- Oct 14, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 13
Illustration Treasure Chest of Children's Books @smartigraphicdesign
Momola bought a wooden storage chest once in a Japanese bazaar and as we moved around from country to country during my childhood. It became a safe space for my favorite things. And then childhood ended and I went on for other adventures. It's been in storage for a decade. And I finally reopened it this summer. What I found was a portal to my childhood self - a small collection of the illustrated books that made that time so special. Some of them you'll know, dear reader! But I suspect that some will be a surprise!
I had intentions of reopening this chest years ago. But you know how it goes. Life has other ideas. I just never got around to it. I got up the courage to unearth it this year. And opening it up, I found a collection of things that I had forgotten. A music box that played Maiden's Prayer, a whittled wooden charm that I used to wear on a necklace, a trick Japanese puzzle box, a Twin Stars lunchbox - even a Jenny doll (the Japanese barbie.) It was a gorgeous foray into the mind of a younger smarti: the tiny things she liked, the color choices she preferred, the magic of youthful whimsy.
But when I got down to the books. The books. THE BOOKS! I was so incredibly enamored. It's so true that the books one reads as a child integrate so deeply into our conscience. The stories still elicit a sense of excitement, happiness, playfulness. And while I can't exactly see the world with the same eyes, I can see how the aesthetic of the illustrations have inspired so much of my style, my choices, and the art in my present life. Here's the top hits of the collection that I'd like to share with you, dear reader:
illustration credit: Dr. Seuss enterprise
Green Eggs and Ham By Dr Seuss
A classic of any childhood generation, Dr. Seuss reigned supreme in our bedtime story traditions. My dad had a thousand voices at the ready while reading stories, but Sam-I-Am was by far his best. I love the inky lines, the strong contrasted colors, the imagination of all the propping aparata that were needed to lift boxes with foxes, or stilt trains speeding into a lake. And how's about a round of applause for the wand with a whole other hand attached at the end? Bravo!
illustration credit: Maria Pascual Albrecht
bibliography: Barrio, Fedro, Esopo, Iriarte, & Samaniego (Eds.). (1983). Fábulas. Tomo 6. (Pascual, Illus.) Ediciones Toray
Fabulas, Tomo 6, Authors: Barrio, Esopo, Fedro, Iriarte, Samaniego. Illustrated by Maria Pascual
This is a story collection book series that exclusively featured the artist Maria Pascual Albrecht. She was a prolific children's book illustrator in Spain, and although her body of work emerges during and out of the 70s funk - only dark eyelashes from that era extends into her art style. Otherwise, it's pages of delicate outlines of scenes and people, the softest blended bright colors, and an eye for background scenery and ornamentation that make every illustration glow with magic.
illustration credit: Yoshisuke Kurosaki
bibliography: Sakade, F. (1994). Japanese children’s favorite stories. (Kurosaki, Y., Illus) Tuttle.
Japanese Children's Favorite Stories, edited by Florence Sakade. Illustrated by Yoshisuke Kurosaki
This book is a compendium of classic Japanese tales with the most elegant lines and dreamiest watercolor illustration by Yoshisuke Kurosaki. He was a master of clean inked scenes with teensiest details of decoration. Characters have such round features, background shapes are soft-edged and curvy with smooth lined textures. Cute doesn't capture all its adorableness. And dear me, the colored pages are so bright and cheery they look almost edible!
illustration credit: Ron & Atie van der Meer
¡Oh, Señor!, written and illustrated by Ron & Atie van der Meer
[originally in English, but my Spanish cousins gifted it to me, so I have the Spanish version, which I decided to translate into English at some point - defacing my own copy! Original title: Oh Lord!]
A dutch artist husband-wife duo who wrote and illustrated this comic strip style book of the story of Genesis from the Bible. Apparently, Van Der Meer is known for being a paper engineer who has a long library credit of pop-up books. This book is not a pop-up. But it was a favorite to me for the neat layout and colorful imaginings of Genesis. I love how it compacts a convoluted story in such a clear and clean and colorful way. The genius use of a comic book structure is that it helped me understood the book before I could actually read it. Twice the use, double the fun.
illustration credit: Eric and Lucy Kincaid
El Sr. Ve-lo-todo dice "Mira Adentro", written and illustrated by Eric and Lucy Kincaid
(This was another book originally in English, but I have the Spanish copy. Original is titled: Look Inside.) The main drawing on each page a is realistic rendition of an animal, insect or food in nature. The accompanying background is always an imaginative scene that exaggerated the behavior and dwellings in the most creative ways. I loved the personification of everything - peas marching into a pod like soldiers, birds in do-rags vacuuming their nests, postal worker bees collecting pollen in jars and baskets, Of course, the addition of fairies in different scenes really made my imagination burst joyful about nature. (I cannot tell you how many times in my life I've thought of that orange packing fairy struggling to fit them back into their peels!)
My treasure chest was almost a time capsule, with the amount of time that had lapsed since I last opened it. And boy oh boy, that gave it such a rediscovery charm. A joy, curiosity and excitement of things I had almost forgotten! In the end it was hard for me to go through things without assigning some weight to all my keepsakes and trying to only keep the heaviest hitters. (Minimalism is not for the faint of heart.)
Thankfully, most of the books still captured my heart. They will stay with me for a while. I still find so much inspiration from them. And I can see why I chose bright colors, little details and clean lines, and work so hard to constantly simplify as I grow as an artist. It's part of my homage to the many illustrators who influenced me and my young self. A hearty thank you and big cheer for them! Hip hip hooray! I appreciate how you've made my world a wonderful place.
and now, here's wishing happy children's book memories to you too,
smarti
- Sep 14, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 13
Illustration How To Make a Dress With Momola @smartigraphicdesign
The talents and tradition of clothes-making herald back through generations and I'm the blunt end of a long line of gifted seamstresses. Baby outfits, theater costumes, prom dresses - thanks to Momola, I've had them all. So it wasn't much of a stretch to query her on how to break apart a dress to make another. Here's a little peek behind that curtain on that adventure back in August 2021 (dear me, 2 years ago!):
Left to Right: Illustration of Find A Dress You Love. Photo of Pattern Breakdown. Illustration of Carbon Copy It ©smartigraphicdesign
Thrift-hunting in Paris, I found a polka-dotted swing dress with a full skirt perfect for swing dancing. I wore it out until the threads were busting all over. And instead of trying to mend it, I brought it home to Momola and asked if we could make a copy.
Normally, you can just take your shirt/pants/skirt and trace it inside-out on a long sheet of paper. (Check @withwendy for her YouTube video on cloning clothes if this excites you.) But my dress was made of complicated godets, or triangles that form the skirt. Too complicated for this technique. So, I split apart the seams and copied the cut pieces on a sheet of paper. And then I cut out carbon copies of each piece.
Left to Right: Illustration of Serger Photograph of cutting the pattern. Illustration of Ironing The Dress ©smartigraphicdesign
Serger (which is not a sewing machine, but rather a joining machine?) is the next phase. Dress parts are pinned together first and then passed through the needle but instead of tying the fabric together, the thread merely binds parts so they don't shift. Undoing the threading is suprisingly easy. And once the serger marries everything, it can go through the sewing machine for the final clean sewing line. Or at least, that's what I can make out of that phase. It seemed rather frivolous to me. But Momola was the boss, so I did it.
And then it was a lot of back and forth - serging and sewing. Every now and again, the folds of the material needed to be ironed to make sure that they lay flat to get the cleanest sewing lines. A safety cloth goes between the iron and the dress, and then iron presses the parts into a flattened form before making more rounds with the serger and the sewing machine. Slowly, the dress started to come together. The top resembled a shirt and the bottom formed a skirt.
Side note: This is where dress-making gets tedious. But pushing through the doldrums of mid-creation is the hardest part in ANY project. I think about the proverbial hill at the end of a marathon, where the best advice is to keep your head down and keep moving one foot in front of the other. I wish there was a better way to get through things, but sometimes it's just a muckfest.
Left to Right: Illustration of Momola Does Her Magic. Photograph Loving the Twirl. Illustration of Love the Twirl. ©smartigraphicdesign
Eventually, I had to ask for Momola's tailoring magic to capture a hundred little details in tailoring. This is where I'm crazy lucky that Momola can fit a dress to my body with chest darts, underarm holes, sleeve lengths, smooth interior slip, etc. I followed her sparkling expertise as best as I could. But the magic is watching her wordlessly pinch, pull, sew and tailor small details that make all the difference in the fit. In the end, the dress came out gorgeous, fit beautifully, and twirls like a dream.
Illustration How To Make a Dress With Momola. ©smartigraphicdesign
All my life, Momola has been one of those ladies with a can-do spirit that's bewitching. She'll try anything and can do almost everything. Carpentry, tiling, ceramics - it's delightfully fun to watch and a lesson that crafting is a learned intelligence that comes with time, practice and attempting things in different arenas. I'm grateful I get to be reminded of this when I watch her in action. A hearty thank you goes out to Momola for teaching me some new tricks and using her magic to bring yet another garment to life!
Illustration Thank You Momola. ©smartigraphicdesign
happy dress-making dear friends,
smarti
- Aug 14, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 12
Illustration CopenVeganHagen @smartigraphicdesign
Vegan got glam! I've watched patiently (13 years now) as the vegan trend and climate consciousness collided, resulting in a starburst of flashy new plant-based places all over the world. I’m talking really good food + beautiful plating + chic surroundings. This was definitely evident in Copenhagen. So when someone recently asked for some recommendations, I went down a rabbit hole of nostalgia. Here's an ode (in countdown style) of my top 10 Danish vegan restaurants who made the culinary experience awesome:
Illustration Letz Sushi @smartigraphicdesign
No. 10: LETZ SUSHI
Most sushi places are ultra-boring for vegans - cucumber roll again, amiright? But Letz Sushi managed to spruce things up for the plant-based. They give some decent sushi options that expand courageously into the vegan palate. The location I list has some tables, but nothing special in ambiance so I'd recommend ordering in.
Pro tip: In the comment section, request "no soy sauce please" since we can all get our own soy sauce bottles and make do with a little less little plastic in the world.
Illustration Kösk Kebab @smartigraphicdesign
No. 9: KÖSK KEBAB
The Nørrebro neighborhood we lived in is choc-a-block full of kebab-eries. Suffice to say, we tried a lot of falafel during our time in Copenhagen. But Kösk is a step above. I think they're special because they put a little bit of cinnamon in their falafel and the sweet/savory taste result is so delicate and delightful. They are also a no-fuss place and they understand what you mean when you say you are vegan.
Pro tip: find the tea pitchers behind the soda machine and pour yourself a spot of hot tea to complete the dining experience.
Illustration 42 Raw @smartigraphicdesign
No, 8: 42RAW
I stumbled upon this place tucked into the Royal Academy of the Arts while I was stationed in London many moons ago. Their salads and raw desserts were gorgeous. Once I landed in Copenhagen, I tracked them down to the chain cafe they evolved into and enjoyed their smoothies and açai bowls on the regular. They aren't exclusively vegan anymore so pay attention when you order. Oh, and while they offer quite a list of suitable options, the best things on their menu are sweet.
Pro tip: Buy some granola if you can snag a bag - they go so fast!
Illustration Kung Fu @smartigraphicdesign
No. 7: KUNG FU RAMEN
Alright, so this place only offers a couple of things, but they are really brilliant. I might be swayed by the fact I lived too close to this place and it was so convenient, but hear me out: their falafels in the vegan miso ramen is incredible. They soak up the ramen juices and then M E L T in your mouth. It's something I never knew I was missing in my life.
Pro tip: come only as a pair and eat in the bar section - the high tables are fantastic and the space is less cramped than the other side of the restaurant.
Illustration Kaf @smartigraphicdesign
No. 6: KAF
100% vegan bakery cafe with a charming no-nonsense vibe. They have the best assortment of cakes in the city. AND because they have a no-work policy, the place isn't cluttered with laptops and digital nomads. Go here for a quiet break with a friend to peacefully savor that croissant-au-chocolat with deep, meaningful talk.
Pro tip: Unplug and enjoy it. Oh, and take your plates back inside after your snack to be extra courteous to the waitstaff.
Illustration Selva @smartigraphicdesign
No. 5: SELVA
On the popular shopping street of Elmegåde, there's a Brazilian cafe with a bright facade. Portuguese banter floats in the air, chairs are hard won and the fridge display case is brimming with bowls of various mixed salads in perfect marination. My partner got so obsessed with their tapioca crepes that even the owner himself had to tell him to slow down.
Pro tip: Skip the coconut water, go for the passionfruit juice. And that's saying something, because I normally hate passionfruit.
Illustration Nice Cream @smartigraphicdesign
No. 4: NICE CREAM
Nice Cream is a plant-based ice cream shop that serves up adventurous flavors. The cashew cream base is so rich and satisfying. They are also very generous with their portions. Some of the flavor combinations seem crazy but they all throw a dart on the bullseye. Although, if you're feeling less courageous, they also have a highly recommendable chocoholic and basic vanilla.
Pro tip: Vesterbro location has seats inside, otherwise wait for a sunny day to indulge.
Illustration Flavour Bastards @smartigraphicdesign
No. 3: FLAVOUR BASTARDS
This informal vegan space is a cool hang with an eclectic seating arrangement, outdoor benches and a decent brunch spread. To be honest, the dinner menu has changed a lot from these big saucy plate options when they started. It slowly whittled down to a tiny list of greek mezzo options - so I can't say it's anything special. But - the brunch menu ROCKS! Savory scrambled tofu toast? Loaded waffles? Stuffed French toast? Yes, yeeeeeesssss, Y E S ! I'm all in. And then once you are stuffed, take a slow waterside stroll along the lakes. *perfection*
Pro tip: Book the nook to sit in a cozy space for people-watching and doodling
Illustration Eden Jax @smartigraphicdesign
No. 2: EDEN JAX
Go to this burger joint for a beautiful burger and best thin fries experience in Copenhagen. They are a vegan fast-food spot so their menu is safe no matter what you choose, and burger sauces are a no-brainer. I could maybe even drink the tangy burger dipping sauce - it's so good!
Pro tip: order it on Wolt app so you can stay at home on bad weather days and have your burger levitate it's way to you via bike messenger.
Illustration Ark @smartigraphicdesign
No. 1: ARK
I'd never been to a Michelin-star restaurant...until I got to Copenhagen. Danes love the artsy gourmet food experience. It made sense that Copenhagen would eventually elevate the vegan trend into a gourmet food experience too. And so voila: Ark. The single Green Michelin star rated restaurant with a 7-course tasting menu and cocktail/mocktail pairing. I love the wondrous descriptions and tantalizing tastes and it's knocked the socks off all the guests who visited me.
Pro tip: come exactly on time and expect to stay a little later since the course presentation is steady and entertaining enough that times will just melt away.
That's it! That's my top 10 Copen-Vegan-Hagen eats. At the time of publication, all of these establishments are still in existence. But you know, the restaurant economy is fickle and things change from time to time. If you've gotten the chance to eat at any of these places, I'm beyond ecstatic for you!
And if you haven't yet booked a trip, then I hope this will entice you to give their vegan spaces a visit. Danish are very forward-minded, and many have adopted meatless meals to their lifestyle to be climate conscious so there's lots of options on menus. Best of all, you won't feel isolated or dismissed like in some other countries - a welcome and wonderful relief.
For a country so small, they Danes really step up to make the world a better place - and that extends with what's on the plate. Thank you Copenhagen for making life delicious for vegans, too. No wonder its one of the happiest countries in the world!
bon apetite, dear friends,
smarti
