a summer update

things I've made & seen & loved this month

Happy summer, sweet friends!

As you may have noticed, this newsletter has been a bit of everything: I’ve shared comics, essays, pages of my sketchbook, and more. But this week I thought it’d be fun just to tell you what I’ve been up to. So here are some things I’ve made, some things I’ve seen, and what’s been going on!

I just got back from a really lovely two week road trip around British Columbia. A fun fact about me is that I went to a small liberal arts university in the mountains of Squamish, BC, and it’s where I met my husband Andrew, and so many of our friends. This trip, we got to spend some time on Vancouver Island & in Squamish. We surfed in Tofino with Idea Camp friends, watched other friends get married on Quadra Island, mountain biked in Squamish, and saw orcas and sea otters and bears! I had a lot of fun trying to capture the magic of British Columbia’s rain forests & ocean in my sketchbook.

animals from my sketchbook

photos & sketches from my time around BC!

When my local library reached out to me about designing the art wrap for their new bookmobile, I was over the moon. The bookmobile is a library on wheels that brings books to kids all around the county. I got to create an illustrated world of books, people, and nature that wraps around the entire bus!

This was a dream project and truly, I might have peaked. I’d love to get to do more murals and big art installations like this, especially related to the world of books! Enjoy these professional photos I made Andrew take for me <3

This September, I’m co-hosting a creative retreat with Tala Rae Schlossberg in the mountains in Wyoming! It’s four days of workshops about unblocking creativity, learning new skills and techniques, and using creativity as a tool to connect with ourselves, the planet, and each other. Basically, it’s summer camp for adults, my favorite thing in the world, and anyone who enjoys making things can come. There are still a few spots left, snag one before it’s full!

That’s all from me. Now that I’m home in Idaho, it’s super duper hot and I’ve been spending most afternoons in the river! I hope wherever you are you have a place to splash, and a nice shady tree to sit under and draw. I’d love to see what you’ve been up to in the comments!!

Lots of love,

Kika