Instagram Account

I now have our newly specialized Instagram account! Check us out at @designbylj for weekly updates and new art posts.

Here’s a peek at just some of the stuff that I’ve been creating. <3

Discover With De

I got to collaborate with Discover with De to create their new logo! Check them out on Instagram here.

They do amazing work helping people out with all of their travel plans and sharing all of their wonderful adventures!

Open For Business

My shop is now open for business! We have these lovely National Park prints that are all based off of my own photography. We also have some pretty cool National Park stickers that you can buy as well.

Check it all out here! it’s all on another tab in the navigation menu.

Here’s a sneak peek of some of our items that we have for sale. Enjoy!

Honey Bee Awareness

It’s Bee Appreciation Week! I got to collaborate with @natural_beings and created an illustration for their article on honey bee awareness, and the effects that our decisions have on the declining population. Check out their article here!

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Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, the city of broken hearts.

This is such a beautiful town where everything has an old Spanish influence to it. Even in the design of the window shutters. I loved the energy of this place so much. You can spend hours here walking around anywhere and finding so many small moments that create joy. You know those moments when you see a blooming flower thriving in concrete. Or the sun peeking out from behind some trees that sway in the wind, casting a shadow dancing along the sidewalk. Or the moments where a couple walks by and you can just tell from their energy that they are radiating unconditional love to the world. And then when you realize it’s finally time to leave, you’re sent home with a broken heart because you’re no longer surrounded by such beauty.

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Colorado Quarantine

Of course on my drive back to California, I just had to stay in Colorado for a few weeks. Let’s just take a moment to appreciate this backyard at different times of day. It’s such a beautiful spot and it doesn’t even matter if the sun is out or not. And as always, an obligatory Garden of the Gods pit stop.

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The Croods, A New Age

My movie that I worked on for the last two years is finally announced! The trailer has been dropped, and it releases this Thanksgiving! I’m so excited to share these new characters and their world with everyone. It’s been such a fun movie to work on, and i haven’t laughed this hard in a long time!

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Check out the trailer below!

Biscayne National Park

While I was in Miami, I decided to hit up Biscayne National Park. The park is 95% water, and the shorelines are made up of mangrove forests. So unfortunately, if you don’t have a boat or kayak, your options in this park are extremely limited. You’re grounded to the Visitor Center, and watching iguanas climb trees around said visitor center for 43 minutes. The islands are formed from fossilized coral reefs, and are a great spot for snorkeling.

Dry Tortugas National Park

Let’s just take a moment, and picture this in our minds. Imagine being dropped off in the middle of the ocean. The closest inhabited land to you is 70 miles away. But in this spot, is a massive fort surrounded by coral. It’s 8 am, and the only people on the island are you and a couple of campers who took the wonderful opportunity to wake up there. Dry Tortugas National Park is one of the most peaceful places I’ve ever been. It’s literally just you and the ocean. You get to take a break from having cell service and staring at a blue lit screen for an entire day, and just be present. Your mind is free from all worries, and you’re just there to appreciate all the beauty and tranquility that is surrounding you. You can close your eyes and listen to the sounds of the waves lapping up against the building, and taste the salt in the air as the wind blows. It’s truly a tranquil place that is perfect for practicing clearing your mind, just being, and living in the now. It takes a lot of work to get to that place, but once you’re there, you will strive to return. It has been a beautiful fight. Still is.

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Great Smoky Mountains National Park

I went to check out the Smoky Mountains for the first time since I was a toddler on my drive back to Cali! It really did lead up to its name. Now all I want to do is come back here in the fall to see the ocean of orange colors all lined up in front of you. When you’re standing on the mountain top overlooking the clouds, this is one of those places that really makes you appreciate how beauty attracts beauty. Especially in terms of people and relationships. To be able to have the chance to find that one beautiful soul. The one where you see them, and then your soul kind of goes, “Oh, there you are. I’ve been looking for you.”

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Everglades National Park

“It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know their own beauty or perceive a sense of their own worth until it has been reflected back to them in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.” At least that’s the quote I was thinking about while I was leaning over the railing looking at my reflection in the murky Everglades water. Which is kind of sad to me that we all can’t see the beauty of our own self worth. I get it, and I accept it, but I don’t want to agree with it. I’m sure an alligator understands their own self worth….maybe. =]

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The Bad Guys

The Croods: A New Age is officially over, and that means I’m on to the next movie!! I’m so excited that I get to announce that I’ll be on the Lighting team for a new DreamWorks original movie called The Bad Guys! This movie is based off of the children’s comic book series by Aaron Blabey. I can definitely tell that I am going to love working on this film just based on how the style looks alone.

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I have had such a blast being on Croods for the last two years. I learned so much about animation, and I made so many friendships that I will hold close to my heart. Even though we had to finish off the movie working from home, I had so many amazing times with all these talented artists. I even got to make a snowman and he came to our meetings!

Gateway Arch National Park

Ah the Gateway to the West. What eloquent words could I possibly muster up to say about this lovely chunk of metal in the middle of Downtown, that has become the definitive icon of St. Louis? Other than the captivating meaning behind it of course. The memorial was established to commemorate the Louisiana Purchase and the subsequent westward movement of American explorers and pioneers. Basically, all of the people we have to thank for Western America. I have so much respect for Pioneers. Mostly because I have won the Oregon Trail a solid 3 times out of 42 tries (probably). But I guess at the end of the day, which way you want to go, depends on where you want to get to.

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Rocky Mountain National Park

This place feels like love. Just hiking through this park, being engulfed by massive mountains and wildflowers all around you, it’s love. All of that pure bliss that resides in you coming to the surface when you get to witness the beauty that surrounds you, is really freeing. It makes you realize how amazing it is that you can get to this conscious place in your mind, where you’re completely aware of this bliss and love that radiates through you. It’s a raw and organic love where all you want to do is share it with someone. And imagine, if you both you and that someone could reach this higher frequency together, imagine then what you could accomplish. You each pass it on to the next soul, and they in turn pass it on. What kind of a world would we live in then?

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Saguaro National Park

Everything in life happens according to our time, our clock.

Well, it’s finally time. COVID-19 officially shut down California. So I’m hitting the road and spending the summer in Florida, working from home on the beach! Fortunately for me, Saguaro National Park was still open when I decided to drive across the country, so of course I had to hit it! I love flirting with the desert. She teaches you things about life. About how we all have that “someone” who we carry in our hearts sometimes for an entire lifetime. That one that just doesn’t fully remove itself from your journey, reminded from a song you once shared, or a common repeating symbol. Years can go by and then one day you are reminded of them and it all comes crashing back. The one that could have been, the one that you never knew exactly how to say goodbye to. The one you wish to meet first in another life.

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Sequoia Trees

All I want to do is go get lost in the woods, and talk to some Sequoias. Strange things happen when you’re in the woods. Sometimes you get lost, but end up finding yourself. You learn to plant your own garden and decorate your own soul instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

This guy was made with ProCreate on my ipad.

The Getty Center

I have a new love affair with the Getty Center. Someday they’ll write a love story about us. I think it helped that it was such a nice day, so pretty much every one of my photos turned out perfect with the blue sky juxtaposed against the clean white sharp lines of the buildings. The center sits on top of a hill that I would always pass on the highway, and I longed to check it out with each drive by. The Getty Center is well known for its architecture, gardens, historic art, and views overlooking Los Angeles.

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Joshua Tree Painting

I made another Joshua Tree at night painting! Obviously I’m obsessed with the night aesthetic there, and it really influenced me to make another one. It’s so alluring being there at night. I get to share my secrets with the moon, she talks about her love story with the sun, and I share all my dreams about San Junipero.

This was created in the ProCreate app with my ipad.

Big Sur

I have been dying to take the Pacific Coast Highway and travel up to Big Sur since I first moved to California. I finally got the opportunity when I drove up to Pinnacles National Park. I took the PCH all the way down and it was such a perfect day. Not being in any rush, stopping wherever I wanted, and getting to fly my drone over the Pacific Ocean. I loved the special moments of following the one lane highway bending around the cliff sides, feeling the salty wind in your hair and warm sun on your face, zoning out to music from Washed Out and Ondi Vil, and just being in a beautiful stupor gazing at the ever changing coastline unfolding in front of you.

Big Sur easily became one of my favorite areas in California. I would love more than anything to come back here and go camping. Find a nice spot where the sun kisses the ocean, watching it melt into the horizon, stargaze and contemplate how we all have the same kind of stardust in our souls. The only thing that could make it any sweeter is having a specific person by your side. You know, the one who mirrors you, is always on your same frequency, and whose soul is twins to your soul. Because once your soul finds its home, it never truly forgets.

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El Matador Beach

I decided to take a drive up Malibu to check out El Matador Beach. I originally went out there to do a waterfall hike, but it was closed due to the wildfires, so I beached it up instead! It’s pretty cool because you park at the top of the bluff, and then take stairs down the steep cliff side to get to the bottom. Low tide is the best time to go because you can walk through the rock arches. It’s a stunning spot for a sunset, or if you’re just looking for a cool place to have a photoshoot during golden hour. Just remember when you’re there that extraordinary magic is woven through ordinary life. Look around.