Moving to Copenhagen in 2020, felt like becoming 10 years younger. It gave me this sudden burst of energy, curiosity and a new blank page to fill in my future on it. First time an expat, first time in Copenhagen, first time living by the sea. All of the fresh and new suddenly flooded me and became a great source of inspiration. It was time to create some colourful art!
2020, digital art 'Cyclists of Copenhagen' is born
Inspired by a cycling culture of Copenhagen
Few months after moving to Copenhagen, wowed by traffic on cycling routes and ease of movement around the city on two wheels, I’ve created a digital painting ‘Cyclists of Copenhagen’.
I loved moving around on a bicycle so much, I even bought waterproof pants to cycle in the rain! So this illustration is inspired by cyclists of Copenhagen, who seem to transport anything and anyone on their bikes!
2022, the lousy start of 'Copenhagen on water'
It looked awesome in my head but not in Photoshop...
Living close to the sea became a source of inspiration for this idea. In Copenhagen there is always something happening on the water, whether it’s at the open sea, or in the city canals.
Copenhageners join various clubs for water sports and so they explore the waters in kayaks, rowing, swimming or simply drinking beer in party boats.
My plan was big, but the timing wasn’t right. After a day of struggle or so… this project ended up in the ‘Cook later or never’ folder.
2025, I am sadly leaving Copenhagen so it's now or never
I recycled my crappy draft and tried again
As I was getting ready for the ‘My Farewell Hugelly Hyggelig Copenhagen’ exhibition at Ricco’s Sluseholmen, I looked at my collection of sketches and watercolour and felt that something was missing… Colour, colour, colour! I didn’t have enough colour for the giant walls at Ricco’s!
It was time to dust my forgotten project and power through the drafting phase without looking back. To my surprise (I was expecting blood and tears…), the process was smooth and I ended up with a coloured draft within one day.
The fluffy monster, let's call her Alberta
The main hero of Cyclists, a mural in art studio and now Copenhagen on water
The inspiration behind this monster is pretty simple. When I was designing ‘Cyclists of Copenhagen’ I wanted to emphasise that one carries literally anything on their bikes. So why not a monster?
Later on, Alberta moved into Art Escape Studios and Cafe and lived in the basement. What do I mean by that? Well I painted her fluffy hand on the basement door (Monster in the studio) as a protection from uninvited guests.
The Little Mermaid and the bees
symbol of Copenhagen and her buzzy friends
A symbol of Copenhagen and possible sister of Warsaw’s mermaid – The Little Mermaid. In my interpretation, she is awesome, sporty and listens to indie rock opposed to laying on a stone and crying … and I am referring here to her statue in Copenhagen.
Why bees? For years I have had a little obsession with bees. It started in Poland, when we turned our garden to a big bushy meadow instead of a short cut grass. It attracted a lot of bees! In Copenhagen I’ve created a series of acrylic paintings ‘Geoffrey the Beekeeper’ and occasionally volunteered at the small local honey producer Bybi who invited me to create a mural for the Flower Festival in Tivoli (how my beekeeper spent 10 days in Tivoli).
Seal Sluzy
local celebrity and one of my favourite characters
Ever since I spotted Sluzy on the walk with my dog Chrupka, I got obsessed. There was a real seal, who showed up regularly in our neighbourhood last winter. Soon after I started to paint her and my watercolour postcards became a local hit … at least that’s what my neighbours say (read full story here Sluzy from Sluseholmen).
The rest of the crowd
water sports and other types of fun on the water
Apart from doing all the regular, healthy water activities, it is quite common to rent a small boat, invite friends and have a birthday party, while floating around the Copenhagen canals. Drinking wine or beer in public is not a problem here, so these party boats can get quite crazy.
If you visit The Lakes in Copenhagen, you can also rent a ‘romantic’ plastic swan to float around with your bestie.
Mum, this doesn't look like a bubble tea at all...
my kids are often important consultants in the process
I am not a fan of bubble tea myself, but my kids on the other hand…love it! My younger son quickly spotted that something was wrong with the drink in my illustration and didn’t let me leave it like this.In fact. Both of my kids are great sources of constructive critiques and I appreciate their bold honesty a lot. Thanks to Robbie, I am much happier with the way bubble tea turned out.
What happened when I asked my older son for help
all I asked from him was to fix my cats...
‘These cats are super weird mum…something is not right..’ – said Maciek. Well fix it then! I left him for a bit and when I came back… this is what happened ha ha
I am always happy to share stories about my artworks, so feel free to write to me and ask me about anything. In the meantime, thank you for reading and please come back soon! 🙂
