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Met the deadline

Months ago I had blogged about participating in The Sketchbook Project. I am so excited that I have completed the sketchbook on time and it’s on its way to New York to The Brooklyn Art Library.

Thousands of sketchbooks will be exhibited at galleries and museums across the US.

After the tour, all sketchbooks will enter into the permanent collection of The Brooklyn Art Library, where they will be available for the public to view.

28836 artists from 94 countries around the world are participating and the tour starts February 19, 2011. It’s like a concert tour, but with sketchbooks.

I have chosen the theme “Below the surface” and in the end it turned into a very personal self-portrait consisting of poems and illustrations. If you are in any of the cities below make sure to check out the exhibition.

Brooklyn, NY, Feb. 19 – 27, 2011 (opening reception Feb. 19)

Austin, TX, March 12, 2011

Portland, ME, March 30 – April 2, 2011

Atlanta, GA, April 8-9, 2011

Washington, DC, April 11-30, 2011

Seattle, WA, June 10-12, 2011

San Francisco, CA,  June 18, 2011

Chicago, IL, July 14-17, 2011

Winter Park, FL, July 29-31, 2011

Here are a few pictures of my sketchbook.

Ciao

Cover of sketchbook
Intro poem
Scars
Scars poem
Fear
Loneliness
Hope
Love poem
Love
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Green Christmas Gifts

I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas filled with quality time with you friends and family. K. and I had a really nice Christmas. We went a bit overboard again with gifts. It’s just so hard because there are so many things I think he would love. I absolutely loved the presents I got from him. I got a new winter jacket and hat made from hemp (hoodlamb.com). And they are not just pretty and warm! The outer shell is made from 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton and the lining is made from hemp and recycled plastic. I absolutely love it!

I made most of my Christmas presents again this year. Here is what I gave as presents: my jewelry made from recycled silver, beach glass, beach/river rocks, hand-made pottery, eco-friendly cup cozies made from recycled clothing, homemade hot chocolate mix and homemade cookies.

Did you get or give any green gifts for Christmas?

I apologize for the bad pictures of my jacket (K. was having a hard time with my camera 🙂 ).

Ciao and happy new year!

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Christmas shopping

Are you done your Christmas shopping yet?

I have uploaded more jewelry and photography prints for sale to my etsy store. Please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at anjastudios@shaw.ca if you would like to put in a custom order for somebody special!

Happy shopping!

Ciao

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Etsy store -In honour of Cesar Millan

Finally after opening my etsy account 5 months ago I have uploaded my first item for sale.

In honour of the “dog whisperer” being in town tonight (can’t wait to learn more about becoming a better pack leader!), I have selected the first item to be an eco-friendly name tag for you dog!

This is the prefect gift, especially with Christmas coming, for your pet or for one of your packleader friends. The pet name tag is part of my line of jewelry made from recycled silver.

Visit my etsy store at www.anjastudios.etsy.com to order your custom name tag today!

Ciao

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Jewelry

I wanted to thank everybody for the amazing support at the studio sale. I have been busy restocking my inventory. Here are some of my newest pieces. The jewelry is made from recycled pure silver and I have incorporated recycled real freshwater pearls and real turquoise. There is still lots of time for any custom orders for Christmas. Please contact me at anjastudios@shaw.ca if you are interested in purchasing any of my jewelry or photography.

Recycled silver abstract leaf shape with small hand sculpted silver leaf and a freshwater pearl.

Recycled silver abstract flower shape with freshwater pearl.

Custom order from Switzerland for hand sculpted textured recycled silver cross.
Hand sculpted recycled silver G-clef.
Recycled silver square with flower imprinted with turquoise gemstone beads.
Recycled silver textured circle with lucky stone found on the beach in Gimli.
Custom order for hand sculpted dog name tag made from recycled silver.
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Halloween

I still remember when I first found out about Halloween – watching my first movie “ET”. I loved everything about this movie and I was fascinated with Halloween. Sadly we don’t celebrate Halloween in Switzerland (our carnival does make up for it though). So ever since I have moved here I feel like a little kid on Halloween. I always dress up, carve some pumpkins and give out candy. I should just borrow one of my friends children so I finally get to go trick or treating! 🙂

Here are some pictures!

Ciao

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Day 22 to 28 in Switzerland

Day 22 to 28 we spent at my parents’ place. My niece came with us and we spent the next 6 nights sharing my childhood bedroom.

Day 22
We went for a hike with my parents. The beauty of the mountains is absolutely breathtaking. It seriously almost hurts that’s how beautiful it is. There were so many cows and I can still hear the so familiar sound of the cow bells. The mountains are so inspirational to me and I wished that I had my paints with me. Black ink just didn’t do the beauty justice. I decided that day that I am going to create a series of paintings of mountains. I will make sure to post some of them once I start the series. Make sure to come back to check them out!

Day 23
We went to Zurich to go to the art museum “Kunsthaus Zürich” for the day. We took an early train so that we would have all day in Zürich. It was another beautiful day. We went for a walk along the lake, strolled around the old part of the city and visited some churches before making it to the gallery. It’s such an amazing museum and it was nice to be there with my niece and to have the opportunity to explain art to her. We saw everything from Rembrandt to Monet to Picasso to Warhol to Paul Klee. I really enjoyed the visit.

On the way back we stopped in at an amazing book store. The store only carries books on art, architecture, design, fashion and photography. I could have stayed there for days.

Day 24
My entire family took a drive over the Nufenenpass to the Italian speaking canton “Ticino”.  The drive was amazing and the views just breathtaking. We went to a mountain crystal mine and got some beautiful mountain crystals.

Day 25
A. spent the day with one of her girlfriend, so my parents, K. and I spent to morning at my dads shooting club. It was great to see K. shoot a handgun for the first time. He was a pretty good at it. It was nice to show him the club as I had spent so much of my childhood there. We used to have family gatherings here and I spent countless hours running around in the woods, looking for snakes and playing with my brother.

Day 26 and 27
We spent the last couple of days just enjoying spending time with my family. A. and I made a guitar out of clay for her dad. I forgot to take a picture of it, which is too bad because it turned out amazing. We even used small pieces of thin metal wire for the guitar strings.

Day 28
My parents took the train to Zürich Airport with us. It was nice to spend a few more hours with them before leaving. It’s always so hard for me to good-bye to my family. I hope to see them again soon!

Ich hae ew alli ganz fescht gaeru!

I hope that you enjoyed the pictures of my trip home. Make sure to come back to see more pictures of my work from paintings to jewelry.

Ciao

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long week-end

It was great to have a long week-end and have some extra time to relax and to create. I worked on a few self portraits and I also finished my glass jewelry from last week-end. I had a wonderfully relaxing and creative week-end. Wouldn’t it be nice to always have a 3 day week-end?

Ciao!
Anja

 

 

 

If you are interested in purchasing any of my jewelry you can contact me at anjastudios@shaw.ca Christmas is only 74 days away!

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Day 16 to 21 in Switzerland

Day 16
Our first night in Switzerland we had a wonderful dinner with my brother, his girlfriend and A. It was a really nice night, filled with great food, great conversations and lots of hugs. It was so nice to be with my brother and my niece again. I miss them so much when I am back in Canada. The next morning A. and I got up early and went to town. We went to a few stores, I bought her a volleyball, chocolate and some flowers. When we got home K. and my brother had just come back from a little drive and we all had lunch together. We spent the afternoon at the pool, playing in the water and having fun.

Day 17
I woke up early and went to the store to pick up some wine and flowers for my parents. Then we drove to Planchouet where my parents were staying at my aunts chalet. When we got there my mom was waiting for us and it felt so good to give her a hug. We spent a wonderful day up in the mountains with my parents and my godmother and her husband. We danced, drank lots of wine, had some great veal sausages and some raclette. What a wonderful day!

Day 18
After breakfast we drove to a lake about 1 hour away where we spent the day swimming, BBQuing, and just relaxing. My brother and K. were doing flips of a dock which was very entertaining! At night we went to an open air movie in the courtyard of the castle “Stockalperschloss”. The event is put on by the Tourism office of Brig where I used to work. I remember working those nights, setting up the chairs and selling drinks. It was just as much fun as I remembered.

Day 19
In the morning K. and I went for a walk through town, took some pictures and went to an art exhibition. I was able to show him my elementary school, my college, the restaurant my parents used to own and lots of other places that are close to my heart. It was nice to spend some time alone and share my childhood memories.

In the afternoon one of my brother’s friends came with us to the pool. I tried to teach A. how to do a flip. She almost got it in the end. We all went to my brothers after and had coffee. S. asked me to design him a tattoo, which I was very honored by. I am really looking forward to it!

Day 20
My brother, A., K. and I drove to another lake to get away from the heat. We spent the afternoon diving into the water. K. tried to swim to an island in the middle of the lake and he almost didn’t make it. 🙂

Day 21
We went for lunch at my parents place and then went swimming again. I know we pretty much went swimming every day. This time we went to the pool in my home town. Another place I used to work at. When I was 14 I got my first job working at this pool. I had to clean the pool and the surrounding areas, making sure that the water had the appropriate chlorine levels and I also worked at the pool’s restaurant. I had a lot of fun! I remember cleaning the pool early in the morning, the sun shining, the birds chirping, the rustling of the trees in the wind and the mountains all around me.

This first week in Switzerland was wonderful. It was great to see my brother and A., relax and just enjoy being at home. It really is strange how much more I feel like myself in Switzerland. I know that might seem like a strange statement, but I can feel my roots. My family has been living in this part of Switzerland for centuries and I can feel the power of the mountains all around me.

Ciao

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Glass fusing

It’s been a bit crazy. Today was my first day off in a couple of weeks and I had a fabulous day. I took a glass jewelry class where I learned how to make glass fused pendants and earrings. I had a lot of fun and I feel so much more relaxed now. Being able to create combined with a nap once I got home and I feel human again! I can’t wait to be able to spend some quality time in my studio again this week. I can’t believe I haven’t been to my studio in over 2 weeks. Just way too long! I will be able to pick up my glass creations next week so make sure to come back to check them out!

Ciao