A Story about Growing Up

Latvian graphic designer and illustrator Ieva Ozola has made it her mission to sketch the location of every place she visits daily. As a current resident of Prague, Ozola began this project in July 2015. Without fail, she brings her small sketchbook, liquid pen, pencils and watercolors on the go. A romantic idea, she hopes to capture every space permanently on paper. She confesses that she’d like to remember every location she visits.

Currently on day 196, Ozola’s personal challenge has become an artistic expression of human memory and chronology. Often depicting watercolor illustration of Prague with the inclusion of Norway, France and Latvia, each passage holds a unique identity. Among the beautiful sceneries are some of the colonial city’s most recognizable architectural wonders, which include Prague’s Astronomical Clock and the Dancing House.

Although Ozola mainly creates cityscape pieces, she inserts silent wonders of European nature. The combination of mountainous images, seascapes, and flowers amongst the urban recollections composed of architectural wonders, which seemed plucked out of a page of a fairytale, provide a quixotic perspective of travel and daily life.

Day 110 – Dancing House, Prague

Day 126 – Forest, Vsenory

Day 118 – Namesti Miru Metro, Prague

Day 154 – Galerie Manes, Prague

Day 4 – Freedom Monument, Latvia

Day 19 – Alesund Port, Norway

Day 102 – Prague Senát, Prague

Day 2 – Jurkalne, Lavia

Day 18 – Forest Field In Hareidlandet, Norway

Day 157 – Mountains

Day 139 – Astronomical Clock, Prague

Day 33 – Plaga De Colloiure, France

Day 82 – Salvador Monastery, Prague

Day 57 – Velká Amerika

Day 124 – Žižkow TV Tower, Prague

Day 138 – Strelecky Ostrov, Prague

Day 145 – Botanical Garden, Prague

Day 161 – Gernestua Mountain Peak, Norway

Day 178 – Church Of St. Michael, Prague

Day 192 – Husitska, Prague

Day 187 – Vinohrady, Prague

Day 87 – Park, Prague

Day 176 – Breakfast In Cafe Jen, Prague

Some cultures lack names For a color, you see. Hence good old Homer And his “wine-dark sea.”

A usage so quaint, A phrasing so old, For verses of romance Is sheer fucking gold.

Words are in flux And meanings they drift But the word purple You’ve given short shrift.

The concept of purple, My friends, is old And refers to a pigment once precious as gold.

By crushing up molluscs From the wine-dark sea You make a dye: Imperial decree

Meant that in Rome, to wear purpura was a privilege reserved

For only the emperor!

The word ‘purple’, for clothes so fancy, Entered English By the ninth century

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Why then are voilets Not purple in song? The dye from this mollusc, known for so long

Is almost magenta; More red than blue. The concept of purple is old, and yet new.

The dye is red, So this might be true: Roses are purple And violets are blue