I do declare!

I woke up this morning wanting to declare all my feelings!

My love for ice cream, that is. 

yeah, this post is real deep.

My mom has been bringing home little quarts of Haagen Dazs coffee ice cream, 

and we get the luxury of *TWO* max scoops a day. 

Of course, I've been indulging in this..a scoop a day cures all stress, heartache, and worries. They should write country songs about this. 

So here it is, 

The Ice Cream Declaration!

"man oh MAN, I love love love this ice cream stuff.

The kind that comes in a sweet, crispy cone

and drips and dribbles all over your face."

Made to Order prints are available in the shop!

Colors are customizable.

You order, I make it.

Whoa.

Inspired by a story my buddy Emily shared 

about having really poor vision since she was in second grade.

Thick glasses on a little 7 year old has got to be the cutest.

print available in the etsy shop

A different perspective, a shift from how I normally compose..

thus, more of a challenge that boasted little bumps in the process.

But this little girl and those awesome bold giraffe spots 

--crediting only the Big Man upstairs--

makes for a really fun illustration.

(I think!)

Not babushka

From wiki:
"They are sometimes incorrectly referred to as 'babushka dolls'.."

haha, whoops.

This here is a matryoshka. 

(thank God for autocorrect.)

Stopped by Oh Hello Friend with some buddies the other day. 

And instead of buying shorts (go me), I got this super cool DIY Russian doll kit. 

I honestly just wanted to post these photos because the lighting and colors are so nice. 

And because this little "matryoshka" now reminds me of a really great day spent with good friends. 

so cute, right? I just wish it kept going and going..

Shark week, y'all.

Got to catch up with my old camp director, Kacy, the other night. 

She's hilarious and is pretty well-known in our little circles for her LOVE of sharks.

I quote: 

"I was weird as a kid, went off to the library to read books about dinosaurs and sharks."

So, thee most exciting news yet.. 

She's expecting a baby girl in November!

Trisha Vo Photography

Clearly, I get a little too giddy about other people's offspring. 

Here. And here. 

But I can't help it, 

especially when I've been following their stories from the beginning.

 It makes me so happy to know that God's blessed them with a little mini. 

Anyway, 

in light of this baby excitement AND shark week (coincidence, really), 

here's an illustration that is now happily housed in the Nagatoshi residence:

print available in the etsy shop.

- - -

Also working on getting some custom baby illustration options available..

yay? nay?

Write on.

I think I've always had a weird obsession with handwriting.

All throughout elementary school, 

my writing would change according to the "best friend" I had at the time. 

I would be obsessed with holding my pencil like they did and writing exactly how they wrote. 

Yes, so strange. 

But I was usually pretty good at this mimicking act.

- - -

Recently I've been inspired by several amazing calligraphers,

both by their fascination with words

and the beauty and freedom in their lettering.

Here are some:

oh my deer handmades

Sarah Carter Studio

Anne Robin Calligraphy

- - -

I've been playing with lettering and calligraphy a little bit these days.

I definitely don't have the amazing technical skill as a true calligrapher.

I'm honestly..a wannabe. haha

It's really fun, though.

mulling over letters and words within a phrase,

outputting lyrics you heard or words you read into flat art

It really makes you just sit and think and let the meaning sink in a little bit more.

available in the etsy shop

- - -

Anyway, I'll be offering custom calligraphy services next week at Art Walk.

Basically you bring in a favorite quote, 

and I'll have paper & pencil ready to create something for you to take home.

Prices will be ranging between $20-25, 

depending on the size and wordage

40% of proceeds will be going towards ZOE International, 

an organization aiding the rescue and protection of children involved in human trafficking.

Come by that night! Let's be friends! 

Royal Baby Fever

YES! It's a boy!

Yes, I totally watched the live feed outside Buckingham Palace, 

anticipating the baby arrival and official announcement.

Yes, ridiculous.

But now it's a fun little illustration:

available in the etsy shop

Yay! Happy Birthday little Prince of Cambridge.

haha.

It's coming!

Ah, I can finally post this now that details are ironed out.

Ready?

WHEE!

I'm a ball of emotions: excitement, anxiety, anticipation, fear.

If I had to fill out one of those "What is your mood today?" cards, 

I'd write ALL OF THE ABOVE in gigantic sharpie marker.

I know from the some of the past experiences 

that nothing comes together wonderfully without a little fearlessness and big faith.

I'm hanging onto that.

that, and this:

Prints are great, but cards are so fun!

So I'm working on getting some of that into the show. 

It's not too far of a stretch, but still a whole 'nother level of organizing and dreaming.

Here's a little teaser:

testing prints and type

that Micron Graphic pen..mmmm

favorite pen, ever.

and this past tuesday, Lilly treat us to delicious almond croissants before we talked shop. 

Olivia's having her own show at Share the same night!!

I'll probably have more to share as we approach the August 2nd opening night.

yikes.

stay tuned, friends. 

Featured!

LOVE Elizabeth and her babies over at The Littlest

They make southern California living seem so peaceful and dreamy..

(I say this after a lovely afternoon of LA traffic. eek)

anyway, thank you for the feature, Elizabeth.

so exciting!

OH MY WORD.

Guys!!
So excited to let you know
that my work will be up in August's
Fullerton Art Walk at ohhellofriend.
More details to come.

Just know that cake is involved.

Illustration Storytime: Grass baby.

My friend, Tritia and I share the same name.

She was one of my favorite "older sisters" growing up in church. 

One Sunday morning we were both wearing green sweaters,

and the following conversation happened:

Tritia

Ew, you look like a booger.

Me, responding with my great wit..

Well, you look like grass.

Thus began "Grass and Booger."

circa 2005?? 

- - -

Being four years older, Tritia has and will always be a little more ahead in life.

I've seen her get engaged, then married, and now..

SHE'S GOING TO BE A MOM?!

I'm beyond excited for her, and my mind is blown a little every time I think about it. 

"Grass Baby," available soon in the etsy shop.

Grass--
Praying for a happy, healthy pregnancy.
This Auntie Booger can't wait to see your little booger!!

A Friday.

Coffee and googling French foods for an illustration logo.

oui oui?

Happy weekend. 

Caterpillars.

It's been a week of really fun, challenging projects

that has had me "arting,"

dabbling in different areas that I love-

illustration, design, calligraphy, photography. 

Yes, it feels like many days of pretending. 

I know I'm not alone when I say that I find myself in waves of insecurity and constant comparing.

These lulls come suddenly through the most random things: insta, blogs, a stranger..

or even slowly and quietly while I'm working on something and lost in thought. 

It's distracting and can be crippling. 

My goal, post graduation and for this forever summer, has been to keep on creating.

So yes, I know, these moments of self doubt are expected and necessary. 

I've been praying for a heart that is teachable--

for God to teach me to continue taking those faithful leaps, in spite of;
to have joy in creating to serve Him, 

not to serve a secure future full of steady paychecks.

remember these furry guys? 
saw them all the time lining up in 2nd grade.

- - - - -

So I'll continue to hope in my God 

who has dreams for me that are greater than I'll ever have---

like big, beautiful butterfly dreams for a tiny, self-doubting caterpillar. 

Let us pause..

after a very june gloomy, moody, broody morning..

from Emmylou Harris, "Hard Times Come Again No More"

print available in the etsy shop

Yes, I watch Nashville. totally guilty. but mainly for these two sisters..

Check out their awesome cover of the tune:

happy thursday.

Illustration Storytime: "Stars"

Thought it'd be fun for little storytime segments on what's behind some of my illustrations.. 

yay? nay??

- - - - -

Some of you may remember I had a "photography phase" 

(heavily documented on my old xanga and trickled over to my tumblr for a little bit.) 

I still love it, but I was definitely consumed then.

This phase began freshman year of college, 

when I had no burdening homework and lived in a beautiful apartment complex overflowing with trees.  

I had also started following a TON of photography blogs 

(many of which you can still find on my blog roll to the right), 

totally inspired by their use of color, composition, light, subjects, etc. 

One of my favorite photographers, theimageisfound, grabbed my attention with personal posts featuring their daughter, Grace---

then a toddler with so much energy, spunk, and personality. 

I loved it. 

Here's one of my favorites.

See? Beautiful and so hilarious.

This one obviously left an impression (how could it not??) 

and ultimately inspired this guy:

prints available in the etsy shop

" S T A R S " 

This guy stemmed out of "Flight", my little aviation buddy and his dreams of flying way up into the stars. 

It's an ode to Grace, telescopes fashioned out of tape and glass cups, and paper skies.

I'm constantly inspired by my nursery kids...

sure, their attention spans are about a minute at the most, 

but their ability to imagine, wonder, and dream is incomparable. 

This whole "Embrace" series has been my effort in trying to remember and capture that. 

Hopefully this is doing it justice. 

Pretend.

I'm afraid I have spent my last five years in art classes...playing pretend.


Let's imagine that:

Bieber can be classy and romantic during Christmas time.

Donuts are a metaphor of me.
this one's deep.

A how-to guide for vacuuming is necessary.

And chubby toddlers have great diving form..


SO FUN.

- - -

A lot of my down time now has been spent hunched over my floor or at my desk, engrossed in tasks that don't seem necessary at all--
packing prints, ripping paper, watercoloring business cards, etc.

 

There are moments where I feel like I AM playing pretend again,
pretending that these menial tasks are necessary, that it matters

and I get lost in it,
with zero restrictions, no one to please,
just joy and contentment and a lot of dreaming.

Yes, I am SO aware of how fleeting these moments are.
But I'm also aware of how freeing these times can be.

- - -

“If you have a rhythm, if you get up every morning and work for a few hours, and you like the getting up and the work, and you don’t think about how great it will be when it’s done, but rather how great it is every day that you get to get up and do the work, your creation will be tremendous. Don’t think about the finished product. Stop rewarding yourself with something that doesn’t exist, and may never exist. Instead, think about how delightful it is you get to do this, you get to make this, and how delightful it will be to get up and do it again tomorrow.” Don Miller