Olga Boznańska

(self-portrait)

She was born in 1865 in Cracow. As a child, she was encouraged by her mother to draw. It turned out that Olga had an outstanding talent. When she grew up, she started to take part in different courses and lectures concerning art. She couldn't study on Academy of Fine Arts because at that time the women weren't admitted there. That's why at the age of 21 she moved to Munich. Thanks to her ambition, determination and hard work she managed to be ahead of her teachers. Then she decided to open her own studio. After that the first successes appeared: she made an exposition of her works in Warsaw and Berlin, next in Praha, Munich, London and Lviv. Boznańska was also honoured in many competitions. After these events she became famous in Europe. She even received a suggestion of teaching in Academy of Fine Arts (the same which hadn't allowed her to study). She didn't accept that offer and in the same year (1896) she exhibited her works in Paris for the first time. Two years later, Boznańska moved to Paris and she succeeded again. She obtained (inter alia):
- gold medal in New Gallery in London (1900)
- honourable mention on World's fair in Paris (1900)
- silver medal from Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, USA (1907)
- Grand Prix on World's fair in Paris (1937)

She also represented the french art in the USA with such artists like: P. Bonnard, M. Denis, X. Roussel, C. Monet, P. Signac.

I'm fascinated not only by the talent of Olga Boznańska but also by her ambition and determination because thanks to them she succeeded. I really appreciate her works, especially the portraits. Even she admitted that the portrait had been her favourite type of painting. Boznańska did it very well and what's more her technique was interesting, unique and the only one of its kind. But what I like the most about these portraits is that they show emotion and they are convincing in some way.

Olga Boznańska is still one of the most famous polish painters. Nowadays we can admire her works in Poland, France, Italy and USA.

As said Ignacy Witz (polish painter and draughtsman) she is considered "the greatest polish female painter and one of the greatest female painters in Europe. And there is not an excess".

(the girl with chrysanthemums, 1894)

(portrait of the woman (Gipsy), 1888)

(portrait of Henryk Sienkiewicz, 1913)

(the young woman with child, 1902)

Mobile phone

One day I was going back home by tramway. In order to make the time pass more pleasantly I decided to listen to the radio on my mobile phone. I put on earphones and next I turned on the radio. But it didn't work well... I hardly could hear something. I tried to turn it up but the sound was still a little bit indistinct. I thought: "What a stupid phone! It had to break down...". Then I noticed than some man was looking at me in a strange way. That made me even more angry... However, a few seconds later, I realised what happened: the sound was given out by loudspeaker of my mobile (not by earphones!). I felt really ashamed!

The trip

On december I went to Zakopane with my boyfriend. One day we decided to visit Morskie Oko. We caught a bus in a center of the town. Driver put us down near by entrance of the Tatra National Park. From this place to Morskie Oko there was about 9 km. Uphill. Through the snow. In the beginning it was great – the weather was sunny and we had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, later I my mood broke down – I was really tired and the route was more and more difficult. I don’t know how my boyfriend could put up with my gripes and complaints – I really appreciate him that he managed to do it;)

After all I calmed down and we reached our destination. A view was amazing: snow-capped mountains and the frozen lake (with people who was walking on it!). It was worth the effort : ) But it wasn’t  the end of our trip – we had to get back to Zakopane. And everything would have been great if we hadn’t returned after sunset… We were terrified because it was completely dark! Admittedly, it wasn’t too bad because there were a lot of people on the route. But we still were afraid that we would come across some bear. Fortunately, finally we came back save and sound:)

Now, when I think back to this trip, I just smile – I have great memories and beautiful photos!

If I were...

If I were a celebrity….

… I would have ten Chihuahuas

… I would have five cars (and a chauffeur of course!)

… I would have an enormous house with a pool

… I would change boyfriends every week

… I would eat leaf of lettuce for my breakfast

… I could go to the party almost every night

… I would spend thousands of dollars for clothes from the most famous designers

… I would visit a beautician at least twice a week

… I would take part in one scandal a month at least (to don’t let people forget me)

… finally I would find some rich husband in order to ensure myself a life in luxury

Coincidence:)

I’ve never liked shopping. It is really exhausting to me, especially during weekends, when there are crowds of people in the shopping centers.

Once, my parents took me with them in spite of my resistance. They wanted to do the shopping before visiting my grandparents so I had to go. We were wandering from shop to shop when I heard from loudspeakers that there was a meeting with Martyna Wojciechowska in a main hall of the shopping center. I was really excited because I loved her programmes about travelling. In the end I didn’t regret that I had gone there…

If I hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have got the autograph from my idolJ

Pride and Prejudice

When I saw the adaptation of Pride and Prejudice for the first time I was about 14 years old. I loved this film because it impressed me very much at that time. I was fascinated with role of Elizabeth which was played by Keira Knightley, costumes (especially dresses!) and atmosphere of the British upper social class of  early 19th-century England. I had watched this movie several times and I have even a notebook with my favorite quotationsJ

Then I decided to read the novel. Although I had watched the film first, the book also absorbed me. Pride and Prejudice was to me like kind of fairy tale for elder girls. When I was reading it, I really could project my mind into that epoch - and this is what I like in reading the mostJ

After some time, I watched one episode of that TV serial from 1995 but after my fascination of the film from 2005 it didn’t manage to make me interested because of quality which was much worse obviously. And in my opinion role of Elizabeth wasn’t too convincing.

After all, I still love this story. However since I grew up, I view it from a different angle, so I can notice some essences which I couldn’t understand when I was much younger. I think that the plot is timeless and that is why it is so popular even 200 years after the first publication.

Five Card Story

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Five Card Story: Story of Richard The Frog

a Five Card Flickr story created by iza

flickr photo by bionicteaching

flickr photo by Serenae

flickr photo by Serenae

flickr photo by bgblogging

flickr photo by bionicteaching

A long time ago there was a frog whose name was Richard. He was very lonely. He wish he had had a best friend. One day he decided to start a quest for true friendship. His journey was really long. At first Richard went to the seaside. The sea appealed to him very much, but he didn't manage to find a friend. In spite of it he didn't give up.He set off on a trip to the mountains. It was very hard expedition for him. The mountains impressed him but he didn't manage to achieve his aim. Richard was a little bit resigned. Then he ended up in a big city. He got totally confused there because he had never been in such place before. He wasn't able to came across his way back. He couldn't even find anything to eat. When situation seemed to be really bad, he met a bird which helped him. The birs's name was Stephen. He had noticed that Richard is lost and frightened so he decided to assist him in getting to know the city. Richard was very grateful to Stephen. He knew that he finally managed to find a friend, because as everybody knows: a friend in need is a friend indeed:)

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being famous

I’ve always imagined what it is like to be famous…  Is fame nice or arduous? What people feel when they can watch themselves on TV or billboards?

In order to answer these questions I’ve found several quotation of well-known people who talked about fame:

Bob Marley said he handled fame by not being famous. He wasn’t famous to him.

Marilyn Monroe confided that the fame scared her. She said that all those people she didn’t know, sometimes they were so emotional. She wondered if they loved her that much without knowing her, they could also hate her the same way.

Michael Jordan said the good part about being famous was being able to help people. The hard part was every day you had to be in a good mood, because that was what people expected.

Britney Spears said being famous was just a job. But she also admitted that the cool thing about it was travelling.

Robert de Niro confided that the hardest thing about being famous was that people were always nice to you.  You were in a conversation and everybody was agreeing with what you were saying – even if you said something totally crazy. You needed who could tell you what you didn’t want to hear.