In the Middle

When a Dream Grows: Every Little Kindness, Are We There Yet? and Finding Forgiveness

Since I was little, I have felt a creative force within me and a huge love for drawing and painting. Mom asks me, "Do you remember when you were a little girl? You once said, all inspired, 'Something is happening in the woods!' "A dream was alive.

I still remember the feeling of imagining fairies, pixies, little beetles dancing, trees whispering, red mushrooms growing... But I never imagined I would be where I am today. I'm still in awe of how life has led me to become an artist and to tell my own stories in the form of books.

My first book, Every Little Kindness, was created during my Master's program at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. I was inspired by my friend's action when she adopted a dog named Brko, the main character in the book. He was saved from a shelter where he would have been put down. I wanted to honor her act of kindness. She showed as an example of action. And this is how the story starts. The accent color in the book is red. This color represents life (the color of blood), love (the affection for the dog), and anger (due to the dog being lost). Miš Publishing published the book. In 2021, it was released in the US by Chronicle Books. This edition includes a few changes that contributed to the storyline and its message even more.

Are We There Yet?/A smo že tam? is the second wordless book in this series. The inspiration comes from my life. From my fears and sometimes frustration: what if everything planned goes wrong? Then what? How can I cope with the unknown and uncertainty? The main accent is yellow, signifying warmth. I wanted to create a warm atmosphere as a reminder that life, bigger than myself, is always taking care of everything. However, I must show courage and take the necessary steps. The book was launched into the world by Miš Publishing.

Finding Forgiveness is my third book in the series of wordless picture books as a graphic novel. The inspiration came from my dear agent, Allison. She gave me the courage I needed. Forgiveness is a precious quality, but steps toward it can be quite difficult at times. It feels like working within ourselves reflects the change happening outside. When barriers and heavy emotions melt, life changes, and also connections with others. In the book, the main color is blue. In my country, Slovenia, blue represents the color of forget-me-not. And blue is the color of the sky, but also the color of sadness. All those connect beautifully with the storyline. The book was published by Chronicle Books. The rights are held by Stimola Literary Studio.

So, here they are, three books that I never imagined I would bring to life with the help of wonderful people. Each one was created with passion and love, and each one has its own distinctive accent: red, yellow, and blue. I didn't plan to use those primary colors. It happened intuitively. And just like all other colors are made from the primary ones, many stories can be created with the wordless books I'm writing about.

I don't know why I'm looking back. Maybe because I want to believe in a kind world where we could live together as one family. Maybe to realize that all this happened. I feel so much gratitude. And amazement. And I wonder where this dream leads from here.

Kje si? potuje na Češko!

Krasna novica! Na Miš založbi pravijo, da Brčko potuje na Češko, saj je pravice za knjigo KJE SI? odkupila češka založba Portál. Maham knjigi na pot in upam, da zaživi v domišljiji tamkajšnjih bralcev!

Wonderful news! I was informed by Mis Publishing that the rights to my book KJE SI? were bought from Portál Publishing in the Czech Republic. I hope the book will find many readers who will take the journey through the worldess story.

Giclée printi v Knjigarni Morfem

Novica za vse ljubitelje ilustracije! Vesela sem, da so od danes naprej moji giclée printi v prodaji tudi v Morfemovi knjigarni in sicer trije motivi iz knjige Sto slovenskih ljudskih. Če bi imeli svojega, toplo vabljeni v Šiško!

KJE SI?

Pot knjige 𝙆𝙅𝙀 𝙎𝙄?, Miš založba, manjkata še nemška (izšla bo ponovno, a pri drugi založbi kot prvič) in turška. Lepo je videti ta nekakšen časovni prerez v sliki. Nisem pričakovala, da bo kdaj moje delo zaživelo v obliki natisnjene knjige. To je bil moj eksperiment, ko sem vse vrgla čez ramo in samo ustvarjala. Če bi imeli slovensko verzijo knjige, jo lahko kupite tudi na spletu in sicer TUKAJ.

It's amazing to see the journey of my book. Two editions are yet to come—Turkish and another German edition. It started as an experiment for my Master's, and I never imagined it would become a printed book. My focus was creating a story about values that are important to me, and playing as much as possible with the art technique and style. If you would like to have the English edition, you can buy it HERE.

26. Mali likovni tabor

Utrinek iz 26. Malega likovnega tabora, ki ga je organizirala JSKD Trebnje. Hvala, Joži Sinur in Petra Zorn za še en prijeten dogodek. Čestitke vsem učencem za njihova dela, ustvarjali so na temo: Ustvarimo deželo po lastni domišljiji!

Foto: Andraž Kovačič

.......

Na letošnjem Malem likovnem taboru je sodelovalo 33 mladih druge in tretje triade z 12 osnovnih in podružničnih šol: OŠ Belokranjskega odreda Semič, OŠ dr. Pavla Lunačka Šentrupert, OŠ Maksa Pleteršnika Pišece, OŠ Mirna. OŠ Mokronog, OŠ Raka, OŠ Toneta Pavčka, OŠ Trebnje, OŠ Trebnje - PŠ Dobrnič, OŠ Trebnje - PŠ Dolenja Nemška vas, OŠ Trebnje - PŠ Šentlovrenc in OŠ Veliki Gaber.

Več tukaj.

Giclée printi v Knjigarni LGL in Konzorciju MK

Ljubitelji ilustracije, če bi imeli kakšen giclée print zase ali pa za darilo, so na voljo za nakup v Knjigarni Lutkovnega gledališča Ljubljana, od četrtka naprej pa bodo v prodaji tudi v Konzorciju MK. Nekateri motivi so knjižni, nekateri pa ne. (Za) vsakega nekaj. :)

Ara in medved

Veselje! Izšla je slikanica ARA IN MEDVED, napisala jo je Nina Mav Hrovat, za uredniški del je poskrbela Mateja Sužnik, tehnično uredil in za tisk pripravil Jure Preglau, izšla je pri založbi Zala. To je še ena od zgodb, ko so bile slike jasne in sem s svinčniki, barvicami in čopiči potovala skupaj z junaki skozi skice in ilustracije. Celotni ekipi hvala za povabilo in zaupanje, da sem lahko ilustrirala to zgodbo!

Vabljeni na predstavitev novosti Miš založbe!

Razstava Sto slovenskih ljudskih, Galerija Krka Ljubljana