Illustration Friday: "Liquid"; えき eki

"Liquid"

The image speaks for itself, I think ;)

But I can tell you  some background on how the illo came to be! The thing is, I'm currently working on a picture book about a cat and some people living by the sea, and this is one of the drawings I'm playing around with.

Also, if you've missed it, there's free shipping on prints and jewellery in my etsy shop AND a giveaway right here on the blog! Go on, have a look, you might find it interesting. :)

And for those of you that prefer cats over fish, here's Yra:

She's getting on in years and doesn't move around as quickly as she'd like, but she still enjoys a nice stroll in the garden.

Art Print Giveaway, May 2013

Woohoo, giveaway time!

 lol, that was a bit enthusiastic. ;)

First of all, I've got to apologise for being late with this giveaway, I guess it's been a little busy lately, what with preparing for exhibitions, art fairs and everything in between. Originally I wanted to do a crafty giveaway but I was seriously running out of time so it's back to the prints again ;) But the collection is steadily growing, so there are quite a few new ones since last for you to choose from!

The giveaway is for one small print (ca 18x13 cm).

On to the rules:

1. Visit the shop.

2. Pick a fave print.

3. Come back here to this post and tell me. And don't forget to leave an email so that I can contact you when you win! :)

4. If you choose to share this on social media sites (whichever ones you prefer), you get an extra chance to win - one for each share (for example, share on 2 different sites, and you have a total of 3 chances).

Remember - some of my original paintings are not available as prints in the shop yet, but they most defintely are for this giveaway, so don't be shy to pick your very favouritest illustration for you wall! :)

This giveaway ends Wednesday 22/5-2013

Good luck everybody! :)

... and some cats, mustn't leave out the cats!

So, to prove that I've not been (completely) lazing about this past month:

A couple of paintings that will go into the shop soon ...

And some live model sketches; what can I say, I love charcoal! Messy but fun.

gosh, has it been a month already!

I was going to do a megapost to recap but ... that might take too long and I'll end up not posting anything ;)

Anyway, I just got back from the art fair (Merca-de-Arte) in Orihuela, which turned out alright:

I added a new section to the table:

They came about when I decided to make something extra for a client who'd just bought my Fox print - I usually send a card or two with an order but I didn't have one of the fox, so I made a brooch instead! 

And while I was at it, I made myself a self portrait, and one of my sister ;)

Here's something funny I found at the stall next to mine;

a pretty little thing, with a hand crocheted dress:

But if you lift up her skirt (which, of course, you must ;), you see that there's more to her than surface ... if fact, she doubles as a toilet paper holder!

There was a bit too much sun for my liking (I think I may even have burned a little!) but all in all a nice day, with lovely new people to look up on Facebook (found out there's a newly opened animal shelter in Orihuela) and a few sold paintings. Yup, definitely OK. :)

The heart and soul of a city girl?

A drawing made in responce to the comments left on my IF entry! Many of you talked about how they'd rather live in the country than in a city, and I would agree - if the city I was talking about wasn't Stockholm, which is a relatively small place where even the dreariest of areas, really aren't that bad. Not compared to the slums of some of the really huge cities of the world. The thing I like about cities, is the pulse of it; I'm not talking about club hopping and 24h shopping, but of the glimpses into people's everyday lives through the conversations they have on the tube, the street fashion, the banners announcing cultural events, clever ads on the train platform, poetry on the floor, people heading for work, kindergarten groups filling up at least half the bus, pigeons flocking on the hat of an old, almost forgotten king and smearing the lens of a passing tourist. That's the energy I miss; the energy that stirs the imagination and has your mind coming up with a thousand and one ideas, every day. That's one of the reasons I go to cities whenever I travel, not to a beach resort. However, if that city has a beach, well, then thats another story. ;)

The thing is, though, that I often feel as though I'm actually living off this energy as if I were a parasite sucking it up through a straw. Sounds kinda gross, but probably very true! lol

Holidaying in Spain!

So I was feeling a bit (a lot) stressed, and decided to take a week off and use the beach for once! ;)

Here's what I look like anywhere there's sun:

not a lot of skin showing ;)

I've also, during the week, panic painted for the local spring gallery - on the night before the deadline, I scrapped two other paintings I'd been working on, and made something new, and got it there in time:

acrylic and charcoal on canvas.

Alice got herself a spaying last week. But also an infection, so she went back yesterday for another shot:

There is no longer any dairy free ice cream to be found around these parts, so of course I experienced a seriously horrible ice cream withdrawal depression, found this old photo of a vegan strawberry flavoured icecream enjoyed on the Utö ferry in Stockholm a few summers ago, and sulked:

So I went and got my hair cut again, put in a few curls and amateur-posed for a photo:

And the cats were adorable, as always:

But vacation's over and it's almost time for another giveaway, so there's something to look forward to! :)