Tasting Tuscany

I always have doubts when I’m packing my sketching bag for a trip, and so it was while preparing for the short family trip to Tuscany. From my experience, there are not many opportunities for sketching on family trips. Other family members don’t like “wasting” time, time is too short, places are too beautiful, and each one wants to see something a bit different. Finally, I decided to bring small 10-paged soft-cover sketchbook with nice paper, and it fit perfectly!

So here they are, some memories I succeeded in “stealing” during the trip. Most days I had some free time at the beautiful Tuscany Villa we stayed at. There are also some “eating time” sketches – another opportunity for sketchers not to "waste" time during trips. And there are some places I forced my family to wait for me – a few iconic spots in Florence and Sienna where I couldn’t not sketch.

This was my second visit to Tuscany, and I had some magical memories from the Piazza del Campo in Sienna. My memories didn't disappoint me. When I led my family from one of the narrow streets of Sienna to the square, it came back to me - this very day almost 20 years ago at the same square! So we joined the crowds of tourists, sat down on the floor, I opened my sketchbook and time stopped...

Another iconic spot I had memories about from my fist trip WAS Piazzale Michelangelo - from where you have a breathtaking view OF red-roofed Florence. It started to rain when we arrived there, but this didn't stop plenty of tourists taking endless photos of themselves and... some view ;)

This trip was very beautiful and tasty but left me very hungry for more sketching. Anyway, I am grateful for what I’ve captured, and am just waiting for the next time.

Pre-Purim in Shapira garden

It was another wonderful sketchcrawl in Shapira neighborhood coffeeshop-garden. I love this place - it feels like a small village in the middle of Tel Aviv, still keeps its authentic sense. Its residents are very varied -  veteran ones are pushed aside by many young families looking for cheaper places in the City That Never Stops. Time flied  so fast - it was so many wonderful characters I wanted to draw!

Here are some I got to capture :)

Swing&Draw party

The addictive music, the dancers who merge with the beat, and so Tel Avivian atmosphere of Beit Hanna - it was a perfect sketchcrawl!
We took places around the wooden stage, set ready our tools and sketchbooks, and listened to the swinging music sounds, just like its name - Swing. Slowly the dancers went up to the floor and started to dance, and from that moment I do not remember much. Time stopped, I became one with rhythm, sounds, movement...
Sketching dancers is definitely one of the hardest tasks for a sketcher. It's stressful at the beginning. The dance and the music are so beautiful, but how we can capture this beauty and convey it to the piece of paper? There is no choice but to give yourself time to observation. To watch the dancers and to let to the rhythm to enter inside. To put on the paper one line, and another, and maybe one shape, and another... Sip from the cool beer can help. Suddenly something begin to get looser. We should use our memory. Try to capture in our head the most typical, coolest movement. And to wait until it repeats to be precise. And to get our self up to the music.
Thanks a lot for the hospitality and the invitation!
It was a huge fun, waiting for the next time!

Summer in the middle of January

Summer is back! 🌞 
Sitting on the beach and sinking into surrounding. Nothing special happens, but from the other hand, there is endless amount of small stories around, every person has his story, I try to capture faces, expressions, interactions, parts of words, sounds.... little by little I become a part of this soundtrack, part of this movie...

Rainy afternoon at the Fleamarket

Even at a rainy day there are plenty "models" for a hungry sketcher at the Jaffa Fleamarket :)

New Year in Haifa

New Year isn't official holiday in Israel, but different communities practice to celebrate it. As one that born in Russia, I have nostalgic memories about this holiday. My husband was born in Uruguay, were New Year is celebrated as well. So this year we decided to find a place in Israel were we can feel the change of the year's number and went to... Haifa. As a city with a mixed population in which all members of all religions live together, it is a tradition for a long time to celebrate The Holiday of the Holidays at the end of the year, to mark the religious holidays that apply in December and next to it - Hanukkah of the Jews, Christmas of the Christian, the month of the Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr of the Islamic (applicable at various times over the calendar year and may apply in December).
I love Haifa, its hilly landscape and blue sea popping up suddenly from every corner, it's eclectic architecture and its people. You can definitely feel there the New Year atmosphere, at evening all the city is beautifully decorated with lights and you feel a bit abroad. A lot of people go out on the street close to the midnight to celebrate the arriving of the New Year. Just a short trip of around one hundred kilometers from my home succeed to take me pretty far! I wish I sketched more, but for sure it'll be a next time :)

Haifa has the best hummus!

view on German Colony

nice bar in the port

great food and atmosphere!

close to the midnight - people on the street

morning of the New Year at Talpiyot market