Mint

Mia Christopher is a multi-disciplinary artist and student from San Francisco. Although we only recently discovered her work, we have quickly fallen in love with her expressive use of color and every single one of her mixed media pieces. You can check out some of her prints for sale on here, here and here. We asked Mia if we could learn a little bit more about her and her inspiration and she happily obliged!

1. When did you first identify yourself as an artist?
I’m still getting comfortable with saying I’m an Artist without feeling super self conscious. I’ve only been exhibiting work for about two and a half years, but I don’t think that is what makes someone an artist because you can be an artist without anyone ever seeing your own or thinking of you in that way! I am also going to school, so I am a student, as well as other roles. Artist means different things to different people. I think it is a very lucky thing to be able to be, and growing up I did not realize that being an artist was even in my realm of possibility.

2. Do you have a favorite piece of work you created during your childhood?
The thing that sticks out in my head is my bedroom door from ages 7-10. My parents were really generous with letting me be expressive, and they allowed me to cover my entire door with stickers. Now that I think about it, I may have just started sticking them on one day and they let me continue. I’ll have to ask them sometime. I collected tons of stickers, mostly Mrs. Grossman’s and Lisa Frank, and other free stickers family members would pick up for me from various shops and concerts and so forth, and stickers from the vending machine at the bowling alley. At first I would put them on office paper and staple them together to make books, but it was so much fun to be able to cover a huge space like my bedroom door. It was so satisfying and I remember kind of getting lost and making up stories while sticking stickers all over the door. Of course, once I turned 12 I felt too cool or angry for cute stickers and I painted over everything with thick, black paint. I wish I had a photo from before I painted over it. I still fight the urge to collect loads of tiny, decorative stickers and stick them all over things. I could see this playing into my work some time in the future.

3. Who/what are the biggest influences of your work?
Right now I am completely enamored of Monique Prieto’s paintings from the 1990′s. I love the work she is doing now with text as well, but those big shape paintings are really exciting to me. San Francisco artist Leah Rosenberg makes gorgeous paint confetti and stacks of acrylic paint peels that are so visually pleasing, I am very intrigued by her practice.
Other than artists I think the biggest influences of my work are probably just day to day occurrences and watching environments form and relationships shift and settle and change and my mood and the weather, both mundane and personal moments.

4. Many of your works are mixed media. What would you say is your favorite medium to work with?
I’m partial to working with acrylic gouache on paper, and drawing with colored pencils and graphite. I also like markers that are really bleedy and have been utilizing them a lot lately. I like playing with flat, opaque colors and transparencies in my surface and materials.

5. One of my favorite pieces from your latest collection is the one with the beautiful colors stacked on top of each other (above, right). What can you tell me about this piece?
Thank you! This piece is part of a series of stacked colors and shapes as objects that keeps coming up in my work and kind of represents the bare bones of what I always seem to be investigating; color, shape, relationship, space, and mark-making. I’m very excited by color as it’s own subject, and am interested in playing with balance and relationships within the frame of formal painting questions such as color, scale, shape, and so on. I like the idea of a color or a shape as an object or form that has a life of it’s own and how it relates to the surface and whatever else may be in it’s environment.

6. Do you have any future projects in the works? If not, what are you up to currently?
I’m currently working on my BFA show at California College of the Arts which is going to take place in March 2012, as well as an upcoming installation for a group show at Empire Seven Studios in San Jose in January of 2012. I have several different drawing and painting series’ that I am working on for these, as well as exploring some sculptural elements and working with some new materials. There may be more textiles work in these shows as I have just been learning how to silk screen and have been making felted sculptures.

7. Three things you never leave the house without?
pen, chapstick, keys

8. Favorite part about living in San Francisco?
The views, weather, hills, microclimates, delicious food, eucalyptus trees, the architecture, having new things to see all of the time- it is my favorite city! I love it here so much. I love being in a beautiful and interesting place, it has a plays a large role in my mood and motivation.

Thank you, Mia! 

All image credits: Mia Christopher

Luci Everett is an Australian illustrator / graphic designer / collage artist extraordinaire who creates beautiful work and seems to always have her hand in a new adventure. We caught up with Luci to get a little peek into her mind and see what she’s been working on and what’s next for her!

When did you first become interested in graphic design and illustration?
I think I’ve always been interested in it. Definitely since I was about 12 at least, although my work aspirations have changed (I don’t particularly want to design for teenage girls’ magazines anymore!).

We have been following your blog and love your posts “Things I’ve been working on.” Can you tell us about these new pieces? 
These are peeks at some illustrative stationery I’ve been creating for an online wedding stationery store which is launching very soon.

Do you have any other exciting new projects you are currently working on?
Yes! A few personal projects in the works. I’m working on a publication with my friend and great photographer Olga Bennett and an animation with two friends. I just finished a fun illustrative typography project for Frankie magazine which will be in the next issue.

Who, would you say, is/are the biggest influences of your work?
Probably a mixture of a gazillion sources. Some which come to mind: Chris Silas Neal, MASH, Dane Lovett.

What piece of art do you own that you cherish the most?
Other than my nephews’ drawings, I have a beautiful wooden “egg head” (that’s the only way I can describe it) by artist Eveline Tarunadjaja.

What are some of your favorite materials to work with?
Paper/collage, watercolour, pencils.

What are three things you never leave your house without?
Phone, keys, shoes!

What is the best part about living in Australia?
Lots of beautiful places to visit and road trips to take. The Melbourne coffee is killer too.

Thanks, Luci!

All work and photos by Luci Everett

Leah Duncan wants sugar in her tea and is darn proud of the city she now calls home: Austin, Texas. Her eye-catching prints and folksy illustrations are what initially pulled us into her shop, and her plethora of inspiring new designs is what keeps us coming back. We thought it only right to feature one of our favorite artists in our new interview series, and we are sure you will love her and her work as much as we do (if you aren’t already in her shop daily)!

When did you first become interested in drawing?
I spent my days in school daydreaming and doodling, but drawing was never something I saw myself as particularly good at. I remember loving my art and English classes the most and looking back I feel like I’ve always known deep down I would do something creative with my life. I worked for a screen-printing company as a graphic designer after college where I slowly started to get back into drawing. When I moved to Austin in 2008 I began to screen-print my work and put it on Etsy. Luckily, after a lot of hard work my business took off. I’m ever-so-grateful.

For many, it can be a challenge to continually come up with new and fresh ideas. Where do you find your inspiration?
Color, nature, animals, and the small moments in my life are what inspire me the most. I love taking a moment of my life and translating it into my artwork by humanizing a creature or just capturing something I see from day to day. I think my style comes from several different influences that include children’s illustration, folk art, my east Austin neighborhood which is predominately Latino, and the fact that I’m part Cherokee. If I’m feeling a sense of panic from a lack of inspiration I find spending time outdoors helps me cope and brings me back with a different perspective so I can regroup, focus, and hopefully look at everything with new eyes.

Who, would you say, is/are the biggest influences of your work?
There’s so much talent out there. It’s hard not to be inspired by every single piece of it. Beyond that, I picked up a love for Frida Kahlo from my sister that has never faded.

What piece of work are you the most proud of?
I’m very proud that I took the leap to attend Surtex, an art licensing show, in May. It’s an enormous undertaking and I jumped in with both feet, regardless of how overwhelming it felt at times. I spent day and night for three months straight creating new work. The only way I survived is that my husband threw pizza in the studio from time to time! Looking back, I kind of can’t believe I did it and I’m still not really sure where it all came from. But I’m glad it happened.

You are launching a new fabric line, Maya, in February. What sparked your desire to do a line? What’s the story behind Maya?
I’ve dreamed of having a fabric line for some time now and since I work so closely with textiles it seemed natural. Maya was inspired by my neighborhood and my morning walks with my dog, Oslo. I hope it gives a sense of the festivity and vibrance that I see in Austin day to day, from brightly colored, quirky buildings to piñatas and amazing mexican food. Maya is purely a reflection of that spirit and I hope the feeling it brings is quirky, beautiful, and vibrant – just like the place I call home.

What is your favorite part of working for yourself?
I’m in control. It’s all up to me and my determination. And I can dance whenever I want to.

What are three things you never leave your house without?
Burt’s Bees chapstick, a Bic pen, and my keys + iphone. That equals four, but the last two seemed equally important. : )

You live in a city I’ve always wanted to visit, Austin, TX. I hear so many wonderful things, what do you love about it?
You should visit! Austin is quite a unique place. There’s a weird sort of cowboy meets liberal hippy thing going on that makes for an interesting dynamic. The hike and bike trails which wind through the city are probably my favorite thing since I often go for a run or walk on them. It keeps the stresses of owning a small business at bay. There’s also an attitude here that is unlike any other place I’ve been. It’s perfectly OK to go to the grocery store in your pajamas. In fact, people probably won’t even notice. I kind of love that. The breakfas tacos, sunny weather, and cowboy boots don’t hurt either.

Thanks, Leah! 

Photo credits: 1 & 2: Leah Duncan, 3 & 4: Paige Newton

By day she is a Graphic Designer for a large internet company, but by night (and weekends) Jessica Taich fills her time with a multitude of personal design projects. Her newest adventure has been learning to screen print. “My most recent project was spurred by my desire to get off the computer and start making things with my hands. I took up screen printing and immediately fell in love. This screen printed tote bag project is my first endeavor to utilize my new skill.”

“The two tote bag designs are named after side streets in my neighborhood (the Mission District). The Natoma features a hand drawn geometric print, and the Minna features crossed arrows taken from my personal logo. The photo shoot for the bag actually took place on these streets on a beautiful, perfectly lit Saturday afternoon.”

The totes are a perfect size (14 x 14) for carrying anything from books to groceries, and were hand printed with eco-friendly, water-based inks to boot!

You can find Jessica’s tote collection here, and check out her blog here.

I’m interrupting my little break to tell you that Danni from Oh, Hello Friend has a fun new series called “The Handsome,” where she interviews the partners of blogging gals. Today my husband, Brendan, is interviewed and you can see the post right here.

Thanks Danni :)