Bubbles

Washing hands made me think about bubbles. Zero weight bubbles have the ability to bring us help in many forms.

I remember how we enjoyed creating bubbles through a straw from a cup of water with a drop of detergent that mom gave us to keep calm for washing dishes. It means she played with bubbles in her adult way, while we children admired the flying balls, reflecting all the colors of the rainbow. And of course, we tried to catch them. I can still hear our laugh in the garden.

Bubbles in the bath are also great. They create a light and even aromatic cushion into which you can bury your head and body, and there are still plenty of bubbles left to play if you want. You can enjoy it in various moods as a child, lonely or relaxing adult, or even in groups of two or more.

Remaining with literal meaning of bubbles, there is their enormous value in washing and cleaning disciplines of all kinds. Anyone who has ever tried to wash or clean anything with and without bubbles knows the truth about the difference.

But we also make no detergent bubbles. How often have you heard the sentence “Close yourself into a bubble to feel safe”? So we follow the trend. Keeping our inner self safe among billions people, we live in bubbles, losing real contact with real others.

Today’s paradox is that our mandatory isolation has helped a number of bubbles burst. As if the face mask replaced the bubble and people discovered what had not been seen before.

The Covid-19 virus is also kind of bubble inside a pandemic bubble, and works against us as well as for us.

It’s up to each of us which bubbles to choose and how to deal with them. Personally, I’m going to find a straw and return to the bubbles of childhood, to the bubbles full of rainbow.

Enjoy bubbles and share which bubbles you love or prefer, thanks!

Hug and love,  Ivana

Regarding watercolor painting, I was so focused on the bubbles that I thought about the rest only after I painted them. That’s why the dark background painted later made me crazy and additionally stole the original lightness and round shape of the bubbles. Now, they look more like snowballs than bubbles. But one learns through mistakes, right?

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Fighting with nightmare

I like to draw. I like the moment with pencils when my imagination blows out. Sometimes I have a precise intention, and sometimes I let things go to be surprised by the result. Playing with the subconscious is fun and deep at the same time.

But drawing isn’t my hobby since childhood. Of course I did draw at that time, perhaps only until school. Then the system was trying to form my skills, telling me how much wrong I was. And believe me, I was!

Luckily I had other skills to develop, so I didn’t suffer much because of drawing bad. I had other things to enjoy and erased my need to draw from the mind. Before 40, the suppressed need woke up and started to fill my hungry hole.

Sounds the story is done, right?

But I quickly discovered that although I draw happily and felt free, in fact I had avoided drawing people all the time. And if I did it, it was a real nightmare. Finally I decided to fight with it!

Since January, I have been engaged in learning how to do it. My goal is not to reach professional skills, I just want to overcome my fear and remove the obstacle of the free self-expression.

The drawing above is the last practice and I believe that the head finally got the right proportions! What do you think?

With love, Ivana

Edible experiment

Few months ago I’ve been asked to prepare a sugar-based depilation mass. Preferably including herbs that heal and treat irritated skin. Oh, I like challenges!

At the beginning I decided to go for few ingredients only: sugar, figs, lemon and water. Having no idea about proportions, I had to try. The first attempt contained too many figs, the mass remained soft but delicious on a taste. So, I put it on a pie!

I served the pie with the story and got acknowledgment for both. Especially when I have everybody assured that the mass on the pie has not been used for original purpose yet.

The second attempt brought a much better result. The mass was still a bit soft and resilient, but effective for fine blond hairs. Fortunately, I have that!

The third time was lucky. I got excellent and effective consistency. I already used herbs, my very first choice were chamomile and aloe vera. It still tasted great, so I can depilate and satisfy the taste for sweet at the same moment.

There are a lot of herbal options for this edible depilation and I look forward to the next one. Do you have recommendation or experience? Thanks for both!

Alchemilla: Feminine Innocence

Every time I look at the leaves of lady’s mantle (Alchemilla) in the grass, I see the pleated skirts of teenage girls. Healthy moisture and virginal purity are usually emphasized by drop of dew, which likes to stay in depths of leaves. Everything is so original and intact, well prepared for future use. Harvesting lady’s mantle means to feel the love and respect for everything, which is represented by this herb. Everything what is hidden under the lady’s skirt.

As soon as the girl matures into a woman, lady’s mantle offers its assistance during menstruation or inflammatory diseases of female organs. It seems that lady’s mantle effects in treatment of certain fungal infections in this intimate area as well. It heals such damaged tissues, as if wants them to return back into the original innocence.

Although innocence is a good start, the fundamental role of women is having children. And there is also place for lady’s mantle which supports both, conception and maintaining healthy fetus. It perfuses appropriate tissues adequately and so makes them excited to fulfill the major task of women. Lady’s mantle might help also to mature women with their late fertility.

After giving birth, nursing mothers appreciate lady’s mantle too. It supports lactation and improves quality of milk. Again, lady’s mantle cares about innocence, which has just been born.

Lady’s mantle is also for women whose active cycle is coming to the end. It helps to clean and finish everything inside of the intimate area to be returned into innocence after hibernation. And that is the experience, which I am going through. And that is the reason, why lady’s mantle calls me to draw its picture and write this post.

Thanks for reading.
With love, Ivana