On the Street. Shangri-La Girls, Lauttasaari, Helsinki.

These girls I met in Studio Shangri-La opening party. I'm sorry, but this will be a little Helsinki-centric post.

I am happy to say that the new players have appeared in my neighbourhood. Just to mention few, yoga studios, culture center Sähinä and at the end of summer Studio Shangri-La opened doors. It is the homeland of Burlesque Culture in Helsinki. There you can take part in their dance classes like Burlesque dance and Shimmy n’Shake. There is weekend Dance Workshops with guest stars like Miss Chrissy Kiss. They also offer Seasonal Yoga, pilates and body care. Nice package indeed.

In addition they have a performing group The Shangri-La School of Showgirls. Maybe you’d like to hire them to perform in your Pre Christmas party?

What I’m dreaming of is that the studio would be a perfect place to organize live drawing class. Croquis drawing and the models would be the burlesque-people. At least at the opening party the people looked fabulous. Feminine tattooed ladies in high heels. I wanted to draw every second person in the party.

If you feel like your inner cabaret queen has never had place to flourish, this might be your place.

It seems that there are several Shangri-Las around the globe. So I better give a direct link to their Shangri-La Facebook-page. So you can act if you feel like it.

By the way, I have no connection with Shangri-La, I'm just spreading the good news.

On the Street. Harmonious Family, Lauttasaari, Helsinki.

Oh yes indeed, this little family seemed like being harmonious. Not only in their mutual relations, but also their colour tones suited so nicely with each other. It was a rainy day and these blues and greys reflected the mood perfectly. And still a little bit stripes and dots to cheer up the look.

My Style. Looking At Mirror And What Did I See.

I haven’t seen anything spectacular lately on the streets so I think why not look at the mirror for a change. In Summer = lot of light = I love to dress up in light tones. Part of the fun is to mix my favorite patterns; stripes, plaid and dots. Mostly two at a time. Colour palette is something like white, sky blue, sand, pale gray. And the mood is good.

There is also another reason to look at the mirror. To be more concrete inside my head. I’m taking part in an online class for illustrators. There I’m supposed to analyze and think various mind blowing questions like What do you want to achieve with your illustrations.

When I was blogging the first year here at Flash For Zonzon I showed this blog to one lady - let’s call her lady Portal - who had started a blog portal for Finnish Fashion Bloggers. I was curious to hear her opinion. She looked at this blog instantly from laptop. At that point I had some ten posts done. After a while she aroused her eyes and asked me with a slight amount of suspicion in her voice: Where are you heading with this?

I was like: Uuuu, I like to draw…

At that point I hadn’t really thought it too much. I started this blog four years ago as a sidekick from my daily job as graphic design and entrepreneur. That is so much computer-related work. So I needed a way to experiment with traditional illustration techniques like watercolor, ink, pastel, color pencils, line drawing, paper cut and mixed media of all of these.

To do illustrations without a need to please anybody else than me is pure joy. Feeling the connection straight from head to hand is utmost relaxing. (By the way, that’s the secret of nowadays popular adults coloring books.) Of course  one important aspect was to get a way to express my ideas related with clothing. I am a cloth designer for first profession, anyway. Relax and have fun. With the idea that if I have fun making it maybe the audience will like it too.

 Lady Portal apparently thought that what’s the point using time and energy for a blog with no ads, no photographs of the outfit-of-the-day, no connections with clothing brands, no shopping tips where to get this and that style, no followers. In other words no nothing that is typical for fashion blogs as we know it.

Okay, but now let’s face it. My secret subconscious plan with this blog has been to become a better illustrator. At least I get an ever growing portfolio of illustrations along blogging. Maybe some day I get commissions through blog to do fashion illustrations to some media, fashion house, clothing brand, magazine, what ever. But with hands full of graphic design customer work and family life I haven’t time to do any marketing for my illustrations. I have thought that by chance the illustration work may come.

But it haven’t.
Truth is that a blog like this is like an ant sailing Ocean with a blade of grass. The possibility to run into ground is pretty minimal.

Another thing is the ping pong in my head. Is my illustration any good? I know that the duo with my stories and illustrations is okay, but illustrations alone? Does anybody need fashion illustration? Do I loose the joy of drawing if I do it on demand? But maybe then I might be able to really concentrate on making pics. Now everything is done pretty fast after 9PM when kids have gone to sleep. What would the quality of my illustrations be if I could use more time making it? And so on.

Well, it’s time to do an action plan. How to find a sensible not time-eating way to promote illustrations or do some profitable things with this blog. The sad truth is that I have so much ideas in my head. Really, is it sad? Ideas for blog posts, for products, for patterns (which I’d love to concentrate on). Should I fill a lottery coupon to pay my bills for a while?

By taking part of the previously mentioned online illustration class I have promised myself that I try to move on with my ideas with Flash For Zonzon. First step is to do a online portfolio of the créme de la créme illustrations. Then I’m working on at least to get some products alive sooner or later. Like postcards or T-shirt prints for example. Small steps, little by little. Can you hear my war cry in your ears yet?

* * *
Thanks for reading my whole outburst. I promise this will not happen too often.

PS. The canvas shoes are still alive that perform in the third picture. Four summers and still kicking.

On the Street. Dotted Scarf Makes the Difference, Kamppi, Helsinki.

The soft – apparently woolen – straw-colored scarf with large spots turned my head. You know how weak I am all sorts dots with. The color combination of the outfit is perfect. Not too typical one could say. Somehow there is some oriental 20's vibe in this look, despite the elements are simple.

On the Street. The Sweetest Young Couple, Töölö, Helsinki.

 

I saw this oh so sweet young couple in a restaurant in Töölö, while I attended my friend's 50-year anniversary party. Looking at a lovely couple like this is like magic. It makes you think – sorrows, what are they, is it something eatable?

On the Street. Mixing Patterns, Lauttasaari, Helsinki.

I encountered this older lady on the way to the library. Mixing different patterns is one style I truly like. She sure knows how to do it. Stripes, plaid, delicate lines, polka dots, rhythmic short lines all goes in peace and harmony. If you stick in limited range of colors (black and white in this case), the pattern mix is easier to succeed for sure.

For Fun. Polkadot Swimsuit, Kumpula Oudoor Pool, Helsinki.

A week ago we went to Kumpula outdoor pool with my family to enjoy the last day of sweet warm summer. Kumpula is a marvelous place to be with kids. Besides pools for kids and adults, there is a diving tower and playground. To my joy there was also an outdoor gym. It is rare that you can lift the weights outdoors these latitudes dressed just in bikinis. Fun it was.

Well, now we need to wait for next summer to renew the experience. Just when schools begun this week begun also the rainy days that predict autumn.

On the street. Tomatoes in motion, Lauttasaari, Helsinki.

Last week in Helsinki we have been lucky to enjoy a brilliant sunny weather. One must be happy about this because these are the last days of the real summer in these latitudes. I'm not sure if we can see bare toes until the next June.

On Saturday I went to a local grocery store. In the vegetable department I saw this man buying tomatoes and thought: nice colors, nice straw hat. After a while outside the store a lady walked past me and besides that I loved her red and white outfit with large polka dotted skirt, I felt like the tomatoes had climbed to her skirt to get some sunshine and had grown triple the size they usually are.

By the way. It came to my mind that Moving Tomatoes might be a good name for a band. But what kind of music would that be? Any ideas?

For fun. My color chart.

Kids often ask about your favorite colors. I came to a thought that it might be useful to think that a little more profoundly. So I made this color chart about my favorite colors in clothing. Everything is more or less bluish, brownish, greenish, dusty. I also added the my top three pattern themes: dotted, checkered and striped. If I look in my closet there are only few exceptions of this formula.

What about your favorite colors and pattern themes? Is there some formula?

On the street. Restaurant Perho, Helsinki

I took notice of her blue toned skater style without blades. Also her hairdo was irresistible.