Author: Mathias

Those Familiar Ghosts: Iselle Maddocks

Published by

So far, this was probably the quickest and most straight-forward artist interview I’ve ever done. Once these wonderfully strange ghostly creatures surfaced on my instagram feed, I couldn’t help but fire over a few questions & literally got the answers back with next-day-delivery. Everybody: Meet Iselle Maddocks, illustrator and doodler from Gloucestershire, who runs small independent press Opposite The Alley. Hello Iselle. Thanks for taking the time for a wee chat. Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself? Hello! You’re more than welcome! Well i’m an illustrator living in Gloucestershire. Drawing and strange monsters/characters is my thing. I’m addicted to coffee and bright colours. The more garish the better. I have a hamster called Kirby. I like circles and can’t draw elbows or knees but that won’t stop me. I totally fancy your little illustrated creatures exploring the landscape! Where do you mostly draw your inspiration from? And did any of your friends or features serve as a model for these? I love nature, so I aim to choose photos that make me want to be in …

Creative Findings #1: Of Scavengers, Departures, Globe Makers & Generative Illustrations

Published by

I suppose I’m quite an avid list maker. I keep track of pretty much everything from the creative sphere. Artists I’d love to feature. Interviews to take on. Articles to read. Places to explore. Themes or topics to write about. Exhibitions to visit. And of course, there’s all this fascinating stuff floating about on the web that ends up on my bookmark section & it would be a shame not to share with people out here. So that’s this week’s bite-sized selection of inspiring, attention-grabbing things. Round #1, here we go! The good folk at Colossal have recently featured this beautiful series of works by Janusz Jurek that explores the different forms of generative illustration as it relates to the human shape. Looks smashing, doesn’t it? Photographer Emilie van Camp has shared her fab photo essay Diary of a Weekend on tête-à-tête & PLATE. Beautiful wintery images accompanied by beautiful words of contemplation, thoughts about departures, new beginnings and embracing change. Read it here. The culture explorers over at Creative Boom have been putting aside the digital gadgets and went on to track …

Artful skeletons and peculiar closets: Recently Rejected

Published by

‘Unfinished concepts, process sketches, unpublished creative, terminated artwork, and rarely seen personal projects.’ That’s pretty much all you find on what NY-based founder Mario Hugo tenderly calls Recently Rejected, ‘a curated graveyard of both good and bad ideas’. And I’m totally on his side. There’s so many things that show up on his page that do not deserve to vanish, be destroyed or forgotten. Things that bawl for a chance to see the light of day. Let’s have a look what’s roving about, it’s quite a treasure trove! Check out these links to see more featured artworks & get in touch via social media: Website Twitter Instagram

Navigating the world through graphic abstraction: David Lemm

Published by

His eye-catching artworks have been on top of my list for a while. Experimenting with form, composition and texture to weave complex narratives, David Lemm’s graphic works explores human assumptions of truth based on abstract, symbolic representations of reality. And after collaborating with the likes of Leith Late, the Hidden Door Festival or the Bothy Project, a little bird has told me that the Edinburgh-based creative has been selected as  House of Illustration’s latest resident artist! Due time to reach out and chuck a few questions over, don’t you think? Hello David, thanks for your time! What about a short intro? Hi, no problem thanks for asking. Well, I’m an multidisciplinary artist and designer based in Edinburgh. I work on a broad range of projects, including exhibitions, residencies, illustration commissions, animation, art direction and workshops. How would you describe your style & which narratives and themes does your work explore? I like to combine analogue and digital processes with a playful and experimental approach to composition, narrative, form and texture. Recently I’ve been exploring ideas relating to knowledge communication, specifically maps/diagrams, and our assumptions …

Wrap up time: #100DaysOfTales

Published by

So yeah, I did it! Last friday, well, 3 days behind the big schedule, I launched my final photo story on instagram. Time to wrap up & look back on the crazy amazing journey that left me inspired, exhausted and above all proud. Weeks earlier I decided to be part of a movement, a self-experiment, a challenge to see if I’d keep up or quit the whole thing. For #100DaysOfTales I captured 100 moments, big and small, meaningful and abstract, and brought them to life in 100 stories. Some were fictional stories that just felt right in the visual context, some were drawn from memories and experiences, some served as an emotional release, some actually happened right in front of me, while others were just mere thoughts and ideas that popped up and I tried to bring into a narrative order. Sounds easy peasy, but it was a struggle sometimes. There were days when I had no creativity at all, story-wise and visually. Then there were days when my brain was brimming over with ideas and had 2, 3, 4 things ready in my head, just no photo to go along with. …

Hunting for Solitude

Published by

I always wondered how people can be so burned-out they need a break. There’s always time to switch off, isn’t it? Well, sometimes you’re bombarded with things that make it difficult to say ‘No, it’s enough’. And society pretty much teaches us to always be on our toes, to immerse ourselves in tons of projects, to be always attainable on all channels, to stick out and make a name for ourselves at any price. Onwards and upwards. And yeah, the last couple of weeks and months have been a bit manic, with a workload soaring up bit by bit and freelance & volunteering commitments going literally ballistic. And there’s no end in sight, really. Not that I dread the time, I like to be busy and it’s been pretty amazing! But my batteries were kinda drained and I was running low on creative input lately. So I decided to take a break from work stuff and the busy city life as much as possible, pack my bags & head up North to the beautiful wilderness of Skye …

Spot On | Colourful illustrations by Alex Tait

Published by

You know there’s these giveaways and you think ‘Yeah, alright. Wouldn’t mind winning that thing. And if not, whatever.’ When I quite randomly bumped into one of these twitter raffles & saw the art print he was giving away for just a retweet & a follow, it was more of a ‘I want that. I really want that. But how high’s the chance of actually winning that?’ Pretty slim, exactly. Despite the numbers, it did happen in the end. This one now has a special place in my flat! But first things first, this is the guy we’re talking about here: Alex Tait is a Berkhamstead-based artist, who fits just perfectly into the exciting pool of design talent at art agency Jelly London. His cheery & colourful vector illustrations play around with a mixed bag of motifs: sea creatures, jungle dwellers, spiritual beings and all sorts of other strange characters. Check them out below, folks. alexjohntait.net @Twitter @Instagram

Short Film Gem: CODA

Published by

It’s been film festival time in Edinburgh these past days so I guess treating myself to a heap of screenings made me a bit more aware of all these cinematic gems out there, waiting to be discovered. Lucky me, otherwise this beauty might’ve never popped up on my radar as I avidly browsed my Vimeo feed yesterday: CODA is an exceptional short by animation studio And Maps and Plans & director Allan Holly that has been taking home an impressive cluster of 20 international awards, including prizes at SXSW, Edinburgh Short Film Festival or Anca Festival and was among the 10 selected animated shorts at the Oscars 2015. The 9-minute piece tells the story of a lost soul who stumbles drunkenly through Dublin city. In a park, death finds him and shows him many things. It’s a beautiful film full of simple, hand-drawn imagery, a heart-wrenching plot & a moving view on the appreciation of life and the fear of death. Watch below! For more info on CODA, check these links here: andmapsandplans.com @andmapsandplans qlqn.ie …

Nomad Adventures: How Far From Home

Published by

* Adventure * Travel * Photography * Instagram If you’re eagerly ticking all of these boxes, there’s a chance you’ve come across Chanel Cartell & Stevo Dirnberger’s free-spirited project ‘How Far From Home’. Good for you, it’s ace. All of you, who haven’t, heads up! Over the past 15 years altogether, the couple from Johannesburg worked in creative advertising and branding industries and enjoyed what you might call ‘the good life’: family, friends, great and steady jobs, shiny cars and a beautiful home. However, their lives seemed to have navigated them into a dead end. Everything felt a little too set, a little too perfect, with too much routine and too little challenge. So they decided to sell everything they own, set out into the big world out there, seek the adventure and fuel their creative needs. Or to make it short: Two creatives. One wanderlist. Zero reasons to stay home. And because they can’t just live off their adventures & experiences alone, Chanel and Stevo signed up for Workaway, which allows nomads like them to stay …

In Search of Perspectives: Tobias König

Published by

It’s maybe 6 years ago in a dusty skate park underneath a motorway bridge. The weather’s horrible. The rain’s pouring down and a bunch of young guns gather to seek shelter from the rain and do a few tricks. And there’s this guy clicking away with his camera, even though that was probably before Tobias König started taking stunning photos like those below – bleak and moody b/w pictures that beautifully capture his love for architecture, structures, geometric shapes as well as atmospheric portraiture. So we know each other for a while now and it seems kinda odd to do this interview, 100s of miles apart via email and in a different language. But oh well, here’s us talking briefly about his photography beginnings, spontaneity and his first public exhibitions! Hello Mr. T! Thanks for taking the time to have a chat. Well, I’m quite familiar with it, but do you mind introducing yourself briefly to everyone else out there? Hey, my name is Tobias König, a self-taught photographer. I am 25 years old and …