Photo by lilypenelope

«Que ta vision soit à chaque instant nouvelle. Le sage est celui qui s’étonne de tout."

[ André Gide ]

Extrait de Les nourritures terrestres

Photo by lilypenelope

Yesterday, as I was cleaning up my office (yes, on a sunday afternoon!!) I came across a couple of old tiny boxes. As you probably already know by now I love old things. Photographs, books, typewriters and even trash I find around. But these boxes were right there, in front of my nose and have never noticed them before. Color pastels and chalks. They are actually my mother's. From when she studied architecture in Zurich back in the days! Then, instead of cleaning the office as planned I started taking pictures of them. And my mind, together with this old objects started wandering around. I so miss doing my job like the "old times", like when studying architecture in LA...pencils, pen, rulers, graphite, erasers, all different types of papers. And my hands, at the end of the day, were all dirty. A sign of a direct contact with my work. I made my hands dirty therefore I was! Ohhh those old times!! When you could smell the coffee scent all over the school. At every time of the day and night. I still smile when thinking about it: with my headphones on, listening to Björk, when I would accidentally hit the mug and the coffee would spread out all over my drawings. First was panic. Then was creativity! I would integrate the stains as part of the project! And I would present the drawing as if those fragrant stains were there since the beginning. Actually they were the starting point of it!! Now things are different. I still draw by hands. Just the preliminary sketch. Then pass it over to my employees who put them in the machine. Yes...the machine. Why bother to build a real model when a friggin machine does it for you? Now I just make my hands dirty for fun. But the "machine" has become a boundary between the emotional relationships between me and the spaces I'm supposed to create. Only the smell of coffee remains. All day. But now if I accidentally hit the mug there is no paper there to welcome those stains. Just a keyboard. And the machine! Photo by lilypenelope

Photo by lilypenelope

Photo by lilypenelope

Photo by lilypenelope

As I woke up this morning the first thing I noticed was the horrible weather outside my bedroom's windows. Rain, black clouds and even some fog. The already dirty windows didn't help if not to worsen the outside reality! Well, I decided today was the day. The day to start with a fresh orange juice, a big cup of green tea and a good brioche. Yes, the image of my Ikea table embellished by pieces of everyday design by Alessi started to appear on my morning's canvas. Got out of bed. Showered. And got to the kitchen. All freshened up. Got out the Alessi's juicer and tea cup which looked amazing even in their emptiness. Then a realization suddently came to my mind. I had no oranges. No tea and obviously no fresh brioche! The only thing left to do was to get coffee. At the office! Photos by lilypenelope

Dark in my soul and outside my windows, my world. It's raining. And a new phase has entered my life unexpectedly, unwanted and on top of everything without knocking on my existence's door. It has been a month that evil mean phase has arrived and, as we use to say about guest, that they are like fishes...after 3 days they smell...therefore...time to get the hell away! Go to that door you've entered and leave. It's worse than fishes though. It's with me since more than a month now. But today, lucky me, I left. I finally found an emergency door. I started running down the fire stairs. I found a way to try to get rid of it. Today was the first day of returning to my good old everyday. First step. Of a long stair. But the phase is at least some steps behind....Photo by lilypenelope

A sweet fragrance floating in the air. Vanilla? Repetition. Of rolled leaves. In a cigar store. With my friends Don and Jimmy. Photo by lilypenelope

Photo by lilypenelope

Photo by lilypenelope

Photos by lilypenelope

I'm finally back home. Yet departing. Towards new destinations. New projects. New walls to paint. New leaves to collect. New grounds to walk on. I didn't have a great vacation at all in the states (but thankfully I had "The Table Friends" to rely on). Glad I'm back. Home. Wherever that is. Photo by lilypenelope

....to be continued...

"Ok Tiger! Listen carefully: I'll be on vacation from tomorrow til the 14th so pleeeeeease, try to be nice while I'm gone. Get in no trouble. Dont eat any shoes. Dont pee on the neighboor's leg please. While with G&C (my parents) be obedient. Dont jump on their bed as I thought you...you can do that only when they are away, and you know they catch you everytime since you leave your black and white hair on their sheets. Then what? Try also not to eat chewing gums you find at every corner since you probably dont really understand how disgusting it is to take out of your mouth. Steal the apples and peaches you'll find on their table because I always tell you they are good for your health...then act like you have no clue of what they are talking about if they ask you if you ate them.
Ok Tiger, No trouble while I'm gone please!"
Not sure if he actually got the point!!! :-))) But still...who cares...he is such an adorable dog!! Unless he eats my shoes....
Photo by lilypenelope

I had 12 ideas for a blog post. Now the only thing coming out is a key chain. With the number 12! Photo by lilypenelope

My granparents restaurant. All what's left is a precious glass. And told memories. Photo by lilypenelope

A walk on the beach. The city behind me. The horizon in front of me. Water in-between. The sound-{s} of nature. Thoughts are flying. In space. The end of Land - "Finisterrae", the beginning of a new "state": Imagination. Photo by lilypenelope

Couple of years ago I read a fascinating book about litterally the "small pleasures in life". Small pleasures like those gestures, actions that we, consciously or not, encounter on a daily basis often without even realizing how important / fullfilling they actually are. "Whether it be a croissant in the street, the Tour de France, a potluck, shelling peas, a glass of port, the smell of apples, the mobile library, a garden in August, getting your espadrilles wet, or an autumn sweater".

Lately I have been often talking about the fact that, after years of profound struggling with food allergies / intollerances I tried my very last option to fix/solve these problems. I seriously couldn't handle anymore the fact of getting convulsion, badly sick, sometimes even fainting in restaurants even after telling the waiter(s) I couldnt eat certain stuff (but still finding them hidden somewhere on my plate!). After almost 8 years of trying every type of possible "medical solution", and after being told there was nothing I could do since it was, unfortunately a permanent state I should live with for the rest of my days, a friend of mine told me about an alternative cure (that apparently fixed all of his allergies/intollerances in a couple of months): Magnetic bioresonance. Well, I said, what the heck...one more try wouldn't hurt plus it was completely natural. It turns out another friend of mine had a studio of naturopathy right next to my office and...so I went, without having any expectations.
4 months have passed and my allergies/intollerances are gone, they disappeared!!!!

Why have I started this post with a book on small pleasures of life? Well, right now I'm in the phase of re-introducing all the food I haven't eaten in 8 years. All that food that contains lactose: yogurt, ham, sausages, butter (ohhhh yummy risotto!). Let me tell you...eating just bits of this stuff was like eating the best things ever for the first time ever! A milk shake at the bar on the boardwalk, a sausage at the barbecue with my friends, the famous risotto made by my mom (finally the real way...with butter not with olive oil!!). Well, exactly like those things Philippe Delerm was talking in his book "We Could Almost Eat Outside: An Appreciation of Life's Small Pleasures" (in italiano, en français) Photos by lilypenelope

I'm back! It has been so long since I've been posting on my blog but, sometimes, life is a very busy job! Many things have happened lately and I dont really have the energy to talk about them! Too much to do, but yet so little to feel intellectually fullfilled.
But I guess now it is time to get my artistic side back into action! Not only in photography, but in writing too (I keep postponing my ideas!). But the most important thing is trying to put some order around me. Not litterally intended as cleaning, washing, doing the dishes (although that's a part of my daily routine!). It's about sweeping negativity away from my personal space. Put in the mental trash can all those people are too heavy to carry around, like your weekly grocery shopping. Those people who keep pretending without even say thank you (sort of what my friends Efrem and Fred where talking about...in different ways). Those people whose actions piss me off so much I can't sleep at night. That's why lately I've been drinking this "passion fruit potion"...apparently it makes you sleep like crazy! Only when it's not this hot...the potion doesnt work with the heat! But the weather at least changes...these people never do! Photos by lilypenelope

It's raining. Everything is dark outside. Yet I see colors. I feel colors. But still. Outside it's dark. And raining. Photo by lilypenelope

If this wall could talk how many stories would it tell us? How many anectdotes, fragments of lives, urban poems could it narrate? Pieces of juxtaposed realities that daily cross path through the streets. But maybe, that's actually the beauty of walls. Their speechlessness. We can imagine what happens right in front of it. Dream. Or we can take a spray can and make it ours, leaving a trace on it, an image, a word, a drawing. Our story on it. Our story in our city. Aren't we all the writers of our reality? Photo by lilypenelope

Seriously...I don't know how and I don't know why but... I found antlers at the office. Maybe they are there since who knows when but, the main point is that there are antlers in our architecture office! Maybe as an examle of how a natural/animal element can influence forms in our job? Since the dog was here and didnt know how to spend his time beside eating everything he finds laying around including drawings, pens and a wool glove (where in the hell did he find it????) so...that's when I've realized how useful antlers can become!!!!! Photo by lilypenelope

Around the city. Floral compositions. Photo by lilypenelope

There are those moments! When you don't have any inspirations. When all you need is a creepy empty room where you can sit, relax and think. Maybe even not this creepy!! Photo by lilypenelope (in the image: my friend Efrem)

Photo by lilypenelope