My last weekend, I went to Zurich. These are some things I saw: Call out to the awesome vintage posters hanging along the Limmat river- by Donald Brun, an amazing Swiss Designer and Illustrator/ Poster Artist.I love love love how he uses typography and image together; his compositions are so simple and sophisticated.

Hellooo! Its been a wee bit long since Ive written. Im back in Boston and it feels great. I love that summer is coming. I love being with good friends again. I love the fact that I can finally understand what people around me are saying. I miss the Swiss air, though. And other Swiss things, like the cheese for instance. So I have decided to start a series of colorful posters with images and scenes of places, people, things etc that I lived with and saw. Ultimately, when I finish each one, i feel like I am honoring a memory or a story from my time overseas. And that has been very special. I see this as an ongoing project and I hope you enjoy reliving my Swiss experience with me. This new one is from the Rhuylauf Half marathon that Bianca and I ran together in Ob

erriet, Switzerland. It was a gorgeous day, with gorgeous people and a good race. I've also started a Behance site, which serves as my online portfolio of my Graphic Design, Illustration, photography and more. Be sure to visit! http://www.behance.net/eleanorkaufman

Stateside

Hello! Greetings to everyone! I have returned home to the US. Its strange to be home; but surprisingly, I had absolutely no problem adjusting to the time difference; other than the fact that I go to bed at 9 and wake up at 6am. Oh well, Ive been jumping right out of bed and getting a lot of my own work done, which is good. I am home at my parents house in New Hampshire until I move back to Boston in a couple of days. Its lovely to be back; yesterday my parents hosted a little birthday/welcome home dinner at my house. We laughed a lot, ate a ton and I recalled stories from my trip. Today my brother is forcing me to go for a motorcyle ride. And although I have tons of work to do, I will go with him, as it is a perfectly sunny day in new hammpshaaa...and what better way to spend it than

whipping through spofford's back roads clutching my brothers back, screaming. I have completed this illustration since being back, the image came to me in my sleep my first night back home. Boy do I miss the Swiss landscape. Its great to be home and Im excited for my next adventures. -El

A Perfect Munich breakfast:
Amanda and I stumbled upon a great cafe in Munich on Saturday Morning, where we ended up spending 3 hours sitting, sketching and making friends with Gilcau, our waitress. To our wonderful surprise, we caught a performance by a mother and her three adorable little girls.

Chamonix

For the long Easter weekend I decided to hop on a train and go visit a high school friend of mind, Elliot, where he lives in Chamonix-Mont Blanc, France. Despite the fact that my wallet and camera were both stolen in a salsa bar, I had a really great time in Cham (as the locals call it). We walked around downtown, hiked a bit and on Sunday night a group of us pitched a tent at the foot of Mont Blanc, built a fire and camped out for the night. When we crawled out of our tent in the morning, there were tons of rock climbers around us, curiously watching us. Apparently we had perched ourselves right at the base of a local rock climbing hot spot.

For sure it was an eventful weekend, and nice to get away and see a new part of Europe. This was the second time Ive gone to France. In 2009 I stayed in Aix-En Provence after studying abroad in Granada, Spain. See my posts from my previous trip here!)

Amanda arrived yesterday! She'll be recovering from her jet lag while I scoot off to work today. Its a cozy rainy day here in Gais. I hope everyone is safe and well!

-El

Chag Sameach 2012

First off, Happy Passover. I celebrated on Friday night in St. Gallen at a synagogue downtown. The seder was led by Rabbi Noam. I had met some of the members of this wonderful community at a Purim service a few weeks back and was lucky to have been invited again to join them for Passover. This year, although I was not with my family, I am so happy to have been welcomed into this Jewish community in Switzerland and to so lucky to have shared a similar feeling of connectedness with a new group of people. I sat at the rabbi's table with his wife and a couple of others that I knew. The seder was led completely in Swiss-German and I loved being a part of it. Even though I could not understand all of the words, I knew what he was talking about because of how emphasized things and engaged everyone with discussion, laughter and song. When a little girl, Olivia, was asked to sing the four questions, I suddenly felt myself being swept from my seat and transported back to home, where every year growing up..and even to this day, I would sing the four questions at our seder. It was a special evening with new conversation and good food. And even though my family was not by my side..I felt very much a part of something new and good.

Old woman on bus in Salzburg

Ebenalp

An absolutely amazing hike on Saturday. The weather was perfect, the trail was steep, and the views were overwhelming. More on my flickr

Pray all day

The bus driver on the way to Oberriet for the half marathon stopped and let an older woman out so that she was a closer to walk to Church. I didnt think anything of it--just remember watching her slowly leave the bus and hobble down the road. Hours later, after we had finished the race and were waiting for he bus home, I explored the center of town a bit. I saw a beautiful white church, piercing stark white in front of the blue swiss alps in the background. I decided to go in. As I pulled open the massive wooden doors I heard the organ blaring through the hall in front of me. There were glass doors peering into the sanctuary. This is what I saw; the lady from the bus, sitting perfectly still and alone in her pew, held in quiet prayer.

Rhylauf Half marathon!

Bianca and I ran a half marathon last weekend in Oberriet. What a funny day.

After winding down the steep plunge on the train to Alstaaten station, we arrived with our backpacks filled with sneakers and power snacks. With my small mental tab of german transportation vocabulary as well as my flailing hands and arms, we communicated with the bus driver where we needed to go by showing her the "running in place" gesture and repeating the town over and over again. "aahh yes" she said with a relieved smile. Contented, we went to sit. After 5 minutes she turned around with a smile and gestured for us to get off and wait 3 minutes.. Then another bus pulled up, which was the right one and we got on- confused-giggling in wonder as to why this woman let us sit on her bus for so long. Maybe she just wanted the company.

On the right bus was a man, Lucas, who was also running the race. He accompanied us to register once we got to Oberriet and helped us translate our forms. We nonchalantly talked about running and our past races. An hour later, as Bianca and I were on our 7th mile, seriously discussing the fact that we might have taken the wrong turn, Lucas would zoom by us, turning to say a quick hello. He would place 40 out of 300. Pretty much, we befriended Hercules and we didnt even know it.

In fact, when we arrived and looked around it became clear that we would be running this race with only elite runners. Everyone-the men and women- looked like they belonged in the Olympics. So when we saw the Sweeper, we looked at each other with big smiles and accepted that we might in fact come in last place. Bianca and I finished the race (not quite last) and it was a lot of fun. The route passed through all of these cute little neighborhoods. All along the course, spectators were perched in their yards with their beers and their kids, ringing cowbells and yelling "hop! hop! hop!", which actually means "go go go!"...I thought this was really funny.

We met a lady named Daniella while running, who had run the NYC Marathon and LOVED IT. She kept telling us we were fantastic and that she would wait for us at the finish line since she was running the 9K and no the full half. She was so bubbly and sweet..I believe at one point she even stopped running to remove a worm from the road and place it back in the safe grass. Sure enough, she was waiting for us as we rounded the corner to finish the race. I couldnt believe she actually waited for us...it always feels great to have someone rooting you on at the finish line..even better when that person is stranger you met 30 minutes earlier.

The race ended with us recieving the best race bags EVER. A loaf of bread from a local bakery and home made jam. We sat and ate pork sandwhiches and drank beer. My legs felt like two heavy wooded posts for two days after the race. It was a lovely day and an experience I wont forget.

First Aid Kit

I stumbled on this great sister duo, First Aid Kit. Their voices blend so well together and their songs are so pretty! Perfect music for a rainy Friday in Bühler.

Saturday getaway

Halo,

Last weekend Kat and I accompanied our bosses Lori and Jon to Vorarlsberg, Austria, one of their favorite weekend shopping getaways. And by shopping I mean food shopping...Austrian prices are soo much more reasonable than Swiss prices. We went to Ventilator, a huge antique house, lunch on top of a mountain and a farmers market. Great weather and awesome way to spend a Saturday. View more of my photos on my new flickr site!

Toys: A philosophy on life

While browsing the blog of my friend Christina Watka, I came upon this video and I wish to share it on my blog as well. I find it so simply precious. I want to spend the rest of my life playing with toys too.

The Toy Maker from Richard Hunter on Vimeo.

Hand ahhht

I stumbled upon these awesome hand art photos today

New illustrations

The Morning Walks

These days weve been walking to work in the morning, as the weather has been so sublime. It takes about an hour and is the prettiest walk ever. Today I spotted a true Swiss-uresque siting...a herd of sheep grazing on a grassy hill...neck bells jingling and all. And in Buhler we passed a peculiar line of laundry. I love our morning walks.

Happy Friday!
El

some recent drawings

Some drawings from train rides, town centers and train stations.

The Laughing Man

When we turned onto a road leading to St. Margarethen, I came upon this man..he was the only person visible amidst acres and acres of fields and land. He was bent down picking garlic cloves, and when he saw me taking his picture he threw his head back and let out a loud and belting laugh into the air.

Bike trip to Lindau, Germany

Helloo!

Yesterday Kat, Bianca and I biked 25 miles to Lindau, Germany! It was SUCH an unforgettable trip! The weather couldnt have been better- about 65 degrees. We began in Alstaaten, which is about 3 miles from our home in Gais. We went with only scribbled down directions and our sense of adventure to guide us. We met all sorts of people along the way who pointed us in the right direction. Once we got to Breggenz, Austria, we followed a bike path all the way to Lindau. There were tons of bikers and people walking along the paths. Switzerland is known for their bike trails, which span accross the entire country! (If you wanted to you could bike all the way accross Switzerland and into other countries just on these trails.

Lindau was super charming and so nice to see in good weather. Immediately upon arrival we bought three gelato cones from a spanish-speaking german gelato man and began exploring. Lindau sits on the Eastern side of Lake Constance and is referred to as the Bodensee (its actually and island!). Yet another beautiful Medieval European city with quaint winding cobblestone roads and peach and mint colored buildings. No cars allowed. There were tons of shops the deeper you venture through the maze of side streets. We sat in the sun with coffee and observed life around us....in particular, a girl with supernatural powers, two men playing accordian and violin, and various crowds of people dressed like they just finished a NASCAR derby. Its seemed everyone had biked to Lindau. We ate fish and chips and drank wine accross from the lake. The well known Lion statue and light house perched in front of us, facing out to the water, protecting Lindau. Here are some snapshots of the trip. Enjoy!