molif | en

That’s what I made for his birthday (with a little help from a friend) and he liked the present very, very much:

Well, I kind of like the idea for having many small cakes than one big, so the result was satisfying and pleasant for the eye as for the palate.

..Only not for me, but for a reader of this blog, who kindly asked me to make something that symbolizes it. I believe that the Phoenix bird is an appropriate one.

In the beginning, this charming little chair was not at all very appealing.
It was old, scratchy, dirty and lonely.

This kind of “projects” attract many assistants by the old principle of “Tom Sawyer and the fence”.

Some white paint, decoupage glue, nice paper serviettes motives and enthusiasm and that’s the result:

I kinda like it, even if it is far from perfect.

It was fun to make and it makes me smile when I look at it now.

Probably every house can make a good use of one of these. It’s comfy when you are putting on your shoes, you could use it to reach most of the shelves at home, and it’s priceless if you have children to play with it.

…and he is one of the few people that I will gladly call my friends. Not just some people that I know, but friends indeed. Enrico likes to sing and he do this with passion an pleasure. It was not easy to convince him to let me publish some songs here, because he was worried they are not perfect. It was his first record in studio (friend’s favor) and he was a bit embarrassed to admit that he couldn’t hear well the sound in his headphones.

You may not like his singing, or to feel your fine hearing a bit scratched by his Italian accent. Surely, not everyone will be able to listen this with his heart the way I do. But I really thought that it’s worth to share some of the songs he recorded.

He is just a man, who lives in Italy. His life is not the one he could probably have if faith has not decided to give him a wheelchair. But make not mistake, Enrico is everything but a disabled one. The true handicapped people are the ones that walk around with souls, robbed of tolerance and empathy and minds, damaged by vanity and greed or full with self-pity. Luckily, he is not one of them.

Enrico is a sunny, bright person. A guy which I have the rare privilege to know. His existence is enough a reason to me during the last years to keep me believe that true people are still not extinct on Earth. He reminds me that there is still a lot to be grateful for in this life and that we should value more what we’ve got.

(Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here):

[Flash player with embedded audio of Enrico Trevisan.]

(Just The Way You Are – Billi Joel):

[Flash player with embedded audio of Enrico Trevisan.]

Once he was the reason for me to make my first big travel abroad alone. I’ve met some old and new friends on the road and I found many important things about myself to be true. I could go and do this again and again, because for one real friend everything is worthwhile – even to cross the world.

Here is a video he made in 2007 as a Christmas greeting to all his friends.

Става въпрос за тези малки птички:
It’s all about these little birds:

Yes, I know that like the meerkats, the lovebirds also look better without the final varnish, but still cannot find a better way to preserve them.

I made them as a gift for a nice couple – good friends of mine.

The tom-tit fell in love with the robin and they decided to live together.

They chose a branch of floating wood from the sea, to remind them of all the travels they dream to make.

(I was looking to upload the photos from the process of making, because I thought it would be interesting, but when you postpone something for too long, it’s getting hard to find it…)

I’ve got a list with favorite illustrators, but there is one that always manage to move me with her style, characters and colors. Monica Calvo’s artwork is a true source of inspiration and beauty.

Some of her illustrations were frequent guest on my desktop during the last few years, and this one never fails to cheer me up:

I do not know what kind of technique she uses, but the result is always adorable.

It may seem not related, but actually it is: Adobe Fireworks CS5 is already released.

Because I love this particular piece of software and I use it for quite a long time, I think I am able to recommend it to anyone who needs a great tool for web design and illustrations. I had the honor to be a beta-tester for this version and so it happens that I know for sure – it is really stable and full of surprises.

One of the new options was appealing to me – the Compound shapes. I wanted to try it immediately and start playing with some ideas, having Monica’s monsters before my eyes. That’s how my strange little creatures came out:

Well, at least they are brave – trying to scare away even the flies, which are famous of being impertinent and fearless…

I guess it’s hardly left anyone on Earth not knowing what kind of animals are the meerkats (Suricata suricatta).
Surely big part of the human population is familiar with the famous Animal Planet’s sequel.

Few weeks ago a friend of mine asked me if I will accept an order to make some clay figures. He wanted to make a surprise gift to his girlfriend, which apparently is a great fan of these lovely animals.

And because meerkats usually live together in families, the only condition was to make more than two figures.

Finally, I made five of them. I am proud to present them to you:

As far as I know, the receiver is very happy with them. And so do I, since the making was such a big pleasure to me.

It was about time to show this little mouse to you. I’ve made it almost two years ago, especially for Michel to illustrate his attitude to beer.

It’s sketched in Adobe Flash, with my lovely Wacom tablet.

Then I’ve changed and colored it and that was the result:

It’s a common guest on our desktops.

And just because I really like illustrations over photos (like these, for a good example), here is another favorite version of mine:

(The photo used here is fromFlickr and under CC license, sorry that I don’t remember the name of the author and don’t know where I keep the link anymore).

In this case – the egg came first. I painted it with onion layers.
Wanted it to be all natural this time.
You can see how to made the hen from here – Krokotak.

The second egg wanted a different decoration, so it is – with plum blossom:

More eggs will be dyed this Saturday.