Pirate themed table, just had to post it. My mum and dad invited to a seafood dinner this weekend, and my mum had decorated a beautiful “seabed/treasure chest” table!
Sweeeet! We inherited all this decoration and tableware because my grandmother used to attend tablesetting contests
Yesterday I was at the Norwegian Fanzine Congress at Landmark (brilliant name by the way!) and submitted my fanzine "Aaah, THAT'S why!"
I started making my fanzine Tuesday evening and finished it Wednesday evening, so my it took about 12 hours to make. (I do sleep.)
My theme was explanations for why certain tings are as they are, due to the fact that someone, or something, is causing them. I realize now the small texts are not amazingly well written, but hey, it's a fanzine;)
I made a few more pages but they were full of spelling mistakes so I wont publish them before I fix them up. Since I made the fanzine in such a short time, I was literally running out the door with the ink still drying on the pages in time for the fanzine club. Which didn't leave much time for running multiple spellchecks...
So for any of you who bought a fanzine from me last night at Landmark, feel free to email me and get a new copy without the spelling mistakes;)
At about one o' clock today I left the office to go home and continue drawing there, because it was so sunny outside and I didn't want to miss out even if I had to work. So I placed a makeshift desk on our balcony and started my illustration for a project I'm in on. The project is actually a group of people drawing for a different theme each month, and this month the theme is "A lucky day".
I'm drawing my lucky day as a collection of everything I enjoy;) Like today:)
I've been working larger scale lately, and enjoying drawing just for.... drawing. I haven't done that in a while, usually I draw with something in mind, for an exhibition or client or something else. It was lovely to create something just for the sake of doing it. I need these little artistic moments listening to good music and just draw, it makes me better at what I do.
I've made three A2 line art illustrations over the last few weeks, feels like I'm doing this to revitalise and remind me what I love about the technique. Not work conceptually or from a sketch, just work with pens and ink and draw whatever I feel inspired to create.
Feels like a luxury to finally take time to do this in beween everything else around my job. But I make time for it, because it so important not to lose touch with just creating.
Yummy:)
I'm trying out different blog apps for my new and shiny toy (an iPad:) but none seem to rival Windows Live Writer. I miss it! My pink Dell laptop died and after some research on what other product could replace it I found an iPad the right choice. I lost Live Writer, but gained many other great features.
Of course I could spend ages trying to figure out the blogger template's css for everything I want to change each time I post anything, but I used to do that before and it takes ages to wrestle every tiny pixel in place.
I can't seem to be ble to find an app that lets me overwrite Blogger template's default image size to my blog's design but I might be getting close. This app I'm using now is the best one so far, Blogger+ for iPad, but it still won't let me cheat the default. Hmmmm. Please let me know if you have any great advice (except changing to Wordpress or other platforms, I haven't got room on this side of Christmas to change platforms completely;)
The picture is from today's market at Lille Øvregate that was rainy and windy, and even if we did sell some stuff we left quite early. There weren't that many people out n' about that we felt it was worth staying catching a cold. I don't blame them, the only wise thing when weather is like this is to stay inside with a good book, film or chat with good company (preferably all of the mentioned) and drink hot chocolate. Yeeees.
Have a lovely evening drinking hot chocolate:)
The fine ladies at Baluba Illustration are designing a calendar for 2012 with the theme “If I could I would….”. This is my entry, “I want to wear my leopard dress every day.”
I dooooo.
I hope I get August in the calendar, the illustration was made in a proper autumn mode listening to Ben Howards newly released album. Not really my kind of music, I always want it to be pompous and if not you can just stuff it. If I want calm I want Sigur Ros, Tori Amos or Anja Garbarek-calm. But this really got me.
PUH! Today there was a market at Trikkehallen in Bergen, I didn’t know about it until this week but I got a tip from a friend that it might be worth a try. I wasnt’t quite prepared (or finished) with all my products for the different christmas fairs coming up, but I brought prints, the new bedsheets, “Pimp My Reflector Badge” and knitted Marilyn Monroe socks. (That I was still stitching up while standing there.)
I met up with some old customers and some new (Hello to you!
Thank you for all your lovely comments and smiles, my good customers today! I didn’t have time to talk to everyone as much as I wanted, but that’s markets for you
The bedsheets with my drawings are now finished! They can be found at Epla.no.
The moon is one of my ink and watercolor drawings for “Godnattboka”, a book about going to sleep
My mum has been sewing since the launch of “Trøysteboka”, she says she doesn’t want pay so I’ll have to force her to accept something. I have already bought her a Spotify account and will be paying that for her so that she can listen to Kaizers, Katzenjammer, and Cabaret as much as she want, but I want to do something else nice as well. Hmmm. I’ll come up with something great.
The sheets are sewn with (linsøm) (anybody translate for me PLEASE, was difficult to find the right word) where the inside of the seams are folded double so they don’t get frayed. Beautiful, beautiful, work.
The cotton fabric was printed at Spoonflower, and I’m thrilled that the quality of the print is so high. We have washed a sample again and again at 60C, it still looks great. And their customer service is brilliant, I just have to say that again.
It’s quite magical to see my drawings like this. On fabric. As a finished textile product. MMmmmmmmm!
The next design for bedsheets I’m making is with monsters, and it will be called…..”Monsters in Bed”, hahaaaaa
(Yes the spelling mistake is intentional, but I ended up not using it for the original.)
Luckily a green polkadotted Classic Starlet Dress attacked me in a shop the same day. My friends and I agreed that even after seeing Katzenjammer a few times now we never seem to stop being amazed by their energy on stage. PUH! I love pompous shows! One of my friends that joined us yesterday is a very talented musician (he lives and breathes music) and we were worried he might accidentally explode from the whole concert experience.
I’m not a big fan of the venue they played at, I think the place is not really suited as a concert venue, the space is filled with odd angled concrete slabs that are always in way unless you are the 50 or so people right in front of the stage. We were, but I felt sad for the people that wanted to dance around or just experience the concert not pressed against someone smellig of fish. The last place we saw them was at Logen in Bergen, a venue that gave the concert a completely different visual experience and made the whole setting quite magical. But nothing could spoil the experience for me, and it’s true what they said themselves that it’s impossible to leave their concert without a huge grin
My favorite song from the new album is Soviet Trumpeter, looking forward to use this song as inspiration for future illustrations.
Curious is a company from Oslo that lectures in self development for buisness owners (and other topics, read more on their website). I was surprised to find that I actually knew the owner from when I was younger, he is the son of my mum’s best friend. Fun
Tuesday earlier this week I went to a course of theirs initiated by BRB, and as always with courses like this I hold back in case it’s another slick guy speaking about “If you re not a millionaire within a year you are not doing it right.” I get so immensely provoked when someone comes with lofty “goals” like that, I want good old facts and short term goals that I can actually USE for something. This day-long course was about building a personal brand, and I loved the way the lecturer had quite a humble approach to each persons goals and desires for their company, and acnowledging that everyone in the room was there with different ideas and reasons for attending. And that every participant was at different stages in the developing their buisness.
I don’t intend to grow much more as an “business owner”, I just want the hours I put into my work to mirror the amount I earn. And it was so good then to be in a course and group of other people with such different businesses that my goal wasn’t too lame
Here is a list why I think everyone (even if you have a business or not) should attend courses like this:
-It felt more like I was being coached into getting my ideas and goals onto paper and organizing them into short term and long term goals so that I won’t just forget them, all so far away and unreachable. It made me realize myself what I needed to do, I wasnt just told “if you follow this list you’re doing it right. “ For me that meant “Stop fuzzing around with everything you feel like doing and start focusing on only one or two things.”
- To map and be more aware and appreciative of the people that actually are my network around my business, and who I learn and get support from. (Got some suprises there!)
- That sharing what you know with others is the best. I’ve never clung to much to my ideas and usually share my work here so this wasn’t new to me, but I’ve never thought of it as a way to be helped myself. The lecturer was very precise that if you keep your ideas close no one will ear about them, and if it so happens that someone copies your work and ideas, it will never have _your_ personality behind them and that will be very visible for others. But this has never worried me, I love sharing ideas with people, and in that way get new collaborators along the way.
- What I wanted to be the key words connected with my business. I realized after going through what I appreciate with other businesses is high quality work (no quick fixes) and stability/continuety and that the person behind the brand is an inspirational character that can easily be reached and be resource for others. And then try to live up to these things myself. The key words here was very different from each buisness, that was good to see, because then it was visible that we were all thinking for ourselves, not just quoting a lecturer.
-And of course the part that personal branding is everyting you do. Good old good upbringing combined with being aware that everything from the invoices you send to how you respond in email and phone, and how you talk to people is all a part of building an idea of what you are. A snazzy logo and marketing campaign wasn’t even mentioned until later as a secondary thing if you felt you needed it. Product and how you interact was key.
I felt alot more relaxed and structured when I left, and that feeling hasn’t left me yet. Good thing. Things seems so much simpler when I had someone to help me look at my job from the outside.
For me it narrowed down to realizing I need someone outside my job to make decisions with, not just co-workers at the office or family, but someone who works as a mentor or couch that know my work and personality, and where I am as a buisness. And then, daaaaaaah, I realized that that someone has been there all along and you know who you are my “secret helper”
Looking forward to my first coaching class with you at BRB in a few weeks
(The drawing was made for a lovely client wanting a monster for her newly born nephew. Instead of greeting him welcome to the world, she wanted something to remind him to welcome each day. Thought it fitted quite well with this post!)
Next week SIU is publishing this years issue of Itinera, a magazine I have delivered illustrations for once before. This time the theme was theoretical practice vs real life experience, and how schools and educational systems easier can incorporate the practical part. Here is an inked and half colored version. I’m not going to pulish the finished piece until Itinera is published.
I love Mondays. A whole week from from now with time to do my job, yay!
I was at work 8.30 and sendt off goodies from my webshop, held a monster drawing course from 11 until 2, and then went on to work on a lecture I’m giving on Thursday. Now it’s a little past five and I reached my goal to be off at five. Yes! The five o’clock thing is very important to me, when I have a deadline (read: normal working hours just like Dolly Parton says) each workday is much more efficient. This is what you normally do when you are employed but never think of. No more staying late at work unless it’s crucial that I am. 
This is a picture of my desk, I hought the little area where I placed my watercolor brushes looked like accidental artwork;)
Have a good evening:)
FINALLY!!!
The book is now in the stores! The launch on Wednesday was brilliant, ended up as a party we hadn’t planned and it feels like I’m still hungover.
Some of the authors came to the event, Helga Gunerius Eriksen read her story for the book, and I spoke a little about the process.
I’ve made prints from the book as well, nice offset ones
So the fabric I ordered from Spoonflower my mum turned into baby bedsheets and we have already recieved many pre-orders!
Me talking about how I worked with illustrations for the book. The two people sitting in the middle of the picture is Helga Gunerius Eriksen and Einar Økland who both have contributed to the book.
And ran out of wine, so all secret deposits were robbed. Including two bottles of peach liqour, even if you know that’s not going to be ok in the morning.
Thanks to everyone that came along and made it such a brilliant evening! YAY!!
(Thanks Åge for the pictures
