiful city, sometimes it's too beautiful - charming Old City's streets look as they taken direct from the Disneyland ;) Usually I don't fancy drawing places that are too pretty. But luckily, there are people around and they always give me subjects for my sketches.

colors on the grey background of the Old City Square

having beer and waiting for the jazz

live jazz in one of Prague bars

next evening out - Cuban music in another bar

street musicians playing at farmers market

lunch at famous Cafe Savoy 

Sculpture at the park near Vltava river

the last night at Pizza Nuova