---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Coleen Baik <colbay@coleenbaik.com>
Date: Jul 5, 2018, 11:04 AM -0400
To: Jasdev <jasdevs@gmail.com>
Subject: Go.
This is the first newsletter of 2018.
View this email in your browser (https://mailchi.mp/481aaec97ae6/faith-2793701?e=f1afb6baf4)
A very belated hello from Manhattan!
I've been busy settling in and getting my maker's muscles back...but it's high time I give you an update.
I HAVE SO MUCH TO TELL YOU.
In this newsletter: how the SF to NY transition has been going, spinning up an illustration and animation practice (with a peek at behind-the-scenes), design and freelancing on the East Coast, miscellanies.
Key points are in bold. Enjoy the pictures along the way.
Last time, I spoke about faith and taking leaps. Now it's time to land and follow through.
"...what we will become
waits in us like an ache."
—Lucille Clifton, from "Birth-day"
The theme this time: "Go."
**
BASICALLY, I'M DOING GREAT
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Transition from SF to NYC
I moved out of my SF apartment at the end of November and moved to NYC at the beginning of January. I moved to fulfill a life-long dream of living here, to engage with a more diverse community, and to double down on my artistic practice.
Half a year has passed and I can't imagine anywhere else as home.
Manhattan is quiet and cocoonish when it's cold. The entire city goes into hibernation mode, and communal solitude has to be one of the loveliest things I've experienced.
There's also something incredibly cozy about white trees, open windows, toasty blankets, hot chocolate, silence. Winter gave me time to connect with my new apartment, engage with it as a creative sanctuary, and nurture self-centering routines.
Below: my home gym, library, reading nook overlooking a tree-lined street. Valentine's Day after Per Se, Broadway, Brown Derbies. Summer iced tea (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=58a51a675e&e=f1afb6baf4) .
New York passed through a ghost of a spring and now we're well into the dog days of summer, temperatures this week hitting almost 100º Fahrenheit. The Met (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=891c999ce8&e=f1afb6baf4) and the NYC Public Theater (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=fabfd30a4d&e=f1afb6baf4) host performances nearly every balmy evening, and restaurants set tables outside. There are movies in the park (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=42d0e2d74d&e=f1afb6baf4) .
Late at night I often hear a muezzin's call from a nearby mosque. Vibrantly lacquered toes peek out from strappy sandals. Gold headscarves fall over bare shoulders. Dresses are short and bright, or long and flowing. These contrasts are dazzling.
Yes, it's as magical as it sounds.
Below: Shakespeare in the Park's Othello (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=6e623c7c3e&e=f1afb6baf4) ; jazz man in Central Park; friends at brunch, and at the Wing; a gala at Cipriani.
**
ILLUSTRATION & ANIMATION
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Showing up and showing up.
Now that I feel more settled, I'm delving deeper into animation and illustration studies.
I'm not formally trained, so I feel the need to put in as many hours as I can for learning and practice, every day. I'm getting skills on par with vision, to tell the stories I want to tell.
I soft-launched my artist's portfolio (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=5dcd858423&e=f1afb6baf4) last month. If merch interests you—prints, ceramic, apparel—please raise your hand; I'm vetting the idea of an online shop.
Here's a quick peek at the process behind one of my digital illustrations. Tap through to see a portion of the time-lapse video (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=b17db48b2a&e=f1afb6baf4) .
I'll share more behind-the-scenes in newsletters to come (a show of hands for how interesting this would be for you?), when I'm not dropping 6 months' worth of news on you at once. You can see the final version on my portfolio (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=fe847aa5d2&e=f1afb6baf4) .
I'd like to submit an animated short within five years. I have zero experience with frame-by-frame animation so I leveraged my #100dayproject, #100DaysofSuperShort (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=a21212b57a&e=f1afb6baf4) , to start learning how to draw motion.
Some of the pieces took over 3 hours to compose and I had some late nights. Others took less than an hour to complete. I'm proud to say that even with a lot of travel and a heavy client work load, I never missed a single day. I'll share more about this process in a separate write-up soon.
The 100 days ends in just about a week, but I'll continue sharing—albeit at a slower cadence. Follow along at instagram.com/colbay. (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=9dea43ff66&e=f1afb6baf4)
** DESIGN & CLIENT WORK
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I'm still happily consulting through the Design Lab at Sequoia Capital (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=79a6038c26&e=f1afb6baf4) . These past two quarters, I collaborated with one of their NYC-based portfolio companies, Dia&Co (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=b77baf54a5&e=f1afb6baf4) , a pioneer in fashion for plus-sized women.
As a part of the Lab, I've been providing guidance on high-level product strategy as well as designing modular systems that will meet needs now but also scale well over the longterm.
There isn't a lack of freelance design work in NYC as far as I can discern. (Knock on wood!) I'm grateful for my far-flung network from two decades in the industry, which has been a wonderful community and resource. Through them, I've have had conversations with start ups both in early/stealth mode and in post-B rounds.
It's been fun, and important, for me to begin nurturing relationships even when my schedule doesn't allow for immediate engagement.
Please let me know (mailto:colbay@gmail.com) if you're a freelance designer in NYC so I can add you to my roster of available talent.
The tech scene here is of course much quieter than San Francisco's. I recently joined BetaWorks Studio (http://) to fill a bit of that void.
Please reach out if you're in the area and would like to be my guest, for a day, or at an event.
**
MISCELLANIES
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The dynamic sister duo Katie (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=8e5c129d9f&e=f1afb6baf4) and Nicole Zhu (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=0418a065dc&e=f1afb6baf4) interviewed me recently on their podcast about being Asian in America, Sweet and Sour. (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=b47b67616d&e=f1afb6baf4) I talk about embracing uncertainty, my experiences in North Korea, and what it's like being a Korean-American woman. Take a listen.
As you've likely been following, there've been monumental steps toward peace on the Korean Peninsula (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=7903c23dd5&e=f1afb6baf4) . Despite all the neo-conservative naysaying out there about the means and players, this rapprochement is a good thing. The wound must close. (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=b803dbbdfc&e=f1afb6baf4)
Below: at the WomenCrossDMZ (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=c6995f2560&e=f1afb6baf4) spring fundraiser with Gloria Steinem (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=82655a1429&e=f1afb6baf4) , and Christine Ahn, the founder. At a benefit gala for the Korean American Family Service Center (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=dbcb0d2cc6&e=f1afb6baf4) . Getting my copy of Pachinko (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=fce90a8363&e=f1afb6baf4) signed by Min Jin Lee (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=bd9c625dcc&e=f1afb6baf4) at a reading of her National Book Award finalist novel.
In order to balance my uptown residence with my downtown social and professional life, I joined the Wing (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=4caef854aa&e=f1afb6baf4) , a women's only club.
It's become my home away from home. I get to work alongside some badass women leaders from a variety of disciplines. There's a kitchen, showers, a quiet room. They also host interesting events and I've had a chance to hear artists like Laura Dern (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=57d501d2e9&e=f1afb6baf4) and Lucy Liu (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=1c4e8b96ef&e=f1afb6baf4) speak on issues such as sexual predation, and how they've had to reinterpret the word "opportunity" in their industry.
The Wing is opening up a San Francisco (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=c4a8ce2f17&e=f1afb6baf4) and a Los Angeles branch soon, along with one in London and Toronto. They provide financial aid for qualifying women.
**
EMBODY
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I'm honored to be on the cover of a beautiful new book by Lone Mørch (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=4311622c2f&e=f1afb6baf4) , a writer and photographer who's due to give a TED talk soon.
Based upon Lone Mørch's confidential, intimate photographic encounters with women during the past fourteen years, Embody offers a rare peek into women's private space and thoughts.
You can see some of the photos on her site (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=0d18f94143&e=f1afb6baf4) . Check it out in person at Book Passage in San Francisco (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=7d5a0734a4&e=f1afb6baf4) , and at the Strand in Manhattan (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=418e58a661&e=f1afb6baf4) (arriving in the next few seeks).
**
STAY TUNED
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Thanks for sticking it out and making it to the end. I couldn't share half of what's been going on but I hope to share shorter missives once every three months going forward, focusing on behind-the-scenes creative processes.
Follow along in the mean time on instagram.com/colbay (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=98275ac421&e=f1afb6baf4) . Personal life tidbits in Instagram Stories.
I tweeted recently: (https://coleenbaik.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=64a5ec5ed7fc5b125acc3878d&id=eaed0855de&e=f1afb6baf4) "...Ask yourself every night if you lived the day the way you wanted to live it. Say yes. Do it again the next day."
Go forth and conquer, my friends. Until next time.
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