Last Friday, I had a very interesting lunch date with an old high school friend I haven’t seen in years. I was happy to hear from her and excited when I found out that we had both taken creative paths in our lives. It turns out that she is very interested in leaving her current job to pursue her true creative passions in graphic design. She is understandably concerned with taking this enormous leap and asked if I could share my experiences with her. I have to admit, I am always a bit terrified when I’m asked to share my experience as an entrepreneur as every business idea and all personality traits will yield very different results. But sitting with her and listening to the thoughts she’s been having and the events that have led her to where she currently is, I realized that passion to take over your career and your life looks the same on everyone. Seeing the mixture of fear and excitement on her face really resonated with everything I still feel as I keep moving forward. I think when people are sitting on the very edge of that particular cliff, they always want to know, “how did you know you were ready to start your own business.” Because the answer to that question lies within inexplicable feelings, the best way I can answer that question is to simple say…

Sometimes you just know.

Originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, but currently living in Ontario, Canada, Ani Castillo is an illustrator, cartoonist, and a photographer. Of all the media Ani works with, I am particularly drawn to her sweet and melancholic illustration work. I love the teenage angst-quality to her illustrations. I find that as an adult I still relate to those types of strong emotions… or perhaps I’m still a teenage girl at heart. (I don’t know whether to be happy or sad about that).

Ani’s work is available right here at her Etsy shop!

David Gomez is a photographer and illustrator based in Barcelona, Spain. With a degree in fine fashion arts, David has taken his inspiration from indigenous tribes and mystic cultures to illustrate his own modern tribe based on the “street-fashion photography” he takes. David’s portraits are “full of personality with multi colored masks and geometrical patterns that make them unique and inimitable.” I couldn’t agree more. Not only I am a huge fan of David Gomez’s tribe, I would LOVE to be a member!

Check out more of David’s work here.

**photos via**

This morning I realized I was waking up to the first day of what will be a very hectic week. Needless to say, it was a bit of a struggle to pull myself our of bed. Luckily Miles was there to give me an encouraging lick in the face. I think he just wanted his morning treat, but still, there’s something so charming about having a cute little dog lick you awake. Anyhow, later this week I’ll be in NYC working on LAMA’s site redesign. Yup! LAMA is getting an overdue facelift and a whole new look! I am thrilled and a little terrified all at once, but I’m excited to see what we come up with. Aside from that, I have about a million and a half tasks to get done prior to and during my time in New York, which led me to today’s Monday Motivation poster by artist Chris Piascik.

While it might not seem like the most motivating message, I actually love that at this point, I have so many ideas floating around in my head and so many things I want to get done, that there just aren’t enough hours in the day. I’m thrilled about the creative explosion that’s going on inside my head.

On an unrelated (well, somewhat related) note, I was going through Chris Piascik’s site and I came across a very cool Monday project he likes to do. Every week, Aaron Cohen writes a recap of Mad Men for his blog Unlikely Words, and Chris illustrates something from that episode to go with it. As someone who spends lunchtime on Mondays discussing (in incredible detail) Sunday night’s Mad Men episode, I got this biggest kick out of this. These are some of my favorite illustrated words from this season. I can’t wait to keep checking back every Monday.

Have a great week!

Today is a particularly rough Monday for me. I’m going on day two of the worst cold I’ve had in a while. Ugh. I thought spending all day on the couch yesterday catching up on Man Shops Globe and Top Chef would mean I would wake up this morning feeling much better. It didn’t happen. Aside from the extra strong cup of tea I made this morning, I thought I needed a double dose of motivation to get me going.

The first is a little bit of wishful thinking. The cup of tea (with lemon and honey) I’m sipping on right now is delicious. Good enough to solve everything? That remains to be seen. If not, the illustrated message below might be the tough love this cold needs.

What else can you do when you have a mountain of work to tackle? I wish you could all see the sympathetic stare Miles is giving me right now. I think he’s trying to coerce me into going back to bed. If I wasn’t so determined to “just get on with it,” I might take him up on it. Cheers to Monday! *cough* *sneeze* *cough*

*beautiful illustrations via tearriffic and Kristin Nohe

I’m not a big fan of matodors and bull fighting. Sure, there is a lot of romantic and cultural nostalgia to this sport, but after attending a bull fight in Ecuador a couple of years back, I can definitively say that I’m just not into it. I am, however, loving these matador illustrations by Happy Menocal. Colorful and vibrant, I can see myself creating a framed Matador collage in my home. Some things are just best left on paper (and in the movies).

I’m a little groggy this morning but feeling great! (Wow, I never thought I would say that on a Monday). The reason? I’ve recently had a very cool opportunity come my way. I’m not ready to share what that opportunity is just yet, but I will say that it’s going to be a great way for me to focus on another major passion of mine. I’m really proud of myself for going after it.

Today’s Monday Motivation comes from one of my favorite illustrators, S. Britt. To me, it’s a great reminder that a little bit of self-affirmation works wonders. Happy Monday!

Next up on my coverage of Colombian artist Andrea Posada’s work are her imaginative illustrations. I wish I knew more about  the story behind these incredible characters that Andrea creates in her work. I find them fascinating as they are equal parts creepy and beautiful. I love the colors she uses and her attention to detail. Enjoy a few of my favorites.

I was blown away when I discovered the work of graphic design student Valeria Montero. Based in Buenos Aires, this multitalented artist works in several mediums but I am particularly drawn to her illustration and collage work. This young student certainly has a bright future ahead of her. If only she made prints of her work, I’d buy them all!

I highly recommend checking out the rest of work.

*via*

After living in the clouds for much of the summer (particularly this past week), I’m ready to hunker down and get some serious work done. Looking down at my to do list, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. Where do I even start?!

Looking at this illustration by UK artist Thereza Rowe, I guess sometimes you just need to choose a task and “make a start.” Mondays are a new beginning…