THE STORY ABOUT KAN DEE
My name is Sandra Forsman, better known as Kan Dee. I was born in Västerås, 24 years ago. Already as a chubby baby I had the pencil by a firm grip. I discovered my creative side very early, but it wasn't until my teens that I took the drawing to a more serious level. Back then I was drawings portraits of celebrities and I had my first exhibition at the age of thirteen. As I got older, I started getting tired of drawing portraits and personally I felt that it wasn't original enough. I felt that I wanted to grow as an artist and find a unique style that could possibly be my signature in the future. Slowly I started developing my own personal style. I started drawing fictional anthropomorphic figures with gigantic heads, eyes, lips and small noses, chins and bodies.
In 2008 my mother told me about a competition that the clothing store, Lindex had on their website. The competition was to design/draw/create a motif for a t-shirt, that would be sold to benefit breastcancer research and the Pink Ribbon. My mother thought that I should enter the competition. So I picked out a drawing I had already started on and continued to work on it, so that the message would suite the cause. A month after I had sent in my contribution, Emma Wiklund herself called me and told me that I was the winner. Guess if I was in a chock? I was invited to the Pink Ribbon Gala, where I had to go up on stage, with Emma and talk about my design in front of millions of people in a live broadcast.
My t-shirt was sold out in several Lindex stores all around Scandinavia, I was overwhelmed with happines. I have always had a passion for charity and if can help people in need with my art, I am more then happy to. So you can imagine why this meant so much to me.
After the Lindex-competition, I started to wonder how I could take my art and my interest in art to the next level. How could I move forward? I wanted to work more on my art, reach out to more people and maybe make a living of it. I came up with the idea of making garments with my art printed on it. Thats why I started the blog, Kan Dee Drawings, with a purpose to show my art and let others be part of it, but also to do market research to see if people would buy my designs. I started doing prototypes, taking pictures of tank tops and t-shirts and putting my art on it by using photoshop. I published the pictures on the blog and I asked my readers what they thought of it and if it was something that they would consider buying. The response was great, positive comments started pouring in and to make garments with my own design was no longer a dream, it was a reality. In 2009 I started selling my garments through my blog, but when the orders started to pile up, thoughts of an own webshop started to flourish in my mind.
27:th September 2009, me and my mother opened the doors to my very own webshop, www.kandeeshop.se. It was a success, what a response. Orders started coming in and the rumor about my webshop spread, mostly in the blogosphere. Especially when Kenza Zouiten, one of Swedens top fashionblogger, noticed my art and my label and of course by wearing my designs.
Others known names in Sweden that has been caught wearing Kan Dee is My Blomquist, Lisa Olsson, Victoria Törnegren, Carolina Gynning, Jay Smith, Tyra Sjöstedt, Dennis Maglic, Jeanette Ahlström, Signe Siemsen, Paow, Foki just to name a few.
Today I run Västerås and Swedens biggest artblog (the worlds second biggest artblog), according to bloglovin. The company is nowadays a stock company and Kan Dee has moved to a bigger, better, brighter place, with bigger storage space, an office for two, a studio and a galley. It feels great that I now have my own studio where I can peacefully paint, without having to worry about splashing paint on the floor and walls. I will now, thanks to my studio and gallery, be able to throw openings and exhibitions for my art.
I have also had the luck of beeing mentioned and noticed in several magazines. Also on TV, when my blog won a nomination for best art/designblog of the year in Vecko Revyns Blog Awards. Shortly thereafter I aslo won a portrait competition that Nyheter24.se arranged. Last but not least, Kan Dee was in the finals of the enterpenurs program Kick Start. Oh and I almost forgot to tell you that Gallerix, here in Västreås is now selling my art in their store. It feels amazing!
The art and to be able to express my feelings in a creative way, means the world to me. I don't know who I would be if I wasn't abel to do all of this. I am so grateful and happy to be abel to do what I love to do. I hope everybody seize the oppertunities to do what you love to do. Spread love. You can never get enough of it. Trust me, we need much more of love!
BLOG: Kan Dee Drawings