Desiree East Studios

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a gift for ocean girl project

A gift for my soul surf sister, Auntie Colleen of Ocean Girl Project.

Auntie Colleen had reached out to me and asked if I could create a logo for Ocean Girl Project, a sustainable surf camp for girls. Why, yes, of course I would. That sounded fabulous!

Have I mentioned Ocean Girl Project before? Well, I probably have. But, if you haven't checked out their website, it's a must. Auntie Colleen and her beautiful team of volunteers teaches young girls how to surf and fall in love with the ocean. On top of getting sun-kissed and playing in the waves, the girls also learn the importance of embracing and taking care of Mother Earth:

Our hope is to foster a love and appreciation for the ocean and environment, enhance self-confidence and connect kids to strong community role models.  We teach sustainable ocean related activities that can benefit them now and all through their life. 

Ahhh...SO good. Doesn't that make your heart smile?

So, as you may or may not know, I have been working on this little art project for the last several months. It started out w/preliminary sketches, and I had decided to use the technique of relief block printmaking. I thought that doing this would give the logo a more natural, earthy feel, as opposed to doing an illustration or painting. And of course, if you know me by now, I do very little graphic design, as I like to do things old school. By hand, folks. To this day, even my landscape designs are all hand-rendered. {face-palm}

(I don't know where this sassiness is coming from. It's been a looooong week.)

And as much as I love technology, there are days (like today and yesterday) where I just want to throw my computer out the window. I've been venting about that for days, it seems.

Okay. I'll stop now.

I really am grateful for email, social media, being able to stay in touch with family and communicate with awesome people, like you, from around the world. Don't get me wrong, but I think it's that time again for me to take a mini digital cleanse.

We have a long weekend ahead of us, and in honor of Memorial Day, I might just do that. Slow down.Unplug. Breathe in the salty air. And just be.

In the meantime, I hope you'll join me. I hope you find the time to unplug, spend time with family, get outside, and get creative. Do something with your hands. Jump in the water. Give the smart phone/computer a rest, even if for a couple of hours. Be mindful.

Ha! Tangent. This is what happens when I have too much going on. I go on tangents.

Anyways, I wanted to share with you my creative process for this art project. I made a little video, and I hope it sparks some inspiration for the weekend ahead or for future projects of your own. Feel free to ask any questions in the comment section, and again, please visit Ocean Girl Project if you are in Hawaii or plan to visit for the summer!! Aloha my friends...muaaaah...xoxoxoxo