Laurie Hastings
Posted by Amy on Wednesday September 1, 2010
Laurie Hastings is an Edinburgh-based illustrator, and I’m really fascinated by her use of cool colors for her work. There’s lots of blues in there, but they work beautifully for each of her commissions.
She’s collaborated with with poet David Troupes, has done book covers for Random House, magazine illustrations and also runs a small online shop, which you can find silk screen prints and other little bits and pieces such as cards, matchboxes, cotton shoppers and purses!
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Dasrotesrabbit
Posted by Amy on Tuesday August 31, 2010
Loving the strong visuals behind Sarah of Dasroterabbit’s work. She’s a freelance designer since 2003 (with a Masters in Visual Communications from Danmarks Design School) who resides in Sweden. Dasroterabbit is a brand
she created that pulls together her love for graphics and arts and embraces graphic design, illustration, art direction and handmade plywood (wall hanging) artworks.
Right now in her Etsy shop there’s lots of colorful posters available that’s guaranteed to add some zing to your walls!
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My Favourite Weather
Posted by Amy on Monday August 30, 2010
I think that the weather is getting better over here. For the past few weeks it’s been nothing but hot scorching sun that birds won’t even come out for lest they burn (I’m pretty sure that birds don’t really burn though…)
But I do hope that birds are chirping wherever you are!
{Bird Chirping Weather by Katie Daisy}
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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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Mayuko Fujino
Posted by Amy on Friday August 20, 2010
Beautiful collage work by Mayuko Fujino, a paper cutout artist currently residing in Tokyo. All of her works are created with an X-Acto knife, paper of Washi (Japanese handmade paper), and magazine papers. Through years of experimentation, she has arrived at her current style that marries collage and paper cutouts. Her portfolio is amazing, and is a must see for papercraft artists and lovers.
Her solo exhibition entitled Arikui Abduction (images above are from the series) have just ended but original pieces can be purchased from Megumi Ogita Gallery. And she also has an Etsy shop!
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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Denise Gallagher
Posted by Amy on Wednesday August 18, 2010
Loving the fun illustrations of Denise Gallagher. Her work has a predominantly muted palette of green, browns and grey; with a lot of textures and fine line work. What I love most is her ability to express the many facets of her characters through the rendering of their facial expression — now that’s a skill I’d kill for! Also worth a read: her About page with one of the loveliest bios I’ve ever read.
See her BigCartel shop for prints you can purchase!
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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.
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Pepa Prieto
Posted by Amy on Thursday August 5, 2010
I sometimes get asked about how I find the illustrators that I feature over here on Pikaland. Truth is, there is no set formula. I get submissions every day (you can do so on the contact page — don’t be shy, I know there’s a lot of fantastic people doing fantastic things out there!) and I also do a lot of clicking around the internet, which leads to more clicking, until I get a random surprise and then there’s the eureka moment where I have to share my findings with you. It’s all very compulsive, really. (And of course, if I find my inspiration in other people’s blog post, credit is given — I suggest you do the same!)
This is how I found Pepa Prieto, an artist born in Granada. From her bio, it mentioned that her love for colors and texture grew into the vast array of paintings, drawings, and installations she creates today. Her mix media pieces are beautiful — her recent works are akin to stories immortalized by time. I almost wish that they could come alive as a video game of sorts — wouldn’t that be fantastic?
While waiting for that to happen though, you can check out her shop where she has limited edition silk screen prints up for grabs.
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Sponsor giveaway: KLT:Works
Posted by Amy on Tuesday August 3, 2010
Kristin Loffer Theiss runs KLT:Works with the help of her husband and her boy, Sayer, who is now her muse and also the label’s star model! Kristin is also a trained artist /painter who holds a MFA in Fine Art from The School of Visual Arts in NYC. Her artistic background allowed her to approach her creations with a painter’s eye — she’s pays a lot of attention to working with color, texture, and form.
Though Kristin makes a range of products, my favorite has to be her free-motion sewed illustrations, which you can now hang on your wall! Consisting of three letterpress prints, the set is made up of a pair of owls (a bride and a groom) plus a little nest to tie it all together. Just comment by the 10th of August to be in the running!
UPDATE: Commenting has now closed, thanks so much for participating. The winner of this giveaway is Piper, as generated by random.org.
Comments [38]