> natural dyes......an organic way of living.....

this is exactly what im experimenting with!

working with natural dyes to make impressions. it is a very organic process.

you have some ideas where to start and the process itself has its own life.

it takes you where ever. you just have to trust it. like anything in life.

you have an intention, a goal, a mission, but cant be obsessed about the

end result. you have to be open and flexible around what the outcome might be! 

and the truth of matter is that it barley goes your way all the way. it should not. 

its a living process. its not a computer program that goes from dot to dot 

straight with no mistakes. we are organic beings with feelings and ups and downs.

we change our mind all the time and we are evolving! so why not things we do 

and projects in life we take not have change of directions and organic process.

anyhow........i love what im experimenting. its sooooo my way of making 

things in art, or even baking.... cooking.....spending my every day.....working 

at the office...etc anything with fixed result would kill my spirit........ usually i 

start with a recipe and then some where along the way i get lost fallowing.....

at the end i barely know what my cakes or cookies recipes were! they are 

never the same. the ingredients change even making  the same recipe. 

the anticipation of what would come out of oven is life for me! i dont care 

to fallow the recipe step by step to make a perfect cake but i trust me 

coming up with other ways of making whatever im making!......and.....not always
the result is appealing. i make many mistakes. maybe too many. but i
can not help myself. that is the only way i know how to do things and live my life! 

i cant make the same thing twice. cant have fix ideas. cant live fixed ideas!
and definitely cant expect same outcomes! my ideas changing all the time.
im not clear about lots of things but im very sure that life is all about an
organic process....and....it takes courage to live it organically without 
fallowing any recipe!

[ the fotos are not mine since i dont have a good camera yet. i kindly borrowed
them from bloom magazine by lidewij fdelkoort because they simply and
beautifully show what i am working on these days. it shows how im doing
my projects, or better say how im living my life in every moment! really really! ]

> once in a blue....i want blue and i feel blue.....

“It comes down to the fact that you supply the blue, and they supply 
the other colors and mix them with your blue. maybe there's some blue 
left in the painting and maybe there isn't. maybe there wasn't supposed 
to be any there in the first place. so have some fun and make a good  
blue and walk away!” [quote by viggo mortensen]

> an apple a day keep you asking for more......

I do see myself living such life. totally!
driving this car. in the country side. 
filling my car with apples.
making art under my high ceiling room.
sounds like living happily ever after!
[photo via onwardandforward]

> nurturing creativity.....

Voila! here i have it. weekend.

what a fully loaded week it was!

have a tremendous weekend. make it extraordinary.  

be buoyed up by the delicate and rich details of life.  

whatever you do, do it with all your heart and be fully present.
i do my best too! 

also........ if you have a moment, please watch this short TED 
talk on nurturing creativity. she talks in a sarcastic entertaining
way how she is dealing with reality of her creative work! it's a
funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk. i just watched it.
it was so meaningful to me and puts it into dynamic words how 
creative process needs a determined mind!

i think you can learn from it too!

> suspended dandelions...... what!......

Yes! this installation was done by German artist Regine Ramseier as
part of ArToll Summer Lab 2011 in Germany.

Gosh.....how on earth i did not come up with such crazy and beautiful idea!
i love dandelions! in fact i like them so much that every month when we kinda
have a challenging time to find a right cover photo for the magazine publication
i work for, i suggest that we put a photo of dandelions on the cover!

I am wondering what it might take to successfully transport 2000
un-puffed dandelion stems from an outdoor field into a building and
then suspend them one by one!

Apparently the flowers were first treated with a gentle adhesive before 

being placed in a special palette the artist designed to fit in the back of her 

car. After transport the entire palette system was moved into the room 

and the flowers were removed and hung one by one. And now you know 

the rest of the story. (via made in slant)

yes Steve Jobs. you were right!  just crazy and creative ones 

are those who can see the impossibles as possible!

so.......after all......our crazy ideas are the best ideas if, and only if, we
can somehow give them some kind of shapes and forms in the reality
of real world so others could see them too!

> if you capture the moment you can live it over and over......

these breathtaking fotos of foliage is from one of my favorite food/photography blogs
Cannelle Et Vanille by Aran Goyoaga. the photos of  her visit to Vermont truly
stole my heart! every one of them has a story and she is an amazing storyteller!
seeing these photos today made me so badly and more than ever want to get a
real camera so i can start playing with to capture the moments i live in the way
i see.......feel......and experience them! thank you Aran for your nostalgic way
of photography. you express feelings with your photos and that is why they
are beyond just some photo shoots!

> Elham is crowned "Kent Village of The Year 2011"

  

 

history...

Elham is a village in east Kent situated in the Elham Valley. 

(p.s. Kent is a county in southeast England). It is situated deep 

in the heart of the Outstanding Natural Beauty of England which 

is the area of countryside considered to have significant landscape 

value in England. Whilst much of the countryside surrounding the 

village is arable farmland. there are still patches of unimproved or 

semi-improved grassland where wildlife is allowed to flourish 

such as Baldock Downs and Hall Downs. It also has a rich heritage 

that stretches back thousands of years.

my story...

I never have liked my full name Elham! sounds too serious! too rigid!

in farsi it means inspiration and that is the only part i like about my full name!

but considering the fact that most people do not like their name, i stopped 

fussing about it and picked my simple nickname eli to live with!

(the graphic designer in me like it with lower case "e")

But ....
today i feel so different when through a friend of mine i received 

some info about my name and what "belongs" to me "officially"! 

therefore.....

now that i have a land in England named for me....with exact kind

of natural beauty and surrounding i like......i reclaim my name back! 

i want to own my name and learn about what i have over there in Kent!

i wonder could it be that my root goes to that land even though i think 

im african! could it be that im a little British after all or perhaps Kentish! 

(my little funny accent people ask me about could explain that part possibly!)

also......

i'm delighted to announce that Elham has been voted 

'Kent Village of the Year 2011'. it is awarded as the winner 

in the Environment category, runner up in the social action 

and economy categories which whatever that means i feel very honored!

but even more.....

there are Famous and Notable People in and around the Elham Valley.

(could it be that those are my ancestors........my head is spinning now!)

at the end.....

all kiding aside......im going to take the knowledge and run with it:

1) i have a village with my name....a beautiful land with natural surrounding.

2) there are famous people related to me.

3) still there is more for me to discover about Elham Valley! 

4) I have an answer to where to go if i want to leave to a new land to live!

funny and powerful enough...

i already feel deep inside that im connected to Elham Valley in Kent.

what else i could ask for from universe! i feel im on top of the world!   

period. 

photos of my properties and the surrounding: Kent's Elham Valley!

(cant wait to see my land in person!)

> art or toilet paper rolls? your choice......

If toilet paper rolls (that nobody gives any credit but tossing them out into recycle bin) 
can be such amazingly art ..... then .... im thinking .......life itself is really how we see it!
one's realty is what one chooses to be reality? what our mind think of reality is what we
get to live with! it is that simple. no other rules apply. there is no reality outside our mind!
it is what we make out of it! ..............and that is the only rule!


Yuken Teruya wrote about his roll paper project:
"Toilet rolls sprouting and spreading branches are installed to a wall to create a forest.
There is a moment when the cut-out branches and leaves start holding themselves up
with their own strength. It is as if I am helping the paper awakens its ability to come to life."

p.s. i always wanted to do something with my toilet paper rolls. in fact i used to pile them
up in baskets thinking some ideas would come to me eventually! they have perfect cylander
shape made with brown cardboard that already is recycled material. very inspiring!
getting to them after using all the white wrapped paper is like a reward every time!
call me crazy but that is how i feel about it! and that it is part of my reality!

> who are you SAIPUA?

SAIPUA is a flower/soap store in Brooklyn, NY.
could not help myself to not post some photos of  their creations.
im not sure if i want to give the credit to flower stylists or the photographers who took such rich photos!
but it does not matter! perhaps both! these photos made my day. thank you saipua people!