Art Of Cubes

My friends have made a portrait of mine with the Rubik's cubes! It's an amazing piece of art made of 240 cubes just in 3 (!) hours. These guys are awesome with speedcubing.

Konstantin and Tatiana, a young family from Moscow, have a hobby called 'speedcubing'. Their 6 year old daughter is very good in solving the twisting puzzle too. "Art Of Cube" is what they do every Saturday morning with all the family together.

At the end of this post you can watch the video how they did that. They are so talented and genius, a super family!

I got my first Rubik's cube when I suppose I was eleven or twelve. I was keen on brain teasing games, so I was given a lot with the different puzzles and task books by my parents and grandparents. I have had several twisting puzzles like a pyramid, Rubik's cube, a magic snake and labyrinth puzzles. The most difficult task to me  was the Rubik's cube. I have no one to explain me an algorithm. I just randomly twisted the cube and it took me 2 years to solve it somehow one day ))

I am impressed by the skills of the family to do such things. That is super cool!
See how they did that.

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It's Going To Be A Crafty Year

How are you doing, my friends?

Do you have a feeling it's going to be a special year?

I have not blogged in January, so you could think I had nothing to write about. 

Actually I started this year working. I did fruit displays for weddings and babyshowers. Below I share the top displays made in January.

I take advantage of having a massive portfolio. Together with my clients  we combine details of the different displays to create a new one. For instance, I have a sample fruit plate for babyshower, and just change watermelon image and cute fruit sculptures according to client's likes. Tell the truth, this approach made me lazy because I don't create new things. 

Maybe this method in not bad for making money, but certainly it's not good for an artist, what I consider myself to be. 

I have a desire to create different things in the year 2014. 

Other thing that took my time in January was moving to a new apartment, my OWN home.

I dived into organizing a cozy space there. I have some ideas about decorating the room like making a frame collage for my paintings, pillows and so on. 

So it is going to be a crafty year!

The Top Fruit Displays

Candy Bar at Baby Shower

Candy bar at Baby Shower

Candy bar at baby Shower.
Do you notice a hand at the right side of the photo? :))
It's a visitor trying to reach the fruits.

Wedding Fruit Displays

Wedding watermelon carving and fruit platter

Wedding fruit display for Alex (He) and Alex (She) 

Fruit Basket

I also started to make any-occasional fruit baskets

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Interview For Sakhalin TV Channel

I have been interviewed for a local TV channel about fruit carving art. This video was taken a few years ago at 'Rome Holidays' Cafe, in my hometown.

In the video I introduce simple and quick fruit carving centrpieces, and tell about tools (Triangle) and products I use for my carvings.

Watch all videos at my YouTube channel

 

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Interesting Facts and Things Happened To Me In 2012 You May Didn't Known

Today's morning I came to work to clean my office and throw away old scrap. Do you think I was done with the cleaning? NO! I crossed with some things I can't leave for the moment. I understood that I had to clean my head first. 

Thoughts and remembrances were floating in my mind and I wrote a list with bright and interesting things happened to me in 2012.

Things Happened To Me In 2012 

That You May Be Interested to Know

• I celebrated the new 2012 year in the forest in Mongol yurt. That was a real Mongol tent which is a private eco-museum now. Read my story with photographs about the night published at 'Sakhalin Tourism' website. It's in Russian so use Google translation to get in.

• One day in January 2012 I got an email from a guy asking me to sell my website www.vkusnoeda.com to rebrand it into a russian portal about carving. The deal was 2300$. I refused.

• In February I met Marina, a Feng Shui advisor. She made me business and private life analysis. My opinion about Feng Shui is It Works and Helps. By the way, Marina speaks English.

Feng Shui apple carving

• The year 2012 was full of artistic projects. I was involved in Ikebana activities.  I embed new carving ideas and made large fruit arrangements for events. Lots of work, challenges and satisfactions.

My spring ikebana display in March 2012

• Contests. 

Samsung Global Blogger, my hope and my failure.

Watermelon Carving Contest, 50$ win

Soccer ball carved in watermelon won 50$ Amazon giftcard

•  Someday I visited a DVD movie shop. That day I was borred with my life, I was looking for something, I didn't know what I was looking for, indeed. A shop adviser gave me the Game of Thrones season 1, He said that I would like it. He was sooo right! I am looking forward to watching the season 3 now. Game of Thrones DVD has taken a special box together with other favorite movies of mine as 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', 'Barbarella', 'Lord of The Rings' and 'Lexx'. 

The other movie passion of 2012 is Japanese anime.  I bought a collection of Hayao Miyazaki (Ghibly studio). Just love them!

• September 2012. My trip to Vladivostok, a beautiful city located on hills between two bays, in the Far East of Russia. It was my first visit to the city. Vladivostok has all romantic things beloved by me. They are sea, ships and beautiful bridges. I shared photos of the trip in my Facebook album.  

Bridge over bay named Zolotoy Rog, Vladivostok

Intersting facts about Vladivostok:

a. Yul Brynner (Hollywood actor, starring in 'Magnificent Seven') was born in Vladivostok. The Brynners house still exists and it is in the city center.

b. APEC Summit 2012 was hosted by Russia in Vladivostok in September. I visited the city just after that.

c. Eleanor Pray story.

Eleanor Pray was an american. She came to Russian outpost named Vladivostok together with her husband for a purpose of family trading business in 1894. Eleanor fell in love with a strange but beautiful place. Every day she sent letters to her american home with stories about her daily life, russian traditions and town news. She loved photographing and often attached photos to her stories. Eleanor lived in Vladivostok for a long period and experienced good and tough times along with russian, japanese, chinese and korean people residing in the town. Wars, revolutions and wars again. Finally she left to China and then to USA.
Many years after that in our days letters of Eleanor have been found by her granddaughter. The young woman did a great job to collect all letters and photographs and published them in a book. The book is published in English and Russian, one copy can be found in the Library of Congress in the USA.

I heard about Eleanor Pray a couple of years ago from a TV report. I got much impressed by her story. So Eleanor Pray was in my To-Do List when I went to Vladivostok. I managed to find the book with her letters and photographs (it can be found at Arsenjev Museum and a publishing house book store right by the museum in Vladivostok, just in case FYI). I learned from the book that the Prays house still exists too and a guided tour is provided to there. I was much surprised to learn that the house was located at the same area of the place I stayed. According to a map the Prays house was just 'around a corner'. I went for exciting search and... couldn't get it. There was no paths to the supposed place. I found a brick wall which I ment as a private area. Houses in Vladivostok are built on hill terraces. The terraces are connected with stairs, it makes  streets being complicated. So if you want to get the Prays house one day you are better to take a guided tour.

• Carving Contest 2012, a first contest organized in my blog, in November 2012. Trully the Contest was a great and important event. I got many visitors in my page, new friends and close relations. Especially with Temple of Thai (award sponsor) and Samsam Bubbleman (guest judge). 

Honestly speaking my relations with blogger friends became warmer and closer this year. I feel it's important for us.

• December... filled with fruit job, carving art presentations in schools, demo at exhibitions and on TV.

In front of camera showing how to do fruit chistmas tree, on a local TV

New Year tree with fruits and sweets made while demo on TV

I hope 2013 year will be bright and safe. My special wish for 2013 is to have some enjoyable adventures with happy end! 

Happy New Year!
Mask 'Night in Chicago' made by Anna Solo

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1. Sakura Blossoms. 2.Food Stories Award

I've been out of blogging for a while by some reasons. My younger brother got sick in hospital. He needed blood transfusion. We asked relatives and friends to be donors to help him. Moreover I found out that I have a rare blood type... I was out of order because of all the situations. 

Thanks heaven my brother is getting better now. 

It's Sakura blossom season in Sakhalin. Japanese people say that the short sakura time is like a woman beauty. Fades quickly. I can't agree with the statement. Today we have good cosmetic treatments to stay younger ;)

Sakura trees in Yuzhno city streets

Chekov monument in front of the Sakhalin library

Sakura by my office building

Apple tree blossoms

I carved Sakura soap.

Sakura soap

Food Stories award

I was nominated for the  Food Stories Award for Excellence in Storytelling by my blooger friend CJ (Food Story). Now I have to share a random thing about myself. Well the thing is the following:

I have never had iPhone.

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I've been tagged by Dave..

I have been tagged by my blogger friend Dave to write about myself and my 'fruit and vegetable' job on Sakhalin isle. I was asked to add more personal info to my blog.  I was touched by that hint. I have started GarnishFood Blog to share my passion to fruit art. And yes I do not take my pages as a personal blog. But there are some people who want to know about the person behind the blog. So it's a time for my story.

Frankly speaking I have a pure connection with my writing muse. I rather enjoy visual arts. That is why my blog is stuffed mainly with pictures and the minimum of writing. Dave, I know you like stories. Well I am trying to make one out.

About me
I was born on Sakhalin island. My grandparents came to Sakhalin after the World War II to work and live here. My parents were born in here too. My family has slavic and middle east roots so I am a multinational character.
To understand the place I live in see my photo album of Yuzhno

About work

Before I got the "fruit and vegetable job" I was far from fruit and vegetable art. I have seen beautiful watermelon pictures in Internet before, but never took them seriously. I was sure they were photoshopped.
I worked for a company in hire-fire department and did some paper work. In 2007 I met a woman who involved me into the kitchen and household trading business. They had fruit carving and food garnishing courses for the consultants. That is how I got a new hobby.

In 2009 I participated in a Women Of The Year contest with my carving arrangements and won it in 'Handicraft' nomination. In that very day I got two clients for party decoration. That is how I started my fruit and vegetable carving business.

with the city mayor at the contest ceremony

At the present time I do carving arrangements 2-3 times a week, the other days I meet clients in my office and sell kitchen and household goods.

Apart from fruit carving art I like painting, making collages and ikebana arrangements.

Nefertiti, paper collage

Ikebana with a pumpkin, September 2010. Latvia, Riga, floristic festival

About whales, sea animals and earthquakes

I have been asked if we go for whalewatch. I have never seen whales, they live far in the sea to the north. I would love to sea one!
Sometimes we find sea creatures on shore:

a skeleton of a sea animal found in 2006, the animal was not identified (click to enlarge)

Sakhalin is a land of earthquakes. In 2009 a severe earthquake damaged Nevelsk town in the South Sakhalin. The sea line stepped by and a sea bottom showed up.

a TV reporter staying at the shore what was a sea bottom before

Seals laying on the breakwater. Before we rented a boat to watch the seals. Today you are able to walk to them.

Hope you are inspired enough for a scary halloween pumpkin to send to Create n Carve ~ Fruit and Vegetable Event, September 2011

Read more about me at:
Mud Dolls
Food and Travel
My Trip To Japan

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