My Spain Trip

Hello lovelies! I am still feeling the warmth and sun from my vacation as I sit here in Reykjavik, which has really been helped by the beautiful weather we had here this weekend! I took so many pictures on my trip to Spain that it became an overwhelming task to sort through them all, select those I wish to share with you, and color correct, etc. But I think, before too much time passes, I should share my pictures with you. Why not today? Why not now?

My husband and I spent a week in Barcelona, then we rented a car and drove to Cadaques where we stayed in a lovely casita in a national park for the weekend. Then we drove back to Barelona to catch the train to Madrid where Chris attended meetings on the project he is a part of. While in Madrid, we shared a lovely penthouse with Bjarki (friend and coworker of Chris, also there for the meetings) and his wife, Linda (my partner in relaxation and appreciation of Madrid).

Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip. Click on one to open up a lightbox in which to flip through them one at a time.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! I'll share more photos of inspiration as I make some Spain-inspired illustrations and patterns!

April Project: Day 28

So, some days it is hard to find the time to make something and play. Today was one of those days. Tomorrow we are moving to a new apartment, so I've been a little preoccupied. I didn't let that get in the way of my weekly Tuesday traditional art skype with my dear friend and fellow artist, Kari Pearson. I love being able to talk with her about life, the challenges of continuing our creative practice, and trying to propel our creative careers forward.

Today, after talking and catching up a little, we decided that our art for today could be a 10 minute sketch of each other as we were video chatting. Kari set a timer for 10 minutes and we giggled and got started. Here is how that went.

One thing that really made us laugh was that Kari's drawing of me looked like I belonged in American Gothic. :) What I think is funny is that this may actually be what I look like when I'm creating and focusing. I look at my face in the upper corner of that screenshot and giggle. I look as though I have never taken a screenshot before and I'm anxious about it. :) Here is Kari's drawing of me. We joked that it is an accurate portrait of my duck lamp, with American Gothic me in the foreground. :)

I'm going to try to fit in some art time tomorrow, too, to continue this April Project. Check back soon! :)

thinking back

It was one year ago today that my husband and I arrived in Reykjavik for our big move. Since then, we have gained many friends, seen beautiful sights, and had some great visitors come an stay with us. My parents came to visit, and I thoroughly enjoyed showing them around the city. When we were in Harpa, the beautiful concert hall, I set up the camera to take some unusual portraits of the three of us, and today I put them together. A silly project, I know! But I was missing them and thought it would be fun. :)

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windows that inspire

So, I thought I would post some images of windows that I have seen recently and felt inspired by. I have become convinced that people place little displays in their windows just for people like me to enjoy as they walk by. And I do thoroughly enjoy them when I spot them. Here is a small sampling of window inspiration.

And because of these window displays, I felt I needed to get involved and give back. I love this bizarre trend here in Reykjavik of these German Heico lamps. I see them everywhere in people's windows! There is a serious group-think mentality here, and when one person gets something, everyone wants one. Clearly this worked on me, too. I simply needed to get myself a resin duck lamp and place it in my kitchen window. Meet my light up duck!

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