Those who do not move, do not notice their chains

That is a quote by Rosa Luxemburg, and since I saw it last year I have been thinking it is very descriptive of my attitude towards life. I move on and I need to be free. I also keep creating new things.

It’s time for a blog update, enjoy because they don’t come very often, haha!

Last Spring I finished work on the Literature game I was working on with a writer and a programmer, and a larger team of experts and support organizations. The game itself will be launched next month, so I will write more about it later. I have been using this experience of co-creating a serious game for my Master’s thesis in Service Design, that I hope to complete this Autumn. The thesis writing got delayed because I simply had too much work and big changes in my personal life in the Spring to focus on it. But now it is moving onward.

A visualization of the thesis process

I also have a new studio and work space from July onwards. It feels amazing to have a large room all to myself.. white walls to fill with ideas and works in progress. But the funny thing is that I currently mostly work digitally, so I still sit cooped up in one corner of the room with my laptop. I hope I can take time to paint more at some point and really use the space that I have now.

My current large project is illustrating a history book. So far the work and collaboration with the writer, AD and editor has been amazing and so much fun. But also hard work. The past week I have put in hours on creating an old 17th century map. It really brought out my perfectionist streak when it comes to visual design…

Searching for the right style for the history book – some fictional parts of the text bring out nature and animals…

 

Meanwhile I am also doing the layout of another easy to read adaptation of the Moomin books, and drawing simple illustrations for a web based language learning material.

I also really enjoy drawing in this simple and colorful style 🙂

And as always some exciting and very secret projects are bubbling under and moving along in their own pace in my mind and together with some awesome people (usually it’s writers). What I have noticed over the years is that what I really love about illustration is that it is collaborative. I get inspired by others, by meeting new people, and forming new work partnerships. They shape me and push me into new directions, and I hope they feel the same excitement I do when we work towards creating something new together.

So. Moving forward with renewed energy and passion for my work.

Games and studios

A lot has been going on this Spring! Here’s an update:

I’m home again with my third child. I had a six week work period around March, and focused on writing and editing my novel, doing some illustration commissions, and applying for some new jobs. Next time I’m working full time again is in August, when the baby is going to daycare. And in August I’m going to start renting a studio! I’m so very excited about it. I’ll be able to do more traditional art again! I’ll have space and time! It really is a dream come true. I don’t know if I can keep the studio longer than 5 months, but we’ll see. It depends on the work situation.

Another very exciting thing is that I am now part of a new game development team, and we were accepted into a start up accelerator and will be getting help this summer to start a game company. We’re already working on the game that the team was formed around, and a demo is due in the end of August. Even though I don’t have a lot of time to work before summer, when the baby can be more with her dad, I’m loving every second I can spend on working on the game graphics. I’m learning to  make pixel graphics and I love it. I’m also very happy with the team and getting to know the others. Our meetings are a lot of fun, even though it’s a bit of a struggle to watch the baby at the same time, hah – she really wants to start walking now and puts everything in her mouth…

Well, I’ll soon have more good news, but I still have to keep silent about those for a little while.