Beck Wheeler
Posted by Amy on Thursday September 2, 2010
From Kate McCarthy I stumbled on the work of Beck Wheeler — an artist who is living in New Zealand. She combines toy making, textile and woodworking techniques to produce sculptures and her work has been exhibited in Melbourne, Spain, UK, USA and Canada.
She is continually inspired by the tradition of folklores and since her move back to New Zealand from Melbourne, Australia – she is inspired by patterns and textures found in nature. She’s also experimenting with digital media and will bring painting, sculpture and digital media together through installation which will culminate in an exhibition entitled The Swanndries Guys, which will be held at High Seas Gallery in Auckland starting 22nd October 2010.
Special giveaway: A spot in our class!
Posted by Amy on Saturday August 28, 2010
I think a lot of people are already informed about the Pikaland Artist Bootcamp — Fall classes will be in session in little over a week and we’re getting ourselves ready for the mind-blowing sessions ahead!
For those who are new though, the Pikaland Artist Bootcamp will enable artists to cement their personal style and also help them thrive and have fun as an artist online – with weekly exercises and personalized, constructive, one-on-one critiques to help emerging artists find their footing and ways to set themselves apart from others in the vast online world. No matter if you’re just starting out, or have been doing this for a long time, all are welcome!
Since we’re going to be running three classes in the span of more than two months, we’d like to offer ONE reader a very special chance of winning a spot in the class of their choice (see the full listings here)!
All you have to do, is to head to the Pikaland Facebook page and comment over on this post!
For more chances of winning a spot, you can retweet this Twitter status as well: I want to go to Pikaland’s Artist Bootcamp! http://tinyurl.com/29rs7l8 #pikabootcamp — we’re going to pick a winner on Wednesday, 1st September Thursday, 2nd September — call for entries will close at 12am PST Thursday!
Have a lovely weekend and I’ll see you back next week!
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These I steal for you
Posted by Amy on Thursday August 26, 2010
“Chase your dreams until you catch them…and then dream, catch, and dream again!”
~ Dee Marie (Sons of Avalon: Merlin’s Prophecy)
I forgot about that quote for the longest time, but remembered it again after looking at Brooklyn-based artist Dan-ah Kim’s print called These I steal for you. I am absolutely in love with this print – it’s really romantic in an uplifting yet poignant way.
What dreams are you trying to catch?
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Artist interview: Laura McKellar
Posted by Melanie Maddison on Wednesday August 25, 2010
This week’s interview is with Laura McKellar, an artist living in Melbourne who has an amazing series of work – digital prints on fabric, which she then hand-embroiders. There’s more to this crafty lady than meets the eye, so read more about her in this interview with Melanie Maddison, our chief interviewer on Pikaland!
Website: lauramckellar.com
Blog: lauramckellar.blogspot.com/
Online Shop: www.lauramckellar.bigcartel.com/
Zine: iloveokay.com/
Zine blog: www.iloveokay.blogspot.com/
Etsy: etsy.com/shop/sirseven
Hi Laura, could you tell us a little about yourself, and what are you currently working on?
I am a freelance graphic designer living in Melbourne, Australia. I’m currently working on artwork for exhibitions, album artwork, illustrated ceramic brooches, some logos and thinking about my next issue of my zine Okay.
How long have you been creating art, embracing your creativity, and working towards developing your current style and output?
As a little girl I was encouraged to be creative. My sisters and I would spend a lot of time drawing and painting and using mum’s Derwents.
My uncle and grandfather were both photographers and I was influenced at an early age by them. I collect film cameras and use my photographs with illustrations. I am drawn to images I find in old 50s & 60s pattern books and have collected many which have had a significant effect on my work.
I studied graphic design for 5 years at college but I’ve been making things for as long as I can remember. Learning to use design programs on the computer has definitely influenced how I design my artwork.
How did you first learn to access your creative and artistic talents, and gain the confidence to make art your career?
I grew up in a very creative environment. My aunt is a professional illustrator so from a very early age I learned with a lot of hard work and dedication that it is possible to make art your career. I also learned at school that I could make a living from being creative and have since pursued it!
CLICK HERE to read the entire interview!
Kristin Nohe
Posted by Amy on Tuesday August 24, 2010
Kristin Nohe is a junior Illustration Major/Book Arts Concentrator at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and I’m amazed at what she has come up with so far. Though she has a website, her blog serves as a portfolio-in-progress and it’s where you can find lots of new, fun work. Things like sketchbook spreads from her trip to California (can you imagine if she had gone for a trip around the world?) and also her fun, random hand-letterings has earned her a bookmark on my Google reader.
Though she has confessed to struggling with shifting her work from traditional methods (like painting) to digital techniques, watching her progress is truly inspiring. Her future is indeed shining bright!
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The Apples Of Youth and The Living Water
Posted by Amy on Tuesday August 24, 2010
If you haven’t heard already, Arrow to Arrow is a new online gallery and shop that sells beautiful, exclusive and limited edition prints by various artists. Jess sent me a link to a print called The Apples Of Youth and The Living Water by Sophie Alda that’s based on a Russian folklore of the same name, and now I’m in love.
Isn’t her work fabulous? Her style is wonderfully unique and very memorable as well. Her color choices, the way she renders people (critters too!) and the interplay of patterns in each illustration is top notch. See more at Sophie’s website!
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Make a start
Posted by Racheal Anilyse on Monday August 23, 2010
YES! Just do it. Just start that project you’ve been meaning to. Perhaps it’s cleaning out a corner of your place for art making, or grabbing a pencil and start making scratches in that poor abandoned sketchbook. Get to it! If you need a reminder, this image is being sold as a print by the amazing Thereza Rowe. So turn off the internet (but please come back and visit us again) and just make a start!
By the way, for all my fellow word nerds out there art is about showing up and starting to make something tangible, and the word ART is in start. Oh yeaaaa!
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Review: Different – Escaping the Competitive Herd
Posted by Amy on Saturday August 21, 2010
I picked up Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd after browsing the shelves at my local Kinokuniya bookstore. The title itself is interesting — the promise, even more so. How can one be different among a sea of competition? How can your product, your work stand out among so many others? How can someone succeed in a world where conformity reigns and exceptions rule?
Title: Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd
Hardcover: 288 pages
From the start, reviewers have warned me about not expecting this book to be a hands-on business book. That’s fine. I don’t need another book screaming out to me “How to get that sale, STAT!” (or something along those lines — you get my drift). Differentiating opinions had me highly intrigued, and I figured with a subject that I really loved reading about I went for it and read it with no expectations whatsoever.
By the end of the book, I think I have a definition of what this book is.
It’s a lecture. A long, and very enlightening one.
And with all good lectures, the teacher doesn’t tell you exactly how to solve your problems. They merely share with you their views, tips and years of experience – a glance through their eyes of the subject matter at hand, and this is what Different is about. There’s no step by step on how to conquer your market; because each business is different (or at least, they should be!) You won’t find nifty little sidebar packed with information or links to this or that. What you’ll find is a good, solid lecture about brands and business evolutions as seen through the eyes of a mother, a lecturer, and a woman.
CLICK HERE to read the entire review!
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Artist interview: Katy Horan
Posted by Melanie Maddison on Wednesday August 18, 2010
Katy Horan is a painter, drawer, crafter, and maker-of-things. She loves all things folky, spooky and crafty. Originally from Texas, she now lives in Austin.
Some of Katy’s work features in The Dazzle, a group show at Narwhal Art Projects in Toronto, Canada, which opens Sept 9th and runs until Oct 17, 2010.
{Interviewed by Melanie Maddison}
Website: www.katyart.com/
Blog: katyhoran.tumblr.com/
Etsy: etsy.com/shop/Katyart
Hi Katy, how are you? What are you working on at the moment?
I am great, thanks! I’m experimenting quite a bit these days. I am trying to balance the tiny details with more texture and looseness. I am hoping to make some large scale figures that incorporate ghost and widow imagery…should be pretty spooky.
How would you describe your art?
I would say I make bizarro lady monsters out of tiny lace patterns that make my hands hurt. That’s the casual version.
Here’s the formal version: I intuitively combine fragmented visual references with imagery from my own memory to create something that is both ambiguous and familiar. I do this to filter images from my own subconscious while raising questions of what we visually identify as feminine.
What are your daily inspirations?
I get a lot of inspiration from things I read, listen to and watch. I like to use my work as a filter for all the tiny pieces of inspiration I absorb in my everyday life and that remain from my childhood. Folk and ghost stories are a source that I return to regularly.
I am also really into history, so I like to incorporate visual details from the eras that interest me. Right now, I am really into Victorian mourning customs, so there is a lot of widow imagery floating around my head and studio.
How did you first get started in art, is it something that you’ve always been interested in and excelled at?
How long have you been creating art, embracing your creativity, and working towards developing your current style and output?
I always drew. As a kid, I did all kinds of other activities….dance, theater, piano….but art was the only thing that I never got bored with. It always felt more natural to me than anything else.
I always wanted to do something visual. I went to college initially to study costume design, but became more interested in children’s books than theater. I then transferred to RISD to study Illustration. After I graduated, my work gradually began shifting towards fine arts, so when galleries began showing interest and publishers weren’t, I decided to pursue a more fine art sort of path. Since then (around 2006) I have been pushing my work and process, trying to find deeper concepts and create more dynamic imagery.
How did you personally learn to access your creative and artistic talents, and gain the confidence to make art and creative expression your career?
My work is at it’s best when I work completely intuitively. I have always sought that place where the conscious mind shuts up and the work becomes meditative. I listen to audio books to distract the nagging, judgmental part of my brain, so that I can work without thought. It’s been a lot of trial and error to find the best way to get around my neurosis and ADD, so that I can just work and not worry about it!
As far as confidence goes…I am not sure how I kept that up. I am just so self conscious about everything else that it was a natural choice to pursue the art instead of another career.
CLICK HERE to read the entire interview!
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Isol
Posted by Amy on Wednesday August 18, 2010
Isol is a children’s book illustrator based in Buenos Aires, who has illustrated for several authors such as Jorge Luján, Graciela Montes and Paul Auster.
She has quite a following, and no wonder – her deceptively simple illustrations say so much. Everything on her website is in Spanish, so if you’re not as linguistically challenged as I am, you can also peruse her blog which has a collection of posters that she illustrated. (of course, I can always count on Babelfish to help me out!)
{Thanks to Yael for the introduction into her work!}
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