Over the past year, my drawings have taken on a new form. I find myself reflecting once again on the nature of art and its place in my life. Coupled with my discontent over social media and its impact on the mind, I’ve returned to my pencils, setting aside my iPad Pro. It’s hard to ignore how art feels increasingly devalued in a world oversaturated with content. It no longer seems to matter how good your work is—what matters is how skillfully you can present yourself, how effectively you can grab attention. But what if you have no desire to draw attention to yourself through clever tricks or to design strategies that pander to algorithms?

I have to say, this time with pencils in hand feels like a harmonizing ritual—one that grounds me in a way I didn’t realize I needed. It restores my faith in the idea that I can still create something meaningful. This series of works, which began almost accidentally in Madeira and continued on the mainland, has become my refuge. It’s my filter for expressing the love I feel for the nature I encounter daily.

In recent months, I’ve been preparing for an exhibition in Northern Portugal, **Braga em Risco 2025**, where the theme will be “nature.” I feel a rare sense of anticipation as I look forward to sharing these pieces with an audience. I believe the centerpiece of this series will be a decorative portal in a tropical forest—an idea that came to me during my last visit to Madeira. The experience was breathtaking. I see this drawing as a metaphor: nature, with its unstoppable influence, reclaiming and interweaving with the man-made elements that reside within it. We move alongside nature, and ideally, we should complement each other—not with limits or aggression, but in a magical partnership, a relationship built on gratitude and coexistence.

I feel so grateful to have found a medium that provides me with such creative grounding. As I look ahead, I am filled with curiosity about where this path will lead me.

Yesterday, I met a contemporary artist from Canada whose work I’ve been following on Instagram for about 8 years. Tyler reached out to me with an offer to meet in Lisbon, where he was passing through on his way to Funchal.

We walked around the old town and talked about life and art and spent time drawing outdoors. It was the best January 1st and the best gift Santa could have given me! Watching the drawing process of such a professional as Tyler was an indescribable delight for me.

To be honest, it was the first time I saw someone use watercolor by layering transparent washes — it’s absolutely incredible. I was also amazed by the number of sketchbooks he carries with him;

if I’m not mistaken, I counted six.

I’ve been buzzing with excitement for two days now and have such a strong urge to draw. I’m grateful for social media and the fact that I live in Europe, which allows me to meet such wonderful, luminous people who are imbued with a unique perspective, processing the world around them through their own special lens. And how pleasant it was to discuss what shapes our inspiration or productivity levels. At some points I realized we think the same.

At the end of the meeting, Tyler gave me one of his paintings, and I, in return, made a few linear doodles for him and gifted him one of my pencil compositions from the “Nature” series. Now all that’s left is to frame his painting and pass it down through generations!

For the third year in a row, I am participating in the Braga em Risco illustration festival, which hosts exhibitions, book presentations, and illustration workshops for schoolchildren in Braga. This year’s theme is “Tempo Infinito” (“Infinite Time”), which feels particularly symbolic for me lately as I’ve been deeply fascinated by the space.

Not long ago, I visited "the Dark Sky" Observatory in Alqueva and learned that the starlight we see at night has traveled for millions of years to reach us. That means it was sent to us during the time when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. Some of those stars may no longer even exist, and yet their light continues to reach us. This realization left me both awestruck and a little overwhelmed

—it’s difficult to process thoughts that deep.

Braga, as a city, seems timeless in its own way. The Roman ruins, historic churches, and the sound of bells echoing through the old town from morning to evening make it feel like you are standing at the heart of history. I love the vibe of this city. This is my fifth time visiting, and I’ve already established a routine here—I know where to go for groceries, where to get great coffee, and I even have local acquaintances, which makes it impossible to feel lonely.

The festival work has been intense.

During the first two days, I was completely exhausted, with my hands numb from the constant activity. Together with the team of illustrators, we painted shop windows around the city and decorated the exhibition spaces. The most fun part, though, was hosting workshops at local primary schools. I taught first- to third-graders how to make abstract collages, and together, we created many beautiful, vibrant pieces. This was a personal challenge for me since I had to teach in Portuguese, but it was incredibly rewarding.

I’m already looking forward to the next events

in my favorite city!

This year, we had the opportunity to visit Madeira. It was our first time on this island after spending four years in Portugal. Madeira is a part of Portugal as well as Azores islands. While we were there, I couldn't shake the feeling of being in green  paradise, tucked away in this tranquil corner of the world. Madeira is an incredibly lush island, teeming with plant life I had never seen before, towering mountains, majestic waterfalls, enormous monstera leaves, and misty foggy forests. The warm, boundless ocean surrounds it, offering a taste of tropical fruits with various flavours, and the air carries the scent of a perfect world blended with hints of essential oils. I can't wait to return, stroll through the forests, eat once again true Madeiran bananas, and simply unwind. During these two weeks we visited almost the entire Island, driving through endless tunnels back and forth, seeing sunsets from the top points of the Island, swimming by the dolphins in the Atlantics. I liked being far away of the big land, it made my thoughts and my mind clearer. I missed my home near Lisbon though... )

Here's my top 10 list of places to visit in Madeira:

•        Monte Palace Tropical Garden
•         Botanical Garden
•         Funchal Cable Car
•         Fanal Forest
•         Floresta das Queimadas
•         Pico do Arieiro
•         Cabo Girão
•         Natural Pools of Porto Moniz
•         Garajau Beach
•         Santana's Traditional Houses

It's Sunday morning, my son and I decided to go for the local market in center of Cascais. It takes fifteen minutes by walk from our home. On Saturdays and Sundays there is a farmers market where you can buy fresh flowers, veggies, fruits and etc. At the same time Flea market called Feira D'Avila takes place every 1|4|5 Sunday. If you miss this one in Cascais don't worry,  this market also happening every Thursday and Friday on Avenida Duque de Ávila in Lisbon. Apart from local artists who sell hand made stuff, there are also antique pieces by Portuguese collectors. A lot of the things are a bit useless for me, but I always try to search carefully for what interests me at the moment. Fortunately, I have bought  a couple of old wooden frames for my current project. Yes, frames again. It’s a pretty big deal for me, especially considering that I usually become very motivated when it comes to creating art by request. I still have a few frames to find though. As for my son, he really loves piles of old toys. He keeps digging deep trying to find a treasure toy to take. Eventually after half an hour poking around in a heap, he bought an old toy robot for 1 Euro. After that we couldn't resist of a box of fresh fragrant strawberry, which was successfully eaten on a bench on our way home). When I go to the market I usually buy cup of coffee for take away by "Fabrica coffee roasters". This company exists in Portugal with five locations in Lisbon and one in Porto by the moment. I love this coffee, especially cappuccino wit an oat milk) Of course we couldn't leave without a bunch of fresh flowers for 4 Euro which by the way smells absolutely amazing. I put it in a vase at home it gives me an essence of summer.  Speaking of flowers, I do need to go to the gardening store to buy plants for our balcony as half of my balcony plants have died during winter) And I suppose this will be my next post.

Weekend flea market in Alfama - the oldest area of Lisbon.

Settling in Campo de Santa Clara, parish of São Vicente- "Feira da Ladra" is a popular place among tourists and locals. 
Address : Campo de Santa Clara, 1100-472 Lisbon
Market called "Feira da Ladra" which is basically "Flea market" translated in Portuguese (from the word "a ladrão"- a thief). You can visit on Tuesdays and Saturdays from early morning. I suggest to come when it's still early, so you don’t have that stress of everyone being sneaking around and you get the opportunity to buy something special while there is some.

On Saturday morning the weather was great and we decided to go to Lisbon for the market. Because I am currently creating a series of abstract collages I wanted to buy pretty frames with glass. Lots of them. To complicate things even further, I was intended to buy antique ones. As a result I found one metal real antique one ( I was lucky enough to find it)  and a few just old ones made of wood) If you are motivated enough to spend a couple of hours, there are very nice possibilities to buy old and wooden frames with gold deco at a price starting from 5 €, to find them you need to dig really deep .  there are also a lot of cheap old frames like you can find in a basic photo store. The price starts from 0,50- 1 €. These are usually lying on the ground with other inexpensive junk and do not represent any aesthetic value to me. In addition to the frames, of course, there are many interesting things on the market. My friend bought beautiful plates with traditional Portuguese ornaments for 4€, a cup and a saucer for 9€.  My son has bought nice car toys ad a few marble balls, here they called berlindes. Eventually, we were so tired of floating around the market so we took a break at the Copenhagen Cafe, which is located right next to the market around the corner. The cardamom bun is my personal favorite. This cafe is not cheap but always full of people. There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, busiest tables are outside the cafe on the street. How nice is to be drinking coffee under the warm Lisbon sun huh. Secondly, the view is great - Panteão national- the big beautiful church which you can actually visit for 4€. Finally, as I said, the cardamon bun...So with all that in your mind, I am absolutely sure, you will plan your absolutely gorgeous time on a flea market on your next visit.

Dear reader.

This is my very first post and I am excited to begin this new adventure.  I had this whole post idea the other day when I was reorganizing my website.

My name is Nastya (Anastasia), I am an illustrator. My portfolio is available on this page, I believe you've had an opportunity to look through. 

We moved to Cascais from Moscow in 2019 with my family, and immediately fell in love with the city. It was crazy switch from huge cold Russia for warm and tiny Portugal.  Although I have never been here before and I chose the destination by pointing out on the map. And I've made a right choice. It is incredibly cozy, beautiful and welcoming small village of a Portugal Riviera. Local people call it Villa de Cascais. 

Pretty close to famous historical cities such are Lisbon and Sintra, at the same time it’s far enough from the busy city life we dreamed to escape.  It’s like they say – big cities are exhausting. That's true. Traffic jams, dusty air, crowdy metro stations. 

And then it feels so good when you decide to move in a small town. That’s kind of what’s happened to us. 

Right before we moved, I did the research about Cascais and collected a lot of beautiful photos on Pinterest. You can find them here.

Not only surfing in the Atlantic Ocean, Cascais is full of activities for the whole family!

During two years we have been exploring the area, walking around the town, riding a bike along the ocean coast, surfing on magical Guincho beach, hiking in the mysterious forests of Sintra and enjoying the views. 

Being a born and bred Russian, I get asked a lot about Russian culture, why we moved, why we chose this town, how I work and what inspires me.

My idea was to share my life experience as an artist and as a local habitant in this blog. 

On top of that, it's really worth to highlight the most significant Cascais/ Lisbon area activities, whether it is a nature walk or a city market during weekend, or an exhibition visit.

Speaking of art, I’m obsessed with all sorts of creative processes. My style in illustration has changed a lot during past two years.

I think about my life back then in Moscow and my life now in pretty town by the Ocean.

Sometimes I do feel like living here has affected me a lot and I want to tell about it.

I am sure I'll find my audience) 

On one of the pictures you can see the Santa Marta lighthouse (Farol de SantaMarta)- my inspiration and one of the main symbols of the city of Cascais. There are others lighthouses around but this one is special.

First of all it's blue, and it looks gorgeous with a sky. Second of all there is a pretty cafe right in front of the entrance called Lusophonica. 

It is impossible to pass by this lighthouse and not admire the view.

A lot of tourists are standing still one after another to take a picture of a lighthouse to post on social media. I understand them)

By the way there is a picturesque view of the bay from the very top of the lighthouse which is open for a visit as well as the small museum nearby.