Wisdom from Aniko

Here is one from Albus Dumbledore and me!

This inner light is in our hearts, our souls, our relationships, our families and of course it comes from the Universe, The Higher Self.
In any bad situation, we are never truly alone and we are actually really, REALLY STRONG! We just haven't experienced our real strength yet. And this strength doesn't bloom in fighting against each other or with the enemies, yet it does flourish in our ability to stand strong back to back while facing all sorts of difficulties, be it a crisis, pandemics, wars or whatever else. The strength of our spirits is the most important thing. This is the muscle we have to pump and train all the time!
But without strong faith, it is not really possible. It is scary to try and go against something when you feel alone and weak, but when you know that there is ALWAYS someone very dear to your heart, making every step with you, then any fight becomes so much easier. Faith and peace just come into your heart instantly. But that requires practice!
For all those who allow a possibility of spiritual development, I do really suggest to read "Bhagavat - Gita As It Is" by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. This is one of the most amazing books that humankind possesses and it does truly inspire every thinking individual to realize who we really are and how strong we can be when we devote ourselves to righteousness, instead of fear, to love instead of hatred and to finally awaken our souls towards pure LOVE
Our soul is immortal and it is something NO ONE can take from us! The "YOLO" concept (you only live once) is so boring and so outdated now, that the majority doesn't believe in it anymore... It's not in fashion either. 👎
- Our strength lies in BHAKTI - devotional service to GOODNESS and each other.
- Our weakness lies in a lack of true knowledge!
So wake up beautiful souls, wake up... and start educating yourselves on things that TRULY METTER!
🎇 On the practical level and from my own experience, right now I am personally studying herbs and essential oils in order to be able to heal myself and my family and to pass on this knowledge to future generations. I am also trying to study my nation's traditions as well as the traditions of other countries in order to see depth in every action that our ancestors were taking. I am making small steps to leave the city and practice a healthy lifestyle in the countryside. All things natural, real, organic, self-grown. I also practice vegetarianism.
And of course, on a daily basis I pray and I sanctify my food before I offer it to my family. And I say THANK YOU.
Each and every one of us can start with making a small positive change in their life, which should be centered not on YOU, but on HOW YOU CAN HELP OTHERS with what YOU yourself also love doing the most? This way not only you will enjoy your life fully, but so many others will benefit and become happier! RIGHT?

SO... please... wake up and turn on that light within your heart!

I beg you! 🙏

Tiger's Family Journal

Hello everyone and welcome!

This post is going to be about my newest journal - The Tiger's Family Journal. 

This journal was a very specific custom order and may not make any sense to you as what and why... but this is why I felt like I needed to explain it. 

Usually in natural situation such scene could have never happened. A monkey sadly would only end up being a dinner for a tiger. But this journal's idea was based on the Chinese Calendar signs, rather than just realism or natural order. 

I had a Chinese lady contact me saying that she and her husband were born in the year of the tiger and their baby is a year of a monkey. This way she wanted to symbolically represent their family portrait on the journal that will be used as a diary for a newborn baby. 

I enjoyed practicing the cute style of sculpting, although this is not my favourite artwork of my own. 

Sometimes I feel that too restraining ideas limit my ability to go crazy and to make something out of this world... I still have to stay professional with what I do, but creating particular and very defined scenes is not something I am super strong or very passionate about. 

Anyhow, I was actually quite pleased with the result and the cuteness of this journal, so I hope you will like it too.

I'd rather stay honest and explain myself on how I feel about my own work, as I feel the need to say it sometimes for your knowledge, but also for my own understanding. Sometimes we do things that we don't want to do, sometimes life forces us to bend down and turn ourselves inside out. I am trying to stay as true to myself as much as I can by being honest and by seeing my flaws, seeing my disadvantages and instead of masking them away, I want to work and develop the weak areas of my creative talent. The only way to progress is to accept that you are not perfect, very far from it, but you want to be as perfect version of your own self as you possibly can. I may never reach my own perfection concept or maybe I will.. but then I will surely raise my own bars so I can always look upwards and spread my hands hight into the sky... I don't like the concept of reaching the top and then bending down and looking down on everybody else. The idea of having no goal or no area to grow actually scares me a lot! I need the sun to be a descent tree that reaches out for the light!
Of course you also have to be realistic and still love yourself even if you know the areas where you are not as good and you may not deserve the love you give to yourself. Love yourself as if you are a child of your own self. Love yourself like a mother would love her naughty child. She would still try her best to educate, develop and raise him as good as possible, but no matter what.. she would still love him. So love yourself with all your flaws and imperfections and after accepting them, work on them, if you feel that you would like to change them for something better. Accepting and loving your flaws and imperfections only counts when you are ready to change what is changeable. What can't be changed, should be accepted as God's gift or life's lesson.
I hope that makes sence.. 

But.. let's get back to some pictures :) Otherwise I went all philosophical  today :))) 

The Red Sea Dragon

Hello everyone and welcome!

Today I would like to present you my latest journal - The Read Sea Dragon.

I have done quite a few dragon journals so far, but this one has a special twist as this is a water dragon and it is presented in a way as if he is swimming in water. I particularly liked how the air bubbles manifested in the progress of my creation. I fantasise as I go and many of you know it already. These little bubbles appeared unexpectedly when I wanted to add some sparkle to the journal and found these matching blue cabs in my supplies. 

This journal was made as a custom order for a very interesting client. Her daughter is a little bit colour blind and she doesn't see dark colours. Therefor the journal was supposed to be made in bright and vivid tones, with a lot of visible colour changes. I also decided to add a lot of different texture to water, so if there would be something she wouldn't be able to see, she would definitely be able to feel all the waterfall of textures, smooth and patterned. Anything you want. 

The second favourite element that I really really like is how I accidentally placed the golden elements in between the feathers of the dragon's wings, but when they were all placed, they started to look like packs of little golden fishes that all came to see and meet the dragon. Particularly because the little golden elements were previously a part of the chain, so each and every one of them has a little eye-hole :) What a wonderful coincidence. So I had no choice but draw little spiky tails behind each golden element to make them look like little fishes completely. 

I loved to work on the smallest details of the dragon's body. The journal is only A6 in size, so the little dots and swirls are less then 1mm in diameter. 

Also, I think that the combination of bright and deep reds merged with the teals and purple-blues are contrasting beautifully with the golden accents on the dragon's body, wings and horns. 

For more pictures of this and other journals please visit my Website Gallery. 

Thank you for still being my follower,