Artsy Geek

Vienna was fantastic with the great architecture and bright buildings.  We explored the city under a cloudless sky. The highlight of the day was a visit to the opera house where I wished I had a tripod to capture more of the magnificent interior.  Not sure why people in Vienna did not like it when it was re-built and redesign after WWII. In the evening we also went to a concert hall where we were seated at the orchestra seats for a Mozart concert.  The orchestra seats were placed on the stage right behind the orchestra which was a surprise to all.  It was a great experience seeing the animated face of the orchestra conductor throughout the performance. With the choir we also took a trip to Stift Geras for an evening concert.  We were treated to an excellent dinner of pork, beef, dumplings and salads.  Everyone agreed that it was the best dinner we had thus far on our trip.  After dinner we rehearsed in possibl...

Slovakia is a very beautiful country with language and traditions very close to my Polish roots.  Too bad our stay there was only couple hours on the way from Budapest to Vienna.  We only seen the old town of Bratislava with its opera house and many embassies, but I'm sure the city has more to offer and we should come there again to explore it in more detail. We had a delicious lunch in Bratislava that included a very tasty piece of bacon :)

After a long and tiring trip on Boeing 747-400 (The biggest airplane I had a chance to fly on so far) , transfer with 4 hours wait time at Frankfurt airport we finally arrived in Budapest. Boeing 747-400 We first stopped at the Heroes Square where we learned about the history of Hungary. The square features seven Chieftains of the Magyars and important Hungarian leaders starting with Saint Stephen.  The square was build in 1896 to commemorate the thousandth anniversary of the foundation of the Hungarian state.   Our quick city tour included visit to two magnificent churches.  The one on castle hill, The Church of Our Lady - known as Matthias Church, had a stunning ceramic tile roof that caught my attention.  Unfortunately I had some trouble capturing the dark interior paintings of the inside without a tripod.   We also had a chance to see the St. Stephen's Basilica where we later performed.  The interior of marble and gold was...

My experimenting continues.  After doing simple designs I started to work on something a little more complicated.  First I used a black clay with jewelry gold to produce Skinner Blend.  Then I cut it in stripes of various lengths to create beads with colour transitions from gold to black. After baking I sanded each piece with sandpapers raging from 400 to 2000 to create a washed stone effect featuring rough but smooth to touch edges. Final product has been glazed to obtain glossy effect and finished with silver plated chain and earrings. The effect: For the next necklace I created a Skinner Blend of black and glitter red.  I cut the sheet of clay into brick like objects.  I created a square sheet of black clay and also created a black border around.  I filled the middle of the square with the cut out brick like objects in a random pattern.  This piece has the rusty look of something randomly found in a closet, and with the uneven edges a...

I always wanted to experiment with sculpting, however I was always skeptical about my abilities and purchasing materials that I will eventually throw away.  With a new year I stepped into an art store to get myself some supplies that I needed.  While I was walking around I found myself in front of sculpting shelf. I thought to myself that I should move on, but my feet did not move.  I wanted or not, I looked at what the shelf had to offer and I found myself purchasing a polymer clay oven baking kit with selected colours and some sculpting tools. When I got home I covered the table with some wax paper and created few creatures to start. Many times the creatures did not come as I wanted them to, but I did not give up.  After some time I started to get a little bit better in it. My next step was to check out You Tube for ideas and techniques.  After watching a huge amount of videos I ended up going back to the store and getting more suppli...

with a powerful "Rejoice and Be Merry" by John Rutter! We've done it! Countless hours of practicing with the choir and individually at home paid up and Mississauga Festival Choir delivered a great performance on December 7th, 2013.  The concert was a start of the 30th season of the choir that initially was assembled to celebrate Mississauga's 10th anniversary.  Today the choir is 105 voices strong and constantly growing. When the time for the concert comes near I always get anxious and nervous. When the dress rehearsal and a last warm up before the performance are completed, the temperature rises.  There is always something that will go wrong during a life performance and I always want to make sure it is not me.  There is always a piece that I should have practiced a little bit more, but the time is up and no turning back. After we finished the magnificent "Gloria" by John Rutter everyone had a feeling that all went well.  Everyone backstage was chee...

I think everyone is at such stage at least once in their life where they decide to do something new and different.  The lack of bread at home gave me an idea to bake one myself.  Unfortunately I also lacked the important ingredients: the bread flour and yeast. Next time I sent my husband shopping I asked him to pick up the ingredients I needed.  Now with extra butter, bread flour, yeast and eggs I was ready to make bread from the recipe I found in a baking book. 1 egg 1 egg yolk 1 cup lukewarm water 4.5 cup bread flour 1.5 tsp of salt 2 tsp of sugar 1 tsp of yest 2 Tbsp of butter I worked my way through the recipe, however the bread came out very dense. It was tasty and baked well, but it did not resemble the store bought bread. That did not discouraged me to try again.  This time around I tried to make a soda bread from the same baking book. 4 cups of all-purpose flour 1 tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda 1.75 cups buttermilk Lack of buttermilk did not d...