Posts tagged illustration

Howkapow!

By Dilys Treacle Treasures on May 20, 2011
This entry is filed under Craft, Design and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . | 2 Comments

Hey everyone!

 

Over here at Craft Candy, we have discovered the most amazing new online indie shop this week, which we just have to tell you about! And the name of that shop is HOWKAPOW!

 

Howkapow

 

Howkapow is a vibrant showcase, focussing on emerging independent designers and illustrators, and run by husband and wife team Rog and Cat How.

 

Rog and Cat believe in investing in ‘quality, creativity, community and fun’, and this is reflected in the range of hand selected products available at Howkapow.com. An array of innovative, unusual and eclectic pieces are featured on the site every season – all chosen for their stand-out style and affordable prices.

 

The collection is regularly changing, but always features cutting-edge products, from illustration and jewellery, to homewares, accessories and furniture. Howkapow is packed full of desirable design gems which will both delight and inspire you!

 

Cat and Rog How

 

The lovely Cat How has given up a little of her time to have a chat, and tell us a bit more of the Howkapow story, and her plans for the future…this will be liberally sprinkled with some imagery to tempt you straight to the shop! As if you are not tempted already!

 

CC: Hello Cat! Thank you for chatting with us, it’s lovely to talk to you! So…we know you and Rog are a team, but who does most of the Howkapow work? Do you split things equally?


Cat : We both do! Thankfully we’ve been able to cover most bases with the things we both feel we’re strongest at. I source new designers, write and design the press releases and newsletters and manage the stock as well as being in charge of sending out the orders. Rog is ‘operations guru’ and runs the website and all our accounts alongside handling all our wholesale and international orders. He gets the fun jobs like sorting out postage rates and filling out the tax returns!

 

Cabinets from the 'Leigh' range, by Nottingham based designers &Then

 

CC : What is the idea behind Howkapow?


Cat : We wanted to create a colourful shop which would support and promote emerging designers and illustrators, offering them a platform to showcase their work – often for the first time. Alongside this we wanted Howkapow to also act as an agency where we would help designers with their press and PR and get their work to a wider audience.

 

Close detail of 'Hanz' necklace by Frederique Conte, a Barcelona-based humourous jewellery designer

 

CC : When was the Howkapow idea born, and long did it take to go from being an idea, to actually becoming the fabulous online shop we see now?


Cat : The first spark of an idea came when we were doing a market stall (selling my jewellery) in Melbourne in 2006. We did it to meet new, like-minded friends as we’d just moved from the UK and it became a huge part of our social life. We LOVED it and met so many amazing people. There was such a strong sense of community, that we wanted to do something like that ourselves when we got back to the UK. We also had a market stall in Brick Lane every week and similarly found some amazingly creative people, who just needed a bit of a hand getting their work out there. After many different possible incarnations we found that the online shop would be the best place from which to start, branch out and grow…

 

Natalie Thakur's witty take on the reuseable shopping bag - these grocery bags are made from ethically sourced leather

 

CC : Where are you based, and what is your workspace like?

 

Cat : We’re based in – arguably – the most wonderful city in the West: Bristol! We work from our home studio which means coffee breaks in the garden and extravagant lunches… but it does mean we’re running out of space! We’ve been on the hunt for a shop / studio / gallery space in the city centre for us to make our second home soon.

 

Turn your dull light switches into smiling faces, with Henrietta Swift's 'Light up your mood' light switch stickers! There are a set of stickers to suit everyone!

 

Light up your light switch!

 

CC  : Do you and Rog both have creative backgrounds?


Cat : Actually, no! Rog was a radio producer for the BBC and I only came to design quite late on although I’ve always painted and loved to design things. We both met at Bristol University about 10 years ago when Rog was studying Electronic Engineering and I was reading English Literature. After we finished our degrees we both got jobs within the subject fields we’d studied in. Rog went into radio and I was a staff writer – specialising in art and theatre – for Metro newspaper. It was only after we moved to Australia in 2006 that I re-trained in graphics and realised I couldn’t go back to journalism. After two years we moved back to London where I did an MA in graphics at Central Saint Martins. I finished last June and a few weeks later we bought a house and moved back to Bristol.

 

London-based designer Nick Fraser creates humourous yet beautiful homeware - like this awesome pipework coat-rack which is available in several different colour schemes!

 

CC : Do you still design jewellery?


Cat : Yes, I design my own range of jewellery under the Howkapow label. We are also collaborating with some of our favourite young designers on a range of exclusive Howkapow products – these include tea towels, mugs, birchwood trays, cushions and possibly even deck chairs.

 

Zig Zeb necklace, by Cat How

 

CC : How do you choose the designers to be featured in your store? Do you accept applications, or do you hand select?


Cat : We hand select designers, but have quite a simple selection process. Designers need to be emerging, independent and be making and / or designing the products themselves. Their work also needs to match at least one of our core brand values of colour, humour, uniqueness and fun!

 

'Spinning' print by Plymouth College of Art graduate Sam Gray. Taken from a limited edition poster series titled 'Vertigo', and available xclusively to Howkapow

 

CC : Do you have any plans for a real life shop?

 

Cat : Yes, absolutely. We’re already looking into spaces in Bristol as we really want to have a physical manifestation of the shop and to start curating exhibitions as well as hosting more events.

 

Oak cat lamp, by Bath-based designer Matt Pugh

 

Walnut dog lamp, by Matt Pugh

 

CC : What are your other future plans for Howkapow?

 

Cat : We hope to build up the agency, which is still in its infancy, but as we’re only six months old we’re going to give ourselves another few months to try to get our name around a bit and celebrate our ‘newness’!

 

'Hello bike' letterpress card, illustrated by Tim Fite, and produced by Brooklyn-based 'Enormouschampion'

 

CC : And lastly…who are your personal favourite designers, makers or illustrators right now?


Cat : have always been a huge fan of Scottish illustrator Eleanor Meredith‘s work, and I also love the jewellery made by Fred Butler and our very own Eleanor Bolton. Rog loves anything by Elvis & Kresse but is also a fan of Bristol-based furniture designer, Charlie Crowther.

 

'Gin slug' three-colour risograph print by Eleanor Meredith

 

Messenger bag by Elvis and Kresse, made from decomissioned fire hose

 

CC : Thank you for chatting with us Cat!


To finish up, here are some personal Craft Candy favourites from the shop – I NEED all of these!

 

'Disco Teradactyl' with a crystal eye, from Barcelona-based Gonzalo Cutrina's 'extinct' collection - the others are awesome too!

 

PI.iii geometric handmade pouffe by Eleanor Young, a Glasgow-based textile designer and upholsterer - and the lady behind 'Fun Makes Good'

 

Beautiful cherry fine leather cherry necklace, by Camberwell College graduate Rowenna Harrison - Rosita Bonita

 

There are so many amazing things in the Howkapow shop, it is very hard to select just a few favourites – I recommend a visit and a good look round! You will see something you want for sure!

 

To find out more about any of the designers featured here, or to discover more amazing stuff, visit the Howkapow Designers area over on the website.

 

Here are some more links -

 

 

And, our new favourite blog – Rog and Cat’s design blog. There are some seriously nice things featured on here, you must take a look!

 

Have a happy Friday, shopping and reading!

 

Until next time, Janine x




Reetsweet is SOON!!!

By Dilys Treacle Treasures on November 26, 2010
This entry is filed under Craft, Craft Fairs, Design, Events and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . | 1 Comment

If you are going to be in or near Leeds on Sunday December 5th, and fancy doing a bit of Christmas shopping away from the usual high street hustle and bustle, then you need to get yourself to the Corn Exchange, where you will find the latest Reetsweet craft event in full swing! Reetsweet is ‘an art, design and neo craft shopping event featuring the very best of Leeds’ local talent’, and will feature a range of crafts including jewellery, photography, textiles, homewares, and plenty of other arts and accessories, all of which will be handmade and one of a kind. This is the second Reetsweet fair taking place at the Corn Exchance, the first one was back at the start of November and was a resounding success!

Reetsweet poster designed by Steph Baxter - for more info about Steph and her work, see below...

The Reetsweet shopping events are organised and run by Rebecca Drury, who says “I’ve have always been a bit of a magpie, collector and maker. I started at the age of ten selling fimo jewellery from a little lunchbox at school, and then ended up in my twenties doing personal shopping and helping style people. I love one-off accessories, homewares and art”.

Becki Drury - founder of Reetsweet in Leeds

She continues “I’d had a blog for a while, but had lost my inspiration with it, then I just thought to myself that I love craft, I spend so much time making things and searching for handmade gifts for people myself – why not make a small business out of it? So that’s what I did a few months ago, and it’s grown from there”.

The Corn Exchange, Leeds - home of Reetsweet

Speaking of Reetsweet and her plans for the future, Rebecca says “The first fair went really well, we had a great quality selection of stalls and I am hoping to maintain that, and build a following.  In the new year we will be doing monthly events, and a website will be following soon to compliment the blog and Facebook pages. Our fairs try to be modern, eclectic and high quality – with a focus on the fun, colourful and innovative.  I hope people enjoy the selection we have for December – we’ve expanded, and have some fantastic new stalls!  Reetsweet!”.

Craft Candy's very own Kay Guccione, of 'lilidrawspictures', pictured behind her stall at the November Reetsweet event, with husband Ed.

http://www.lilidrawspictures.com/

Another Craft Candy member, James Green, at the November Reetsweet

http://www.folksy.com/shops/jamesgreenprintworks

Charley, of 'Charley Dreams' behind her stall at The Corn Exchange

http://www.etsy.com/shop/charleydreams

'Dig the Earth' stall at The Corn Exchange

http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/digtheearth

Leeds based Steph Baxter, of ‘Steph Says Hello’ has designed the lovely December Reetsweet fair posters and flyers.

Back view of the Reetsweet flyer, by Steph Baxter

Self professed illustrator, doodler, crafter and tea drinker, Steph explains a bit about her way of working “I basically live for art & design in all its forms. I’ve never really got video installation though?! I’m pretty simple in my tastes – give me something bright & cheerful, and I’m happy! I spend about 93% of my day creating cute things. Sometimes for other people, sometimes it just cheers up my day. When I’m not illustrating or working at my part time sweet shop job, I love crafting. Its something I’ve only just recently got into properly. I’ve always made and sewn things – but never really had the courage to put myself out there until now. I love making little things out of paper and felt. There’s something really satisfying about taking simple materials and making something lovely. And when I’ve done all that, I can usually be found drinking tea (Earl Grey, milk, no sugar) and cuddling my new little puss-cat Sukie. I’m easily pleased!”.

Making Future Magic, design by Steph Baxter for Ad Agency Dentsu London

I love sewing, by Steph Baxter

Steph’s designs are really happy, bright and uplifting! She has carried out a range of different freelance work, from logo and poster designs, to magazine and print work…she’s even had one of her designs made into a window decal!

Stephs design work featured in Mother & Baby magazine in July 2010

Steph's Go Green 'Eco' design, as a window decal!

If you’d like to view more of Steph’s work, you can check out her Flickr photostream here – The Pink Robot (Steph Says Hello). Or, why not take a browse round her Folksy shop, where she has lovely prints, notebooks and calendars for sale – Steph Says Hello on Folksy. Better still, you can visit Steph in person at Reetsweet on December 5th, where she will have a stall, selling an assortment of lovely things!

Steph Says Hello, pictured here at the November Reetsweet - she will be back in December, so make sure you pay her a visit!

So don’t forget – Leeds Corn Exchange, Sunday 5th December 2010, 11am – 4pm, and it’s FREE entry!!! For more information on Reetsweet here are some links -

Reetsweet Blog

Reetsweet on Facebook

If you would like to contact Rebecca for further information on the fair, or if you would like to enquire about exhibiting your work at a future fair, the contact email address is reetsweetevents@gmail.com

Good Luck to everyone at Reetsweet! x

Halftones and Headphones – The work of Paul Williams

By Dilys Treacle Treasures on November 16, 2010
This entry is filed under Craft Candy, Craft Fairs, Design and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . | 2 Comments

Hello! I wanted to officially unveil the new poster for the Craft Candy December mini fair! The mini fair graphics have been given a brand new look recently, courtesy of the exceptionally talented, local graphic designer, Paul Williams, who works under the name ‘Halftones and Headphones‘. You have probably already got a sneak preview of the poster elsewhere already, but anyway, for the first time ever on the Craft Candy blog, here is the poster in all its fine glory!

Craft Candy Mini fair - new poster deisgn, by Paul Williams

I think you’ll agree, it’s an amazing piece of design work, which captures the ethos of Craft Candy perfectly. If you’re going to be selling your work at the fair in December, or would like to help promote Craft Candy mini fairs, you can download yourself a version of the poster from the Craft Candy mini fairs page, and use it on your website or blog. Paul has also designed a simple logo, which is equally as striking.

Craft Candy mini fairs logo, by Paul Williams

So now you’ve seen the awesome new designs, you’d like to know more about the man behind the Mac right? Well, get yourself a nice cup of tea, and read on…

Paul at Brandenburg Gate (with a Storm Trooper)

Twenty three year old Paul Williams is originally from Liverpool, but now resides permanently in Sheffield, where he is the fourth and final year of his MDes, specialising in Graphic Design, at Sheffield Hallam Uni. An MDes, if you don’t know, is basically a Masters, combined with a degree into one long course. So, this is not bad at all for a boy who (in his own words) ‘flunked’ his Art A-level, and was told he had no future career in the discipline!

And, what’s more, Paul has recently returned from spending a semester of his course at the Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany. Studying abroad and doing a placement or exchange is an optional part of the MDes, and although there were a range of places available to choose from, such as Prague or Lapland, Paul says he couldn’t turn down the opportunity to be able to put ‘Bauhaus‘ on his CV! He worked under the well respected Canadian typographer Professor Jay Rutherford, and although the course was essentially typography based, got to try his hand at all sorts of different things, including hand-set type and calligraphy. The course culminated in working as part of a group, on producing an educational board game, Schrift Stadt, which was his final piece.

Schrift Stadt - educational board game

Schrift Stadt graphics

When working on his own designs, Paul draws on a vast array of different influences, from movies, comics and music, to old books, photographs and other collectable ephemera, including the Las Vegas Motel kitsch of ‘Americana’. He loves the hand-painted signs and old style script logos, and this comes across in his own work, which he sums up, in one word, as ‘retro’.

A selection of logos, designed by Paul Williams. For more information on these, please see the link at the bottom of the article to the Halftones and Headphones website.

Paul is inspired by the work of some great designers, such as Brian Ewing & Rob Dobi, and their great comic book style, and more recently, has admired the witty minimalist style of Jason Munn (The Small Stakes), and the work coming out of the Aesthetic Apparatus and  Silent Giants studios. Eric Tan is another inspiration for Paul – he likes his “cool Disney stuff”, and the way “it goes against what you’d expect.” And he cites Saul Bass as being a ‘massive influence’, commenting “I think people have used his style to death, but when I see one of his Hitchcock posters, or title sequences, I’m still shocked by how ahead of their time they were.”

Juggling his Uni work along with his ever growing stack of freelance requests, and with his part time bar job thrown into the mix, Paul is so busy, that he doesn’t get as much time to enjoy the things that interest him as he’d like. He says he has to make time for them as much as he can though, or his creativity would just dry up!

Graphics for The Lescar drinks menu, Sharrowvale Road, Sheffield

Paul began freelancing when he was still at school completing his GCSE’s. He started off by designing flyers and posters for his mate Kev, who ran band nights. Paul’s band used to play at these, and he was paid in beer and free entry to other nights! He doesn’t rate the designs he did back then, saying “They were really awful, using about twenty different typefaces and pixelated images but I guess I had to start somewhere!”  For a few years, whilst studying for an Art Foundation BTEC, and during a stint at Salford Uni (which he left to take a year out instead!) Paul worked mainly on gig posters, and improved his style bit by bit. He says it was only when he arrived in Sheffield, that he got the confidence to start taking on bigger jobs.

Bungalows and Bears Menu design

Now, as resident designer, he regularly produces graphics, and puts together events posters for Bungalows & Bears on Division Street, and has also worked for The Lescar, on Sharrowvale Road (see image above).

Hullabearloo poster, for Bungalows and Bears

Another Hullabearloo poster

Paul has also worked on several self promotional book projects, and is keen to do more of this kind of work in the future. He says “I started a project last year, to document people and their bikes. I travelled around the country meeting up with friends and doing quick interviews about riding and the history of their bike.” The project isn’t complete yet, but Paul hopes to revisit it and expand upon it in the future. He has also worked on another book project as part of his course, called ‘You can quote me on that’. The brief was to produce a run of portfolio promoting books. Paul’s book features personal favourite quotations, and was produced in a run of 25.  He says “There’s something nice about collecting all your work into one finished piece with a clear outcome. I find books a far more interesting way to look at design than blogs for instance, so it’s nice to have made a few. I have this book, ‘The making of The Fantastic Mr. Fox’, (the recent Wes Anderson version). It’s absolutely amazing, and documents every last detail beautifully. I think getting the opportunity to put something like that together would be incredible. Difficult, but incredible.”

"Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric" - Bertrand Russell. Taken from the book 'You can quote me on that' by Paul Williams.

Pauls process of working changes a lot. He carries out the majority of his work on a Mac, but he often draws everything up by hand first.  He also does all his own screen printing and is planning on doing a run of some of his favourite pieces soon, which will be up on his website in due course. He shares an office with a two other guys, who are also involved in design in one way or another, which for Paul, makes it “a good space to work in.”

Electric Works, image one, Brooklyn Blend

As part of another University brief, Paul created these screen printed images for Electricworks, which is a new media centre in Sheffield, aimed at creative small businesses, and which famously has a helter skelter inside the building! The theme for the art works was ‘interconnectedness’, and Paul decided to explore Sheffields relationship with the environment in the images.

Electricworks, image two, Seven Hills

Electricworks, image three, Sheaf Feld

When asked where he sees the future taking him, Paul comments “I think when I graduate I might look in to working in a studio for a short while. I don’t see myself settling in to that sort of role, I’d much prefer to be a freelancer, but it would be useful to get some first hand experience of the business and admin side of things. Long-term, I’d like to set up my own print studio. Being able to design a piece of work and then actually bring it to fruition myself is something I really enjoy.”

Voo & 28 Costumes - band poster artwork

Lets hope we see plenty more of Pauls work around Sheffield in the future!

Here are a few more of my personal favourite images from Paul’s website…

JRW Drums Drum tuition artwork

Drum tuition artwork for JRW Drums

Tony Reilly guitar tuition artwork

*You can visit Paul’s website and view more examples of his work at Halftones and Headphones.

Candy Conversations : Vyctoria Hart

By Dilys Treacle Treasures on October 15, 2010
This entry is filed under Candy Conversations, Craft Candy, Member news and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . | 1 Comment

Welcome to Candy Conversations! This week we’re chatting with Vyctoria of Phantoms Siren.

Candy Stats

Name : Vyctoria Hart

Hometown : Rotherham

Craft : Graphic Design

Company Name : Phantoms Siren

Website : http://www.phantoms-siren.com

Deviantart : http://phantoms-siren.deviantart.com

Blog : http://phantomssiren.livejournal.com

Etsy : http://phantomssiren.etsy.com

Likes : Coffee by the pint and chocolate by the crate. Music with cogs and art with gears. Tales of daring airship shenanigans and books of science fantasy. Steampunk and dieselgoth and the goggle wearing crowd. People who know their history but aren’t afraid to play fast and loose with it. Comedy with bite and humour with brains. Yoga that doesn’t take itself too seriously and meditation without the incense.

Dislikes : Hipsters, fashionistas and scene snobs. Celery. Hatred, intolerance and misplaced self importance. Tea. The feeling that you’ve forgotten to do something really important.

Vyctoria Hart

Candy Conversation

  • Hi Vycotoria, welcome to Candy Conversations. Tell us a bit about yourself!

I’m 27 and I currently live on the outskirts of Rotherham (someone has to!) with my fiance David. I followed him to The University of York in 2001 where I studied The History of Art at degree level. It was a terribly difficult course, requiring a whole four hours of lectures a week and a free international holiday… ahem.. I mean an intensive overseas studies session every year. I graduated in 2004 with a 2:1 BA Hons and the feeling that I should have studied harder. I had intended to study Medievalism in the Victorian Era to Masters level but went into the world of work instead.

The dreaded Vyctoria!

David and I have been together for ten years and plan to get married in 2012. We’re planning a steampunk wedding with a theme loosely based on the Jim Henson movie Labyrinth, with almost everything coming from the local arts and crafts community. We currently share our home with a six month old black kitten named Du and our garden is occupied by a growing number of ornamental Koi carp.

  • Have you always been creative?

I’ve been artistic for as long as I can remember. When I was small Tony Hart was something of a hero to me, not least because of the shared surname, and I watched HartBeat religiously every week after school. It was my dearest ambition to have a picture featured in The Gallery. Whilst I never achieved this aim, I did get two out of my three Blue Peter badges for art work.

Sadly I had a number of problems when it came to GCSE and A-Level art classes as I found the insistence on following other artistic styles to be stifling. As a result I didn’t speak to my GCSE art teacher for over a year of that course. Whilst I tried to abandon my own style during my A-Levels I wasn’t successful in emulating the approved styles and gained only a grade D. As a result I gave up on visual art and didn’t draw a thing for over a year.

Vyctoria portraits

Whilst I was at University I discovered a love of concert photography and spent a number of years following a band called The Cruxshadows all over Europe and into the US. Gradually, through the people and friends I met along the way, I found my way back to the pen. During that period I also happened upon knitting, crochet, costume design, spinning, origami, baking and a bit of hair dressing.  Whilst my focus these days is mostly on digital art, I still love to indulge in my other loves whenever I have the time.

Concert photography by Vyctoria Hart

  • Tell us more about your craft…

I have two main crafts. The first and foremost is digital design. This involves a huge amount of time tied to a computer and a graphics tablet. A graphics tablet is a wonderful invention that allows you to draw straight into a computer program with a pen, rather than scanning from paper or struggling with an unwieldy mouse. I work almost exclusively in Photoshop, though I am trained in Illustrator and GIMP I just feel most comfortable in Photoshop.

Some of my designs have been created for one specific product, such as a calendar, tattoo or magazine cover, whilst others are created for the sheer joy of it and are subsequently translated into greeting cards and prints.

My second craft is spinning yarn. I find the process very relaxing and rewarding as yarn can be surprisingly artistic and complex. Whilst I own a spinning wheel I often prefer to spin with a rather low tech drop spindle as its quieter and easier to transport. As I only spin art yarn, the lengths and the weights of the product can vary widely from piece to piece and each piece is completely unique and cannot be repeated. This is a huge contrast for me creatively from the digital art which can be printed and duplicated ad infinitum.

Passiflora yarn

Rose tag stitch set

Made for you, with love

  • Where do you sell your products, and how do you promote your work?

Currently most of my sales are through my DeviantArt website, though I have recently set up an Etsy shop.

The benefit of DeviantArt is that the art is printed on demand and shipped directly from the printer to the buyer. As DeviantArt is primarily an art site I have received a number of commissions as a result of customers using their search functions to find specific types of artist. The wider DeviantArt community system also makes it easier to find artists to collaborate with and provides a wide range of contests and challenges that can bring your work to a wider audience.

I have had a stall at a Craft Candy fair on two occasions now and received my most exciting commission to date as a result of my art being displayed there. In October 2009 I was fortunate enough to be asked to create the cover for issue 2 of Irregular Magazine.

Irregular Magazine artwork

I am extremely fortunate to have my work displayed at the Davenport and Winkleperry Art Gallery in Pittsboro, North Carolina. This is one of the major advantages of working digitally – I can paint work here, and have it printed at a gallery on the other side of the Atlantic in minutes rather than waiting weeks for shipping.

  • So are you currently available for commissions?

I’m happy to consider any kind of commission, from custom portraits and tattoos, to advertisements and logo design.

I work on a sliding scale of basic prices depending on the complexity of the finished piece. Something like a small tattoo design can cost very little, whilst a 4 foot by 6 foot hugely complex art nouveau piece can cost a great deal more. My current commission prices are outlined on my website, but I am also open to trades and collaborations.

This piece, ‘Iola’, (see below) was created for a friends wedding, the bride is a fellow fan of Alphonse Mucha, so I used his style, whilst the gladioli in the girls hand is a symbol of the groom’s love of The Smiths/Morrissey. All the other flowers were specifically chosen for their meaning in relation to the bridal bouquets.

Iola

  • Do you work from home or do you have a studio? What is your work space like?

I have two work spaces in my home. The first is my desk in the living room, this holds my iMac, scanner, graphics tablet, a massive collection of art magazines and stock discs, and usually an excessive number of mugs and chocolate wrappers. I spend at least 3 hours a day here, and when I’m on a creative roll I can be staring at this screen for 14 hours or more. As such, I try to keep it tidy enough to work, but when I’m concentrating on the art the mess becomes invisible.

My second workspace is my custom built craft room. It was the first room I decorated when we moved into this house, the walls are a lurid mix of hot pink and brilliant aqua with lots of functional white storage and work surfaces. This is a huge contrast to the rest of our home, which is rather darker and more gothic. However I adore the energising feel of this space, it is perfect for sewing, spinning and all the other noisy or messy art processes. Also its much easier to find wayward pins on white surfaces than it is on black!

Whilst I like the idea of having a studio elsewhere I prefer to be able to work and spend time with my partner at the same time. Also I tend to get inspired at 2am in the morning, and I prefer not to have to travel far to translate that inspiration into reality.

Craft room

  • Who or what inspires you, and how does this come through in your work?

Artistically, the majority of my work is inspired by the work of Alphonse Mucha and the wider Art Nouveau movement. My work has always been reliant on linework for its structure, and as I’ve progressed, the combination of Steampunk and Art Nouveau has been a natural one. I’ve always admired his use of framing devices and flowing fabrics. Art Nouveau also represented a move towards advertising as a form of artist expression and the concept that one could have as much selling impact with images as with words. This is a concept I’ve experimented with, as in this poster I created for the Clockwork Cabaret radio show www.clockworkcabaret.com

Clockwork Cabaret

In terms of the content, my art is frequently inspired by music, literature, film and television. In my gallery you’ll find pieces inspired by The War of the Worlds, Blade Runner, Doctor Who, the author Neil Gaiman and the music of Abney Park to name but a few.

This set of examples (below) shows a selection of works inspired by musicals – a crocheted version of the evil Audrey II plant from Little Shop of Horrors, a yarn inspired by Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and a poster created to advertise a live version of REPO! The Genetic Opera.

Musical Inspirations

  • Which of your contemporaries do you admire?

Dr Geof Banyard, the genius behind the Fetishman comicbooks and a glorious range of deviously steampunk designs at the islandofdoctorgeof.co.uk, many of which feature squid, tea or zeppelins, sometimes all in the same image. If I could work with even 50% of Geof’s wit, range and teainess I’d be 50% more successful! *WARNING: THESE MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR UNDER 18s*!

Ida Mary Walker Larsen, a hugely talented digital manipulator in her own right, Ida is one of my preferred sources of stock photography. The amount of work that she puts into the costumes and poses results in source images of amazing quality. A number of my images have been inspired directly by her stock.

Steph Gorin, who sells spinning supplies as Loop, is the reason I spin at all, her beautiful spinning batts are artworks in their own right. Sometimes I feel guilty turning these wonderful creations into yarn, they’re almost too good to use.

  • What is your favourite craft item that you have made and sold?

It’s hard to choose a favorite but the piece I’m currently most proud of is “The Frost Fairy” which was created as my 2008 Christmas/Yule/Winter Holiday greetings card.

Frost Fairy

  • And what’s your favourite hand crafted item that you’ve bought?

It’s hard to choose a favorite item, but I’d have to say the custom monkey made by Siansburys is my current favorite. I’d wanted a custom monkey for a long time and this one is absolutely perfect. He’s based on Alan Cumming’s character Glitch in the Sci-Fi Channel series Tin Man, which is a retelling of the Wizard of Oz. The amount of detail on this monkey is amazing, from the stitching on the waistcoat and the tears in his jacket, to the curled wool dreadlocks and perfect handstitched felt zipper on his head. I’d love to have a shelf full of monkeys!

Glitch Monkey, handcrafted by Siansburys

  • What do you love about belonging to Craft Candy, and how do you feel you have benefitted from being a member of the group?

I originally found Craft Candy via Ravelry, the knitting website and I volunteered to join the group without knowing too much about it. I was hooked from the first meeting, the other members of the group create a wonderful atmosphere and it’s so easy to relax.

Vyctoria on her stall at the Craft Candy fair in March 2009

Vyctoria's stall at

I’ve attended a few of the workshops and there is always a friendly face to chat with whilst you craft. So far I’ve had a stall at two of the craft fairs and I’ve always done my best to help out on the welcome desk at the other fairs.

Vyctoria, with Kati, on the welcome desk, at Candy Floss 2010

As the overall style of the group is very different to my own, I created this logo (below) based on Victorian candy tins last year, so I can advertise the group on my website without compromising the aesthetics.

Craft Candy tin - alternative Craft Candy logo

  • Finally, what are your plans for the future?

I want to create art that helps people in some way, and as I already do a lot of work for charity, I’d love to find away to combine the two. For the last few years I’ve been involved in art contests in aid of Lupus research, and recently I designed a logo for LARP-AID, a group that runs live-action roleplay events in aid of charity. I’d love the opportunity to do more like that.

Vyctoria's work for Lupus research

  • Thank you for chatting Vyctoria, it’s been good to find out more about your work!

Phantoms Siren in York, by Margrethe Aas Johnsen


Candy Conversation

By Sarah Waterhouse Textiles on September 28, 2009
This entry is filed under Candy Conversations and tagged , , , , , , .

Here is our latest Candy Conversation with member Phantoms Siren.

Vital statistics:
Name: Vyctoria Hart/Phantoms Siren
Craft: Illustration and Spinning
Hometown: Rotherham
Website: www.phantoms-siren.com

Gorgon


Tell us about you and your craft?
I’m a fantasy and steampunk illustrator working entirely in the digital medium. Sometimes, I also spin yarn.

How did you get started?
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t drawing something but I started working digitally whilst at university (2001-2004) as a way to avoid writing essays. I started selling prints and cards though DeviantArt a few years ago because people asked for them. The spinning grew over the last couple of years from a fascination with yarn and knitting. I’m addicted to sparkly things and getting to make sparkly yarn was too great a chance to miss.

Frost Fairy

Where do you get your inspiration from?
Short answer – everywhere. Most of my graphics are influenced by the Art Nouveau period, especially the works of Alphons Mucha, but the themes for individual pieces can come from anywhere at all. At the moment I’m fascinated by the world of steampunk and most of my work refers back to that in someway or other.

Where do you sell your work?
At the moment I mostly sell through my DeviantArt account and direct emails, though I have sold at two craft fairs recently.

Passiflora

What do you love most about being creative?

For me the main joy in my work is the chase of finding the right idea, the right models, the right colours and seeing it all come together as one new piece that didn’t exist before. I like to be able trace back to the first single spark of an idea.!

Tell us what your plans for the future are?
I recently completed a cover for an online magazine, and I’d love to do more work like that, especially within the steampunk scene itself. I have a few projects illustrating short stories and I’m hoping to create a steampunk colourbook some time soon. Charitable work is also very close to my heart and I am planning to create a range to support one or more Lupus charities.

Vyctoria Hart