Mini book addiction!

I confess, I´m totally addicted to mini books. Empty of course so I can fill them with all kinds of goodies. One of my co-students in New York had these amazing passport sized books from MUJI, and filled them with these cute little drawings. This past week I visited the Muji store in Barcelona and there they were. Only 1,75 euros each. I was able to control myself and only bought four. The first one is half way done.
This weekend I signed up for a workshop with Diego Mallo in la Escosesa and I will definitely bring my mini books.  Can´t wait to see what the pages  look like on monday! I´ll keep you posted.

Self promotion on the go!

New York has been inspiring in many ways. But the thing that kept to me most was the importance of self promotion. Even the best commissioned illustrators send off cards or mini portfolios to remind publishers they are still alive and kicking. I haven´t been very good at it. And I guess I believed the world would be able to find me without making myself visible. Well it did not happen! After some really convincing lectures about believing in yourself and how to get yourself out there, I got triggered.

Because of my obsession with miniature objects, the mini portfolio idea immediately appealed to me.

If you google on mini portfolio, the most amazing sites pup op. It felt like walking through a candy store. Moo cards is one of them. Stickerbooks, matchbook portfolio´s almost everything is possible if you have a big fat wallet(because of the shipping costs). unfortunately my wallet  is on a strict diet lately so I decided to use my creativity and produce something myself.

On my last trip to Holland I came across a shopping guide, folded into this fantastic pocket sized booklet.
There you go! My mini portfolio template was presented to me, and all for free. I personalized the sample into my A-4 sized(unfolded) mini portfolio.  It´s all done and ready to fly into the big magical world of children book publishers.

What´s going on?

What´s going on in miss Pinkelton´s life. Well first of all crisis rules. Making ends meet has always been a daily struggle but ever since crisis took over, it´s even more challenging.  Thank God I´m creative. Although creativity is not enough right now it definitely helps me getting through these rough times.  In general I´m a pretty positive person but I did discover the gloomy sight of my personality these past years.

It´s ok to be depressed about the decreasing financial sources but it shouldn´t keep us from making art. And luckily for me, it doesn´t. I´m working, I´m inspired and concerning the circumstances I´m pretty happy.

After wishing and hoping for it for years I finally made it to New York. Last summer I participated in a summer residency in School of Visual arts. Wow! what a great experience. I met the most amazing talented people. All chasing their dream of becoming a professional illustrator. Something happened over there. I can´t really put my finger on it but I guess I was ready to receive the feed back I needed to get where I´m going.

The most important message was:  just go on, never stop believing it, and if you really want it, make it happen.  That´s what I´m doing right now. I threw away my insecurity and kicked my ass!

What a great feeling. It´s good as it is and everything that comes with it will be received with wide open arms. I want to be prepared when IT(whatever it may be) knocks on my door.