Sirin = ♥

i have Tumblr to thank for another of my new favourite things/people in life. at the beginning of April this year, someone i follow reposted a piece of artwork by the marvellous Sirin Thada. i was immediately drawn to that particular illustration, which i'll post right below this text so you might have a similar experience to my own ;)

see? isn't that great? polar bears hugging with some cool arty design and a witty, yet heartbreaking phrase written in for good measure. i was hooked. so i went along to Sirin's homepage on tumblr and immediately felt like i'd stumbled across a gold mine. 

get the joke? get it? heehehe.

Sirin mixes just the right amount of smart-mouth with a tenderness and realness that i find is so often lacking in what i see around me recently. i can get a true sense of the kind of person she is through her work, and i know she'd be someone i'd get along REALLY well with. take this illustration, for example...

hi, welcome to the story of my life.

this is from her website: “My work is a colorful concoction of everyday observations and embellished eavesdropping, mixed with a dash of pop culture. I am particularly drawn to the basic, boring struggles and emotions we all share. Heartache and silly daydreams, petty jealousies and snarky attitudes, irrational fears and insecurities — these are the things that move me.

I love the challenge of depicting these modern day mini-dramas in a way that is engaging and fun, hopefully sometimes funny, that can resonate with the young and young-at-heart around the world. Of course, there are times when my work is plain old silly. Because that’s just how I roll.

My art is done by hand on paper. I usually start by sketching in pencil, sometimes in ink. Then I color everything in with gouache. I also often use crayons, colored pencils, markers, and collaged bits of tape, to add another dimension to my work. Visually, I am inspired by everything from textiles, to graffiti, to old cartoons.”

oh, and i mean, she draws cats. cats. this one below is Gimli to perfection...

...and i absolutely adore her take on LOLCATS :D

fairly soon after i started following Sirin's work, she started a new project which she named I Stole This From You. its goal? to tell the stories of people from all over the world with precious items that they've stolen, borrowed or have had handed down to them.

participants take a photo of their sentimental item and write up a ±100 word caption to explain why the item is important to them. then Sirin illustrates them and adds in the caption. they turn out beautiful, like these.

i knew immediately when i heard of the launch of this project that i wanted to take part, so i sent through my own story and waited to see if i'd be lucky enough to have Sirin design an artwork in honour of it. and she did! here it is:

in short? i love Sirin; i love her work and her sense of humour. i'm so glad i stumbled across her work and that i got to be a part of her incredible I Stole This From You project.

and now? TO BED! g'night, y'all :)