Blue eyes and red hair...Illustration



Ieva K.



Ieva K.

Cafe52

4/52

Okay. I’m going to start a new project and it’s about coffee or actually cafés. Last Sunday when we went to have a coffee in the morning, I had a photo with the coffee mug again and I got an idea. Photo project about all cafés where I go and coffees what I drink. So the next 52 times in cafés, I’m going to share with you.

(Check tag Cafe52 to see earlier cafe pics!)

xx Lipstick

Have you seen the light?

Time is 10pm. when I cross the bridge over Thames. Almost 60 hour work week is over and I feel exhausted. Light reflections from the river are like hundreds of twinkling stars. Bridge is beautiful and my dream house is standing next to it, big windows where the morning sun can shine easily in.

Night is warm, even if the day was cold. This city never sleeps. Lady Gaga billboard is on right side, H&M on the left. White limousine passes by, who’s inside this time; Famous actress or millionaire businessman? Sirens after them, other ones little bit further.

I think that London is the most beautiful in the night time, when lights are bright, it’s warm but dark and you can smell all the restaurants and hear all the police sirens.

xx Lipstick

My night

This evening included some tea and drawing. Trying to relax, and not to think about this week, working over 50 hours, bad eating or not enough sleep. I need good coffee desperately!

xx Good night London

Lipstick

The other side of the London

Yesterday 14 year old was stabbed at busy high street in a bare day light. I walk that street every day to work. Last week someone was shot to dead just a corner away from my place.

Romanian beggar lady and black homeless are sitting on a bench in a park and talking about work, the beggar has empty coffee mug on her hands and she’s smiling. At other bench there is still someone sleeping on a sleeping bag. Every evening when I’m walking back home those benches are full of people, homeless, east Europeans, teens, blacks or just someone who has lost himself,  they are smoking, joking and drinking cheap beer.

And if you sit to that bench you can see the other side of the park; huge mall with a section only for luxury brands. In this place; the Village; floors are so shiny that you can apply your make without a mirror, upstairs someone is playing a piano wearing a amazing black dress and there’s more security guys than customers. Too thin women are wearing high heels and spending their husbands’ money for Prada, Cucci and Burberry. Other side of a park lives “trash” people, they are wearing huge plastic earrings, teens have too short skirts and eastern men are smoking and trying to get a lady.

I have never felt unsafe in London, but this kind of news makes me think, would something happen to me, if I would have been at that station two hours earlier? What would have happened? Now I only saw police men and those people who where wear white haulers and taking blood from the ground.

I see these two sides every day, I walk trough that park and that station. I see the homeless and the business men in a same city.

xx Lipstick

Coffee addict

Okay let’s face it. I’m a coffee addict. I don’t know what I would do without Starbucks, Costa, Nero etc. I just cannot imagine my life without them anymore. This weekend I had… 4 cups of lattes…or 5 or … I cannot even remember it! But one thing I can remember, it was totally bliss to have the first taste. I remember when I was thinking about what would I miss if I would move back to Finland someday and the answer came right away; coffee. It wasn’t cool clubs or weather, it was coffee what brought tears to my eyes.

I can easily spend 10 to 20 pounds per week just for coffee. Sometimes I try to control myself, but c’mon most of my age people spend that much money for alcohol per weekend or more, so I spend mine for coffee. It cannot be that bad?

I can be without caffeine. I know it. Actually I was without coffee two weeks couple of months ago. It was refreshing but not right for me. I love coffee and that’s it, cannot help it.

3/52

xx Lipstick

Lez Femmes




Illustration by Ieva K.

 
“Do you know what kind of place this is?”

She comes closer and asks quietly, like it would be a secret, even if the place is screaming rainbows and women’s short hair cuts.

“You know, this is a gay café?

All the waitresses have shaved or short hair, tattoos and jeans with white t-shirts. We were there with a long hair, skirts and red lipstick. We didn’t even have high heels that day!

“Are you gay?”

These kinds of situations have happened for us quite many times and sometimes I feel that gay people are not as open minded as I thought. Which is sad. In a right place stereotypes are rich source of information, but when it is used in wrong kind of situation it can be harmful both sides.

xx Lipstick

White Cube

White Cube



This small art gallery in Hoxton square for contemporary art has the art vibe; it’s not too arrogant or too grey. It has the perfect combination of new kind of art and something familiar.

White Cube’s exhibition The Most Beautiful World in the World by Friedrich Kunath is emotional overdose. This bright, but depressive exhibition was something I have never seen before. Rainbow colors were tearing to the floor, fine fragile lines, and human faces facing the depressive world with the music background.

Artist had made amazing job combining these two things; Bright colors and depressive atmosphere. Exhibition included paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography and video, but for me the paintings were the most interesting part.

The exhibition is in two rooms; upstairs is a small black room with two art works and downstairs the main gallery. Gallery was quite small and that’s why it felt cosy, it wasn’t tourist magnet like Tate modern is so it felt that it was more about the art and art people than pleasing masses.

xx Lipstick

Poppy King goes Boots!

I cannot remember when I first heard about Poppy King and her lipsticks, but I fell in love with those lipsticks and the story behind the woman right away. She started her own business age of 18, only six months after graduating from high school.  She has worked cosmetic business ever since and published autograph.  

I was more than happy to discover that this lipstick queen is doing something for Boots! Even if I don’t usually buy lipstick which cost more than 5 pounds I’m going to invest some money for these beauties. I would love to have the History or some nude color.

xx Lipstick loves lipsticks

Illustration

This is something what I painted today. Haven’t painted in ages.  Going to do different colors if I have enough time. What do you think? 

xx Good Night London Lipstick

Skinny Lattes

Oh gosh! Had a amazing day in central London! The weather was nice, little bit windy, but warm and we walked through Soho, China Town to Trafalgatar square, then Covent Garden and back to Oxford Street. It was so much fun and I took finally photos like a tourist. Have to send some of them to my family, that they can finally see, “yeah I live in London and I have seen those famous places”.

 

Realized today how happy I’m right now to live in London. London’s summer is the best time of the year, winter was dark and rainy and cold, mostly because it was freezing inside! Finnish people should be so happy about their double glazing windows and warm houses.

I felt so relaxed when we sat on a Costa Café drinking skinny lattes and watching people outside. I realized that this was the life I had dream about couple of years ago. I had dreamed about cafés and restaurants, interesting conversations and friends. Okay let’s break the bubble, mostly it’s just normal life, too long working hours, jeans and messy hair, but today it was what I had dreamed about.  It was life in a metropolitan. It was love, coffee and the city.

What else could I ask for?

2/52

Taxi driver

London’s lights were bright, I sat on a taxi middle of the night and driver asked which side I liked better, this side of Thames or the other one. I didn’t know. “I like them both, but the other side is quieter.” I felt that I had lost all my English skills, but still the driver tried to have some small talk with me. I was tired, but city was living, living its normal crazy Saturday. People, alcohol, fun, they wanted to forget last week to survive other one. Weather was warm, and when I walked out of a taxi, driver said: “Take care darling.”

Now week behind, tired as hell and going to relax today. Usually I work 10 hours per day plus some weekends so my hours go 40-50 hours per week really easily. Now you can understand why I don’t have that much time to write every day.

xx Lipstick

Purge is HUGE!

And I'm not talking about throwing up right now, I'm talking about Purge, the international bestseller; Sofi Oksanen's Novel about two abused women and war. Yesterday when I was waiting the last train to home, the tube was horrible late and the place was packed of people, air was heavy, people tired and annoyed. I looked those huge posters on a wall and there it was, middle of all the phone, university and bank adds, there it was Sofi Oksanen, Purge poster.

"Those who deny the past are doomed to repeat it."

I couldn't believe it, one of my all time favorite author is famous in here! Just couple of years ago only the goths and gays knew her, and right now all the middle aged women are reading her books everywhere in Europe. I have read all her novels, but I still think that the first one is the best one, even if I had to admit that Purge is better writing and I can see why its international bestseller. Stalin's cows and Baby Jane could have never been the breaking point books, they are for too small audience. And now when Sofi Oksanen is well-know in all kind of people, not only for small groups, I'm waiting to see how those people are reading Sofi's firsts books aswell and getting the experience of a book and story what they would never chose, if they wouldn't know the writer.

Stalin's cows was the first Sofi's book what I read and I still think that it's the best of Sofi's books, because you can see the roughness in her writing style and I love that, the story doesn't feel planned, it's chaotic like life usually is, you can see and feel, life goes on, but it still feels the same.

It's going to be interesting to see Sofi's next book.

Good morning London
xx Lipstick

Paska Cafe!

Last week when I was in Helsinki, I met a friend at one of our favorite cafes. We called it “Paska”, which means “Shit”. We started to call it “Paska” when we saw that the café sold some coffee named “Paska”. Under that coffee was a note “Paska in Sale”. So we started to call the place "Paska café". Actually I cannot even remember the real name… Such a shame.

The café is cosy and it has small rooms, with different chairs and tables; we usually go to that one room with a red walls, comfortable sofas and small wooden tables. In this one corner you can look over the other sitting area. Café’s specialties are amazing hot chocolate (not too sweet, just perfect!) and my all time favorite mozzarella baguette.

We sat there couple of hours, talked through all the Torkkeli gossips, Uni things and life in London and Helsinki. It was amazing day after those hours we went to see some other friends and ate some Chinese food near to Kamppi. The place was cheap, waitresses couldn’t speak fluent Finnish and the decoration was more than horrible, but the food was good I have to admit. (Okay I love Chinese food so it’s good almost in every place)

We went to see some nightlife as well, but more about those bars next time.

1/52

xx Lipstick

Blue Blood

Blue blood

you have

my princess.

China Town

When I came back to London, there was this beautiful creature waiting for me. I got a hug and presents, actually too many. I got a bag full of Chocolate and sweets, and when I say full of it, I mean bars and bars of chocolate. I don’t know how I’m going to survive with them.

Today was Bank Holiday and I spend time with my special one and we went Soho to eat some Chinese food finally! We have walked there like million times, but never went anywhere to eat. The weather was nice and Soho was packed of tourist already. Chinese supermarkets were selling weird looking things and some fried chickens were hanging on the windows. Chinese people mixed to all ethnic backgrounds were walking on those streets and you could hear so many different languages. I tried to choose place which wouldn’t be that full of tourist, but most of them were more or less for tourist. Don’t get me wrong the food was delicious and it was nice to have a dinner at China Town, but the truth is that I have had better food and atmosphere in small Chinese at small town in Finland.

I would like to know how to cook Chinese or Thai food. I have good opportunity to use all of London’s Chinese supermarkets if I just could know what to need from there. I promised to cook next year some Chinese food, but will see if it’s going to happen. Chinese take away is so much easier and cheap.

Okay now going to prepare myself for the next work week.

xx Lipstick

Mayday! Mayday! I'm coming back!

Through all the rain and drunken people I found myself at Helsinki Uni's political science student party. Small and packed basement was sweaty and full of these red smurfs.

We went to see how Havis Amanda got her graduation hat. I haven't seen this tradition before and I have to admit that it was quite interesting to take part. We put our hats on 6pm and screamed with all the others.

And I realised that its time to go home. London. Today. I have had enough of drunken finnish people.

xx Lipstick
says Bye Bye to Helsinki