Coming full cycle - from metal art to photography

It was a bit more than a year ago, when a Saturday walk on the beach inspired me to create the 'walk on the beach ring'.

Its colors inspired by the sea, its texture - by the sand. a bit of magic thrown in
with colored diamonds - the walk on the beach ring
https://www.etsy.com/listing/160748118/blue-topaz-silver-ring-with-fancy?ref=shop_home_active_5

At the time, the notion of a simple walk triggering a creative inspiration was new and surprising.
I was not used to translating experiences into inspiration.
Nothing in the 20+ years of hi-tech work prepared me for it.

Since then, a year passed, and I find myself a few days before Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year thinking a bit about the last 12 month. And very very thankful for the path I walked.

The Tanzanite and diamond flower ring. It took me a year to figure out how to create the 'lace' like look on the petals
https://www.etsy.com/listing/199913116/18k-solid-gold-tanzanite-ring-handmade?ref=shop_home_active_2

The initial flower ring I made,
turned into a set of flower ring variations
a few of them bringing daily delight to the ladies wearing them.

With the lacy look and the random brown diamond thrown in accenting a brown Smokey Quartz
a slightly different variation of the flower ring
https://www.etsy.com/listing/200424251/delicate-silver-nature-ring-brown-smokey?ref=shop_home_active_9

In parallel to deepening my understanding of metal I started to .....paint with light.
Photographing.
Well, on second thought it may not be so surprising, after all I had to photograph the jewelry I make.
The surprising thing is the world I discovered when looking through the lens.
I always thought photography is documentary.
I found the creativity and the art.
The magic in painting with light.

So it seems only fitting, to close this year with another 'walk on the beach'.
This time expressed through the camera lens.
Join me on a walk on Santa Monica, California beach - and lets have a look at the setting sun from under its famous pier :)

Walking towards the pier - photographed by Amy Kanka Valadarsky

 A Seagull at sunset - photographed by Amy Kanka Valadarsky

Feel the waves? - photographed by Amy Kanka Valadarsky

Running into the waves - photographed by Amy Kanka Valadarsky

Having fun on the beach - photographed by Amy Kanka Valadarsky

The pier - photographed by Amy Kanka Valadarsky

Under the pier - photographed by Amy Kanka Valadarsky

Looking at the sunset - photographed by Amy Kanka Valadarsky

I really wonder how will the post at the end of next year look ;)

For those of you who celebrate Rosh Hashana - have a wonderful year.
For those who don't - enjoy the coming autumn, and I will be wishing you a great 2015 in just a few months!

bye,
Amy

Einstein, dancing dogs and thoughts about memorable art

We all know "A picture is worth a thousand words"
Sometimes, the answer to a complex questions can present itself in simple and unexpected forms

Or, as a very wise man said...









From complex laws governing the behavior of our world

... to leadership wisdom from Alice in Wonderland:

...and what does this have to do with dancing dogs?
read on and find out :)

I have danced for years.

Swan lake - the Bolshoi ballet dancers

To be precise from the age of 4 when my parents enrolled me to a ballet class, hoping I would loose some of the baby fat ...( did not help much ...)

Since we lived in Romania, classic ballet was on the cards from the start.

Until the end of high school, I went to dance lessons, twice a week - mostly classic ballet, with some seasoning of modern dance and flamenco.


In university while majoring in software engineering, I continued to dance - Waltz, Tango, Cha-Cha, Rock'n'Roll.......red dancing shoes, flowers in my hair..

Many years passed since.
Dance remained a passion, but a passive one.
I love watching great dance performances, there is nothing like a beautiful performance of the Bolshoi ..... right?

The Bolshoi stages new modern dance show

Nowadays, after 25 years in the software industry, I am spending most of my time experiencing the world of art and design.

Designing a .... bead :)

Whether studying great works of art, trying to master photography, creating new pieces of jewelry in my studio, I am surrounding myself with art.
Trying to find my own voice.

One of the questions that keep coming up, is how can a work of art go beyond being beautiful and be truly memorable.

I could probably write an essay with all things that came to my mind...
starting with the finest ingredients,
combine them in ways that make the whole more than their sum ....

but in this particular case, I got the clearest answer in form of
have you guessed yet?
...a dance show.
Specifically - 'Shadowlad' by Pilobolus.

Building on great dancers, very little costumes - a fluency of movement used to create naive pictures
for the 90 minutes of the show, the answer to my question was right there, in front of my eyes

I will always enjoy a good classical ballet performance, look for a good Flamenco show.
But its the Shadowland performance I would never forget.

After all these words, I think you deserve a taste of it, don't you think?
Click on the link ....and look for the dancing dog :)

Pilobolus Dance Theatre "Shadowland"

Until next post :)
Amy

Latte and more, for the creative mind ;)

Let's play a game.
When I say art, what are the first 3 words that come to your mind?
Waiting .....
Is trees on your list? Latte? Perhaps bears?
If not, you may want to read this!

Coffee art by Kazuki Yamamoto

Let's start in the morning. What do most of us do?
Have a cup of coffee, right?
How about one that looks like this?
Quite a way to start the day!

Kazuki Yamamoto, a 26 old barista from Osaka, makes 3D latte sculptures.

Do you think this is less of an artwork than the ones hanging in a gallery?
I don't.

In some ways I even like it better as it is way more creative to sculpt with milk foam than with more traditional materials.

See more pictures below, as well as a nice article if you want to read more.  

Giraffe latte sculpture!

This one is my favorite :)

Fishing cat latte art

Enough coffee for today?

Let's take a walk, and since we can choose any place we like, why not the Chinese district of Shijiazhuang? 

You have a dog? Take it with you, as he may also like this :)

Painting on trees by Wang Yu

23-year-old art student Wang Yu is transforming the streets into an open air gallery with her beautiful tree paintings.

The paintings are mostly of animal and plants, maintaining a naturalistic look.

And, not to worry, the paintings have been approved by the environmental protection bureau who confirms the paints do not harm the trees.

A beautiful combination of art, nature and out of the box thinking.

I love it!

If you want to see more, click here.

Fancy a good cold German beer now, after all this walking? 

Let's go to Frankfurt, Germany and look for a nice place in the downtown. 

No beer, but look at these bears!

These pictures were taken by me in a recent trip to Frankfurt. 

Artistic bears (and some rabbits) wonderfully crafted to

the last detail. 

Amazing work.

Took a lot of will power to buy only a small puppet!

See the pictures below and you will probably agree with me.

Can't remember if this one was Bach or Mozart...I should have taken notes ...

 

Another beautifully detailed bear. Just look at the lace collar!

Creativity comes in so many shapes and forms, and inspiration is literally all around us.

Waiting for us to take the time and pay attention.

If you love inspiring and unconventional pieces of art,

you may enjoy my post on painting with stone.

Register for the email updates, more inspiring things on the way! 

Go be creative, and have a wonderful day!

Until next time,

Amy