Friday, I'm in my room

Good evening, ladies, gentlemen and their pets!
 I am here to remind you that it is Friday, that it is never late to read a good fairy-tale, and that you can vote for my drawing (inspired by the CURE in a contest by Secret 7s, Talenthouse to help Teenage Cancer Trust) via facebook or twitter for Cure and for Florence it will only take a second really! and thanks a million if you do! Being a fan of the Cure for... 10.. 15? maybe even more years, since I first saw Close To Me (and having rather imaginative nightmares after that) on MTV I remain a constant listener and dreamer and there was no way I could miss drawing a little corner of the Cure world I imagine to myself. but only a tiny nook!

 And as to Florence, she is a rare talent. I am very thankful for some of her songs, which have become very quickly my personal musical diary pages.

And now, dance! 

xxx

Daria 

2011

Greeting from the edge of the world!

'Tis the last Friday of 2011, so let me make this last post of the glorious year as informative and filled with pictures as it can be possible!
If only 2011 were a person, I'd give it a great big hug. There were ups and downs, but I learned to give my  undivided attention to the good things. I think the list of these good things will go on and on, and among them there will be my falling in love with Italy, long walks in Rome and Venice, how i finally learned to make a carrot cake, my friends, wonderful people I finally met (hello, Amelia!), new exciting acquaintances, re-discovering Mike Patton, Lionheart and Ballad Of, my t-shirts getting printed and Obolochka, Institute Benjamenta (thanks, Emma!), learning Italian, Ravel and Saint Saens, Lupine Osmunda (thanks, Faye!), watching the last part of Harry Potter and crying all through the ridiculous epilogue scene, making a couple of decisions, opportunities, keeping wonderful secrets (thank you, Kaspian!), Fellini, letters and other mail, understanding a few things, collaborations and projects I've been a part of...and of course, most importantly, eating a pistachio gelato in a cafe in Trastevere, Rome...  I hope you had a great year, too! Now, 2012, be kind to everyone please and treat me to some more of that heavenly gelato, I beg you!
  I have told you before I was drawing two characters from the Lord Of The Rings (i'm very excited about the Hobbit movie, and might draw someone from it next year!) Here's an unfinished Aragorn and almost complete Legolas!
  I'm also sharing with you the drawing for the Cure (for talenthouse/secret 7 competition) which I did but submitted another one, which you can see here. The voting is not open yet, but you can still support it if you like! I'll be very much obliged to you! x Also, I couldn't miss an opportunity to draw something for Florence and the Machine. Anyway, I'll do another post about this next year :) And for now, Happy New Year! Cheers!

Lionheart!

At last one of our dreams has come true! From the heart and mind of Helen Martin (whom I met through Amelia's Magazine ) comes this gorgeous illustrated little book, which is

Lionheart magazine

I remember how it all started as a pipe-dream and slowly but surely developed into this beautiful magazine full of excellent stories (particularly enjoyed the one about conquering the fears by Freya Hardy, Pat Albeck's, Fritha's and Lee May's (of Bonbi Forest) interviews + of course many more!) and art from Emma Block, Abby Wright, Faye West, Karolina Burdon, and Gemma Milly to mention but a few!  I am also proud to be a part of the first issue, and I'm sure there'll be more to come and buy and read and enjoy! Helen the lionheart, you are really brave and it's wonderful when dreams come true!

Non m'importa se lunedi è blu!

Today I thought:  to make things confusing, why not write a blogpost in Italian?
So brace yourself!
Comunque, se siete Italiano, fatemi sapere se è possibile leggere questo, per favore..
 Allora, oggi è stata una bella giornata e spero che domani sarà ancora meglio! Ho passato alcuni giorni ad ascoltare The Cure! Se leggete questo blog, sapete quanto amo questa band!! Adesso sto mangiando un mandarino e disegnando qualcosa connessi con loro musica... Finora, questo non sembra un post molto informativo, vero? Vorrei condividere con voi il mio disegno, che potete trovare in un meraviglioso Lionheart Magazine (grazie a Helen Martin! xxx)
Spero, che tutti chi hanno capito che ho scritto, avranno una meravigliosa settimana! (scusi per gli errori )
Per tutti gli altri: Keep calm and learn Italian! Have a great week! xxx

A proposito, clicca qui per comprare il mio disegno di Natale! 

christmas

Another Christmas drawing! Like it?

Also, please, please spread the word about this  >>>

so it can get printed and be a poster or a greeting card. Voting can be done by logging in via Facebook (easy and quick) or by registering (for die-hard fans haha:) Thanks so much and sorry for self-advertising! 

keep warm, drink tea, eat an apple a day and never pay attention to shallow things

lots of love and three kisses

Daria

Christmas and Legolas

Evening to you all,

I've been silent for some time, but by no means passive. 

 I visited World Travel Market as part of my job, and when I had free time was also very happy to meet the wonderful Amelia Gregory, see Ghosts of Gone birds show at Rochelle school, meet my favourite people, stand for about an hour simply looking at one of the most beautiful buildings in whole wide world, which is St Pancras Station, listen to Ravel at Wigmore Hall, eat some excellent eclairs and enjoy Mark Rylance's great performance in Jerusalem.  So you can see my business trip turned out to be extremely enjoyable and packed with loveliness and excitement. Meanwhile, my drawing and collage-making activities remained at the same point, where I left them. I have a lot of drawing to catch up with! 

However, I can show you this Christmas-themed drawing I did....

and also, a glimpse of a portrait I'm working on right now. I never show my drawings in progress, but I decided to share this one with you, because it's big, time consuming, and will take me ages to complete unless you, ladies and gentlemen, urge me to do it quicker :) I hope you can recognize the character, who is Legolas. The idea of me drawing a Lord of the Rings character was born in a late-night conversation between myself and my two very talented artist friends Kaspian Shore and Lady Orlando, so I decided to give it a shot, as I'm a big fan of Tolkien and I actually am half an elf hahhaha)) Another portrait that I've started on is Aragorn. Maybe there's another character you'd like me to draw? I'd love to hear your thoughts! 

Toodle-oo!

Underneath the Juniper Tree

Enjoy the new issue of Underneath the Juniper Tree. Have a lovely nightmare for a change!

x

Daria