Today I illustrated one of my heroes: Frida Kahlo.
No particular reason. I just felt like it. She was such a remarkable woman and artist. ♡
I may produce greeting cards or limited prints of this piece. Don’t know yet… I’ll test it with a frame first and see if I like it. :0)
Last weekend was Crafty Fox Weekend in London! It was my first time trading at an arts & crafts market and I LOVED every second of it.
Here are a couple of pictures of my work on display:
Crafty Fox is a fantastic market. The quality of the work you see there is good and the variety of styles is very carefully picked and put together. You can tell by looking at what’s on display, that the organizers and curators are very specific, know what they are looking for and have incredibly high standards.
I was honoured to be selected to take part in their Uncovered Scheme for artists who are new to market trading. I had a mentor (the amazing Rod, from Rodology) who helped answer all my question and gave me several valuable tips, from the best way to display my products to the amount of change I should have on the day, etc. He was great. Thanks, Rod! :0)
I also got to meet talented artists and people who like me, were new to trading as well. Oh, and most importantly: I talked to lots and lots of lovely customers! People were very interested in my work and asked me lots of questions, which was wonderful and flattering! A few of my friends and family also dropped by, which was extra sweet.
Overall, a very successful day! Time just flew by. Thank you, Crafty Fox, for such a wonderful weekend.
Lots of love,
My “Blogger” illustration is now available in my Society6 shop.
She can be purchased as an art print or on various cute little objects such as pillows, iPad skins, tote bags, etc.
I had originally illustrated her when I was living in New York, 2 years ago. I wasn’t blogging very frequently (It was my first time in New York, you see, and there was so much to do!), but I was drawing a lot, all the time and everywhere!
One of my best friends from there loved this illustration and she would always mention it in our emails and chats. I had forgotten about it for a while until this morning. For some reason, I woke up thinking about it! It took me a while to find it among my several back up folders, but here it is! :0) Looking at it makes me happy. It brings back a lot of good memories.
See it in my shop here.
Lots of love,
My last day at Glastonbury was very productive. As I knew we would be leaving very early the next day, I tried to cover as much ground as I could.
My first stop was The Park on the South West corner of the farm.
I saw the gorgeous ribbon tower.
Some giant flowers.
The Silent Disco tent.
Here you are given a set of headphones and tune in on what the DJ is playing (which will probably be a whole bunch of different things at the same time). Basically, if you are not wearing headphones, it’s hilarious to watch everyone dancing in a room with no music.
Nice colorful panels.
And mud! (Of course.)
The weather was actually nice, for a change! It was cloudy early on and then really sunny as the day progressed.
That afternoon, everyone went to the Pyramid Stage to see Dolly Parton, and I do mean, everyone!
I saw a red indian.
These guys with matching Hawaiian shirts.
And I finally found Wally! (A few Wallies in fact.)
I never cared about Dolly Parton in the past and I was considering seeing someone else at another stage, but the atmosphere in the Pyramid Stage was so good, that I decided to stay. Turns out, I know a lot of her songs! Not well enough to sing along to, but still! She is also very funny and sweet. It was a great set. I was glad I stayed.
Also on the Pyramid Stage, I saw The 1975 and Ed Sheeran. I didn’t know them at all, but quite liked them! I love hearing new musicians, especially when they’re playing live. I am not sure if I would have liked these guys if I had heard them on the radio or on Spotify.
But the REAL REASON why I was there (and perhaps the main reason why I came to Glastonbury in the first place) wasn’t Ed Sheeran, or Dolly, or whatever… It was because of two men from Ohio: Dan and Patrick of The Black Keys!
I had never seen them playing live before, so I was VERY excited about their set! They were great, as I expected. No bullshit, very back-to-basics rock n’ roll and totally addictive. Similar to Jack White, but in a different style. Their songs sound like something that Jim Morrison would play. 100% American with a bluesy twist.
After The Black Keys, Kasabian closed the festival with a HUGE show.
I had seen them before, many years ago, at a festival where they opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Lisbon. They were a lot smaller then. I didn’t even recognise the singer when he came on stage! I thought: “Didn’t he used to have long hair?!” And then I saw Serge Pizzorno. For a few minutes I was very confused. I thought HE was the frontman (and part of me wishes he was. He is certainly more interesting than the other guy). Anyway, this is irrelevant. I like their music and I LOVED the energy of their set. It was impossible to stand still! Sometimes these indie bands can be really repetitive, so I was very surprised by the variety. They sang Praise You by Fatboy Slim, for God’s sake! How can anyone NOT love that?
After Kasabian, I decided to go and check out the after-party at the Arcadia Spider. I had seen it during the day, I had seen it on pictures, so I thought I should go and see it live, in its full glory.
This is what it looked like during the day.
Not much to see, right?
This is what it looked like at night:
It was amazing! The lights and the flames appear according to the beat of the music and people go absolutely crazy under them. The centre of the spider it is where the DJs play. My pictures don’t do it much justice but take my word for it: it’s very, very cool.
What an incredible experience! If I was to summarise my entire 3 days, this is what I would say:
♥ Top 3 Best things about Glastonbury
The plain vastness of it – Even though you know that you won’t be able to see everything, just knowing that it’s there, is already pretty cool. The expectation of what you will encounter round the corner is exciting! Glastonbury is unpredictable and full of surprises.
The creative energy – It’s one huge space entirely dedicated to fun and performing arts. It’s impossible not to feel inspired or exhilarated by all the madness.
The organization – It may look like a chaotic hedonistic paradise but Glastonbury is organized to perfection! I was never lost, I always knew where everything was: where I could get food, where the toilets were, the stages, the bars, etc.
♥ Top 3 Worse things about Glastonbury
The toilets – By far the worse toilets IN THE WORLD. Oh my God. I know they are supposed to be good for the environment but… so bad. I won’t go into too much detail. It suffices to say that at some point I stopped drinking so I wouldn’t have to go! – Which was probably a good thing in the end: no hangovers!
The annoying kids who just don’t get it – There are people of all ages at Glastonbury so inevitably, the place is packed with 20-year-olds. Most of them are really nice but there are always the ones who will get wasted before 2pm, who will shove and push, and be generally rude and obnoxious. I felt homicidal a couple of times. Thankfully, it was only a couple of times.
The rain/mud – It’s not that bad if you’re well prepared.
♥ 3 Best music sets
In this order: The Black Keys – Jack White – Arcade Fire.
♥ 3 Best surprises
The after-party venues – I was not expecting them to be so cool. Especially Shangri-La.
The unexpected performers that popped out everywhere – I would be chilling out, having a drink at a bar, when suddenly, out of nowhere: trolls! Dozens of them! Holding signs that said “Hug a Troll”. I would turn a corner and suddenly: ninjas! Running around, jumping over the tables and chairs. At some point it becomes normal, “just another day at Glastonbury”, but no less delightful.
The variety and quality of food on offer – Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE to eat. I am always hungry and thankfully, there was food everywhere in the festival. You could find everything from sushi, to Italian, to French desserts, to cupcakes, etc. There was even a Brazilian restaurant! I mean, really? I love you!
♥ Top 3 most valuable tips for beginners
Wellies – It’s simple: if you don’t bring wellies, you won’t be able to walk in the mud. End of story. Buy a comfortable pair so you don’t get blisters. My boots were 1 size bigger than my normal shoes and they were perfect!
LOTS of baby wipes – The hardest thing for me was to accept that I wasn’t going to take a proper shower. Believe me, this is one of the worse things that can happen to a Brazilian girl. Brazilians are OBSESSED with showers. BUT, the fact is: unless you are willing to stand in a line for 3-4 hours (there were about 10 showers for 200,000 people), you will have to find alternative ways to keep clean. It’s not ideal but everyone is on the same boat and it’s only for a few days. I packed hundreds of baby wipes and used them all! Did I feel nice, and clean, and lovely? No. Did I feel totally disgusting? No. Did I die? No! – There you have it.
Arrive EARLY. Preferably the day before – Otherwise you run the risk of having nowhere decent to set your tent. You might have to camp miles away from everything, or worse: next to the toilets!
Don’t be scared though. It is soooo worth it!
I love you, Glastonbury. See you next year.
Scroll down or click here for Day 1 and Day 2.
♥♥♥
This is what my second day at Glastonbury looked like:
Bellinis for breakfast. Quite the alcoholic, I know. (I don’t usually do that).
I wasn’t the only one though. I took this picture before 11am!
Wellies and Star Wars leggings? Hell yeah! (Just like the bellinis, I don’t usually do that either.)
Performance artists everywhere.
Including these very tall dudes…
… and these doctors.
The best sets on the second day were on the Pyramid Stage, so I spent most of the day there.
Me and everybody else.
I saw Lana
Robert Plant
And Jack White!
This was the THIRD TIME I saw Jack White playing live! I can’t get enough of him.
He is totally unpredictable. Never expect him to play a lot of stuff from the White Stripes (apart from Seven Nation Army, I guess. – He always seems to play that at the end), and never expect his stuff to sound just like it does in the albums. He always creates new versions of his songs on the spot and nothing ever sounds the same. Everything he plays sounds great though. His guitar has this distinctive quality. It sounds dirty and scratchy, like something being played in a garage. It feels like that’s what true Rock n’ Roll is supposed to sound like! Oh, and did I mention his energy? He is an absolute ANIMAL on stage! And so good-looking… Right, I’m starting to sound like a groupie. Moving on…
After Jack, I decided not to stay for the Metallica set. I saw a bit of The Pixies, a bit of MGMT and checked out some of the after-parties:
The Silver Hayes had these incredible light structures inspired by Stonehenge.
And then there was Shangri-La…
Shangri-La is this enormous installation in the form of a fictional city that has been destroyed by an apocalypse of some kind. It’s divided into three different music arenas: Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. It’s also the home of Block 9, the UnfairGround and The Common, all weird and insane late night music venues.
Always cool to spot an Obey! This one was right in the middle of Shangri-la. (Above)
Taking photos at night didn’t seem like such a good idea at the time. The ground was slippery (Mud! Mud everywhere!), it was dark and as usual, there were lots of people. I was worried about dropping my camera or my phone, so I kept them safe inside my bag for most of the night. Big mistake! That won’t happen next time. These places were full of cool posters and amazing sculptures everywhere, all made of metal, parts of cars, parts of airplanes, neon lights, scary looking bits taken from old funfair rides, etc. Shangri-La deserves proper pictures and a proper post!
What comes next? Day 3.
I saw The Black Keys – one of the reasons why I wanted to come to Glastonbury in the first place! I also saw The 1975, Dolly Parton, Kasabian and took tons of photos of the famous Arcadia Spider. Stay tuned for more Glastonbury madness!
♥♥♥
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