i don't blog

new year, new shop

2011-12-30T23:06:00.001Z

that's my new shop open. let's see how it works. there will be cheaper things coming soon.

what happens around christmas

2011-12-28T12:33:00.000Z

currently working on lino prints of my old zen lady, and monoprints of various funny yoga poses. and st.agnes who grew hair all over to avoid seduction. soon to land in my etsy shop. and giorgos made a new super beautiful kaleidoscope with water and coffee inside.

summary of (unfortunate) journey to Venice

2011-11-30T15:15:00.001Z

the occasional flickers: home is a four-letter word

2011-11-06T16:28:00.003Z

DEAR READERS, after a year or so of waiting, the day has come - tomorrow is the official release date of the new album of The Occasional Flickers. artwork changed completely in the meantime, if you compare it with this you will see the difference. as much as i liked the old one it wasn't really fitting the mood of the music so i've decided to scratch it completely and start from the beginning on a more melancholic note. if you've never been to Greece you might want to know that mermaids, ships and chairs (maybe not as much) are a very common subject of folksy paintings and sign plates in Greek tavernas.

the album is available to buy from itunes, amazon, bandcamp, avalanche in Edinburgh, and some nice record shops in Greece very soon as well.

Kaleidonia at work

2011-09-24T10:45:00.005+01:00

Kaleidonia shop on Etsy

2011-09-23T12:58:00.000+01:00

So here's the story : Giorgos and I started making kaleidoscopes together after he presented me with one last christmas. so far we've finished 5 of them, each totally unique, 5 more are sort of half-finished. it's a very slow but enjoyable process. we called the lot Kaleidonia (from Caledonia which is Latin name for Scotland, just so you know...). you can get them from my LongLongWalkHome shop on Etsy. We'd love some feedback, do you think they're any good?

what do we have here

2011-08-13T12:01:00.008+01:00

new work taking shape. putting bits and pieces together

this friday

2011-08-03T08:48:00.001+01:00

WE ARE CARAVAN

Friday 5th August 7pm - 9pm 28 Lady Lawson Street Edinburgh EH4 9DS

Featuring works by: Abigail Rebekah Barr/ Holly Clement/ Catriona Ferguson/ Aimi Louise Ferrier/ Jessie Makinson/ Gill McColl/ Ola Rek/ Laura Service/ Jamie Shaw/ Titus Stott/ Stacey Strachan/ Silja Stroem/ Gemma Valentine

big sell out

2011-07-24T11:39:00.014+01:00

Very enthusiastic and colourful friends of mine, the brand new Caravan gallery will have 9 of my works up for grabs, among other cool things. Both in their mobile and non-mobile premises. Big opening planned for 5th of August. Lady Lawson street, Edinburgh. stay tuned..

in process

2011-07-16T18:12:00.004+01:00

some work in progress for my next year's exhibition in the fine art library in edinburgh

semi - tidy desk post

2011-06-16T16:46:00.006+01:00

and some of us are a bit happier.

animals on postcard - installation by pascal bernier.

messy desk post

2011-06-15T22:11:00.004+01:00

slightly floral

2011-06-02T19:12:00.002+01:00

new (photo)blog

2011-06-02T08:27:00.002+01:00

the meaning of life

trying to clear the mind

2011-04-07T20:27:00.006+01:00

k_s from ola rek on Vimeo.

from the diary of a gallery assistant

2011-02-18T12:15:00.003Z

dedicated to marx and engels and physical fitness

2011-02-18T12:11:00.004Z

i'm not a communist, i really love the song by belle & sebastian.

a picture based on a picture

2011-02-18T11:17:00.007Z

a picture based on a painting created for Embassy Salon Vert show. it's like quoting myself, sign of getting old.

a tribute to John Peel

2011-01-18T16:19:00.006Z

oh John from ola rek on Vimeo.

late in the 2010 i made this little film - a tribute to john peel - as an answer to the "eclectic peel" show put on by podcart in glasgow. giorgos created wonderful soundtrack for it that made up for all the technical slips. abi with ingrid built a set furnished with white objects, radios, tapes and paintings. the installation looked really good, unfortunately god of technology was not on my side. first there were these terrible difficulties to put the film together, with programs crashing every two minutes, then before the exhibition opening tv with my film refused to live any longer. but here it is, kind of a wasted project, with good intentions and really great sound!

handmade christmas

2010-12-25T16:59:00.025Z

kaleidoscope -> giorgos.
giorgozine ->ola.
(my 5year old camera - broken)

yoga class pt2

2010-11-19T15:26:00.002Z

new paintings, business cards and a wee show

2010-11-06T19:05:00.015Z

artspace2let in Marchmont; typewriter from Lauren and Ailig; pictures from the show -> Justyna.

clouds from over the Atlantic

2010-10-21T21:41:00.006+01:00

they usually come in spring and autumn

what if i make a bad mother?

2010-10-21T21:36:00.004+01:00

broken leg

2010-10-21T21:32:00.002+01:00

and a dog who has sneaked in from another picture

home is a four-letter word

2010-09-11T14:49:00.005+01:00

the occasional flickers have just finished mastering their new album, "home is a four-letter word". you can listen to it for free for couple more weeks on bandcamp. the artwork, inspired by greek summer by the sea, is not entirely finished, but since it's available for public viewing on the bandcamp site, i've pasted it here as well. enjoy!

greek inspired

2010-09-11T14:45:00.005+01:00

summer vacation

2010-09-11T14:43:00.003+01:00

ola & giorgos write about love in athens

2010-08-28T11:48:00.008+01:00

while giorgos and i were on holiday, the competition for belle & sebastian's new album title written in chalk across cities had finished. we took some nice photos and had some fun so i will post them here instead.

again, fake polaroids - very addictive tool for making them is here !

tape!

2010-08-28T11:34:00.008+01:00

get your long long walk home tape from dr?dr! records online store: :) (for as little as £3 +p&p. ) and, just in case your cassette player is not working that very well altogether - surprise! - each tape comes with your own personal download code.

you will find the speak! compilation in dr?dr! shop as well.

sketchbook

2010-08-08T23:26:00.007+01:00

four small drawings from last few months, drawn during quiet hours at work

en route

2010-08-07T13:39:00.015+01:00

more news on the musical front - as a result of being approached by very nice people from australia, my tune "long walk home" is on the soundtrack for a wonderful piece being played at this year's edinburgh fringe. en route is a beautiful experience of exploring the city with big headphones on your head and ipod attached to your wrist, guided by text messages, arrows drawn on pavements and little maps with directions hidden in secret passages. definitely one of long long walk home's best and most flattering moments ever - being soundtrack buddies with eagleowl and go away birds with stuart murdoch!
by the way, long long walk home's last.fm page has some free downloads.

(the images are fake polaroids from our experience en route.)

speak!

2010-08-07T13:20:00.019+01:00

my friend Fraser asked me a few months ago to contribute a track for his spoken word compilation. i thought about it for a long time and was a bit afraid to approach this task - i generally feel very uncomfortable having to listen to my voice and disguising its faults is not an easy thing when you have to talk. also, the subject - what can i really talk about for few minutes? in the end i decided to use a bit of text i wrote on the plane from belgium a year before. for a background i made some low quality recordings during my next trip to brussels: all kinds of plane sounds, people talking on buses, planes, in parks and cafes.

S P E A K ! :
benni hemm hemm - rhytmical indirectness
paul karnatz - my trip to scotland
lewis cook - modern life is rubbish
rowan smith - bees
long long walk home - k6i4ff
james e. scott - goof
sophie sexon - spoken word
cicada song - listen to this
wounded knee - stanzas of jeopardy
rowan smith - regrets
peter liddle - jan8 2010
bruce leckenby - roy and tina
alison stephen - hungarian train tracks
laurie irvine - biscuits
esperi - capture beauty
anne frankenstein - comradh
alasdair mackenzie - clown joke
debutant - too stupid

all money from the release goes to shelter scotland.

all the info how/where to buy the cd coming soon!

yoga class

2010-05-31T22:05:00.004+01:00

self portrait as an old lady

2010-05-31T21:09:00.004+01:00

oscillations

2010-05-08T19:45:00.017+01:00

hello there! it's May already. April was exciting, because in April i collaborated with Giorgos Bouras for his sound installation shown in the art's complex in our lovely little town of Edinburgh. do read about the sound oscillations in the copy of a handout that i pasted up here, it's all quite fascinating. Giorgos worked very hard on his project and i helped out with the visuals. first of all i made a stop motion animation for "anatomy of a musical note" installation.

sine waves from ola rek on Vimeo.

the loop of felt-tip drawn sine waves was projected onto one of the walls. it really worked well with the sound. then i created some in situ installation with help of insulation tape for "islands". here are some films from the show:

conquering animal sound

2010-03-24T09:20:00.013Z

check them out, they are amazing.
catch them live, they're going on a tour soon!

bonjour, le printemps

2010-03-01T21:48:00.013Z

it's been quiet recently on the artsy side, life seems to be too time-consuming and enthusiasm evaporates easily when days are short. however there are always things worth mentioning: in december one of my favourite bands - eagleowl decided to use my drawing for the gig promoting release of their beautiful " sleep the winter" single. the gig was really great by the way. as for the poster, it was just my old drawing with the info incorporated nicely by Bart Owl. here it is :

another good thing was having four of my drawings appear in new sweet little zine called little brother. second issue will appear in few months and meanwhile, get the first one from etsy! you are going to find this little drawing among others:

long long walk home in RSA annual exhibition

2009-11-23T10:59:00.010Z

RSA, The Mound, Edinburgh. open mon - sat 10 - 5, sun 12 - 5. come along!

competing

2009-08-27T10:46:00.005+01:00

made these for the skinny magazine t shirt design competition, not really thinking they could succeed. see, i'm not the 80s fan, that is, i like lots of things from the 80s but dislike more, but what i mean is, well, these drawings are not enough eighties to win. but some people like them. i do too, i think.

from flight to greece

2009-08-27T10:34:00.005+01:00

seems like klm coffee and klm orange juice in elegantly thin rimmed plastic cups is highly stimulating.

playing at the edge festival

2009-08-27T10:09:00.006+01:00

last sunday i played with The Occasional Flickers at Picture House in Edinburgh. the most exciting thing is, we were supporting Emma Pollock and Andrew Bird! gig was nice, sadly, our name wasn't included on posters neither tickets, hardly any listings..i hope the ones who liked us will know their way to find us..
anyway now giorgos and i have swine flu, i'm recovering, time for updating.

photo: maciek.

on the beach

2009-08-27T09:45:00.008+01:00

Anafi, Greece

treehouse

2009-07-09T09:15:00.003+01:00

a painting for Steiner School in Exeter. you can see bits of it on their website

some drawings

2009-07-09T08:57:00.005+01:00

for my talented friend Liisa's upcoming ep

days longing to be longer, no longer

2009-05-22T16:21:00.003+01:00

long long walk home in germany

2009-05-07T18:15:00.013+01:00

at panipanama
17/04/2009

"long walk home"

2009-05-07T17:29:00.004+01:00

Wroclaw

2009-01-06T10:26:00.004Z

3rd video. it's a song based on a short poem i wrote one night last spring visiting my hometown. it's been over two years since i moved out and more and more i learn to appreciate the beauty of all things lost. or past. or far away. the video is shot in both Wroclaw and Edinburgh (and also somewhere in between) and shows my family and friends in both places. i just thought it would be really good to have a record of people right now, since everything changes and passes so quickly. disappointingly, i didn't manage to "collect" all the people i wanted to. (maybe a sequel someday..)

kitchen song - long long walk home

2008-11-18T19:41:00.007Z

making videos is fun

sad - first video by long long walk home

2008-11-06T09:15:00.003Z

long long walk home is doing lots of thinking little of drawing

2008-10-09T12:30:00.005+01:00

long long walk home

2008-09-23T09:57:00.005+01:00

i had a try and recorded some tunes that used to be sitting shapeless in the back of my head. i recorded 10 or 11 songs in total, some of them not so bad, though perhaps chaotic and skill - lacking. if you're curious, please check my new myspace !

when summer turns into autumn

2008-09-17T14:38:00.009+01:00

sonic fusion festival

2008-09-14T09:38:00.008+01:00

The Sonic Fusion Festival starts next week in Edinburgh. Loads of contemporary music, rather exciting.
I collaborated with Maciek again in order to create poster, flyers and programmes.

The Occasional Flickers at Henry's Cellar Bar

2008-07-15T12:55:00.010+01:00

the Flickers played their 4th (with the scottish line-up) gig in Scotland last saturday. my lovely brother Maciek took these nice pics.

humans and cats

2008-07-15T12:34:00.004+01:00

summer

2008-07-15T12:13:00.006+01:00

none of these paintings is very recent. the bicycle one is rather old. two others were made last winter in the need of some warmth.

princesses, jesus christ, horses and a cup of tea

2008-07-15T12:04:00.003+01:00

i was a perfectly normal child. i came across this drawing when getting (out of necessity) rid of unwanted and wanted stuff from my old room.

the E C C flyer

2008-05-27T16:10:00.008+01:00

Edinburgh Composers Collective
(all nice and blue flyer produced by ola with a great photoshop help of the brother Maciek.)
come and listen this friday.

this and that

2008-05-27T15:50:00.007+01:00

two pieces which have been rejected from RSA Annual show in Edinburgh. the painting is rather new (and i will be happy to sell it) , the oval ceramic work is two years old. i quite like the other two as well. all together they make a nice tuesday set. i'm ill and have taken off work. will someone buy my painting please..?

the new scottish line-up of the occasional flickers.

2008-03-08T19:38:00.004Z

the occasional flickers played at the bongo club in edinburgh, on 6th of march. they hope next time it will be more busy...;)

my animal and vegetable people

2008-03-08T19:30:00.006Z

panowie zwierzeta, pan warzywo, pan ziemniak i pani marchew. a na koncu to nie wiem.
who is the ukulele lady at the bottom?

adventures of ola and giorgos update

2008-01-21T15:04:00.002Z

The Occasional Flickers

2008-01-11T12:44:00.001Z

the occasional flickers have been having an lp and and ep out since some time. giorgos' music, ola's artwork, designed by roque from plastilina records. if you wish to have one of these please check the flickers' my space for details.

poster

2007-11-14T23:37:00.002Z

simon joyner is playing in edinburgh! i made the poster. giorgos helped a lot.

forest installation @forest cafe

2007-10-16T14:56:00.002+01:00

flyers

2007-09-24T10:06:00.001+01:00

four flyers for upcoming solo show at the forest cafe, edinburgh. (design by ola+ giorgos.)

exhibiting

2007-09-24T09:51:00.001+01:00

ola is showing three drawings at the embassy gallery in edinburgh/east crosscauseway, til 7th oct. you're very welcome to have a look, opening hours thu - sun 12 - 6pm.

i've been tagged.

2007-08-18T16:16:00.001+01:00

by dimitra
and it's the second time since the first tagging from liisa
that happened 100 years ago and i felt to shy to do it back then.
since ola doesn't blog, she decided to draw. eight (not necessarily weird) things about herself.
now i have to tag someone as well. the winners are: ronnie
laura
james
and david.

sketchbook from holidays in greece

2007-08-15T16:16:00.001+01:00

blue birdie welcomes you in our kitchen

2007-07-12T14:32:00.001+01:00

making decorations is one of the nicest evening activities when you just moved into an empty flat and don't have the internet.

drawing for dimitra's page

2007-07-12T14:08:00.001+01:00

a sketch i made for dimitra's blog about steiner education. here's the link to see, and read.

yawning bookmark

2007-04-25T08:03:00.001+01:00

she can't see what's inside of the book, she gets sleepy quite easily

mrs owl

2007-04-02T12:20:00.001+01:00

i have an owl now. she carries my keys and watches after them. she's quiet and furry.

something older something new

2007-03-25T10:57:00.001+01:00

mural project never to be used :(

2007-03-25T10:39:00.001+01:00

little window installation

2007-03-19T11:14:00.001Z

loveletter

2007-03-19T10:52:00.001Z

tales from the forest

2007-02-13T15:02:00.001Z

pigdog finally reveals his face

2007-02-10T12:20:00.001Z

this is a fact. xenofon and kleofas have a dog-friend. maybe kleofas will walk him instead of harassing poor xenofon.

the greatest tale of love and friendship between xenofon and kleofas

2007-01-22T13:58:00.001Z

paper creatures

2007-01-03T12:58:00.001Z

adventures of ola and giorgos part3

2006-12-05T10:43:00.001Z

adventures of ola and giorgos part2

2006-11-30T14:28:00.001Z

adventures of ola and giorgos part1

2006-11-20T10:06:00.001Z

giorgos is on the phone

2006-11-14T11:12:00.000Z

sketchbook

2006-11-14T10:37:00.001Z

cover artwork for new paul wirkus' cd

2006-11-08T10:22:00.001Z

so finally new great album by paul wirkus has been released, with my artwork for a cover. i had to leave my beloved scanner in poland. these photos are taken on the windowsill in our new home in edinburgh.

take-off

2006-10-18T22:23:00.001+01:00

i'm sending these pictures for illustration contest in bologna. giorgos helped me put them in order and at the same time discovered a story hidden behind them. cross your fingers please

have a safe flight

2006-09-18T11:35:00.001+01:00

don't forget to take some sweets with you

autumn is here again.

2006-09-05T21:11:00.002+01:00

summer of love

2006-08-30T12:17:00.001+01:00

august skies

2006-08-04T18:27:00.001+01:00

first rainy evening since ages

2006-07-30T08:56:00.002+01:00

a bear and a knight

2006-07-28T19:43:00.001+01:00

rysunki prosto z zagotowanej głowy. trzeba się podlać wodą z rzeki

shorts

2006-07-19T17:27:00.001+01:00

everyone wears shorts this summer

colours for g

2006-07-07T12:20:00.000+01:00

yummy pics

2006-06-25T20:44:00.000+01:00

summer

evening

garden

a dream

2006-06-25T15:20:00.001+01:00

..i had a month ago. sometimes i dream in pictures, ale to niemożliwe narysować dobrze wiernie obraz ze snu. w każdym razie coś podobnego, tym razem, mniej więcej.