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!
Comments [1]
The Go Travel! PikaPackage giveaway!
Posted by Amy on Thursday August 5, 2010
For this August, I thought that it would be fitting to have a package that is dedicated to traveling. Summertime has always been about going to different places to discover something new, and this year it’s been a little quieter than usual on the internet because of it.
Once the vacation is over (or for those who are stuck at home like me,) I think it would be fantastic to be able to collect a package that can remind you about how fantastic it is to go see the world — and this is the premise of the Go Travel! PikaPackage. I hope that this would also inspire you to go out and explore – no matter the season!
For this theme we have curated a total of 14 illustrators who submitted their work in the form of prints, zines, notebooks, stickers, buttons and paper toys (more would have participated, if it weren’t for the traveling season — a catch-22 indeed!):
1. Annie Galvin of 3 Fish Studios
2. Aileen Holmes
3. Alison Tang of Little Clouds
4. Angela Keoghan
5. Chum Mcleod
6. Donna McKenzie of Corella Design
7. Émilie Boudet
8. Emma Cowley
9. Gaia Cornwall
10. Ilaria Benedetti
11. Kitty Kilian
12. Laura Tarrish
13. Rachael Smith of Penelope and Pip
14. Suzanne L. Vinson
Best of all, you can read all about our participants in this little nifty Go Travel! PikaPackage zine – there’s a short little Q+A in there with each artist and you may just find a new favorite to love!
We have TWO 8-item Go Travel! PikaPackage for grabs (valued at about $70 each!), and TWO lucky winners will get to take home a large loot of lovely items in the mail! All you have to do is just head on to any of the websites above and tell us which one is your favorite artist & why. Drop your note in the comments section by 12th August and we’ll email the winners after!
For those who want to get a Go Travel! PikaPackage of your very own, you can head over to the shop to pick up a package!
{Although participation in the PikaPackage Project is by invitation only, you can notify me of your interest and read more about the project over at our galleria page.}
UPDATE: Commenting has now closed, thanks so much for participating. The winner of this giveaway is Kasey Ann & Hollie, as generated by random.org.
Comments [72]
The Pao Pao girls
Posted by Amy on Friday July 30, 2010
The Pao Pao Girls is a collaborative outfit of two Japanese artists: Aya Kakeda (featured previously) and Fumiha Tanaka who are currently having an exhibition over at the Alternative Cafe. Born in Japan and currently residing in New York, the combination of their work is best described as a mash up of APAK and Betsy Walton!
Their work on display is a mix of surreal fantasy landscapes that showcase their unique inhabitants. Guest curated by Kevin E. Taylor (another fantastic artist), the show is on from July 9th-Aug 12th, so if you’re in Monterey, California hop on over for a visit!
UPDATE: Read about Fumiha’s adventure in the course of running the show on her blog!
{Thanks Meighan!}
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Artist interview: Nathalie Chikhi
Posted by Amy on Thursday July 29, 2010
Nathalie Chikhi is the queen of experimentation. She’s been making art everywhere she goes and no material is off bounds in her creations. Although I am very much taken by her drawings and colorful explorations (particularly Pixels, which is made up of ice-cream sticks!) she has experimented with paper, sculpture, bamboo and even messed around with toy cars — I kid you not! Read on for a personal one-on-one with Nathalie and you’ll soon be inspired to look around for things to make too!
Name: Nathalie Chikhi
Location: Orlando, USA
Website: nathaliechikhi.com
Shop: shop.ikubix.com
Gallery representation: newbloodart.com London, UK
Blog: nathaliechikhi.blogspot.com
Flickr: flickr.com/photos/nathaliechikhi
Facebook: nathaliechikhi
Illustration media: I do art & design so all kind of media and techniques like graphite, permanent markers, vector graphics, acrylic painting, clay, textiles and many more…
Tell us a little more about yourself!
First, I would like to thank you Amy, to give me this interview and the opportunity to share my work with the Pikaland’s community. {Amy: you’re welcome Nathalie!}
I was born and grew up in Quimper, Brittany. I went to art school over there, the only thing I knew is that I wanted to create some stuffs. During my childhood, I was drawing on the last page of my notebook and did some murals in my bedroom. At school, I was better in drawing that anything else.
Where do you live? What stands out about living where you are, and what is your daily schedule like?
I am primary based in Orlando, Florida where I have my home space studio. But I also travel extensively across USA. I have created many pieces in temporary domestic space or hotel rooms. I want to keep doing new artwork even if I am out of my studio. I use the space as a rule like a format of paper or a limited numbers of colors. This limitation of space helps me to experiment with various materials. For example, the series blizzard was done with permanent markers on paper. The series Pixels started in a domestic space, using wood sticks painted in acrylic and continue in my art studio. This process is part of my art practice.
What is great with Florida is the weather. I have also my friends there. Orlando is a growing city, with many things to do, a lot of opportunities for artists and close to Miami.
I am very much 9:00am-10:00pm. I practice art daily, alternating the creation of new artworks with marketing tasks/website updates/inventorying/reading art blogs (and so on).
How did you get your start in making art?
During my time in France, beside my graphic design job, I kept connected to the art world going to openings and art conferences or taking art classes. I have been invited by BD4D to create a flash motion. I did some videos with a creative group of designers which have been showcased at the Centre Pompidou and at the Biennial of Valencia in Spain. I did few paintings and sold some.
But let’s say, coming in the USA has been a revelation of what I really want to do. I decided to build a strong portfolio back in 2005 after I visited New York for the first time. I was really blown away by all the good art over there. It was amazing!
Right after NY, I moved to South California where I really started to paint-draw daily. I found out the series Mechanic and showed my work metamorphosis at the Art Center of Huntington Beach. Back in France, I continued to practice and organized my shows; one in a shop of contemporary furniture in Paris and another one in local cafe in Brittany. It was interesting to confront my art with people familiar or unfamiliar with art. At the same time, I did some textile monsters and illustrations but I felt more attracted by abstract textile works like ovolites.
CLICK HERE to read the entire interview!
Comments [2]
Sponsor giveaway: Gabrielle Rose
Posted by Amy on Tuesday July 27, 2010
This week’s sponsor giveaway comes from Gabrielle Rose, a watercolor artist based in San Francisco who lists the Golden Age of Illustration and beautiful, vintage children’s books among her stylistic influences.
She’s giving away two 4×6 prints, two postcards and four original watercolor mini paintings that would instantly brighten up your home! Just leave your comments by 4th August and we’ll select a random winner after!
:: Gabrielle’s Etsy shop ::
:: Blog ::
UPDATE: Commenting has now closed, thanks so much for participating. The winner of this giveaway is Daniel Moran, as generated by random.org.
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{If you’d like to be a sponsor on Pikaland, you can see more information over here!}
Comments [135]
Anita Dominoni
Posted by Amy on Wednesday July 7, 2010
These beautiful life-like portraits by artist Anita Dominoni makes me conjure up fun stories about the characters she draws (it’s those eyes, I tell you!)
Anita captures each of her characters’ quirks in subtle sweeps of pencil brilliantly! And when combined with collage elements, the overall image has layers of textures that truly draws one in. See more of her work in her Flickr stream and see originals for sale in her Bigcartel shop.
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Ivy Atoms
Posted by Amy on Wednesday July 7, 2010
I stumbled on Ivy’s Etsy shop a few days ago and discovered that she’s seventeen and is gearing to go to college in fall. I really like her simple watercolor drawings and of course, the humor that shines through! And if you buy her art, you’re chipping in to help her with college education fund – so how about doing a good deed today?
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Linda Kim
Posted by Amy on Wednesday June 9, 2010
The recent works of Linda Kim is mysterious and mesmerizing. You can purchase original works and beautiful objects like the last image above – a gouache painting on wood realized in 3D at LeBasse Projects.
Comments [6]
Ken Garduno
Posted by Amy on Tuesday May 18, 2010
Loving the illustrations done by Ken Garduno who uses acrylics inks to bring out the fine details and linework on his character’s facial features. He’s a freelance commercial illustrator who has also exhibited in a few galleries. Check out his Etsy shop where he stocks his originals, and also his blog for more updates.
Comments [1]
Roseau
Posted by Amy on Tuesday April 20, 2010
Beautiful collages and drawings on tea bag paper by French artist Roseau. The texture of the paper really brings out the raw quality of her works, and with it, a certain lightness.
See more in her Bigcartel shop (which is currently having a sale), and also her Flickr stream for more beguiling artwork.
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