Welcome to Arts and Climate Change 🎨

My journey to 10K followers in 10 months

Hi all!

Welcome to Arts and Climate Change. I wanted to launch this newsletter when I hit 10K followers on Twitter for a few reasons.

1. I have some fun ideas that I think will be better expressed without being confined to 280 characters

2. Who knows what Twitter will become in the future and I want to make sure we can stay internet friends if you decide Twitter isn’t your jam down the road 😅

So here we are! For my newer internet pals, I’ll share some background on how I ended up painting about cow burps and leaf blowers on a daily basis. 

My own journey to creating this started in January 2022, with a personal challenge to create a watercolor a day for 100 days. 10 days in, I painted about kelp and carbon sequestration. It got a huge response, so I decided to make the rest of the 100 days centered around climate change. 

Nicole Kelner @NicoleKelner

How kelp plays a role in carbon sequestration

10 months later, my art has had over 4.5 million impressions and we now have a community of 10,000 people on this journey together. I quit my climate tech job after just 4 months of painting and now I create watercolor paintings as a medium for climate education full time. I work with climate startups, climate VCs, nonprofits, and the government to communicate the complexities of the climate crisis in a simple way that encourages hope and climate action. 

I can still hardly believe my eyes when I see my art in the Washington Post, the Guardian, and in offices across the country! I've even written my first book, which launches Amazon on December 1st! 

I’m looking forward to co-creating this newsletter with you. To celebrate, this first post is going to be a round-up of each month's most popular piece of artwork. So much of the art I make is inspired by the Twitter community and your feedback. I want this newsletter to be the same. Please comment and share ideas of what you would like to see!

Best,

Nicole

Nicole Kelner @NicoleKelner

For anyone who wants a shiny new climate stripes Twitter header 😏

Nicole Kelner @NicoleKelner

The difference between carbon removal and carbon capture

Nicole Kelner @NicoleKelner

Overview of mitigation options + their estimated ranges of costs + potential in 2030 from the latest IPCC report

Nicole Kelner @NicoleKelner

The emojis we all deserve

Nicole Kelner @NicoleKelner

For all my vegetarian + vegan friends out there 😊🌱 The carbon impact of the ingredients in a hamburger compared to their percentage weight.

Nicole Kelner @NicoleKelner

Explain how a heat pump works like I'm a 5 year old

Nicole Kelner @NicoleKelner

Potential Savings From the IRA

Nicole Kelner @NicoleKelner

ABCs of Climate Change

Nicole Kelner @NicoleKelner

Made this while listening to gas powered leaf blowers outside my NYC apartment all day 🙉