Section Life is about me, Lena Nechet, about me as a person. About me as an artist.
My name is Lena Nechet, I am an independent European visual artist based on the West Coast of the USA, in Southern California. I concentrate on abstract portraits from life and memory, geometric abstraction, and expressionism. My fine art signature is L∃N∀.
My academic background is in economics (Master's and Bachelor of Science) and creative arts (a more recent 2-year degree, AA). I am experienced in web development and design. I studied and practiced media production and made short documentary films.
I am a Ukrainian-raised mixed Slavic-German national. After traveling, I settled in Oceanside, CA. Here, I have set an eco-friendly art studio and planted a small orchard. Previously, I lived in several European and two American cultures and spoke a few languages.
I am an optimistic "optimalist" who prefers a minimalist lifestyle and lives primarily on fresh fruit. I cherish connections with kind and intelligent people and enjoy freestyle dancing, endurance running, and breaststroke swimming. I support ethical and environmental causes.
In short, I am a fruitarian-minded humanist from Europe who could not return home and then found love and a place under the Sun on the Pacific Coast of America.
I appreciate your interest!
About × 42
In this section, I have a more informal and personal self-description: my values and origins, and selected autobiographical stories from childhood to adult life.
Origins × 18
Before 1980s - my family of origin, birthplace, and circumstances.
Changing cultures taught me that people like to check where you came from to reduce their own barrier from your strangeness, and I am all for it. I love people's stories, and here is mine.
Childhood × 10
About 1980s - my early years of life, till the onset of puberty.
Adolescence × 3
About 1990s - after puberty into early youth: my teenage years and early twenties.
Adolescence, growing up, is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development.
Youth × 1
About 2000s - more of my determining years, mid and late twenties into thirties - my life in the West.
Essays × 63
My short and longer texts, from notes to formal essays, with lists, facts, and opinions.
Blog × 46
This is my weblog and personal journal: notable days and my lifestyle from running and swimming to frugan food, plus occasional informal reports and random anecdotes.
Journal - periodically and randomly published records of personal experiences and observations.
Anecdotes - brief accounts of an incident,
stories with a point to communicate an abstract idea about a person,
place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative.
Vlog × 33
My random video logs - videos from daily life and something notable to remember.
Favorites × 232
My favorite creations by other people.
Quotes × 201
Featured Quotations
From the early teenage years, I educated myself by writing down my favorite passages from the books I read. I lost my records during migrations, and this is my attempt to keep some of the sayings. I include here my favorite poems, lyrics, as well as koans, proverbs, and longer prose excerpts.
Reading × 9
I list here books I read, nowadays primarily e-books and audio-books.
Literature for me is an art form, writing that has both artistic and intellectual value. Literary fiction, mostly classic, I read overwhelmingly in the first part of my life - poetry and prose. Non-fiction is what I prefer now.
Fruitarian × 284
Fruitarianism is a quest for optimal ethical ways to live and healthy diets based on fruits and seeds.
The line above is the essence of my worldview as a fruitarian. I am a long-term ethical vegan-fruitarian (frugan) since my teenage years, about 1993.
I advocate for a greater proportion of fruits in human diet for ethical and environmental reasons, which also seems to be rather healthy for most of us.
Since 2007, I ran small and bigger online fruitarian communities. In this section I will gather published there useful articles on fruitarianism related to my own experience, including materials from the International Fruitarian Network (2009-2019).
Orchard × 5
All about my little fruitarian orchard in Southern California, US planting zone 10a (extreme minimum temperature 30-35 F or -1 to 1.7 C, USDA Plant Hardiness Zone), founded in 2018. The growing surface is about 0.17 acre (or approximately 688 square meters), and more than half is taken by the native or already established plants, like yucca, pines, palms, schinus, and sago).
This tiny garden is located ~3.5 miles (~5.6 km) from the Pacific coastline, on a hill, and is exposed to strong winds - usually cold, bus sometimes from the desert, blazing southern Californian Sun, and significant daily temperature changes. Lots of wild life visits it, especially birds.
We have very little rain most of the year, and the city water here is very expensive because of the drought conditions. The native soils are very poor, with clay and rocks. I am building the soil up with compost, mulch, and other methods from permaculture, Hügelkultur, and other horticultural techniques.
Plants in my orchard that live many years. I concentrate on trees, bushes, and self-propagating patches.
Data × 218
This is my collections of snippets of scientific data related to fruitarianism, environment, and health - from scientific internet publications and other seemingly credible online sources, with links:
- concise knowledge summaries of results derived by scientific method,
- short aggregated definitions and overviews, citations, expert opinions.
Sources:
- Primary sources, like governmental agencies, peer reviewed journals;
- Secondary sources, like scholarly articles and expert reviews;
- Tertiary sources, like encyclopedias, dictionaries, and textbooks.
Data - factual information used as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or calculation.
Knowledge - the body of truth, information, and principles acquired by humankind.
Definition - a statement of the meaning of a term.
Fruitarians × 44
- Materials from the Fruitarian network of practicing fruitarians, people considering fruitarian lifestyle, supporters and researchers of the fruitarian community.
- Fruitarian discussions - talking about fruitarianism, exchanging fruitarian ideas - conversations and debate about fruitarian topics.
- Plus, interesting people answer fruitarian questions and my responses to publications from a perspective of my version of fruitarianism.
