* victoria smyrniotis

2011 in Photos

2012-01-01T00:51:00.000-08:00

2010 in photos

Happy New Year! I wish you good health, love and light for 2012. xo

Morning Walks~

2011-12-25T20:41:00.000-08:00

Here's a little peak into what my weeks have been filled with.
It's been very quiet and nice to settle in and relax.

I hope your holidays have been wonderful~

Saturnine

2011-11-28T12:00:00.001-08:00

Winter Tales

2011-11-21T12:52:00.000-08:00

Halfway through writing my novel, but it still feels like I've got a long way to go.

I'm inspired greatly by a number of talented artists I've found online. Laura has been an inspiration for a while, as have Annette and Marie.

Who inspires you?

The Girl Who Slept For Days

2011-11-14T12:01:00.000-08:00

Busy week, busy day.

Working on some projects behind the scenes.
Will post more on them later.
Have a lovely week!

Moon

2011-10-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

Enjoy your night, loves.

Tomorrow begins 30 days of novel writing abandon.

Curiosity //

2011-10-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

Visitor

2011-10-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

I never grow tired of seeing deer where I live.

Changed the last two photos. I thought these fit more with the mini-series.

Traveling Volume ii

2011-10-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

A collection of old photographs taken on a small farm in Northern California.

Flickr Favorites : Collection 1

2011-10-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

by Geneviève Bjargardóttir

by Vaeltaja

by Laura Makabresku

by Alex Matzke

PLEASE NOTE: These photos were not taken by me. You can find the original artist and a link to their page under each photo.

Resistance

2011-10-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

It felt like a whole slew of opportunities were falling in my lap a few days ago.
I don't know about you, but I often resist change, even if it's for the best.
Here's hoping I break that habit and go for it.

Fresh Fruit and Golden Hour

2011-10-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

Autumn is my favorite season~

October Love

2011-10-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

I will live in a little home like this one day.

Doodle i

2011-09-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

I draw too many faces at this angle. My goal for the next few weeks: change it up.
(And I need to get my scanner to work....)

I'm planning on going to a Study Abroad fair. Can you imagine studying history in the places where it actually took place? Or getting to see the artwork your studying up close? Two of my close friends are both in far off places of the world (Ireland and London!), and it sounds like such an adventure.

Hope your week is treating you well!

Early Dinner

2011-09-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

Today has been a productive Tuesday. I spent the afternoon in class, spoke to a few advisers about course schedules and grad schools, then came home and whipped up some early dinner. Been drawing and writing letters to friends since then.

Quiet days are nice.

Fall Greetings

2011-09-25T11:50:00.000-07:00

Hello, lovelies. It's Fall! What do you have planned for the season?

I've moved into my new apartment and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. There's a forest in my backyard and a porch where I can sit and watch the sunset. When the sun hits the trees around five, the shadows start to create imagery throughout the place that is strangely mesmerizing.

I've been settling in for the past week and getting ready for classes to start. I've just stocked up on groceries and cooking & baking supplies. I've also checked out an armful of cookbooks from the library to start experimenting with. Expect some recipes and photos soon!

x

quiet, quiet

2011-09-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

Rose Dear

2011-08-31T15:49:00.000-07:00

Model: Ashley Quick

The Swing of Things

2011-08-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

This summer has been a very busy one! I haven't had much time to work on art at all lately, which is an awful feeling. I've been putting in quite a few hours at a couple of jobs I nabbed. I've also been reading a lot (finished Dostoyevsky's Notes From Underground, Burgess' A Clockwork Orange, and Pérez-Reverte's The Club Dumas). I've made good use of Netflix (I've discovered a love for the Office...). And generally I've been rather productive in everything but making artwork.

What have you been up to this summer?

These are some photos from the shoot I did with Stephanie last month. There are many more that I need to edit through, though.
Consider this a long overdue preview.

first pencil sketch in months

2011-07-13T11:39:00.001-07:00

I'm stumbling back into making art and using a pencil. It's sometimes painful. But I'll have fun with it. Be prepared for some experimenting!

one year of blogging!

2011-07-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

I didn't realize how much this blog would document the past year of my life. I knew it would serve as a reference for my art, but while collecting all these images from previous posts, I was reminded of so many different events.

My trip to oregon was definitely a good memory. A ten hour drive and a few days spent visiting with friends.

I started making mixtapes and sharing them almost a year ago.

I made my first stopmotion back in November. I can't believe it's already been so long.

I did my first photoshoot with someone else and started considering shooting others more often.

I started updating my painting process with you.

I began my first conceptual series entitled a state of dream.

And I started and completed a 30 day photo challenge that I updated regularly on my flickr.

It's been a fun year of blogging! I'm really glad to have met the friends I have on this site! You're a big part of the reason why blogging is so enjoyable.

If you have the time, please drop a comment! Let me know what you'd like to see more of on this site.

If you're new, hello! Thanks for visiting! Blogger has been malfunctioning with their release of the new blogger interface and will not let me view who's added my blog to their list. Has anyone else had trouble with this? Please leave a comment if you have a blog or flickr you'd like me to check out. I'd love to see what you're working on!

Thank you again for visiting - !

v.

////

2011-06-15T22:52:00.000-07:00

summer time begins with

2011-06-12T21:14:00.000-07:00

baklava and coffee

2011-04-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

Baklava and coffee. Two of my favorite dessert items. The Greek festivals are going to start up again soon. I'm looking forward to dancing and all the different foods they'll have. Have you been to one before?

anchor

2011-04-25T00:30:00.000-07:00

5/6 - 30

2011-04-17T02:43:00.000-07:00

5/30

'The Conversations We Carry With Ghosts' - 6/30

4

2011-04-15T03:33:00.000-07:00

“In her head I imagine there to be love. I do. I think of her words as being written along the sand. The ocean comes and steals them once tide peaks. And she’s left to write them again. Each time it’s different, but unbearably the same. The words she chooses differ. Perhaps if this is embellished, or that is spoken lightly of, the ocean will leave it be. So she sets to writing and hoping and trying. It never changes the oceans, though.

Eventually, I imagine her lying beside her words, too tired to pen any longer. Sleep tugs to exhaustion tugs to rest. But the ocean pays no mind to the change in words or standing. It rakes through sand and takes the offerings as though nothing has changed.

Because to it, nothing has.

Even when there is nothing left to give, it comes forth as though reminding the others of its inability to love; though in doing so, demonstrating its desire to.”

//

It's an excerpt from a short story I'm writing.

lately

2011-04-10T23:45:00.000-07:00

I spend a lot of time in cafes and restaurants lately.

I have a daily project in the works and am looking into finding a place to host it online.

I just bought my first pro account on my flickr.

I bought a notebook that I'm devoting to writing poetry and prose in. So far so good.

I'm rediscovering my love for music and coffee.

I'm picking up the guitar again.

So far so good.

What have you been up to?

rose red

2011-04-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

7" x 9"
watercolor

film

2011-04-06T02:04:00.000-07:00

I can't sleep. Coffee and writing and empty notebooks that long to be filled with silly words and inconsequential prose. With soft folk music playing very loudly and with the promise of tomorrow beginning in six hours time. Spring has only begun, yet I am prepared for summer.

quiet, quiet

2011-03-21T00:03:00.000-07:00

Monterey, California
Summer 2010

another work in progress

2011-03-17T02:07:00.000-07:00

without consequence

2011-03-14T00:08:00.000-07:00

“We become aware of the void as we fill it.” ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943

ALSO - check this out. Making changes.

a dream state : volume ii

2011-02-28T23:15:00.000-08:00

These are some tentative additions to the series I'm working on. I have some plans to shoot more by the shore if the weather permits.

I also have plans to have a print giveaway in the future.
Keep an eye out for that if you're interested!

painting again

2011-02-22T17:37:00.000-08:00

Third sitting. It's getting there.
feb. 24

(Click 'read more' to see the first few in progress shots)

This is from the second sitting with this piece. I don't think I'll keep uploading with work in progresses until it's complete, (or I might, but more sporadically) - but I wanted you to see what direction I was taking it in. The first photo I posted was very ambiguous!

Let me know if you like seeing these, and I'll just keep updating this particular post.

feb. 23

I've been taking a break from art for the past week. Sometimes what you love can give you more stress than what you hate. Good news is, I started painting again at least! I started this under-painting an hour ago and I haven't started ripping out hair quite yet. It still has many many more layers and edits to go, though!

Hope your week goes great! x

a dream state

2011-02-13T15:38:00.000-08:00

I have so many ideas for this series, but I haven't been able to capture what I want. So frustrating! Here are some of the photos that I liked. Hopefully I'll have more within the next few weeks.

I also made another blog until I get my own site. You can find it here.
Hope your week has been going well! x

fairy lands

2011-02-05T22:52:00.000-08:00

models: stephanie and ryland

This was my first experience shooting others and I'm so pleased with the results! I had a lot of fun climbing hills and unstable tree trunks to capture these, and I already have more shoots planned for the future.
You can find some more photos from this series here.

If you're interested in doing a shoot with me and you live around these parts,
send me an email! I'd be happy to work something out.

I have seen

2011-01-31T22:12:00.000-08:00

Today is the day I’m leaving for the oceans, and all I can think of is how quiet eyed and sleepy I feel. A year ago, I’d fill my bags with pens and pencils, sketchbooks and cameras - and I’d leave for the first bus to shore. With feet in warm sand and fingers grazing ocean waters. With wind and sky and sun - I’d feel grounded again. Winter by the sea is more beautiful than people realize, I think. But I wish they knew.

-

We’re six people crammed into one small car. Four of us are in back, hip bones digging into thighs, and arms everywhere. There is hardly room for breath. And I’m lucky enough to get the window seat. All I can do is smile. You see the world differently when you’re with different people, I’ve noticed. As I looked out from the window of that fancy car, I saw the world as vibrant, loud, and bold - where often I see only quiet and still.

The chill of wind is biting when we arrive, but the sun welts our skin in quick moments. We run for shelter under the pier, where the cold shade and the nip of water calms us. I’m taking shot after shot with my camera, surprised at how different it all feels - and slowly I’m moving further and further away from the group. But I don’t mind it; I like the silence.

You’re able to really listen when you’re alone.

I want more days like these, where all that’s needed of me is to travel and be and create. I wish there were more of them, but I guess I wouldn’t be as grateful if they came whenever I wished for them. They’re like a treat after a long time of work.

The rest of the trip I found myself walking up and down the shore. I collected shells, wrote poetry, watched children run and play in the water. Remembering when I was little and would dig 'basements' in the sand with my brother and father. Or when we'd swim in the bone-chilling crest of waves. Or when a friend and I drifted almost all the way out to sea while we talked of life atop the air toys we were floating on.

I miss it.

Here is a picture of the pipes under the pier that I almost walked into. I was looking down at the photos I had been taking, when for no reason at all, my feet stopped moving. I looked up and saw these inches from my face. Intuition is a powerful force to listen to. We know more than we allow ourselves to believe.

illness

2011-01-17T17:59:00.000-08:00

I've been sick since Friday. Sorry for all the quiet!

I spent all day Saturday and all morning today at Kaiser. But I've been reading lots of books (currently reading Soul Music by Terry Pratchett). Playing some computer games (try nintendo8.com). And making plans for photoshoots and stories to share once I'm able to.

I have quite a few new illustrations to scan, but just don't have the energy to do it quite yet. I'm hoping I will soon!

x

road trip : part iii

2011-01-13T11:37:00.000-08:00

Portland, Oregon

Part I
Part II

kitten

2011-01-07T22:21:00.000-08:00

tell me

2011-01-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

Today is my birthday!

Tell me something about yourself. What interests you? Where are you from? Are you going to school? You can write a little or a lot - whatever you want to share. I'd love to hear it. :)

2010 in photos and illustrations

2011-01-04T11:08:00.000-08:00

road trip : part ii

2011-01-03T11:54:00.000-08:00

days that were still
Portland, Oregon

Part I
Part III

the new year

2011-01-01T23:59:00.000-08:00

Drink to the old year and drink to the new.

Here's hoping it will be everything you wish for.

Unrest - a Mixtape

2010-12-29T19:32:00.000-08:00

My boyfriend and I listened to this on the way to lunch and a movie last night. The storm was just beginning to start, and we were able to listen to it while watching the rain.

 It was really beautiful to watch the reflection of cars transpose themselves onto the slick city roads; bright lights and the remnants of Christmas still decorating houses here and there. And wind - so much wind. This is another soothing mix of songs that I’ve grown fond of. I hope you enjoy it~

It should download in this order, but if it doesn't, create a playlist and rearrange them so that they're like this. It will flow better. Download it here.

1. Flowers and Blood - Mariee Sioux
2. All Unfolding - Ah Holly Faml’y
3. Satellite Heart - Anya Marina
4. Rosyln - Bon Iver & S. Vincent
5. Clair de Lune - Dario Marianelli
6. Scarborough Fair / Canticle - Simon & Garfunkel
7. Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
8. Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
9. Until the Real Thing Comes Along - Billie Holiday
10. A Stranger - A Perfect Circle
11. What Child is This? [Greensleeves] - Sounds of the Season
12. Gymnopédies—I. Lent et douloureux - Aldo Ciccolini
13. Ævagömul Orkuþula - Olof Arnalds

- The songs in the playlists I create are for sampling purposes only. If you like what you hear, I encourage you to buy the albums from the artists.

You can find other mixtapes if you search under 'series' in the menu bar on top, then go to 'for you,' then click 'mixtapes.' I'll keep adding more to this section as time goes on.

happy holidays!

2010-12-24T22:30:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's already here! Over here we've just finished dinner and everyone is gathered round the television watching Christmas specials (It's a Wonderful Life). Presents are under the tree (I've just finished wrapping the ones I made for my family!) and a fire is going strong in the fire place. Coffee is being made and baklava is waiting to be eaten. And overall, there's a feeling of comfort for a year well spent.

I accomplished a lot this year! And I'm really excited to start the new year off on a good foot! Hopefully this will involve more traditional art, drawings and doodles, as well as some more writings!

Thank you for all the wonderful encouragement I've gotten this year!

Hope your holidays are splendid :)

organic

2010-12-20T20:33:00.000-08:00

the farmers market.

I have so many photos to edit and post! And I'm working on making another mixtape to share soon. If you didn't download the last one, you can find it here.

And thank you so much for all the wonderful comments! I hope the holidays are treating you well!

road trip : part i

2010-12-16T21:56:00.000-08:00

Portland, Oregon

Part II
Part III

sea hymn

2010-12-10T19:34:00.000-08:00

❩

2010-11-25T23:40:00.000-08:00

ishtar

2010-11-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

a still life

2010-11-09T22:02:00.000-08:00

This is home for me.

2010-10-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

I've been bed-ridden all day. All I feel like doing is sleeping.

But I've been working on the plot for the novel I'll be writing in November.
Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? What will you be writing?

2010-10-20T13:21:00.001-07:00

october 2010

2010-10-19T09:55:00.000-07:00

Waking up to this is wonderful.
Fall 2010.

Artist Trading Cards

2010-10-12T18:54:00.000-07:00

fate

2010-10-02T22:55:00.000-07:00

Quick sketch done in Monterey mid September.

content

2010-09-09T23:03:00.000-07:00

I have been away for so long it seems. Hello again.

I have not been too far, though. I have photos and stories and paintings that I'm getting ready to share with you. Soon. For now, I want you to know that I am having a beautiful time with the people I love - and I hope for you to be enjoying your time as so as well.

Until next we meet.

windows

2010-08-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

good omens

2010-08-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

July 2010

Return South - Mixtape

2010-08-20T03:51:00.000-07:00

Everyone is either leaving or has already gone.

This is a very mellow mixtape of ambient, folk, and alternative. Probably best for falling asleep to.

Click here to download it, and if it doesn't appear in the order below in your media player - please rearrange it to be like this so that it flows.

1. The Lengths - The Black Keys
2. Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping - Grouper
3. Roads - Portishead
4. Track 09 - Sparklehorse
5. Graines d'étoiles (feat. Perry Blake) - Émilie Simon
6. When I Light Your Darkened Door - J. Tillman
7. Exit Music (For a Film) - Radiohead
8. The Hollow (Constantly Consuming Mix) - A Perfect Circle
9. On a Neck, On - Grizzly Bear
10. Don't Make a Sound - Azure Ray
11. The Nest - Jose Gonzalez
12. Micael - Juana Molina
13. Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want - She & Him
14. All Alright - Sigur Rós
15. 1 Ghosts I - Nine Inch Nails

just sometimes

2010-08-15T17:52:00.000-07:00

We would walk in circles through the forest, the wind almost tinting the sky a shade of faded green. The leaves around us had long since fallen from the trees. They cradled us in a bed of amber as we held and moved ourselves along the earth. I took your hand, fell forward into the grass and dirt, and shielded myself from the rain that was beginning to fall from above.

You folded your hands on your chest. I laid on my back beside you.

You stirred.

“Do you ever feel alone?” You said then, holding yourself still as the wind blew steady hums against your words. I paused, rolling over to see that your eyes were fixed straight ahead. You never blinked. I bit my bottom lip absently. My fingers dug themselves like nervous pins into my red coat. I shook my head but then realized that you couldn’t see me, and in a small voice I said, ‘no, I wasn’t alone, I had you.’

There was a long silence. I noticed then that my lip was bleeding. I wiped it off before asking you the same question. Do you feel alone ever? I asked. I pulled my sleeves down to cover my hands and fingers. My ears were ringing from the wind and cold and rain. It came down harder now. You didn’t seem to notice. Just stared straight ahead.

“Not all the time.”

You exhaled long and soft.

“Just sometimes.”

sailboats iv.

2010-08-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

colored pencils & ink
7.5 x 10

31days

2010-08-06T00:18:00.000-07:00

colored pencils & ink
7.5 x 10

iii.

2010-08-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

ii.

2010-07-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

sailboats and the turbulent seas - series

2010-07-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

I did this during work in my moleskine journal. There will be more destinations for this poor sailboat that always sails but never makes it home.