Print Room Creator Series - Meet the Creator with Kelly Spencer aka Kell Sunshine
In a nutshell, can you tell us about Kell Sunshine and your journey as an illustrator and mural painter? How did it all begin?
In a nutshell, it all began on a boat on the Caribbean..! I became inspired - in a determined kind of way - to pursue a freelance creative career and just charged forward from there.
What does a “day in the life” look like for you at the moment?
Something in between wholesome coffee, vege gardening, dog walks at the beach and illustrating from the couch, or swinging off a scissor lift halfway up a concrete building, tunes blazing, covered in paint for 10 hours a day.
How would you describe your artistic style? Do you have a particular theme or subject matter you love to explore? And what or who are your biggest influences?
Everything is influence, but especially plants. The theme of my work has always been to serve as a human voice for mama nature, to speak of our role in honouring our relationship with the natural world.
Can you give us a peek into your creative process, from the first idea to the finished design?
My best work comes when I have time to be still and create the design to a point in my imagination before putting pen to paper—or rather, stylus to iPad. I work layer to layer, refining the design with each iteration until I’m happy with it.
Print Room has had the pleasure of printing your artwork for the creator series… What inspired the design you sent us and what's the story behind it?
‘Trees please’ is a super simple suggestion as to how we might make some positive change in this world. I’m really just obsessed with planting trees (specifically subtropicals and fruiting varieties) at the moment, and would like to encourage others to give the trees a whole lotta love.
What types of industries have you worked with for your illustrations and mural paintings? Any favourite projects?
It’s so varied, which I love. I’ve illustrated tarot cards, album covers, gig posters, t-shirts, jigsaws, beer labels, weddings, vehicles, store windows, skateboards, tea, chocolate… My favourite mural projects are the street art festivals I’ve had the pleasure of painting at, especially the Sea Walls projects in Mexico and The Virgin Islands. It’s like school camp for muralists.
How do you approach designing for merchandise? Is the process different from your other artwork?
It is a little different. When I’m designing for merc, there’s an added layer of pressure to design something people will want to buy. And that’s kinda hard to predict! So I just design something that I like, and hope for the best.
What attracted you to participate in the Creator Series with Print Room?
I’ve seen Print Room produce beautiful products for a while now, and since I don’t put a lot of effort into producing my own merch, I love an opportunity to collaborate on these types of projects.
What do you hope people take away from your designs on the t-shirts?
I hope they head outside and plant a tree. Not a pine 🌲
When you’re not creating away, what else gets you going?
Gardening, traveling, surfing, my dog, and coffee.
And lastly, if you could design and paint a mural anywhere in the world, on any building, where would it be and why?
Portugal. Simply because I really would like to get to Portugal.
Thanks Kelly!
You can check out more of Kell Sunshine's beautiful and inspiring work on Instagram and the website.
You can also prurchase the 'Trees Please' tee here.
