I see you find my underground

Finally, the video that we shot in November saw the light! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to your attention music video of Evil Jokers involving Rebel Dolls! A little bit nightmares on Monday morning still will not hurt anyone ^_^

Cities in dust

Darlings, I was gone for two weeks, please forgive me for the silence! You know, the only thing we buy that makes us richer - is  a journey. Yes, I was very very far from the cold Russian winter. My path for the second time ran across India. This was not only a vacation. In New Delhi I had some business meetings. But however, even a business trip to India is always filled with a lot of new experiences, discoveries and findings. This time, I absolutely fell in love with Delhi. We planned the trip so to spend in this anthill as little time as possible. But now I really regret it! This city is a real treasure for lovers of history and art. I can not even imagine how much time you need to visit all its palaces, fortresses, mosques, temples and museums.  Hopefully next time I'll be able to give it due attention. 

With a rebel yell she cried more more more

(Rebel dolls watermark)

Hi dears! Forgive me for my silence, but my head is spinning from the different cases. Soon there will be our new photosets, and we are actively preparing for Halloween! All this is very difficult. You know what is female character :) Our team consists of 5 girls and  all with different interests and beliefs. So, many ideas are born in the debate. I hope we can overcome everything, because we are waiting for so many interesting things to come ;)

I feel like I know her, but sometimes my arms bend back

Autumn. Soft and fresh. The air is filled with new flavors. Have you noticed that every season has its own aroma? In autumn it's spicy and sweet. May be the case in the allegory of a pumpkin? :) September - my favorite month. It's bright, sunny, warm and foggy at the same time. Japanese art  helped me to come to a new understanding of autumn. Previously, I perceived it exclusively on the Gothic manner as something depressing and gloomy, associated with death. But the Japanese Zen art, especially poetry, made me realize that the End - it is always the Beginning of something new, and wilting no less beautiful than the bloom. So September is time for warm sweaters, books and memories! Speaking of memories, I recently found an old gift from my American friend. This is a deck of cards, which appeared in Twin Peaks. Since I am really mad about this film, he made cards of Windom Earle especially for my birthday. Just besides the characters of David Lynch, he added cards with me and my friends. The result was something fascinating and frightening! Oh, how I love when real life is interwoven with dreams!

(Me)

(My sister Tarya)

(My friend Irina)

 (Me and beauties of Twin Peaks)

 (Audrey^^)

(another alignment)

(Boo!)

Polyester white trash made in nowhere

Hi darlings! Much time has passed since the last post. This summer is just driving me crazy! First, in St. Petersburg we faced unprecedented heat - about 30 degrees. Secondly, I have a huge amount of work involved with my projects. I will try to cover everything.

 I've already told you about our little pin up clothing store. We sent several dozen of orders with clothes and made incredibly cute business cards. Just look! 

"Cherry Shop" also participated  for the first time in the fair on the big annual exhibition "City - landscape". It was a great experience for us!

The exhibition was held in an old printing house in the city center. Works of young photographers shocked me with its irony, depth, a new look at the world. It was a real manifesto of postmodernism. The exhibition also held a competition for the best work. One could select five images. Here is one of those that impressed me the most:

Pictures were hung not merely on the walls, but on the old printing presses. This created an incredible combination of tradition and novelty. Again postmodernism!

Other than I do another development project, which is wholly owned my heart. This is "Forest shop", which sells clothes for the elves and fairies. Futuristic design, natural colors, style mix of tribal and psy trance - it is all "Forest Shop." Yes, I wrote about few models of clothes from this store here. Now I select a new collection, and I feel that it will be just stunning! By the way, I can boast of some commercials for "Forest Shop" too. Here is our logo and business card: 

With this shop we visited two large open air festivals - "Warmth of the North" and "Yogart". The last one was special for us. This event is associated with yoga, tribal, vegetarianism, healthy lifestyle. It was very cool to be there and see so many beautiful and free people. Frankly, that trip was not the work, but  a real pleasure! I am very sorry that I didn't have a camera to capture sunrises and sunsets over the lake, next to which a festival held, and our wonderful customers. 

Now I need to take stock of the work done. I must say that I love what I do, even though it takes a lot of strength. I never thought it would be so difficult. Generally, I do not like to sell anything, it's not in my blood. But on the other hand, I love to see the happy faces of the people who found the clothes they were dreaming. It's worth it! This is business for my soul and I hope it will flourish.

P.S. The title of this post is a joke :Р 

The Writing on My Father's Hand

Hooray! On April 21 in the journal of  University of Culture and Art will be published my first two research papers. I waited for this moment for so long! ^^ The first of them is available in the section on the history of art. It's "Tirthankaras image in Jain sculptural tradition". This article is dedicated to an undoubtedly important theme – the analysis of the Jain sculptural tradition. The author touches upon a new issue for the Russian science – semantics of sculpture in Jainism. Despite that the article does not pretend to present a comprehensive description of this cultural phenomenon, the scientific novelty of this work is that the author treats the subject with facts not previously published in the works of other researchers. 

The second article is called "Acharya Mahapragya: the second Gandhi" and located in the section of socio-cultural activities. I wrote it in honor of the great Jain teacher. And this is the beginning of the article: "The problem of violence is as high as ever in today’s society, we need only to recall the recent events in Iraq and Syria. They talk a lot on this subject, but few have made concerted action to address it. This paper considers the problem of violence, as it is understood in Jain religious community, and what are the ways to solve it, offered by Acharya Mahapragya to humanity, regardless of religion and national origin". When I read an introduction, I begin to realize how ironic is fate.  These words were written last fall, when the aggressor in the political sphere were U.S. Now everything has been turned upside down and our government's actions make me blush. I never wanted to write in this blog about politics, but I must tell the world that local people in Russia do not approve words of our president. We do not want war, we do not need other people's land, we want only peace. So please do not judge us, we are behind the iron wall in a desperate situation. I hope I will not be forced to raise this issue again...

Let's go back to my research! Very soon, my thesis will be finally ready and I would like to offer you a few photos of Jain temples, which were made ​​by me in India. I hope you'll get pleasure from this exotic, spiritual, and vital art :)

Just imagine that a few years of your life you spent studying something very distant and finally you had the opportunity not only to see it firsthand, but also touch! I felt like Indiana Jones when I first walked through the ancient Jain temples :)

I sit and soak up the positive vibes around :)

The most beautiful temple on this earth - the temple at Ranakpur!

Three floors of the finest carvings on marble. Thus can be decorated only celestial palace.

It is a magical tree that grants wishes. I believe that my wish will come true!

For the rhythm of our blood

My good friend from U.S. sent me a big box of wonderful books. I long couldn't reach them, but finally  Nick Bantock's book "Venetian's wife" literally mesmerized me. It is incredibly beautiful graphic novel about "а Renaissance Explorer, a Computer, and a Metamorphosis". The story is very sensual and full of references to Hindu mythology. So it's no surprise that this book attracted me! The entire novel consists of letters between a museum researcher, Sara Wolfe, and N. Conti, a centuries-old ghost trapped within the confines of modern technology. Conti hires Sara to track down the pieces of a peculiar art collection, and Sara discovers more of herself — and her destiny — in the process. Bаntock is a great graphic artist, and small pictures accompanying the text are really peculiar and charming. The story about art historian is so close to me that the book has left a lot of pleasant impressions. My house is full of statues brought from various trips to Asia and marvelous incenses, and books such as "Venetian's wife" carry me back to the narrow streets of India and make me purr like a cat ^^.

The Picture of Dorian Graсе

Oh no, that's not a typo :) I named this post so because my close friend from America hung my picture on his wall, and it's immediately sparked association with the story of Wilde! For the first time I see my photos in this form and it is very pleasant to me. 

Oh how I would like that picture to grow old  instead of me ... I'm afraid of aging. What do you think of this? How do you feel about that process? I always wanted to be a vampire, for the reason that old age and death won't affect me. Just imagine - you're forever young, healthy, and you have hundreds of years ahead to explore all that you are interested! What could be better than this?!

Human factor

Last weekend was very busy. We decided to buy tickets in one nice place in Finland. And half a day filled with documents from some hapless tourist agent :) We were insanely hungry and went to a wonderful cafe in the center of St. Petersburg. It's called "Ukrop - healthy food restaurant." It is a completely vegan cafe! There are incredibly wonderful setting and great menu. If you're in my city make sure to visit it. 

On the evening we had a scheduled trip to the theater. We watched a play by belgian writer Francois Emmanuel called "Human factor". This is shrill, sad and profound work. The play is monologue of psychologist working in a large office of some transnational corporation. Deputy boss instructs him confidentially to examine main boss, with whom something is going wrong.  In the course of this examination all sorts of skeletons are pulled out of the  cabinets - like the fact that the boss is sleeping with a dedicated secretary and why she had snitched on him. And also - and most importantly - a psychologist, unraveling the tangle of neuroses and phobias reveals that the filaments are drawn in one  Nazi's past. And finally, the most daunting discovery that puts  psychologist on the very brink of madness is that  methods and rules that guide with "optimization" (announced drastic reduction of workers, and he must decide whom to dismiss) coincide with the instructions for culling racially inferior, adopted in the Third Reich... Very strong play! Recommend it to everyone who likes to reveal the terrible secrets of the past.

Unfortunately, this day was  rainy and my outfit for the evening was heavily damaged : ( So I can only show you a great clutch, which was with me. But it worth it all :)

 Isn't it cute?^^

And instead of a final word - photograph that was taken by me in the evening before going to the theater. Advise me your favorite plays!

Love,
Grace

In the mood

Yesterday was a crazy night! Finally the moment has come! We went to the concert of Glenn Miller Orchestra! I need to catch my breath to quietly tell the tale. It was incredible! As soon as the band took the stage we found ourselves in the atmosphere of the 40s. Two hours of divinely beautiful melodies and incendiary energy! Until now my heart is beating faster and jazz sounds in my head. 

Their vocalist is  personified charm. She has a wonderful gentle and deep voice. 

I can talk about this concert for hours, but once is better to go and hear :) I assure you, your legs just start dancing! 

For this event I had  a wonderful dress by Collectif. I like it very much. Lately I buy clothes only from them. 

My stupid face instead last word. See you again, Darlings! :)

Fortune Presents Gifts not According to the Book

Books play an incredible role in my life. What can I say, they were my mentors and best friends since childhood. Each stage of my life is associated with a particular book or writer. My first love - Greek myths and fairy tales. Then Goethe, Bulgakov, Hoffmann, Baudelaire, Eliade. In University I was fascinated by books on philosophy and cultural studies, history of religions. Nowdays one of my "table books" - Emil Cioran's brief essays. 

Now, when I'm finishing my study, I connected with books like never before. The deal is in my thesis, dedicated to oriental religions and architecture. So all the books I'm reading in some way connected with this topic. And the best among them is "Jaina temple architecture in India". This is a true compendium of knowledge! The most expensive and, well, the biggest and heaviest book in my library :) Hundreds of color illustrations and rare information. Yes this is a whole treasure!

I wonder what are you reading now?)

Pictures of you

My sister Tarya Shafransky is the greatest artist and photographer I know in person. She sees the brightest sides of people's characters and appearances and creates her wonderful works. One of them is this funny portret of me. Tarya knows that I always try my best to be on a diet :)