Shiny New Work!

I've had lots going on these days, including illustration & design work for all sorts of different clients. But happy to also be designing posters again, because when they turn out well - it feels pretty awesome. 

My most recent posters for Sigur Rós (Sasquatch) and Grand Hallway were so much fun to work on.

Both posters represent me in "my happy place" - listening to beautiful music while just letting the lines & ideas flow. 

Here are some images of the finished pieces, along with some sketches and inspirato.

You can find both posters at my online shops: Etsy and Big Cartel.

Sigur Rós:

Grand Hallway:

The song behind the poster: 

Fly, little book... fly!

Happy to announce that the book I have been illustrating will be coming out mid-September through Sasquatch Books / Random House. It's called The Wandering Goose, written by Heather Earnhardt - who owns a sweet southern-style restaurant of the same name. (The food is delicious! And the atmosphere is so inviting. If you live in Seattle you absolutely have to go: thewanderinggoose.com)

Before this project began, I had already been in talks with Sasquatch about the possibility of illustrating something for them down the road. The "something" was vague, as I had just really 

began to seriously transition from a designer to an illustrator - and almost all of my illustration 

work at that point had been for concert posters, with a handful of art prints. I told them I would love 

to work on a children's book someday, but also expressed that my style would be perhaps best suited to older children or adults. 

Not long after, Sasquatch contacted me about this very special manuscript that seemed to be a perfect fit. When I first met Heather along with my publisher, I was really struck by her warmth and ambition - and was also immediately understanding of her journey. I could see a lot of parallels in our lives, most of all the spirit to persevere and follow one's true passion, in spite of the setbacks. I connected with this story right away, and even more so after speaking with her in person. We also had the pleasure of getting a tour of her restaurant, which was a week away from opening. 

This journey for me was not always an easy one, to be sure. An illustrated book is a huge undertaking, particularly a first book. I truly feel like The Wandering Goose needed to go through all of the stages it did (and there were many!) in order to finally reveal it's beautiful self. 

There was a lot of crumpled paper and bleary eyes and cramped fingers. I had some serious moments of lost confidence and fear that I wouldn't be able to make it happen. I give a lot of credit to the team at Sasquatch who reminded me of why I was on the project in the first place. I began the book drawing a little outside of my personal style - they helped bring me back to center by referencing my poster work and encouraging artistic interpretations instead of literal ones. 

This was definitely a huge professional risk as well, only having a year under my belt as an independent artist. I was still scrambling month to month to make it work when the book started, and continued to do so the entire time I was working on it. Somehow the right projects came at the right time in order to make ends meet, which meant many long nights into days into nights. It turns out my husband is pretty much the most supportive person ever. But I already knew that. :)  And my kids were so awesome as well. "Whoa, that's really good, Mom.", can go a long way. 

In the end, this is truly one of my proudest moments to date. I'm a better illustrator because of it, and feel so glad that I was able to push through and put my heart into those pages. I don't think it would have been as magical with any other story, this was truly a match meant to be. Hope you all enjoy it! 

Here is the link to the book, available for pre-order already for you early birds! 

http://www.randomhouse.com/book/226399/the-wandering-goose-by-heather-earnhardt

A few of my rough sketches / process:

this one's for the ladies

I get a few emails every week asking for advice on becoming a designer... 99.9 % of these emails are from women. 

I think maybe in this political climate where women's issues are STILL an issue I've become increasingly aware of the divide that exists not only in society but also within us as women. We have to stop letting our gender limit us, consciously or subconsciously. We have to learn to stand up for ourselves in the moment, regardless of whether that means someone won't like it or not. We deserve to build lives that are uniquely ours, with a point of view that is not only just as important - it's necessary for the universal balance. 

By society's standards I am not a success. I'm scraping by. A lot of the work I do looks cool, but there's not a lot of money in designing for music. Visual artists are probably at the very bottom of the food chain in the music industry. And women doing this are few and far between. But by my own standards, I'm doing pretty good. Sure, I'd love a little more of a safety net, but I'm making it on my own terms and providing for my family.  

Since I quit my full time job to become an independent illustrator & designer, the quality of my work is more in line with where I want to be. I can spend the hours necessary in order to really make satisfying pieces that I can be proud of. I also see more of my kids and I'm a better mom... and they see what I do first hand. All of the stages of the creative process, which in turn inspires them to be creative in their own ways. 

In order to be good at anything there has to be a level of obsession. This  is not the life for everyone, but in the arts it's a necessity, I think. It's an eccentric life. People don't always understand it. And it's not a lifestyle that aligns with the societal expectations placed on us as women. 

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" This is still not a question that that is asked as seriously of girls as of boys. It totally bums me out... pssst: I have a feeling it's because we have the babies. 

My advice to all of my fellow lady artists out there, from someone who's still finding her way:

1) Be prepared to work your ass off. No one gets good at anything without working hard. 

2) Because of things we can't control; The body we were born into, the voice we have, etc., it's harder to get the respect or recognition we deserve. It's just a fact. But who cares. Raise your damn hand anyway. Kick ass at what you do. It's going to take you longer, but don't give up. If we all strive to reach our full potential, the more the climate will change. 

3) Stop apologizing. Don't make excuses. Don't be a victim. And don't sell yourself short. (That last one is hard for all artists. It's universal.)

4) Take unsolicited advice with a grain of salt, or just ignore it. Especially if it's from someone who doesn't remotely understand your struggles in life and art.

5) Over-thinking can completely stop creation. Just do it. 

6) Life is going to be harder for you, it's just a fact. No one has ever given me a gold star for being the mother of two kids and trying to eek out a name for myself in a male dominant industry. But I'd like to see some people juggle everything I do during the day and stay up nights working on a project because I refuse to let my circumstances affect my artistic standards. 

7) Everything is up to you, which means everything is possible. 

Choosing to be an artist (no matter what your gender) is a lifestyle that does come with some sacrifice. But if this is what you want to do, there really isn't a choice. Because creating is something you have to do, and it's not anything you can stop. And doing what you love is what life is all about.  

Dear Believer

Had the honor of being asked to design a poster for Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros recently. After practically a whole summer away from drawing anything it was fun to dive back in again - particularly because I really enjoy delving into records on repeat and discovering whole new worlds that I may have not discovered if I wasn't asked to design gig posters.

Their latest release has a real joyful gospel feel that was perfect for the end of summer. Although all music is up to interpretation, I really related to the celebration of spirituality as opposed to the heaviness of dogma. In my exploration phase my husband surprised me with sunflowers, which ended up being the perfect subject matter for this band. Initially it was just going to be a vase of sunflowers, and I was contemplating hiding some little people in the leaves. Then the more I listened to the record, the more the poster evolved... with the sunflowers breaking through the windows of an old church and a burst of sunlight in the background.

Here's the band's performance of "Man on Fire"from their release "Here"on Letterman.

Pics of my process and the finished piece below, poster available here.

Gold Day(s)

It has been an incredible couple of months, I've never been so exhausted yet so full of gratitude. Fitting a whole lot of stuff into this entry so I can start fresh this fall with new projects and inspiration. Although I'm inspired enough to last me a whole year after this summer.

At the end of June, I was invited to speak at an event called PechaKucha - hosted by Arcade Magazine. It was totally terrifying and rewarding at the same time. I do love to talk process with fellow artists, but typically in a much smaller setting. Like one on one. I made it through though, and since then have had a lot of positive feedback. So this might not be the end of Frida Clements, Public Speaker. We'll see. :) I know I mentioned this event in an earlier post, but they were kind enough to film it, so here you go.


Then I got married to the Love Of My Life on July 28th. It was amazing.

I'm super lucky to have some really talented and creative friends over at Crinoline & Tweed who totally took everything I designed to the next level. (Thank you, Tes & Sarah!) Also a huge shout-out to Columbia City Theater for our lovely reception venue & The Brave Horse Tavern for the delicious food. They were both kind enough to let me do some design trade for their services, which was so helpful for a couple of starving artists like us. :)

Here are a few photos of some of the design elements that I couldn't post before the big day.

Our screen-printed "Save The Date": 

All the songs from the first mix cd my husband gave me:

My friends Amanda & Justin whipped up a batch of delicious summer ale 

for the wedding, I made labels in Swedish and Japanese. 

The recessional song was "Sweet Thing" by Van Morrison, sung by our friend Kevin. This was the giveaway screen-print for our guests with a passage from the song. 

And a couple of photos from the big day, courtesy of our friend Chris. 

So. 

That was awesome. 

THEN we went to Sweden! 

Also awesome. 

The landscape and culture is such a part of me, I can't really explain it. But I remarked more than once on our trip, "I'm IN my painting right now"... or poster. :) It was wonderful to introduce Tomo to my family as well, and we all bonded over the universal language that is music. I'm really excited for fall so I can paint again, it's always inspirational to go there. Even more so this time. 

We returned in mid July, had about a week to try to recover in the midst of mommyhood, and then started on a packaging project for the seminal Seattle band The Walkabouts. They are really great to work with, I'll be sure and post the outcome soon. Then it was off to Flatstock 36 at Bumbershoot over Labor Day weekend. It's always super fun and exhausting at the same time. I don't usually talk to many people in my day to day life... save for my family, close friends and whatever client I'm working with. I think I spoke to more people in 3 days than I have all year. On the last day I had my daughter with me, here she is being her adorable wacky self. 

The biggest shock of the Flatstock weekend was how many of my "Salty Seas" posters I sold. 

I debated on bringing it, being that it's a one-color poster of a line drawing. It's a really personal piece, as opposed to a super-hip indie rock poster. But I actually had to replenish my inventory for this print over the weekend. Felt really nice that so many people connected to it. 

Thanks for everyone who came out and supported at Flatstock, I really appreciate it. 

It's so nice to be able to show my work in person and talk about what inspired each print. 

Lots of exciting projects around the corner, I'll try to blog about them just one at a time tho...

Here's a pretty song for the end of Summer. 

xo,

Frida

Ta Da! Columbia City Theater 2.0

Occasionally an opportunity will come along that really makes me go, "How did I get here?" Never ever in my wildest dreams did I ever realize I'd be involved in Sasquatch Music Festival in any way, The Paramount and Moore Theatres, Flatstock or Folklife. And when I redesigned the logo for the opening of The Neptune, I really felt that sense of appreciation and wonder... and incredible responsibility as a Seattleite. Venues like these are such an integral part of our cultural history in this city. Recently I had the honor of rebranding another historical venue, and am so proud that my work will represent such a beautiful theater for years to come.

The Columbia City Theater was built in 1917 and was lovingly restored a little over two years ago by some really amazing folks. The logo from the previous owners had been in use up to this point. It was really fun to be able to give the new owners a fresh new look and feel that will be rolling out this summer. It feels classy, timeless and yet very "rock venue" - and it definitely honors the up-and-coming neighborhood that is Columbia City. To add to the sweetness, the new signage will be displayed in the theater in time for my wedding reception, which is right around the corner. My fiancé has had some unforgettable performances there himself and played the gorgeous piano original to the theater.  

Life really comes full circle sometimes... and that's a beautiful thing. 

ain't nothing like the real thing baby

Decided to experiment this month, and my "Salty Seas & Birch Trees" black & white print was the perfect opportunity try hand painting a poster. Not only do I love the result, I loved the process! (Didn't hurt that my amazingly talented man was writing beautiful music in the other room as I was painting).

Had to abandon my wood block / pyrography paintings this year because burning into wood ended up being really bad for my hand. This is definitely the next level and way more fun. There will absolutely be more custom pieces like this.

http://fridaclements.bigcartel.com/product/salty-seas-birch-trees-hand-painted-pre-order