148/365: Flowers at the Green Market

148/365: Flowers at the Green Market, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 28th

Tinted marguerites, and my neighbourhood beyond them.

143/365: Garlic abundant in Warsaw

143/365: Garlic abundant in Warsaw, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 23rd

"There is garlic flowering at the Grzybowski square!" my friend told me, excitedly, after coming back from a Jewish Dance Workshop. The square is in the old Ghetto area and there was a festival- I missed it, I was at a different folk fest across town.

But at least I could go take photos of the garlic.

131/365: Shoe

131/365: Shoe, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 11th

Found while walking through the wilderness with Guinness.
Other things seen:

Buttercups...

...a little garden...

...and a farm.

128/365: Brassica Napus

128/365: Brassica Napus, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 8th

Or canola, if you prefer, the most common sight in fields at this time of year. We cook mostly on rapeseed oil here.

Makes for a very pretty backdrop when you're out biking in the countryside with no clear purpose or destination.

121/365: Beatification

121/365: Beatification, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 1st

Pope John Paul II was beatified today.

115/365: Powązki Cemetery

115/365: Powązki Cemetery, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

April 25th

This morning, our neighbours were going to the cemetery to visit a loved one. I went along with them, because Powązki is so beautiful. There are so many statues, and famous people buried there. And an aunt of mine whom I loved when I was small. I had a little bit of trouble finding her grave, but I did and left her a votive in blue glass.

111/365: Narcissus

111/365: Narcissus, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

April 21st

I always say daffodil, but daffodils are a type of narcissus...it's so confusing.
Also in my mother's garden, some tulips:

Some of these, whatever they are:

...and the magnolia:

109/365: Grandpa and Grandma

109/365: Grandpa and Grandma, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

April 19th

On their balcony. Grandpa doesn't like his planters to be bare, so before real flowers bloom, he sticks in fake daffodils. The hyacinths are real, though!

93/365: Daffodils

93/365: Daffodils, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

April 3rd

It's the season for daffodils :)

302/365: Safety first

302/365: Safety first, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

October 29th

This is part of a sign painted on the wall at work. The space we were in used to be a large textile factory, and in the heydays of the People's Republic, motivational slogans were a favourite form of expression for the authorities and their pencil-pushing minions. This large mural proclaims the wonders of portable fire extinguishers, and warns factory workers against carelessness, which can lead to the loss of "our common goods". Because everything was common in the Eastern Bloc of the sixties.

A few more images from work...

The sign (sin addendum) was supposed to hang in the main hallway and prohibit using spray paint in that area, but the art department decided it fit better in their workshop.

To explain, 'Bez pracy nie ma kołaczy' is a Polish proverb meaning, literally: without work, there will be no bread. Kołacz is an archaic, disused word for a loaf of bread; more precisely: a large, flat, egg-based loaf which the ancient Slavs used in their pagan rituals. The word is derived from 'koło', which means 'wheel', and refers to the round shape of the bread. Nowadays, we would only use it to describe a ceremonial loaf, such as one used at a wedding or other important feast.

And those are just fake poppies scavenged from the art department, sitting on the windowsill of the riggers' corner.

256/365 Lost graveflower

256/365 Lost graveflower, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

September 13th

From a cemetery wreath, no doubt.

217/365 Balcony

217/365 Balcony, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

August 5th

Blurry photo. I need to take more care. And like I said before, I envy people who have real balconies.

215/365 Pink flowers

215/365 Pink flowers, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

August 3rd

Pelargonium?

We like it, but we don't.

A while back I got a very exciting email from a schoolbook publisher asking me whether I would like to do some illustrations for them. I agreed to draw a couple of sketches for them to judge. I know, you're not supposed to do work for someone without getting paid, even if it's just previews. Thing is, I really really wanted this job. Illustrating schoolbooks, can you imagine? So many children would grow up with my drawings.

The publisher emailed me sample poems and texts from the future schoolbook. Unfortunately, after I sent in my first proposition, they replied with a list of changes which would require me to start over completely (at the same time, they said they liked the drawing very much. It just wasn't quite right, and could I try another style, and perhaps change the colours, and not have so many lines in it?).

With two jobs, I don't exactly have time right now to draw something over and over again when I'm not getting paid for it. But I had an idea for another poem from the batch, and since the publisher left me the choice of trying a new illustration instead of redoing the first one, I did just that.

I sent in a rough sketch (as per their directions). The reply was a laconic and worrying: "It's very nice." I sent in the finished illustration a couple of days later.

That was two weeks ago. I didn't get a reply, and I don't think I should expect one. Therefore, here are the rejected illustrations.

It's a funny thing. Many of their comments to the first illustration were about how dark it was, how the colours were sad and not bright enough.* I had a vivid flashback to an art class some twenty years ago, when the teacher looked at my painting of 'Summer' and asked "But why is everything so sad?"

I tried twice more to paint something 'happier'. Couldn't do it. Of course, that was also the same teacher who claimed real artists never made pencil sketches first, so what did he know, huh?

Either way my self-esteem isn't quite sure what to do with itself right now.

* It's supposed to be a drawing of a mysterious and legendary mine. I was purposely staying as far away as possible from rainbow glows and sparkly lanterns, which would have annoyed Seven-Year-Old-Me to no end, but I suppose that was a mistake.

179/365: Sweet pea

179/365: Sweet pea, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

June 28th

The one I planted died before it could blossom, alas, so I bought a bouquet at the market. It was a good subject for a last-minute photograph.

166/365: Morning

166/365: Morning, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

June 15th

The light is lovely in the morning, falling through the trees like through a colander.

163/365: The last bike trip

163/365: The last bike trip, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

June 12th

The twins had mentioned something about leaving, but no one took them seriously until they started packing. This was their last weekend at my place, and so we decided to take One Last Bike Trip. Basia was missing as she is in the USA studying and doing research for her new film, but everyone else was there: the twins, Asia (whom I have no pictures of), ManiaKovalsky, Maciek, and me.

We got horribly lost along the way and never made it to the forest or the pond we'd expected to find, but it was wonderful at 55 km total.

148/365:Used to be flowers

148/365:Used to be flowers, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 28th

I always take too long to throw out dead flowers. They get so interesting when they wilt.

136/365: Guinness

136/365: Guinness, originally uploaded by Magic Madzik.

May 16th

Walking with Guinness is especially fun in the spring when we don't freeze to death. I like snow a lot but I like tall grass even better.

Other things I saw on the walk: