Yesterday I painted a congratulatory scallop "card" for a friend who defended her thesis today using watercolor mixed with white gouache. I'll be going to a party to celebrate Dr. Warsha tonight. Her thesis was about scallops, so I went with it. I'm really happy with how it turned out and I think I'll be painting more shells in the future.
April Project: Day 30
Hello, dear friends! Today is the final day of my month-long daily art posts! It has been challenging and really fun. I feel like making myself share something each day has made me a lot more productive, and I've gotten a lot of ideas started for more projects I want to continue with.
Today is also our last moving day, and because of this I haven't had much time, but I'll share a little ink doodle I did. I think it would be so much fun to take a ceramics class and make tea-couples! Teacup couples. It'd be silly, but so much fun! :)
I think I will take the weekend to unpack and settle in to our new apartment, but I will continue to post things here and elsewhere to share what I'm up to and what I'm making in May. Thank you so much for visiting, and check back soon!
April Project: Day 25
Hello and Happy Saturday! Today I had so much fun painting wild flowers and weeds on this summer piece. This is as far as I got today. Hope you like it!
I'm simultaneously excited and terrified about painting the ship. We'll see how that goes!
April Project: Day 24
Today is Bjarnheiður's birthday! She is a dear friend of mine here in Reykjavik, and we are about to head out the door to go celebrate with her. She really liked what I had sketched and really loves this song, so I think it's only right that she receive this piece as a present when I am finished with it. Bea, which is a nickname of hers that is far easier to pronounce, is the kindest person I have ever met. She is so sweet and thoughtful, and she deserves a sweet and thoughtful gift. :)
In the little while I had to work on art today, I sketched the flowers, inked the lettering in gold, and erased out as much of the pencil as I could with my kneadable eraser before putting down some watercolor. I already feel a bit daunted by this piece. I have stared at that bottle wondering just how I am going to put a ship in there. I know it is all part of the process, so I think it'll get there.
I'll be back tomorrow with more. :) I hope you like it so far and are enjoying seeing this progress along the way.
April Project: Day 23
Happy first day of Summer in Iceland! Today is a holiday here, and so far the weather has really been cooperating! Chris and I just went for a run along the ocean and the sun was shining bright. We're not sure if it is because today is a holiday or because the weather is nice, but we were greeted by a few strangers on our run, and someone even smiled at us. It was likely a smile in response to my smile, but that is far better than the annoyed or puzzled looks I normally receive.
Because it is Iceland's first day of summer, I wanted to illustrate a phrase with the word summer in it. And what came to mind is a song I love by Kings of Convenience, a Norwegian duo that sings music that I usually describe as doodle-ie-doo music. It is super pleasant to listen to, and at times makes me think of some soft Simon & Garfunkel songs. The song is called Gold In The Air Of Summer. The video below is a bit shaky, but the song is good. The album is called Riot on an Empty Street. I highly recommend it.
These are the song lyrics...
Without giving anything away,
I can say it's by the sea.
It's a house that used to be the home of a friend of mine.
Without giving anything away,
you'll find ships inside of bottles,
and the garden's overgrown,
the house is white but the paint is coming of.
I didn't know if you wanted to,
when I came to pick you up.
But you didn't even hesitate,
and now you and me are on our way.
I think I've brought everything we need,
so don't look back,
don't think of the other places you should have been
it's a good thing that you came along with me.
Gold in the air of summer,
you'll shine like gold in the air of summer.
So I started on a larger project than I could possibly finish today, but I'll continue to work on the next few days, I'm thinking. Here is as far as I got today.
My idea is that this phrase will be framed by flowers and plants from the overgrown garden that the song lyrics talk about. I love ships, bottles, ships in bottles, overgrown gardens, flowers, gold, summer, cork, ocean, and things that shine... so I think this will be a fun project. Stay tuned for more! :) And have a great day!
Happy Galentine's Day
For those of you familiar with the show, I probably don't need to explain that I am a big Parks & Recreation fan. For those of you who aren't familiar with the show, the main character in the show, Leslie Knope, creates a holiday the day before Valentine's Day called Galentine's Day. It is a day for ladies to celebrate ladies. I had some fun the past couple days coming up with these Galentine's Day card designs, and I'm giving them to you for free (Creative Commons license information below). Ladies, let's celebrate the ladies in our lives; the poetic, noble land-mermaids that support us through thick and thin! Click on the links below the images to download printable versions! :)
Here is a printable Leslie Knope Galentine's Day card for you!
Here are some printable Waffle Cards for you!
Here are some Waffle Cards that say Happy Galentine's Day on them. :)
So, Ladies! Print and sign and give some love to your lady friends this Friday. And maybe have some waffles, too.
Cheers!
Kirsten
These awesome printable cards by Kirsten Sevig are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
My Lettering in Turkey!
I was very excited when I was contacted to do some lettering work for Mapfre Genel Sigorta, an insurance company in Turkey. I worked with Murat Bodur of Modiki on this project, and I am super excited about how it turned out! The phrase I lettered, Emin Ellerdesiniz, means "You are in good hands." Here is one of the posters my lettering was used on for this ad campaign. What other countries can I do lettering for? We'll see...
I've got sunshine on a cloudy day
On this grey day in Reykjavík, I've been working on a lettering poster project I doodled in my sketchbook a while back. Here is what I did today.
a save the date for dear friends
I am excited to be working on a save-the-date postcard for a couple friends of mine! Here is a sneak peek, without giving much away. He loves hunting for mushrooms, gardening strange varieties of vegetables and fruits, and games. She loves robots and vintage quirkiness, and together they love... well, each other, obviously! They also love to cook and eat great food with fresh local ingredients. I am planning on incorporating all of their likes as well as a nod to her Sri Lankan roots in their save-the-date and wedding invitation suite. I'll post more as I make more progress!
Upon seeing this image so large, I can see that it is not the most flattering photograph of my fingernails. I'll try to do better next time...
