California dreamin'

Ramis Kim is a Los Angeles-based painter, illustrator and animator. Born in Seoul, she says she started creating art as a child.

Ramis went on to study animation at the California Institute of Arts. Now, she paints, draws, and takes photos. She also blogs about her love of vintage fashion and fondness for delicious food.

Memories, dreams, old photographs and nature often inspire ideas, Kim said. As do attending art shows, band performances and museums and watching movies.

"My work represents who I am," she said. "Feelings in my work is is the most important thing. To be able to capture that well in my work, I like using mediums like watercolor and gouache."

On whimsy

Life is too serious sometimes. Or at least mine is, unfortunately. That's why work like Kim Haller's is so necessary. We're talking whimsy to the max here, people.

Haller is a mom and a part-time high school art teacher in Milwaukee, Wis. (Also, she's a Korean adoptee, like me!) She has an amazing collection of illustrations and prints that she sells on Etsy.

Here's Haller — in her own words — on inspiration: "I spend a lot of time making notes of things that my husband, daughter and son say and do. We have post-its everywhere in our house. I also have a collection of them in my head. Most of my work is inspired by these floating phrases and pictures. I like to build them into the characters and patterns that I create, mixed with little bits and pieces of my own various collections, obsessions, quirks and childhood stories. I hope when people look at my work they can find a sort of familiarity, whether it be in a particular character illustration itself, a pattern, texture or color that I used or a relatable environment that I created."

An uplifting way to start the week, m'thinks.