Saturday 22 August 2015

I Like: Jimmy Carter: The Number One Human Rights Abuse



"With his signature resolve, former US President Jimmy Carter dives into three unexpected reasons why the mistreatment of women and girls continues in so many manifestations in so many parts of the world, both developed and developing. The final reason he gives? “In general, men don’t give a damn.”"

TED Talks

Sunday 16 August 2015

London Zoo - again


 photo asa wikman at london zoo 8 copy asa wikman.jpg
 photo asa wikman at london zoo 7 copy asa wikman.jpg
 photo asa wikman at london zoo 9 copy asa wikman.jpg


It's absolutely mind blowing what amazing creatures we have on this planet!

 photo asa wikman at london zoo 24 copy asa wikman.jpg

 photo asa wikman at london zoo 2 copy asa wikman.jpg
 photo asa wikman at london zoo 11 copy asa wikman.jpg
 photo asa wikman at london zoo 3 copy asa wikman.jpg
 photo asa wikman at london zoo 4 copy asa wikman.jpg
More pics coming soon.

Sunday 2 August 2015

Raw Like Sushi Sock Collection





























Lately I have been busy with a very fun project, I have been working on Sammy Icons upcoming autumn as well as next years spring sock collection and as the 90's hip hop chick I am who also grew up in the 80's there's a lot of inspiration drawn from that. The collection in full is named after my childhood hero (of course Salt n Pepa was no 1) Neneh Cherry and her first album "Raw Like Sushi".

 photo Asa Wikman Miami Beach Sock Dsigns 2015 copy Asa Wikman 2015.jpg

























The full collection will be out next year but there will be a few sock designs coming out in advance so stay tuned. Here's a sneak peek, the sock Oasis that is out now in a low cut summer sneaker size available in orange & cerise. And yes, Sammy icon ships internationally and an English version of their website is on its way up :)

Monday 6 July 2015

Barcelona pt 2




























































































I was going to go to Barcelona Zoo but red a lot of really bad reviews and also saw that they have a dolphin and seal show and felt that I don't want to support that, I don't really think that Zoo's should have animal shows - it's not a circus but should try and show animals in their natural habitat so I skipped that and walked up to the old castle on Mountjuic instead which is surrounded by beautiful parks and has a great view of the city and chilled out under a orange tree.

People were very generous and friendly and I definitely have to go back soon again. What is interesting and inspiring with this city as well is that even though Barcelona is going through a tuff time with high unemployment and a heavy hitting financial crisis the city is still bubbling with innovation and creativity and there's a lot of small creative businesses making glasses out of old skate boards, environmentally friendly wallpapers, shoes, bags etc etc. And we are not taking about greedy, evil corporations who doesn't even pay their staff a living wage - instead these small companies struggling in a very tuff economic climate pay their staff fair and good wages, celebrate things that are hand made, recycled and organic and is not ruining our planet, way to go Barcelona!

I will be back.


PS The white bottle in the right side corner is a bottle of Sangria from Casa Lolea in Born, this Sangria is made with apple and elderflower and is definitely worth a try.

Sunday 5 July 2015

Barcelona pt 1





























































































I needed a little break from London and took off to Barcelona for a week and just came back and is sitting with my morning coffee in my tiny London room wishing I instead was in some beautiful plaza with a cortado back in BCN, and the fact that the sky is grey and it will rain all day doesn't help. I really like Barcelona, its a very laid-back and friendly city and I can imagine it being great to travel to with children as well and there are so many air lines that fly out there that if you plan your trip it doesn't have to cost much at all.

I started every morning with a cortado on various beautiful plazas before grabbing a bike and cycling down to the beach for a morning swim and a few pages of a new spy thriller that I started. Barcelona beach is quite long, if you avoid the beginning of it and keep walking you get less tourists, more space and a nicer beach with less stones and clearer water. I am addicted to tetra pack gaspacho, there is a brand that makes a really delicious one, its not cheap but cheaper then eating tapas in some bar and very delicious so I have to confess that I have had gaspacho on the beach for lunch every day before cycling back in to Born and Gothic, cooling down with a ice cappucino in the shade.

This city has it all, there is culture, architecture and art as well as great food & drinks, shopping, the ocean, the beach and great parks & nature. My camera is unfortunately broken but here are some pics from my holiday taken with my phone, I had to stop taking photos of beautiful balconies as they are every where.

Sunday 14 June 2015

Meet The Doodle Guy!


 photo Doodle guy print by asa wikman to blog copy asa wikman.jpg

I am at home with a infected wisdom tooth and I have to confess that I had no idea a tooth could cause so much pain! While being sedated on pain killers at home and being on hardcore antibiotics I updated my shop with a few more prints, one of the new ones is this little The Doodle guy who can't stay away from doodling on any surface he gets close to and so far he is my best selling print all times, if you are London based you can get him with a white nice frame for £30, in my shop I only sell the print cause of postage etc. just hit me with a e-mail.

 photo Pearl and the doodle huy asa wikman print 2.jpg

Being at home in pain with my tooth I was so happy to receive a very nice message from a super cute new Doodle guy owner, thank you, you made my day! Getting nice messages from happy clients and customers is really appreciated so thank you, it means a lot :)

Wednesday 3 June 2015

Let's go Bananas!

 photo Lets go bananas pattern in the making by Asa Wikman copy Asa Wikman_2.jpg

Working on a new pattern made out of my The trap print, not happy with the repeat yet, its a bit to simple at the moment. I will show you the final version when I am finished.

Saturday 23 May 2015

The Case of the Pink Elephant


 photo Skating elephant to blog by Asa Wikman copy Asa Wikman_2.jpg

Did you know that of all the different kinds of elephants it is only the pink one that skates? Or wait a minute, maybe they were blue?

 photo Skating blue elephant to blog by Asa Wikman copy Asa Wikman_2.jpg

Saturday 9 May 2015

My Shop is Back Online






























Hello,

London is rainy and cold (what a surprise..) and the conservatives won the election - again.

But on a positive note; I am working on more new prints and sticker sets and have re-opened my shop, to visit it click here.

:)

Friday 1 May 2015

Man's Best Friend


 photo the last big cat by asa wikman copy asa wikman_2.jpg

The Last Big Cat, 59.4x42cm
Printed on German Hahnemuhle Etching paper
Limited edition of 30

 photo the trap by asa wikman copy asa wikman_2.jpg

The Trap, 59.4x42cm
Printed on German Hahnemuhle Etching paper
Limited edition of 30


 photo Dont feed the elephants by asa wikman copy asa wikman.jpg

Don't feed the elephants, 59.4x42cm
Printed on German Hahnemuhle Etching paper
Limited edition of 30

Big thanks to everyone who came down to Bat Country Collective Man's Best Friend exhibition opening last night, I had a great time! Also big thanks to Fika for having us and for helping us organise it all. The exhibition will be up until the 1/7 so if you missed it last night there is still time to check it out. Here's are some of my prints for the show, I will upload some photos from our opening night later.


Monday 20 April 2015

Hello you!



 photo Hello you work in progress by asa wikman copy asa wikman.jpg

Working on a gigantic print to the upcoming "Man's Best Friend..?" exhibition at Fika, here's a sneak peek.

Saturday 18 April 2015

Man's Best Friend…? Exhibition
































Bat Country Collective are exhibiting at Fika in London!

The exhibition is raising quiestions regarding Man's Best Friend and features new work from the London & Stockholm based illustrators behind the collective;

Karin Söderquist
Emma Farrarons
Dani's Drawings
and Åsa Wikman

The exhibition opens 1/5 and will be up and running until the 1/7 at Fika, Brick Lane , E1 6SB London

Private View 30/4 6-9PM, Welcome to join us!

See you there!


Monday 13 April 2015

Exhibition time - sketch book up!


Hi,

It's nice to finally have some time to draw again!  Currently I am working on new prints for a upcoming exhibition with Bat Country Collective, the name of the exhibition is "Man's Best Friend" and at the moment I have so many ideas that I think that my brain will explode and the ones that I have tested so far I am not really happy with so I have a few very busy weeks ahead. Wish me luck!

 photo gorilla sketch by asa wikman copy asa wikman.jpg


































I have been fascinated in how some people have close relationships with wild animals for a very long time and have spent hours watching youtube videos of people cuddling with their cheetahs, lions and tigers, playing and swimming with wolfs, foxes and even white sharks and polar-bears. There's a lot that could be said about this, personally I don't even have a cat as I think it would be cruel in my tiny flat with no garden and of course I would much rather have a lion running free in the wild then being someone's pet but let's leave that debate aside and just look at the relationship that some people have with their animals for now and also remember that not all of these animals have been captured, some have been saved by humans and would not have been alive without them.

I would like to share one of the films I have been watching with you, it's about Chito & Pocho in Costa Rica, a man and his best friend, a crocodile - watch it and try to not be amazed.




Tuesday 31 March 2015

Time to wake up from the winter sleep and play!















































I have been hibernating for a while but now I am slowly coming back to life!

For me it has always been important to play and experiment, I never wanted to work in just one way and in one style - I find that quite unchallenging and boring and want to develop and try new things.

Currently I am getting bits and pieces together, running around London with my camera and has started to play with my ideas for a new print and pattern collection, this time I will work with mixed media and graphics.

I like to work with collage now and then as it's a very different way of working and feels more free and less controlled then drawing and I can get some use of my love for photography.

Let's see how it goes.

Saturday 14 March 2015

I Like: Advanced Style













































































Images from the Advanced style blog.


Hi Everyone,

I have been awfully quiet lately, I have been busy enjoying London city; cognac and cocktails in dim-lit  pubs and hidden bars, long walks and exhibitions but also my new hobby; kick boxing - and of course, new exciting projects!

I will exhibit with my Bat Country Collective gang this spring in east London so I am looking forward to that and will keep you posted, until I can share all the new stuff with you I wanted to share a short documentary that I really liked, "Advanced Style", based on Ari Seth Cohen's blog with the same name.





I am well aware of that there's more important things going on in this world then fashion and elderly women walking around the streets of New York dressing how ever they feel like but this is about more if you ask me and in a world obsessed and focused on young people and beauty how inspirational and cool it is to see women at the age of 70-100 being happy, confident, absolutely gorgeous and enjoying life!

See it and let me know what you think.

That's it for now, enjoy your weekend!