plenty of things going on.
summer job in full swing, had a little workshop on sunday for kids in ljubljana (see photos here), saw for the first time pensioners waiting in line in front of the bank to get their money, designed some little things, met friends i have planned to meet too long. and can’t wait to see a few more of them.
if you’re ever in bohinj, come see me at the end of the lake where i’m renting boats till september.

but … wherever you go: be a good tourist. even if you’re in your home country.

photos by uroš badovinac

yesterday we finished with a 4-day screenprinting workshop.
2 groups, two days. the first day we introduced the whole process and everyone had to do everything, from the fun printing to the “messy” work of cleaning the screens and inhaling a lot of chemicals. the next day we repeated the whole thing but everything went much faster since the process was familiar to everyone. so, alltogether, we printed about 30 motifs. since it was also the first time for me to spend 4 days working with people and guiding them through the process, there was much of learning also on my part. but it was a really good week, thankgod every day started with making coffee (the early 8 hour was important because of the later heat which makes the paint dry fast).*

i’m having the next workshop on 10th july with some kids from
a youth center.

as a farewell home, mentor lended me the book of a slovenian alpinist tomaž humar, who sadly passed away in november 2009 in himalaya. the book is an extraordinary read, full off emotions. and on arrival home a new book was waiting for me, slovenian mountains, a guide. a photo of mine was chosen to be in the book, but something went wrong and my photo isn’t in it. so, i cannot brag. darn.

anyways, it’s been a really good week. i’m starting my summer job on wednesday, renting boats at a camping side at the end of lake bohinj. if you’re around, come say hej.

*the first experience would be worse if it were on metelkova (hardcore diy printing place). so now, that the participants are familiar with the whole process, they will be able to work on their own there. metelkova is hopefully to be “in gear” after 20th august.

after passing few exams i wanted a cool celebration and with a friend (she’s from croatia and studying in slovenia) headed to croatia to inmusic festival. but got stopped at the border. because slovenian legislation allows every(bobby)one to understand it as he wants, we got sent back to ljubljana. seems like i’m jinxed cause every attempt of attending a concert in past (almost) two months failed. eh. now i’m having some layed back days at home, reading, watching movies and documentaries, working on some other things that got left behind.

i’ll be helping with screenprinting workshop probably next week, still some arrangements.

+ made a simple poster and invitation for a sale at almirasadar (on tavčarjeva 6 in ljubljana) boutique

on monday afternoon i got home from three day survival training in nature. training was led by three professional soldiers and was very educational: we smoked fish for three days, picked flowers and other edible things, we made our own fire, climbed and crossed a gorge by rope, learned about orientation and led the 10-people group through the woods, we made our own bivouacs from leaves, we talked about first aid and made stretchers. a real life lesson. now i know that i really enjoyed it and hopefully learned a great deal. last thing before saying goodbye was a descent by rope down 30 m high bridge. the view is much more terrifying that it looks like.

the only thing now remembering me of the weekend are shortage of sleep, bunch of bruises, black marks and itches from ticks (sheep-lice?). but all in all it was a great experience!

photo below by tadej žun, our commander, it’s me on the right. more photos here

it is martin woodtli. i attended a small exhibition he holds in ljubljana (at NLB, bank) and i cannot understand how he does all his posters with screenprinting. i checked his website, nothing specific, i googled and youtubed him, nothing stands out. and since he is connected to stefan sagmeister, another wunder mensch i adore, martin should not have shocked me.

if you pass by the NLB, step in for a few minutes and check him out. i’m so mad i missed the opening. the exhibition lasts until 15th september.

other news: exams. exams. exams. silly exams. and looking forward to a weekend of survival training in the nature. ha!

yesterday i headed home to have peace and quiet to study. on a half way home i got a call from Matej, the guy who taught me to screenprint and i went back to ljubljana in the early morning. because i had some time left i went to tivoli (park in ljubljana) and there met a lady who was feeding the squirrels and the birds. i then had a day for screenprinting. with Matej we printed about 150 t-shirts and repeated all the working phases. it was a great day!

afterwards we had our well deserved beer. he took me halfway back home because he lives in a 30 min distant town. passing the mountains in distant, he named them all and shared his adventures. plus: he signed me up for survival course next weekend! should be a good life lesson.

anyways, i’m back home, must study. it truly was an amazing day. to many more!!

plus: i’ll probably be running a workshop with Matej  at the end of june. let me know if you’re interested and i’ll keep you posted.

had a real busy, but good week. i got a copy of the book i designed, went to see a small printing house, run by danilo, who printed the books. and i recommend him because he knows his work and what is more important: he is always prepared to explain things to you, technically and financially. he invited me to come and see how he works and i was honoured. two thirds of his place is for digital printing, the other third for screenptinting. wow! if i could run something like that someday – and have all the proper knowledge …

moreover, i got my driving licence on tuesday. a friend gave me a metal letter he found on a place where river soča meets the sea. all goodies. and i hoped i could reach home yesterday to try and take advantage of this day. i made it. so i got some sleep and then ran for the hill. it was so peaceful, i needed this from the loud and rapid week i had.

got some more sleep and am now preparing myself to continue with faculty work, weekends are all i have.

to new victories!

showed up at faculty today because we received the books i designed for faculty professor* and well established fashion designer in Slovenia Almira Sadar. it’s a collection of about 18 lectures. Almira wasn’t present, so I did all the honours, but i’ll wait until monday when i see her to get my copy of the book. and then post some more photos (on kurjapolt). stay tuned.

*officially: assistant professor in fashion design at the department of textiles

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otherwise i spent three days in word and open office (at work), hardcore nightmare. was glad to open indesign yesterday to continue with other work. tough times are coming: in free time (mostly weekends) i’m working on seminars and will have to start to study, exams approaching darn fast.

i sent my second book to print on monday. it’s actually a handbook a professor at our faculty asked me to design: just texts gathered with some small illustrations we added as sort of vignettes to lighten up the “roughness”. a good feeling. it sure again felt like place for me to be. but it’s time for writing seminars now. still tend to give priority to other things. will never come to senses.

… looking forward to see some old faces on friday

ok, tried screenprinting at home today, was making a present. now i know i must be more harsh on myself with the organization of work. every lesson costs.  but present is made, with some faults, but … let’s say that makes it even special? no, i’ll do better next time. and i need a bigger squeegee. and a workplace, cause it’s a bit of a mess transforming a room into “printing place” and watch out for color stains … and a thorough cleaning afterwards to hide any traces. check also your hair for any highlights.