This past Wednesday on Iceland's official last day of Winter (yay!), I received Reykjavík’s Literary Prize for the Best Illustrated Book Published in 2015. It’s an incredible honor, I’m humble and grateful for the acknowledgement my work received.
I was pleasantly surprised to hear the book I illustrated ,,Ugla & Fóa og maðurinn sem fór í hundana” by Ólafur Haukur Símonarson was the one receiving the award this year. It was nominated amongst four other beautiful books that deserved the title just as well. Although I’m not much of a dog-person, I really enjoyed getting to know and illustrate the two poodles, Ugla & Fóa. I did not contribute to the design of the book or the cover, and must admit I’m not a huge fan of how either turned out (but that’s another story). But every project is something to learn from and I’m very grateful that the award committee spotted my two poodles :)
Seeing peoples reaction to your work, to that something you created with a simple pencil at your desk, from some idea in your head is so rewarding. Sometimes you feel like your stuff is total rubbish, sometimes you feel like it’s actually quite good, sometimes you feel like you must be at least a little bit insane to have chosen this career. But sometimes someone says “hey, you’re doing the right thing” and then it all comes together. The knowing you are where you should be. And I’m not just saying that awards make you feel like that. It has everything to do with the support you get from the people around you and the feeling you get from creating the work.
And when it all works out,…girl, it feels good.
Here are a few illustrations from Ugla & Fóa
They say dogs are your best friends, in sickness and in health
Walking the dogs
Walking the whale
A few different ways to get your nights sleep
In other news - I have a bunch of stuff is on my drawing table! Nothing to share quite yet but a few sketches from an upcoming book...
Oh, and I finally visited San Francisco again after almost six years away.
It was a great visit. It is the best city.
But it always feels good to come back home ;)
Happy Summer y'all!
