CURRENT MISSION

Cultural diplomacy. Sharing a large creative home full of books, history, artwork, yoga, cooking and stories. Space for dancing and aerial silks. When I travel I sketch and seek other artists sharing studio and life drawing resources. A design for living...

https://www.instagram.com/johnligda/

ABOUT ME

I carry a sketch book enjoy the process of drawing and mark making.

http://john.ligda.net

PHILOSOPHY

Memories are always marked with the quality of connection to people. Contempt prior to investigation is disastrous.

I try to say the following every morning.... from the Sanskrit:

"Look unto this day
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence:
The bliss of growth
The glory of action
The splendor of beauty
For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow only a vision
But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore to this day!
Such is the salutation to the dawn."

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I signed up in 2011 while travelling car-less across the US. 'You have to try couch surfing John, it's so you.k', some young people urged. I immediately hosted someone relocating from New York to San Francisco. My apartment was empty, so why not open my door to share something of mine which I'm not using....help someone out?! I was, at that time, travelling across the country. I opened my home to a stranger in need without my being there. She later said I changed her life..... yet we never actually met. Couch surfing allowed me to give without anything in return; helped me to find a higher-self.

Now, in 2018, nothing is better than hosting guest artists, models, chefs and yogis. I've find most guests are all four. Come develop yourself and share your gifts. I'm also an engineer and data scientist. All are welcome lets all continue life-long learning.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

More so here than elsewhere, you receive what you give; CS experiences are life changing and precious.

Interests

Playing music, database theory, painting, reading, sketching, story telling, yoga, furthering my education, aeiral silk,technology, history, feminism frameworks, and science fiction. I recently joined a dance company as a visual artist.

• arts
• culture
• books
• design
• sketching
• beauty
• education
• womens rights
• yoga
• modeling
• meditation
• technology
• movies
• reading
• painting
• drawing
• music
• jazz
• guitar
• blues
• hiking
• surfing
• rock climbing
• calligraphy
• teaching
• history
• science
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

passionate directors/singers/writers of all types and styles.
Brazil, Reservoir Dogs, Mud, Ólafur Arnalds, Pavement, Chopin, Mark Twain, Haruki Murakami, Johnathon Franzen's The Corrections

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

A couple CS guests I hosted in San Francisco back in 2011, gave cause for me to take a break from my IS career, move to Poland and pick up drawing full time. I sold work through Pinterest and discovered time to 'look at the world' rather than work. (fortunately the rent I drew from my SF apartment allowed me some leisure time overseas). I eventually crowd-sourced a conceptual art project asking 'Can successful artists address world issues without becoming political.'.... 'A Mark for Peace' was funded on Kickstarter and off we went to Israel, Palestine and Egypt. We traveled, studied and eventually performed the in London. Every drawing was acquired during the subsequent exhibition.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm willing to mentor young artists interested in reproducing such projects as A Mark for Peace. A willingness to investigate yourself and the world required!

Teach: Creative Expression using Charcoal
Teach: Beginning classical guitar technique
Teach: Relational database design and SQL
Learn: Mandarin Chinese/calligraphy/painting
Learn: Yoga and meditation
Share: Whatever feels right at the moment
Teach: Mark Making and creativity
Teach and Share: Family recopies in the kitchen, sharing my coveted set of knives and cast iron.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Impromptu and totally surprising adventures! But if you are an artist and we share a work-space, I hope you see a freedom of expression and authentic mark-making which opens new doors for your own work. Or maybe I can fix something around the house which needs mending.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, New Zealand, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Poland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States

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