Arta Balina @artinja-blog1 - Tumblr Blog

Intuitive Genius Challenge

It’s not easy to sustain the passion that drives a successful business or project in these nerve-racking times.

We live in a society with overload of information, opinions and ideas that are not ours. If we don’t want to be a copy of the existing, we need to make time to connect with our inner self. But so many right now have difficulty finding optimism, peace and focus.

If you haven’t…

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Capoeira Experience

This challenging and isloating environment we are all living in right now demands more ideas and innovations in regards to community engagmenet, participation and social inclusion, therefore I’m very happy to have been invited to take part in Capoeira Experience and share my vision on social inclusion and individual empowerment.

I look forward to introduce my coaching practice in the…

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Why Design Thinking methodology is exactly what you need right now as a starting entrepreneur or intrapreneur

COVID-19 has triggered quick and extensive changes in human behavior as well as transformed our future. Radical shifts in how we live, such as the way online interaction and remote working are now more the norm than an option, and are likely here to stay. Entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs are adapting to meet people’s needs in new ways.

This raises a crucial question for entrepreneurs and…

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Intuition and Creative Leadership Coaching

Warm greetings on this lovely spring day! I’m a leading designer, artist, creative leadership and strategy coach with over 8 years of experience working in the creative industry where I have been leading artistic and cultural projects as well as creating innovative bespoke couture pieces and handmade collector’s soaps.

Following my intuition, I left my 9 to 5 job in the corporate environment…

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創意領導力和戰略指導我是領先的設計師，藝術家，創意領導力和策略教練，在創意產業中擁有超過8年的工作經驗，我一直領導藝術和文化項目，並創作出創新的高級定製作品和手工收藏家的香皂。憑著個人的直覺，我離開了9-5的工作環境，10年前開始了作為創意企業家成功和充滿活力的新生活，因此，在我實踐藝術的同時，我現在會幫助其他希望轉型和擴展職業生涯的人，並會助他們過著更有創意，有意義和充實的生活。我對可持續創新充滿熱情，我大多數的私人客戶亦是那些渴望通過創造力和長期發展對社會和環境產生積極影響的人。我專注於直覺發展培訓，通過這些培訓，我可以激發客戶的創造潛能，並幫助他們找到進步的空間，充實並增強其天生的適應能力。這種做法有助於決策過程，因此可以指導人們更聰明地工作。我的訓練服務還包括了對我客戶實現夢想的旅程中承擔責任。我喜歡這項工作，以及我的私人客戶的直覺能力正迅速提高。如果您想與我合作，請與我聯繫！

Intuition driven creativity and innovation

It is through science that we prove, but through intuition that we discover

– Henri Poincare

The future is not a pure projection of the past – data doesn’t always anticipate major shifts in culture, technology, the environment and so forth. The inability of data to anticipate changes, coupled with the fact that institutions condition us not to trust intuition but instead focus on critical…

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Midst this beautiful but busy life I set myself on a pause and reflect on why I’m doing the things I’m doing. This mostly happens in the moment before “the next amazing thing”. This time it’s the moment before naming my first collection. What usually happens during the pause is me coming back to the same conclusion – everything I do, create or experience comes from or starts with Love. I believe that, at large, there is no other drive why people do the things they do. I’m speaking here about the things that do work out and have a future in the long run, in other words – sustainable things.

Therefore I continue with the message that was born out of love for my best friend – that inspiring badass vegan trailblazer who met the love of her life and got married last year, and my love for nature and belief that life is a sparkling party, despite the gloomy and doomy! With this new biodegradable and hypoallergenic lingerie and lounge wear collection I want to pay homage to all the badass ladies – “Women who are the real architects of society” /Harriet Beecher Stowe/. I love the topic of badass – feeling and being a strong creator of my reality, determing my own story and direction in life. A badass never bends, but looks the world straight in the eyes. Between fun or rules she choses fun. She has a strong sense of self and her personal power. She deals with her fears with quiet strength. This lady is not afraid to screw up royally, taking that as a stepping stone. She is aware of and uses her gifts! A badass has a voice so those without a voice can be heard. I could go on and on, and I will 🙂

“Grace” is the English translation of the Greek χάρις (charis) meaning “that which brings delight, joy, happiness, or good fortune.” To me it feels like Grace is not only the smoothness and elegance of one’s movement and being. It’s also one’s courtesy to the environment an fellow beings. Yes, that’s also her – a graceful and silky badass.

Grace Midst this beautiful but busy life I set myself on a pause and reflect on why I'm doing the things I'm doing.

La Défense neighborhood in Paris is rapidly expanding and lots of new buildings will be built in the near future to accommodate new residents and workers, and in this context organisation Vive les Groues takes an initiative to invest in a 9,000 m² wasteland near La Défense neighborhood, with the belief that what is taking place there today is contributing to the future of the neighborhood. Thus, planting trees, offering a green space, sharing workshops, revealing local stories, debating, organizing meetings, workshops and festive moments.

It was exciting and special to be part of the expansive and cross-disciplinary 2 weeks event Yes We Camp, where hundred participants from all over Europe shared reflection and knowledge around the issue of transient urbanism, and also brought practical and fun activities along to share and learn from each other. Together with Oscar Landais who I met during the camp we organized a little workshop in flower pounding on textile. Results as well as the plants from the area were gorgeous, and attracted interest and exchange from the participants of the camp as well as inhabitants of the neighborhood.

“Tout va vite à l’heure du Grand Paris, mais la ville ne saurait se faire en un claquement de doigts”

“Everything is going fast at the time of the Grand Paris, but the city can not be done in a snap of fingers”.

Vive les Groues La Défense neighborhood in Paris is rapidly expanding and lots of new buildings will be built in the near future to accommodate new residents and workers, and in this context organisation

It takes me quite some time to develop biodegradable lingerie prototype and I don’t want to disintegrate the design by using chemical textile dyes. However, since the wedding season is over and surrounding nature is full of beautiful colors in autumn, a desire for more color is building up in me. I decided to follow the calling for colors in a responsible, yet experimental way.

After investigating possibilities to collaborate with nature on this mission, I chose to try out dying with avocado pits and with Dutch seaweed that grows in the artificially created lake next to my home, in the green suburbs of Amsterdam.

There is always a moment of surprise when one is busy with alchemy and that’s why I love it. The color that avocado pits offer is elegant beige/ skin color – a perfect match for a lingerie design. Second surprise – when combining the subtle green from the seaweed with the avocado pink, a bright, more intense and sensual salmon-like color appeared. Beautiful color. I’m happy that this process turned out to be a success, even though I would still like to learn more about and try out bacterial dyes.

Beige, green and in between It takes me quite some time to develop biodegradable lingerie prototype and I don't want to disintegrate the design by using chemical textile dyes.

Scent beyond the Oddball

The Oddball soaps

The scent, the shape and the experience – three pillars of my soap design alchemy. The oddball soaps appeared from my hands while I was researching topics of intuition in relation to innovation and creativity, since my way of working is to combine practical work with theoretical research.

For the scent of this sheabutter and coconut oil soap I chose Frankincense essential…

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Lekcija Tallinas ielas kvartālā

—- Intuīcijas un apzinātības loma radošajā domāšanā un izgudrošanā —- Transdisciplinārā pieeja dizaina problēmu risināšanā —- Ekoloģija, ilgstpējīgs dizains un “Cradle to cradle” biznesa stratēģija —- Biomīmikrijas un biodizaina risinājumi

11. septembrī no 18.30 – 20.00 Free Riga aicina uz lekciju par mūsdienu dizaina tendencēm, kuru vadīs māksliniece Arta Bāliņa.

Lekcija notiek pasākumu cikla…

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Tiekamies zaļajā studijā Pienenē! 2019. gada 4. septembrī Kungu ielā 7/9 plkst. 18:00. Tēmas, kurām pieskārsimies tikšanās laikā: Intuīcijas loma radošumā un inovēšanā.

This mindfully designed biodegradable orange fiber textile lingerie is complimented with a selection of organic handmade soap. Items come in a lavanda gift box, made out of deadstock textiles and recycled carboard.

Vegan lingerie This mindfully designed biodegradable orange fiber textile lingerie is complimented with a selection of organic handmade soap.

“Everything new is well-forgotten old”

While visiting a recently established plant based fiber farm in Latvia I felt as if I’m in the past and in the future simultaneously. Nature is such a great teacher if we are open to listen to it. Nature can communicate about our past, present and our future at the same time.

The owner of the farm – Ritvars Točs is a friendly and kind man who let me experience the whole fairytale-like, ecological and unhurried production process of plant fibers and design samples made out of these fibers, starting from the harvest in the nearby forest (collecting bark layers from fallen trees and branches, plant stems and roots) till creating a medical nettle fiber wristband, aspen fiber back belt and aspen brew, shoe insoles and an oak fiber cat rug that apparently has some wound healing properties too. Possibilities to research, design and create with these fibers are actually endless.

I am glad that I now have a chance to try out the healing power of the nettle and aspen. Both fibers have a warming effect and feel pleasant, soft. American Indians and Balts are known to have used the bark of the aspen tree to brew a tea that would treat numerous ailments. Because the bark is rich in a substance called “salicin,” which is similar to the active ingredient in aspirin, it was used to provide pain relief and reduce fever.

The nettle wrist band we made is specially precious since the outside layer is a hand woven linen made in 1925 by a relative of Ritvars.

Nettle wrist band

Oak rug for a cat, nettle plait and aspen insoles

Aspen belt

I was surprised to learn that there is almost no interest from designers to work and experiment with these fibers, even though Ritvars has been actively promoting them for more than a year and is travelling around Latvia to give lectures about the history, tradition and usage of these natural fibers.

“LIVE AS IF YOU WERE TO DIE TOMORROW. LEARN AS IF YOU WERE TO LIVE FOREVER.” ―MAHATMA GANDHI

Old and new "Everything new is well-forgotten old" While visiting a recently established plant based fiber farm in Latvia I felt as if I'm in the past and in the future simultaneously.

adjective: lingering

lasting for a long time or slow to end.

Garment’s life is quite unpredictable, but a contemporary designer needs to take into account the whole lifecycle of the piece and try to establish a trialogue between 3 sides – the designer, the material and the wearer. I have made some experiments with making jewelry from old polyester briefs. I’m not a jewelry designer but it would be nice to have a collaboration, where we could create a circular approach to the new lingerie design that is already implemented from the start.

“The material itself is full of suggestions for its use if we approach it unaggressively, receptively” Anny Albers.

While reading about sustainable fashion and art/fashion projects in The Netherlands I discovered the beautiful Golden Joynery project – a sustainable fashion practice inspired by the Japanese technique Kintsugi, where broken porcelain is visibly healed with gold. I decided to try to fix holes in my garments by darning, embroidering and stitching them with a golden thread, and loved fixing lingerie this way. To expand my slow-sewing skillset I have joined the Common Threads community in Amsterdam with some amazing thread experts.

Silk briefs with golden darning

Polyester briefs

Silk briefs fixed with a polyester thread

Lingering adjective: lingering lasting for a long time or slow to end. Garment's life is quite unpredictable, but a contemporary designer needs to take into account the whole lifecycle of the piece and try to establish a trialogue between 3 sides - the designer, the material and the wearer.

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