I was recently introduced to the art of Nik Daum when he kindly dropped me an email with a link to his work. And, I am so glad that he did! What followed was hours spent pouring over his quirky art. I enjoyed his “dordles” which he describes as “not quite a drawing and not quite a doodle and not quite bad”. These dordles range from cute to (really, really) creepy and are”recorded in the margins of advertising briefs, discarded printouts, or the company stationary”.

Nik’s sheer volue of art work is certainly enough to impress anyone. He seems like an especially busy fellow which is why I was thrilled that he agreed to an interview. Take a look at what Nik has to say about his art:

Where do you currently live? Where have you lived in the past? Has this had an effect on your art?
I’m currently living in Shanghai, China for a six month+ work opportunity. Prior to that I lived on the west coast in Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. I grew up in Dallas, Texas. All of these places have had an effect on my creative thinking, mostly through the variety of scenery and people. San Francisco felt the artiest and weirdest place to live, but a lot of my upbringing in Texas was far from normal.

What inspires you?
Daydreaming to music, walking around both city and wilderness, riding a scooter or bike, seeing new countries. Even a little sadness is inspiring sometimes.

What do you do when you are feeling uninspired?
I’ve never been able to force inspiration, so I either accept that it’s not going to happen that day or I try something to compensate. Such simple diversions could be a tweak to my website, a blog post, a doodle, practice guitar, go on a walk. I find it weird that when I’m at my happiest, I’m also at my most uninspired artistically. I might feel like anything is possible, but I’m least inclined to follow through. I guess I save all that motivation for rainy days.

What sort of mood do you wish to portray in your artwork?
Childlike curiosity. Even if the subject matter is weird or dark, it can still feel innocent. I hope some of my art makes people smile too.

Continue reading An Interview with Nik Daum

I have lived in Cincinnati, Ohio for the entire twenty-two years of my existence. There are certainly positives and negatives to living in this city. I feel that many times it gets written off as boring or stagnant. However, as of lately, some pretty neat things have been happening around these parts– things that are making me feel a glimmer of excitement and pride to call Cincinnati my hometown. A few weekends ago, I attended an amazing craft and trunk show called GRASS. Let me start off by saying that it was fantastic. It was well-organized, well attended, and the vibe there was that of genuine excitement and creativity. There was vintage clothing, silk-screened t-shirts, handmade jewelry, art, photography, zines, and even lovely ladies cutting hair (which I absolutely took advantage of!) and painting faces.

Basically, it’s as if someone was like, “Okay, so what sort of things would make Emily swoon like a teenage girl?” and then meshed them all together into one lovely space for all to enjoy. Plus, it was only a five-minute drive from my apartment! I think it was an absolute hit and I definitely feel as though this is exactly the type of thing that Cincinnati needs. There are so many unbelievably creative and talented individuals in this city. It’s about time they all started putting their pretty little heads together and making neat things happen!

That’s me in the yellow sweatshirt, watching my friend Sarah (she has face paint on, if you were wondering what those black lines on her chin were) getting her hair cut. I was next in line!

I bought a necklace from this sweet girl! I plan on featuring her soon. I loved her stuff so very, very much!