CURRENT MISSION

Paint bigger and bigger penguins every day.

ABOUT ME

Hello! I'm Maria. I'm an artist and a graphic designer. I do a bit of writing too. Recently I have started painting some pretty humongous characters on the walls. I love designing books, painting with neon pink and doodling. House/dnb/electro music makes my heart go boom. I'm the last one on the dance floor if unleashed. I don't go clubbing very often but if I do, I rather plunge into the deep end. House dance is my favourite - I'd love to be one of the cool types on the dance videos on Youtube, but I'm just too shit to do that. I love swimming in the 50 meter pool when there's hardly anyone else around. What else? I'm an impatient cook and a person who can't decide whether to settle down or travel around the world so I'm trying to do both at the same time. I'm super good at washing stuff in the washing machine, an iPod can take a wash easily! Also, I often wash tissue paper with my laundry, thus accessorizing my clothes with white, stuck bits. Pretty. At the moment I research creativity as I wanna teach some art related stuff one day.

PHILOSOPHY

This is not my thought, but it's one of my favourites and captures my idea of life quite spot on :)

"Here's my advice. Take many deep breaths. Smell the fresh air. Drink chamomile tea. Life is very short. You spend more time in your lifetime dead than you do alive."

-Andy Behrman

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Hosting mainly so far.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

It's been really nice! Interesting chats and generally just hanging out. Sweet.

Interests

Street art, doodling, gardening, collages, weird and funny stories, meditation, swimming, practising on my blue steel look, running, horseback trekking, just being in the nature, socialising, finding new things, learning, house dancing, electronic music, handcrafts, Miranda July, Brighton, generally just trying to figure out what could be made of something, like piece of foam and a little red thread - indefinite possibilities. Trying to figure out how to keep up fun alive in minus 25°C and total darkness.

• arts
• writing
• books
• design
• graphic design
• street art
• dancing
• cooking
• running
• meditation
• drinking
• clubbing
• gardening
• clothing
• traveling
• billiards
• painting
• music
• electronic music
• equestrian
• rock climbing
• swimming

Music, Movies, and Books

Oh I'm quite into all sorts of electronic music, house, electro, drum and bass, dubstep, um...anything with nice lil beats really :) But at the same time, don't mind indie rock either. Or tango.

Movies I like: The Hours, Magnolia, Where the Wild Things Are, Up!, Miss Potter, The Big Lebowski, Lost in Translation, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, True Romance, Crash

Books: Hardcore Zen, Against the Stream, anything by Keri Smith

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've seen the light...na, I don't know, I think the most amazing experience is to connect with another human being without clinginess. I'm not big on boasting about climbing onto the top of Mount Everest (which I obviously have done several times) or that sorts. Although house dancers in New York are pretty darn incredible, I don't think I ever recover from seeing those moves.

Teach, Learn, Share

If you want to do a little artist retreat in here that's possible. Usually there's always a desk available if I haven't piled too much stuff on one of them. We can do a project of digging the desk out. We can go and do some street art. Or create a collage and stick it somewhere.

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Gibraltar, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Maldives, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Finland, France, United Kingdom

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