View from the Zoo

Gotta love Christine bubbles over with creativity, projects and ideas. She uses a lot of animals in her work and here are a few of my favorites. You can find her on any of her seven blogs, like  Posters with the Mosters, miss communication and Pizza Doing Stuff. She  loves pizzas, poetry and music. 

Q : You seem to be overflowing with ideas and art and stuff. Seven blogs, no less! How do you do it?

A : Oh my gosh, I have 7 blogs?! Hahaha. I actually have around 12 but those are secret, secret blogs about very secret things. Hmm. I don’t know  how I do it. It can be difficult updating everything all the time so I usually stay consistent with my lovechristine and dahgblahg blogs, the others when I get a chance or there are developments. But, I definitely have an abundant stream flooding my mind all the time of ideas/pictures/music/etc….  I also do so many things like play and write music ( many instruments), writing, paint, photography, fashion design,  comics,  speak and learn languages, etc…

Q : Did you go to art school?  

A : I taught myself everything. I did go on and off to a couple of schools but I was too restless to stay for very long and I focused on language and english classes. The art classes I had, I usually just did my own thing. At a very early age I learned that if I wanted something, I’d have to teach myself how to do it or make it, and it just so happened that I was interested in a ton of things.  When I was 22 I was the head designer of a fashion company! I didn’t go to school for it, but, when the opportunity came my way, I said yes and then spent a lot of time on google (haha), asking around, and reading a ton of books really quickly.

Q : Where do you get inspired?

A : By everything.  I’m always looking, listening, smelling, feeling: sensing my world around me. I love watching people so that is probably why my work has a very human emotion to it even though I use animals and objects. Because I work in different areas of design (fashion, textile, web, etc.) I’m always bombarded with different things. But, I think, the most important is sticking to what inspires you ( not the trends) and what you are interested in, because that’s where you’ll see the truth of your work shining through.

Q: Do you like animals, and how come there are so many in your posters?

A: I guess I do love animals! I like drawing animals more than people because its just so funny finding ways to give them subtle facial expressions, humanizing them. I feel more free with animals and objects than with people, in their shapes and colors and the kind of abstract representation of us in them. Not only do posters make my art more public, I’m also working with design at the same time. I love typography, graphic design, and  music so it’s just the perfect way to mash them all up together.

With this kind of energy, how can you not love Christine?

These illustrations certainly made me think twice before biting down on my gummi bears. Who would have thought that a balloon dog and a candy bear would have insides other than sugar and air? Illustrator Jason Freeny obviously had some prize winning ideas. These ads for BrainOBrain Jumeira, picked up the grand prix award in the outdoor advertising category at the Dubai Lynx 2009 advertising festival. Jason kindly answered a few questions:

Q: Who is Jason Freeny?
A: I am a 38 year old designer with two kids living in and around New York City.

Q: What inspired you to do the anatomical series? What were you thinking?
A: Anatomical series began with the idea for the balloon dog. I had used the balloon dog in another illustration and decided I wanted to see what it would look like if it were a real living creature. Most of my work starts that way… «What would it look like if…?»

Q: How long did it take to complete the images?
A: The balloon dog took me almost a month to construct and complete. I can usually only work at night so this plays a role in the long process. If I had attacked it as a regular 40hr a week job it would have taken a little more then 2 weeks. I have sped the process more and more with each illustration seeing as I now know what I am doing.

Q: What were the reactions to the illustrations?
A: The reactions were quite unexpected but very welcome. I have been an artist for almost 20 years now and it wasn’t until a year or two ago when these works began bringing attention to my stuff. The fact that people love these so much really brings me joy.

Q: Can we buy the images?
A: I sell prints from my website. The early works are an unlimited edition but I have begun creating limited runs on some of my new works. I am testing the market…

Q: Any future projects that you would like to mention?
A: I have many toys in the works but only 1 or 2 I am allowed to speak about openly at this moment. I recently teamed up with Toy2r to produce a limited edition anatomy toy of their iconic Qee figure. This is an honor for me seeing it was the Qee and designer vinyl that really influenced a lot of my newer work. The Qee is slated for a 2010 release. We are also working on a production run of my BBQee sculpture… I have a spread in the upcomming premiere issue of WIRED UK out on April 1st and will be participating in a contemporary illustration book out this July published by Harper Collins. I look forward to many more collaborations in the future.

Q: Anything that you would like to comment on?
A: To this day I have only participated in one public gallery showing. I have been rejected or overlooked by every gallery I have submitted to yet my work has become quite popular virally. This does not upset me, but brings up the question of the stigma that digital art still has to this day of its relivance in the art world. Is it art YET?

Thanks, Jason!

This tall image is actually a collection of photos of dog and cat tails! Sharon Montrose, prolific animal photographer, from Los Angeles, California has published nine books so far with her photos of cats and dogs. I love her whimsical take on her animal portraits and her unusual croppings.

Q: Besides your professional practice as a commercial photographer, you have published a number of books. Where do you find the time to work on them?

A: Strangely, I have been able to pace myself with the books even though I’ve had 9 published in 7 years. Because I love what I do, I don’t see it as work. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I get really slammed and long for balance — but with the help of my husband (who does a lot of the work behind the scenes), we make it work.

Q: How would you define your creative vision?

A: I have a hard time answering questions about my creative process and vision because I basically shoot what I feel — almost like I have no choice. I’ve never really been able to intellectualize my work.

Q: What inspires you as a creative professional?

A: My dogs inspire me to no end. Being humble inspires me. Being unaffected and true to oneself inspires me. Art inspires me. Design inspires me. Music inspires me. Nature inspires me.

Q: What made you choose animals and kids as a focus, as opposed to fashion or food photography?

A: I assisted a fashion/celebrity photographer for three years, so I pretty much knew I didn’t want to go that route! When I became confused as to my focus I started photographing dogs to clear my head – and I’ve never looked back!

Q: What is your latest project?

A: I’ve always got shoots going on for my corporate clients which is a different job and focus every time, but I’m also continuing to work on my animal series.

Q: Anything else?

A: I always have a few things rattling around in my head…. More animals of course!.

You can see more of Sharon’s work on her website and her blog. Her unique animal prints can be purchased at her Etsy shop.

Francois Chetcuti waited over ten years to see his paper toy project published. His first publisher in Germany went bankrupt in 1999 just before it was scheduled for production and the project was shelved until this year when H.F. Ullmann picked it up. Comprised of 8 superb toys to build yourself, the sturdy cardboard cards come packaged with a detailed instruction book in a beautiful tin box . The toys actually have moving parts and require a bit of patience to build. The difficulty levels and the estimated time required to complete each toy is indicated.

Francois is inspired by illustrators Tibor Gergely and Richard Scarry and the Little Golden Books series from the 1950s. He has been collecting vintage toys and children’s books for over 20 years. Francois Chetcuti lives in Lille, France. He has a website-game that shows his work as an illustrator and sculptor.