Really nice article in Japanese with some images from fun adventures with friends in Australia surfing and snowboarding. Check out the full article here.
Are nature and animals a part of your life since your childhood?
We were always camping, doing road trips, sailing and hiking growing up. My parents have a house on an island outside Stockholm where we spent all summers.
In the forest close to where we were growing up we saw a lot of moose and deer.
I’ve always been into outdoor sports from a young age. I used to compete in orienteering in Sweden, where you run in the forest with a map and compass trying to find the fastest way. I started mountain biking and my dream was to do ski seasons in the Alps. When I discovered surfing it became my obsession and how I ended up in Australia.
When you are grown up, have you felt nature or animals close in daily life?
I have always felt a connection to nature and have always been drawn to outdoor sports. Me, my brother and sister did a lot of hiking and ski touring in northern Sweden with my dad. Those trips have a very special place in my heart.
Photo credit: Tony Palmer
When have you started drawing seriously? What made you to decide so? any particular reason or incident?
I always liked drawing more than most from a young age. I did not realise that I could do it professionally until after I was 30 years old. I feel like it is something that happened to me more than that I decided to do it. I noticed that it was something I loved doing and that people responded to the artwork I was making. It is a really good feeling, both making it and also the positive feedback. I just kept creating and what started off as a hobby, slowly turned into my job over a couple of years.
Since you have started drawing to present, have you changed the style of drawing or theme of drawing?
I think the drawing style always changes but very slowly. If I scroll through my work on Instagram from start to finish, there is quite a big difference. I started out with just black line drawings and was quite scared of using colours. Now my favourite medium is watercolours.
What is the most characteristic difference do you think in your drawing from others?
That is a hard question for me to answer. Maybe the combination of animals and dreamy surf landscapes.
Photo credit: Murray Fraser
What is your usual day like? How are you spending a time daily?
I wake up early and feed our cat Rocky, make a coffee and check in with email and work for about an hour. During that time, I check what the surf report is doing and decide if and when I am going surfing. If I do not go for a surf, I usually go to our local climbing gym, or go for a mountain bike ride.
After that I usually get back to work, it could be painting something just for pleasure, or working on client work for a brand, or simply just admin and website stuff. I keep an eye on what the surf is doing during the day, to make sure I don’t miss out when the tide/ swell and winds align perfectly.
At night we either just hang out at home, work or watch a movie or something. Or we meet up with friends at our local bar Stowaway and have a beer.
Have you had a moment when you feel "an outdoor life" close to you?
It is something I feel every day both through my work and every time I surf, mountain bike or spend any time in nature. So almost daily.
Where is the most favorite out door spot/place?
An island in the Swedish archipelago called Möja. My parents have a house there and me and my sister and brother spend all the Summers there growing up. I love that place, it makes me calm just thinking about it.
Describe the image you have about the Columbia brand.
Quality gear for fun outdoor activities.
Tell us the theme and messages toward this collaboration with Columbia.
I love what Columbia are doing and I am into most of the activities they make products for. This is a collaboration I am very excited about!
Please send your massages to readers of the [With Outdoor]
Thank you for reading this! I can’t wait to come back to Japan and explore more of your mountains and coastline.
Please let us know some original experiences or incidents make you become or wanted to be the illustrator?
It was more of a slow organic process that happened over many years, drawing every day and posting it online.
One of the first moments where I realised, I could probably do this for a living was when a bright yellow H&M sweatshirt with my illustration on it sold out everywhere really quickly. It made me understand that maybe the drawings are good enough and some people really liked them.
Describe what type of camping you are usually enjoying and their attractive part for you?
We are lucky where we live so I can go either North or South a few hours from here and camp out in beautiful places next to good surfing, surrounded by wilderness and wildlife.
The attractive parts of camping for me is that you spend more time outdoors, surfing, talking to friends, watching the horizon or stars and slow down, just enjoying the basics of being alive in this moment.
Does those outdoor experiences help your works or more specifically become practical hints or tips?
They inspire me at the same time as it is usually a good needed break from working. I always get ideas and inspirations from trips. It can be a nice looking sky I want to try and draw, or seeing how something get’s reflected in the ocean, or a new cool angle of something.
