Thursday 28 March 2013

Interview Stanley Chow

What is your greatest achievement?
My greatest achievement is to be able to look after my family (wife and 2 kids) by drawing pictures. The first 10 years out of art school, my career looked quite bleak...there were times when you didn't know when you were going to be commissioned next week...or even ever.
How would you describe your work/style to someone who hadn't seen it?
My main style is trying to capture the likeness and essence of a person in a very graphic geometric way. Keeping everything as simple as possible. My general style is keeping things geometric, stylish and simple with vector artwork.
What piece of advice would you give your 15 year old self?
Stay focused and don't get sidetracked if you know being an artist is what you want to become.
When are you at your happiest?
When I am sat in my car with my wife driving, the kids in the back singing....we would be going somewhere....anywhere, the shops, the zoo...it doesn't matter, but that makes me very happy.
What is the worst job you have ever done?
I could happily illustrate greetings cards all day, but actually working for a greeting card company,9 to 5, being told what to illustrate and given no artistic or creative licence, was one of the most stifling jobs I have done....this was worst than peeling potatoes in a chip shop. I wanted to illustrate but working for that company was soul destroying.
Who would play you in the story of your life?
Bill Murray
What is your Karaoke song?
Angel Eyes by Wet Wet Wet, this is no way any reflection on what my music tastes are at all.
What do you dislike most about popular culture?
I just don't like the way everything I like seems to be tagged as popular culture...the term itself puts me off things that are popular culture, but as soon as I turn my back on it and like something else.....that something else automatically becomes labelled as popular culture....Aaaarrrghh!!!
What is the greatest invention of all time?
The Pencil
If you didn't do what you do, what would you do?
Work in a chinese takeaway.

Monday 25 March 2013

Material Girl

I hate Madonna but she was right, we DO live in a material world and I for one ALWAYS want something. On this new regular monday post I will be letting you know what I want this week, it can range from anything from an exotic get away to a new lipstick!!!! 

This week I want this gorgeous Acne Bag!!


This Dualit Soup Cooker would look fantastic in my kitchen too!!




Thursday 21 March 2013

Interview: Mibo

What is your greatest achievement?
Under 12's County Chess Champion 1982

How would you describe your work/style to someone who hadn't seen it?
4" high 60s jazz influenced paper mammals. 

What piece of advice would you give your 15 year old self?
Lose the tweed jacket & half rim specs, you ain't kidding anyone. 

When are you happiest?
Professionally, when I feel I have finally cracked a design, it can take forever, but it's worth it for that emphatic 'yes' moment. Personally, Saturday mornings when we perform our ritual family dance & sing along Irma Thomas' 'Ruler of my Heart'

What is the worst job you have ever had?
Inputting energy data for a company called AiroilFlaregas when I was 17. It was, as you might imagine, a little bit dull. 

Who would play you in the movie of your life?
Michael Sera.


What is your karaoke song?
Gino by Dexy's Midnight Runners. 

What do you dislike most about popular culture?
The 'must have the latest......' syndrome.

What is the greatest invention of all time?
The mosquito net. 

If you didn't do what you do, what would you do?
I'd be studying inter-species communication


Images courtesy of www.mibostudio.co.uk

Thursday 14 March 2013

Interview Andy Arthur


What is your greatest achievement?
Stumbling across a previously unknown ability and actually acting on the desire to do something with it in my life. And_somehow getting this far with that "something", all by myself,with nobody telling me what to do or how to do it.
How would you describe your work/style to someone who hadn't seen it?
Bold, bright poster art, with a playful sense of humour and a mild obsession for birds and bicycles
What piece of advice would you give your 15 year old self?
Practice does make perfect, but it's not going to happen in one easy step. Improvements will be small and incremental, so don't loose heart or get (too) frustrated if your abilities aren't keeping pace with your ambitions. Also, the lime green fleece is a BAD idea.


When are you at your happiest?
In the middle of nowhere with no electronic umbilical to the outside world, and no agenda pressing on you to go anywhere or do anything other than follow your nose. Worries - beyond where to sleep that night and what's for eats - just cease to be.
What is your worst job you have had?
Typing electricity meter readings into a computer. That little card they push through your door saying "while you were out"? Well when you fill it in and send it back, some poor soul has to type the meter reading of you and the thousands of other people who were out that day into a computer, along with a host of other long numbers. And that poor soul was me in the summer on 2002. All day, every day, for 3 months.
Who would play you in the movie of your life?
If Anthony Daniels could reprise his role as the officious, fact-reciting, socially awkward, slightly blundering but ultimately well-meaning C3PO, that would be quite close to the mark.


What is your karaoke song?
There's an urban legend thus I once sang a Proclaimers song. There's been nothing before or since, and if the listening public is lucky, ever again.
What do you dislike most about popular culture?
Refering to "celebrities" by just their first name, as if I can somehow tell who is being referred to from the other 6 million people on the planet with the same name.
What is the greatest invention of all time?
The pneumatic tyre. Millions of cyclists the world over would agree.
If you didn't do what you did, what would you do?
I'd bake a lot of bread and read a lot of books. Then ideally go live in a lighthouse as some sort of bread-eating, book-reading hermit.






Thursday 7 March 2013

Interview Edward Tuckwell

What is your greatest achievement?
Apart from a couple of recent exhibtions in the US, the most significant achievement was quitting my job to pursue freelancing full-time, and surviving to tell the tale.

How would you describe your work/style to someone who hadn't seen it?
A phrase that has already been coined - “a fusion of film noir moodiness and geometric styling” - I think that sums it up pretty well.

What piece of advice would you give your 15 year old self?
Ignore advice.
When are you at your happiest? 
After I have come out of the cinema when a film has been really good, or strapped to a snowboard.

What is the worst job you have had?
I've worked on building sites and been a pot washer, but the worst was working as a waiter in a high end restaurant. When your being paid minimum wage, your boss is nuts, and the customers are snobs, its time to leave.

Who would play you in the movie of your life?
Regardless of time, probably Jimmy Stewart, and get Hitchcock to direct. On second thoughts, I would just ask them to make a better film together.
What is your karaoke song?
Panjabi MC - Mundian To Bach Ke *disclaimer* I’ve never performed this live.

What do you dislike most about popular culture?
That the digital world is slowly taking over and print is dying. Hopefully the overall quality in printed material will rise tho.

What is the greatest invention of all time?
Is electricity too obvious?  
If you didn't do what you do, what would you do?  Be an architect, or make films for a living as opposed to drawing them. 
Images courtesy of www.edwardtuckwell.com