Monday, 8 November 2010

So many things

These have been very introspective times here in this studio of mine. I´ve been having loads of work (which I´m thankful for) and am, constantly, searching for more work, creating new projects and presenting new ideas to potential clients.

It´s been busy, busy, and I haven´t felt like posting much. Sorry.

One thing that has been on my mind is the (long overdue) portfolio website redo. Oh dear. I wonder if I´m alone in this, but just thinking about having to change it makes my heart shrink a bit. It´s not that I don´t think it needs to be updated - it´s just that working on something that I can´t control (because I don´t know enough when it comes to web design) and therefore takes me three times longer than it should makes want to jump off my 49th floor balcony. Ok, not so literally, but you get my drift.

Other than that, it´s still kind of weird not to have four seasons, but only two: it´s still pretty much rainy, terribly wet all the time. Not too hot, though, which is fine. It´s almost the end of the year and I don´t feel it around me. No yellow leaves on the floor (as during my northern hemisphere days) nor purple jacaranda trees (as in Buenos Aires), so sometimes I must check the calendar just to be sure. It´s November. It´s chestnut and fireplace time in Portugal.

Anyway, enough about this. Here´s some of the things I managed to do on my breaks from my design projects:

Third attempt at a Christmas present

This is my third attempt at knitting a Christmas present for someone mysterious - can´t say that person´s name as he or she does not know he or she is a recipient of a knitted gift.

The first finished sweater was too small (but too cute to frog); the second one was rightly sized, but not well designed; therefore, frogged.

This is the third go. We´ll see how it goes.

Napkins

We use cloth napkins at home and needed our stocks refilled, so I bought some native kuna design fabrics (100% cotton, unfortunately not organic) and sewed a pretty simple hemline on them. There´s a learning curve in sewing, people!

And I finally started painting again. This time, there´s no class, no studio, no model, just me, my brushes and the beautiful view from the balcony. We´ll see where that takes us.

What have you been up to lately?

Friday, 15 October 2010

An issue with clouds

An issue with clouds

An issue of "We´re in Panama!", that is! This time around it´s all about the clouds in the sky during this (very) rainy season. Check it out here!

You know how it works: download it, print it, fold it and comment! Or better still: send me a picture of your copy of the zine in the wild!

Thursday, 14 October 2010

Let´s be escapees?

clouds, clouds, clouds

While I draw clouds, clouds and more clouds, I´ve been listening to the wonderful podcast "Escape from Illustration Island" and the interviews its host, Thomas James, conducts.

First of all, let us all thank modern day technology that has me here, sitting alone in my studio, listening to wonderful interviews of people who have been through the same experience as me and also other people who have lots of good information and advice for me.

Then, not only interviewees have interesting testimonials to share, the questions they are asked are very pertinent too. Sometimes it feels like Thomas actually reads minds (or maybe my questions are the same as other people´s?) and asks exactly what I was thinking.

Anyway, this has been an excellent resource for me, specially now that I´ve moved to another country and need to start a new client database here, from scratch.

If you haven´t yet, I encourage you to download "Escape from Illustration Island" now. All in all, very good. Praise to Thomas!

Clouds, clouds, clouds

working on my clouds
Among other projects - in the middle of them, in the little spaces between them - I´ve been working on the October´s issue of my e-zine "We´re in Panama!" (links to previous issue on your right).

It´s amazing how much one project can bring fun and joy to a work´s day!

Tuesday, 12 October 2010

Largo do Conde Barão, Lisboa

Largo do Conde Barão, Lisboa

Went to Lisbon for a couple of weeks to visit friends and family and perform (very happily, I may add) my aunt-duties. Among these duties is taking the older niece to her music class, wait, pick her up and drive her back. While I was waiting I went for a walk and stopped to draw this. It´s strangely quiet at that time, maybe because it is one way only and the exiting traffic must go through another street. Beautiful - and very lisbonesque.

Thursday, 7 October 2010

Happy sight

I like to catch them in the wildPoor lightning, crappy photo, happy sight.

You can catch them all here.

Monday, 4 October 2010

Home. Finally.

Home.

After four and half months of "camping" under a roof, we are now officially at home, with our precious mattress and bed and pillows and bed sheets.

(Rented furniture smells, rented bed linen is polyester-made, rented dishes are ugly. I am grateful that there are companies specializing in temporary furniture rentals, but guys, let´s try to make it look like a home - albeit temporary - and not just a prison cell with smelly wood and baroque details.)

Yay!

(I talk about the adventure in the last issue of my e-zine. Check it out!)