Commander of ISS to Earth

Today was a very special day. 

I had the honor of sharing one of my caricatures with a very inspiring individual. Someone I have looked up to a lot in the past few years. Someone who shares and fuels my enthusiasm for learning new things and doing my best to make a difference in the world. 

It was great to finally get to meet him in person, shake hands and even converse in my native  language (Russian)!

Chris Hadfield is the Canadian astronaut who sang the David Bowie song in the International Space Station while being the commander in charge. He also did a lot of awareness work with the youth about the space program.

 

I also got his latest book You Are Here that features photos of Earth taken from the ISS. Which were a sensation on his Facebook page. Seeing these uploaded almost live was an eye opening experience. Helping realize how beautiful, fragile and powerful the nature of our planet truly is.

Now, I am a proud owner of a signed copy! 

You can get yours too. He is embarking on a long Book Tour this weekend. Check out the dates:

http://chrishadfield.ca/events/

He also wrote another great book that released a year ago, that explains his approach to life.

Sure is interesting to get a little bit of insight on a bright mind, his rituals and habits.

Finally, I prepared a small gift caricature for him that he gracefully accepted and hung it up on the wall behind him. Hopefully, not forgetting it there after he left. I know, he wouldn't, but my demons get the worst of me sometimes.

My biggest interest was to hear he speak in Russian. He lived in Russia for a bit, to learn the language and culture in order to understand his ISS team mates better, for which I deeply respect him!

It was a short, brief exchange since I got self conscious about handing him my art work and the long line behind me watching... I wish, there was more time to converse!

 Here is the final caricature, very simple and nothing special, but worth a story. 

Over all great experience, left me smiling and high five-ing strangers!

Creative Place Cards

 This summer, I got a chance to participate in something really special... 

A magnificent wedding that took place in a small town of west Germany! The couple had me on board doing some graphics. We got the invitation designs going and the programs, but the best part was the seating arrangement cards! 

They are big fans of my caricature work, so they thought it would be fun to prepare a caricature of each guest and display their table number at the back. All this neatly framed in a cute 4x6 frame.

 What a joy it was getting to know every guest in advance and then seeing their reactions as they flood into the venue!

It's a game and an ice breaker. Conveniently it also serves as a very personalized gift for every guest! Mind blowing results... lots of smiles and laughter and the party hasn't even begun.

I hope to do this again and again. One key factor is time. It was a 50 person wedding and we started working on the caricatures a few months in advance. They provided me with a picture of every guest and I checked them off at my own pace.

Here is what they thought:
"My husband and I celebrated our wedding with a small group of friends and family this past summer... in Germany. Needless to say, we really felt we had to show our appreciation to everyone for coming such a long way. We wanted to give guests something that was personal and unique. So, when my friend suggested caricatures, I thought it was a perfect idea.

My husband and I contacted Polina from Rad Caricatures and floated our idea to her. We needed 50 caricatures in three months and we only had pictures to work off of. Polina was up for the challenge! She was amazing to work with...she was cool as a cucumber throughout the process and really open to hearing our feedback. Polina worked with us to find the perfect style of caricature and then to capture our guests' faces and personalities just right. The creative processes was one of the best parts of preparing for the wedding - it was so much fun to describe our friends and our favorite memories of them when designing the caricatures.

The result was an amazing set of caricatures that everybody LOVED! Our guests had a blast finding their caricatures, which also doubled as their table seating. Seeing our guests' reactions was a favorite moment of the day."

Do you know some one who is hosting an event and would love this?

Happy Family Day

Alan's 1st Birthday Party - Dinosaur themed!

This post is about one of my most favorite trio in the world.  They recently celebrated 1st year anniversary of being parents and their cute boy's 1st Birthday! Check out these curious, blue eyes!
I am not a parent yet, but it's a wonder to see how your friends change (for the better) when they become parents and start their own family. They disappear from their usual social circles for some time, but that is only because they are busy creating their own little universe at home. The first few years are fundamental  in a child's life, so it is no small task. A year, since this little guy was born, there is a lot to be proud of and I am extremely happy to see them grow together!

On a side note...

Family is a concept that evolves all throughout our lives, but its core values never change. It is about caring, being there for each other and of coarse loving unconditionally. I also, don't think you have to be genetically related to feel like you are part of a family. Some of my friends feel like they are family to me, because I've known them for so long and their parents know me and my parents know them... It's a different level of understanding and it's worth celebrating.

I wish you all to have more of those warm family-like relationships in your life!

Cheers.