Interview with Marcel Herms

q)Something about you...what you want...

a)My name is Marcel Herms. I run a label (Anima Mal Nata) on which I release noise, dark ambient and experimental music. I release my own music under different names. My main project is called Fever Spoor (other names are Ubique Daemon, Loki, SAA, Skt. Adolf and Noisebitch).
Besides making music I paint and draw.
I also make artwork for others. So if you want me to do your record-cover or something like that, just contact me.

q) What are your main goals when you create?

a)I create because I need it to feel good and to get things out of my system. So that's my main goal. I would get very depressed if I could not create.

q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?

a)I follow what comes in my mind. I try to work instinctively. I try to enter into a sort of unconscious state when I'm working and then paint or record things without being in control. As William Burroughs said: "in painting I see with my hands and I don't know what my hands have done until I look at it afterwards. It's when I look at the completed canvas that I know what the painting is about". And when I finish a painting or recording it takes some time before I got used to it and before I can decide if it's good or not. It can even take more time before I completely understand it myself.

q)How has the internet and your website helped you spread your artwork to a wider audience?

a)I have a website (http://www.animamalnata.nl), that helps to get new contacts.

q)How do you define your style and how would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

a)Expressionistic, raw images of people and animals. I like rough edges. When it get’s to smooth I use techniques to make it rough again. Like drawing with my left hand or mixing stuff through my paint.
When I look at my work I can see some theme's coming back all the time. That is a not very positive view on mankind and especially social miscommunication and incomprehension between people. Alienation. Those are things that come back all the time. It's always pretty grimm.

q)What materials do you use to realize your creations?

a)For my drawings mostly Indian ink and for my paintings mostly acrylic paint. When I paint I use everything I can get my hands on: acrylic paint, ink, spraycans. Sometimes I mix the paint with sand, sawdust, pieces of paper. I paint on paper, canvas, wood, etc. I work in different sizes: from very small too real big.

q) What is your favourite a) taste b) sound c) sight d) scent e) tactile sensation?
a)taste: lasagne
sound: nature sounds (wind, sea, birds,...)
sight: nature
scent: aa autumn forest
tactile sensation: lying in the grass

q) What are you doing now...your current projects...

a)Working an a series of compilations with noise, ambient and experimental music titled "Calling All Reactive Agents".
Working on two split releases; one with Flutwacht from Germany and one with Torturing Nurse from China.
Making paintings for an exhibition in the USA: http://www.galeriepenumbra.com/index.html

q) Do you listen to music while you're creating and what do you listen and what do you like to listen?

a)Sometimes I do. And then it's most of the time sleazy (punk-)rock kind of stuff so I can "dance" around the canvas. Things like New York Dolls, Motörhead, Peter Pan Speedrock, Dead Boys,…stuff like that. And sometimes some harsh noise.

q) Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians, books...?

a)Oh yes, see question 16 and 17.

q)Name 3 things you couldn't create without?

a)There's only one thing that I really need and that's the right state of mind.

q) Where have you show your art...?

a)I'm not very active when it comes to exhibitions but I make work for this gallery:
http://www.galeriepenumbra.com/index.html

q) What haven't you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

a)Nothing that I can think of.

q) How important is self-promotion for an artist nowadays?

a)I guess it depends on what you want to achieve. I like to get in touch with many people so that’s why self-promotion is important to me.

q) Would you say that your work consciously reflects characters and situations found within your daily life?

a)Yes, I draw the world around me, everyday frustrations & people. Things like that.

q) Favourite book?
a)Can I give you three titles?Naked Lunch (William S. Burroughs), Death On The Instalment Plan (L.F. Céline) and Hunger (Knut Hamsun).

q) Designers/Artists you admire?

a)Lucebert, Rik van Iersel, Herman Brood, Karel Appel, Cy Twombly, Jesse Reno, Pakito Bolino, Anselm Kiefer, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Grady Roper, Anton Heyboer, Adolf Wölfli, Asger Jorn, Emil Schumacher, Lance MacMahan, Wim de Haan, Joe Coleman, Constant, Willem van Genk etc.

q) Your contacts....e-mail...links...

a)http://www.animamalnata.nl
And here you can find some of my work too:
http://www.galeriepenumbra.com/index.html

Interview with Ben Tolman

q) Introduce yourself first please?

a)Ben Tolman

q) Where do you live and work?

a)I live and work in Washington, DC. Right in the heart of the great imperial beast, where I grew up.

q) How did you started? How have you realized you wanted to become an artist?

a)My favorite thing to do from before I can remember was always drawing, first copying the comics from the newspaper, later mostly monsters and naked girls. I never took it seriously until my first year in college. From my experience growing up in America imagination seems to be looked down on, an being an "artist" is not thought of as an acceptable or even possible thing to do with your life.

q) What materials do you use and why?

a)Most of my work up until now has been ink drawing. It’s the media I'm most comfortable with and I enjoy using the most. I also really like using a medium that has so much history behind it. For years I used Rapidograph's (technical drawing pens) but they became too much of a pain in the ass. Now I use Pigma Microns. I also oil paint and plan do do more painting than drawing in the near future.

q) Who is your biggest influence, both art and non-art related

a)This is a difficult question, because there are so many its difficult to try and rank them. Artist's: Bosch, Van Eyck, all the great masters, the surrealists, Dali, Tanguy, Lenora Carrington, Remidios Varo, 60's underground comics like Crumb, so many other painters Irving Norman, Otto Dix, George Grozs, Ivan Albright... I just really love art and and am influenced by everything I see. Outside of the arts I have been most infuenced by various philosophers and counter culture icons. Aldous Huxley, Terrence Mckenna, Robert Anton Wilson, Ken Wilber.

q) How do you dream up with your wacky ideas? What is your creation process?

a)My process is strangely much the same as it was when I was a kid. I start drawing in one corner with no idea in mind and then grow the concept of the drawing naturally as the drawing grows. I find that with to much preplanning the work becomes stiff and unimaginative.

q) What haven’t you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

a)I would like to try my hand at film, but doubt I will ever get the chance.

q) Are there any contemporary artists that you love?

a)There are so many, hundreds...although very few that have solid respect in the "official" art world.

q) How long does it take for you to finish a piece?

a)From 3 months to a year. I really enjoy large very involved work. My latest drawing took 6 months the one before that was a collaboration that took 9 months.

q) What music, if any, do you like to have on while you're working?

a)Whatever the music is it just fades into the background as I focus in on the work. But anything from industrial, classical, rock.

q) Do you do many art shows?

a)Not really. I've had a few bad experiences with galleries, which have made me realize I only want to show my work on my terms. I hate dealing with my work as if it is a commercial product for the market. It just feels dirty, I don't know maybe I'll just have to get over this at some point.

q) Tell us about a recent dream you had.

a)I don't remember my dreams.

q) What are you doing when you are not creating?

a)Working at my 9-5 job, or sleeping.

q) Do you get emotionally attached to your work and do you miss your work when it is sold?

a)Yes! I still own most of my major works. I haven't allowed myself to sell much.

q) What new projects or exhibits are in your future?

a)I think my next body of work will be oil paintings, which is new to me.

q) What is your favourite art related web site?

a)I like site that work towards creating an art community and help aspiring artists find inspiration and an audience like deviantart.com
I like the many artist links on: http://www.beinart.org

q) What is the strangest thing you have ever seen?

a)Anything after eating 5 dried grams of psilocybe mushrooms will could go here.

q) What is the strangest thing you have ever done?

a)Same as the above answer. Like that one day I thought I was a penguin and then went to my girlfriends work to "save" her from starvation (as in the movie March of the Penguins).
That didn't turn out well.

q) Any advice you can pass onto aspiring artists/designers?

a)If you have a true passion for what you do. And do because of that passion (not for money, respect, etc) you will be successful. Just learn everything you can and don't do anything half-ass.

q)your contacts….e-mail…links

a) bentolman1@yahoo.com
http://bentolman.com

Interview with David Vincent D'Andrea

q)Something about you.what you want.

a)My name is David Vincent D'Andrea. I am an illustrator and a soothsayer.

q) What are your main goals when you create?

a)Usually the main goal is to illustrate an idea. Beyond that, I hope to convey a sense of "memento mori", the fleeting notion of life's extremes. I aim to create a piece ofart that not only illustrates a piece of literature or album title, but can stand on its own both on the page and on a gallery wall.

q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?

a)Most images start with a very basic idea or notion. I develop a sketch from a found image, a doodle, or sometimes a piece of classic art, etc. From there I build upon the first image. The layers of development come about in different ways...sometimes they create a sigil. Sometimes they simply look good. This involves a lot of research and brainstorming.

q)How has the internet and your website helped you spread your artwork toa wider audience?

a)Well, the internet allows me to display my work, sell originals and prints, and communicate with people all over the world. I have built my own website since 2001, and try to keep it up to date. It is totally invaluable as an illustrator in 2007.

q)How do you define your style and how would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

a)Sigillistic, heraldic, dark, visual reminders of life's transience. Vaguely occult and symbol heavy. I think it's fairly obvious that it's underground .or obvious that I grew up on skateboard graphics and heavy metal! Archaic crests for modern battles.

q)What materials do you use to realize your creations?

a)The method of reproduction very much determines the materials. If a design is intended for a screenprint, I would approach it differently than if it was for an album cover or magazine. In general, I use india ink and low-key colored inks and watercolor. Most pieces are on wood panels. I sometimes use collected paper scraps or ephemera as collage elements.

q) What is your favorite a) taste b) sound c) sight d) scent e) tactile sensation?

a)Black liquorice, a train passing in the rain, natural history/science displays, fresh coffee beans, swimming in a dark lake.

q) What are you doing now.your current projects…

a)I am currently finishing up an album design for Winters, on Rise Above Records. Also just completed a t-shirt for Portland band Warcry. Upcoming is a split between Coffins (Japan) and Arm and Sword of a Bastard God (CA). Also starting on my version of Napalm Death's "Scum" album for a tribute compilation. I am also extremely excited to be starting sketches for the upcoming Witchcraft album!

q) Do you listen to music while you're creating and what do you listen and what do you like to listen?

a)Yes, I am always listening to music as I create. It is a huge influence and conduit for me . It always has been. My all-time favorites: Sleep, Katatonia, Pandit Pran Nath, Swans, Witchcraft,Sonic Youth, Hawkwind..

q) Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians,books.?

a)I am constantly digging and searching for influences that lie outside of my general scope. Paper ephemera, vintage advertising,antiques, natural history, science, and literature from classics to comic books.

q)Name 3 things you couldn't create without?

a)On a very primal level,simply a mark-maker and a surface to draw upon! If you're asking about day to day life, I'd say coffee, ink, and computer. I like to think that if the Armageddon approached and we were living in a Mad Max type of reality, I'd still find the drive to create and illustrate.To bring beauty into the dying world!

q) Where have you shown your art.?

a) I have exhibited in San Francisco,Oakland, Portland, Minneapolis, and Cleveland. I enjoy the show aspect of being a visual artist, but it has to take a back seat to my priority,which is illustration. As I have mentioned, I attempt to fuse the two aspects of art, but it is sometimes impossible. Therefore, I don't actively search out too many galleries.

q)) What haven't you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

a)I would like to work with a filmmaker.

q) How important is self-promotion for an artist nowadays?

a)It is extremely important of course. And it is easier than ever. Rather than going door to door with a portfolio under arm, we can simply promote ourselves via the internet. I also send out promotional materials, but simply to point people to my website.

q) Would you say that your work consciously reflects characters and situations found within your daily life?

a)I'd say that my work reflects my inward life and dreams and characters that I pull from the ether, rather than my daily interactions and observations.

q) Favourite book?

a)Anything by Faulkner or Flannery O'Connor. Also"Mysteries of Mind, Space, and Time" Volumes 1-28.

q) Designers/Artists you admire?

a)Barron Storey, Takato Yamamoto, JamesJean, Harry Clarke, Odd Nerdrum, Pushead, El Greco, Sam Weber, Kiki Smith.

q) Your contacts..e-mail.links.

a) http://www.dvdandrea.com
david@dvdandrea.com

I have very nice giclee' prints available via: http://www.circle-9.com

I also have a few screenprinted posters available in the "shop" section ofmy website.

Thanks very much Claudio!!!

Interview with Magalie Guerin

q) Introduce yourself first please?

a)Magalie Guerin

q) Where do you live and work?

a)Brooklyn, NY. I'm originally from Montreal, Quebec.

q) How did you started? How have you realized you wanted to become an artist?

a)It took me quite a while because I was not surrounded by creative people growing up. But when I left home and traveled, I met artists and things started to boil in my head. I started to believe that it could be my life too. And that was that, I begin to make art on my own (as opposed to enrolled in art school).

q) What materials do you use and why?

a)These days I've been exclusively and obsessively working with ballpoint pen. I like not being able to erase. I like that after layers and layers of it, it looks more like a print. It is so obsessive, the million little lines it takes, that it fits my theme– the complexity of the human psyche.

q) Who is your biggest influence, both art and non-art related

a)Right now, today, I wanna say Leonard Cohen. I feel very close to the emotional content of his work/words. But tomorrow I'd come up with a different answer– like Patti Smith or Henry Miller– writers seem to bring me more inspiration than any other type of artists.

q) How do you dream up with your wacky ideas? What is your creation process?

a)The work is quite time consuming and there are areas in the drawings that are so tedious to do that I find myself wandering off in my head as I'm ballpointing away. That's when the ideas for the next drawing come. It's sort of like daydreaming.

q) What haven’t you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

a)Painting!

q) Are there any contemporary artists that you love?

a)Tons.

q) How long does it take for you to finish a piece?

a)Depends on too many factors

q) What music, if any, do you like to have on while you're working?

a)Ipod shuffle with 3437 songs. Anything from Iggy Pop to Edith Piaf.

q) Do you do many art shows?

a)Huh?

q) Tell us about a recent dream you had.

a)No.

q) What are you doing when you are not creating?

a)Biting my nails.

q) Do you get emotionally attached to your work and do you miss your work when it is sold?

a)Yes. I'll probably end up like Tracy Emin: trying to buy back my own work years down the road.

q) What new projects or exhibits are in your future?

a)Unconfirmed

q) What is your favourite art related web site?

a)Artists' blogs.

q) What is the strangest thing you have ever seen?

a)A dog eat a deer.

q) What is the strangest thing you have ever done?

a)Speak a foreign language.

q) any advice you can pass onto aspiring artists/designers?

a)Make art. Period.

q)your contacts….e-mail…links

a) www.magalieguerin.com

Interview with Jay Parnell

q) Introduce yourself first please?

a)I am a narrative painter.

q) Where do you live and work?

a)I live in Indianapolis, Indiana and paint in my home studio.

q) How did you get started? How have you realized you wanted to become an artist?

a)I am still becoming an artist.

q) What materials do you use and why?

a)I’m an art snob when it comes to buying materials. I use Williamsburg Oils the most but I also use Old Holland and a few others. Using high quality paints and mediums are the first way to insure that your work will be high quality. I paint on wood panels for the rigid surface. My work tends to have a lot of details and wood works best for me.

q) Who is your biggest influence, both art and non-art related

a)I have a list of many influences. I think it is hard to maintain a short list of influences when everyone is inundated with all sorts of thoughts and images on a daily basis. In order to be brief I will list a few primary influences: my wife, Miles Davis, Odd Nerdrum, Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler and Kiki Smith.

q) How do you dream up with your wacky ideas? What is your creation process?

a)Truth is stranger than fiction so I watch my family and let my imagination guide the rest.

q) What haven’t you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

a)I would really love to try my hand at sculpture.

q) Are there any contemporary artists that you love?

a)Here’s my shortlist of contemporary artists I love Chakaia Booker, Hugo Crosthwaite, Andy Goldsworthy, Nick Cave and Ledelle Moe. There are several other artists who are creating incredible work but this is a good start.

q) How long does it take for you to finish a piece?

a)I juggle two to three pieces at a time, so it’s hard to say.

q) What music, if any, do you like to have on while you're working?

a)I listen to all kinds of music. Here is a sampling of things recently played on my i-pod: Miles Davis, MeShell Ndegeocello, Alice Coltrane, Mos Def, Quasimoto, Prince and Sun Ra.

q) Do you do many art shows?

a)Not recently. I’m working on paintings for a couple of shows this year.

q) Tell us about a recent dream you had.

a)I was on a cross country bike trip with my wife, my kids, my mother-in-law and some kid I worked with at a record store in college. I bought a pack of European cigarettes that never got smoked. However I was cool enough to keep one neatly tucked behind my ear for the rest of the dream. My youngest daughter kept getting left behind, and we had to go back and find her (a la Little Miss Sunshine). That’s all I can remember.

q) What are you doing when you are not creating?

a)I like to hang out with my beautiful wife and home schooled kids.

q) Do you get emotionally attached to your work and do you miss your work when it is sold?

a)Sometimes I do get attached to a painting. That feeling usually diminishes when I start the next painting.

q)What new projects or exhibits are in your future?

a)I am working with a neighbourhood group on a public art project. I am the lead creative on the team so I expect it to be a fun and interesting process. I am also currently in the process of looking for a new gallery.

q)What is your favourite art related web site?

a)There are way too many art-related sites to list one so I will list two. I like design sponge and Phantasmaphile.

q) any advice you can pass onto aspiring artists/designers?

a)Have fun. Life is too short to do anything you do not love doing!

q)your contacts….e-mail…links

a)

www.jayparnell.com
You can find the rest of the contact info on my site.

Interview with Denise Kupferschmidt

q) Introduce yourself first please?

a)I am and have been Denise Kupferschmidt.

q) Where do you live and work?

a)I live in Brooklyn, NY, and work in the city.

q) How did you started? How have you realized you wanted to become an artist?

a)I've wanted to be an artist from as far back as I can recall. And eventually I went to art school, and then after some years of wasting time I've come back to really only wanting to be an artist, which is nice.

q) What materials do you use and why?

a)I mostly use paper. Because I was a printmaker in college I developed a lot of respect for paper; for materials in general. Paper is beautiful, and so versatile. I dye paper, and cut it. You can draw and paint on paper, or you can use it to make something by cutting or weaving it, which is kind of an inside-out drawing.

q) Who is your biggest influence, both art and non-art related

a)When I was younger it was Andy Warhol, then it was Matthew Ritchie, and now I have to say for fear of showing my true colors that it's J.R.R . Tolkien. In a small way I pay tribute to him in every thing I make, and through him I've discovered so many other things that make my world so much bigger. It's super nerdy, but at least I'm not writing fan-fiction. I don't go there.

q) How do you dream up with your wacky ideas? What is your creation process?

a)I read a lot, and write stories. Writing has always really helped me to get my ideas out of my head. And Iook at so many books and do a lot of "research", and I spend a lot of time staring at nothing and daydreaming. All that somehow ends up with me making things.

q) What haven't you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

a)I want to make music to go along with my work. Hopefully I can do that soon.


q) Are there any contemporary artists that you love?

a)I love Chris Ofili, and Kim Keever, and Michael Bell-Smith. I also love Eddie Martinez, Suzannah Sinclair, and Colby Bird. I am really inspired by my friends and acquaintances, because knowing them helps me to realize in such a greater way why there work is so awesome, and then it makes me want to work harder.

q) How long does it take for you to finish a piece?

a)It depends, some things are done in minutes, but there are parts of pieces that I have sometimes had laying around for months, and then they get incorporated into a larger piece. I save everything. And things can always change a little after they're done. I try to keep an open mind.

q) What music, if any, do you like to have on while you're working?

a)I can listen to lots of different things, sometimes I'll just listen to hot97 (new york hip-hop and R&B station), or sometimes I'll listen to reggae. For a while it was Paul Simon, Fleetwood Mac, a couple records I have of traditional African singing, and the new Joanna Newsom album. And a lot of times I'll just put on talk radio and space out to whatever is on even if it's really weird. Also there are so many weird podcasts…I like to just listen to people talking.

q) Do you do many art shows?

a)If people ask me to be in an art show then I say yes, 99% of the time.

q) Tell us about a recent dream you had.

a)I recently had a dream where I was finding waterbugs (you know, huge cockroaches) all over my home, some dead, some dieing, and some just parts, like legs and wings; and then I went to work that morning and there was a dead waterbug laying in the middle of the hallway, right next to my desk. It was CREEPY!

q) What are you doing when you are not creating?

a)I have a day-job, and I am pretty good at taking it easy. And I like to try to see a lot of music shows.

q) Do you get emotionally attached to your work and do you miss your work when it is sold?

a)I get emotionally attached, but sometimes I try to challenge that by working on things even after I think they are perfect; sometimes I get really into something, but I realize that it's superficial or just looks cool and that is why I love it so much. So I have to change it completely to make it better.

q) What new projects or exhibits are in your future?

a)I'm going to be in a show in April at Allston Skirt gallery in Boston.

q) What is your favourite art related web site?

a)I like artloversnewyork.com and fecalface.com. Also my friend Leslie has a really cool blog where she talks about lots of art, it's http://scarletfever11211.blogspot.com
dkupfers@gmail.com

q) What is the strangest thing you have ever seen?

a)I see a lot of strange things living in New York, one time I saw someone walking a handicapped dog who had one of those little strollers for back legs, and they came upon another couple who were walking a dog who also didn't have functioning back legs but it sat in this little hammock thing that held it's back legs off the ground, so it kind of wheel-barrowed. And the two dogs who both didn't know any better met and started to play with each other like they were perfectly normal dogs just out for a walk. But they're not at all. Also, couples on Segways on the sidewalk going the same speed as everyone else who is walking is kind of weird. I'm sure I've seen stranger things.

q) What is the strangest thing you have ever done?

a)It changes every day, believe me.

q) any advice you can pass onto aspiring artists/designers?

a)Work hard and don't lie to yourself. And get out of your house a lot… don't spend the money you need to buy paper or get something framed on new fancy jeans.

q)your contacts….e-mail…links
a)Denise Kupferschmidt

www.papermountains.net

dkupfers@gmail.com

Interview with Catell Ronca

q)Something about you…what you want…

a)I was born in Switzerland and moved to London in 1997 to study illustration in Kingston University. After finishing my studies I worked in publishing for a while and went on to do an MA in Communication Art and Design at the Royal College of Art. I am currently dividing my time between painting and teaching illustration at a university in north London.

q) What are your main goals when you create?

a)My work focuses primarily on people and colour.
My aim is to reflect what I see around me using spots of colour. I’m especially keen to capture the beauty of human beings in their everyday glory. But also, I want to be a visual journalist and document what I see in detail.

q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?

a)I am often overwhelmed with ideas about experimenting with colour and composition. I try and challenge myself not to repeat what I have done before, but instead try out something new with fresh criterions.

q)How has the internet and your website helped you spread your artwork to a wider audience?

a)It has gradually become very important. Sending my web address to other people’s websites and having it listed there has helped a lot. Having a website is a fantastic self-promotional tool on an international basis.

q)How do you define your style and how would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

a)I would say that it is very colourful, a bit naïve and sometimes quite detailed. As it is all about colour my favourite subjects are people of different races who I see on a daily basis in London.

q)What materials do you use to realize your creations?

a)I use gouache and sometimes photocopier toner

q) What is your favorite a) taste b) sound c) sight d) scent e) tactile sensation?

a) lime juice b) my cat’s meow c) a beautiful man d) freshly brewed coffee on a summer morning e) my cat’s fur

q) What are you doing now…your current projects…

a)I just finished a book cover and work on a children’s book about a Mexican boy

q) Do you listen to music while you’re creating and what do you listen and what do you like to listen?

a)Yes, music is very important to me. At the moment I really like the Beta Band, Yo La Tengo, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Vetiver, Lebanese Hip Hop…

q) Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians, books…?

a)I would say that my influences come from African advertising arts and Mexican street graphics but also other illustrators such as Calef Brown, Irene Schoch and Christopher Corr. I love travelling and visiting new places and am a big fan of world cinema, which allows me to travel in my own livingroom.

q)Name 3 things you couldn’t create without?

a)Colour pencils, sketchbook, a clear head

q) Where have you show your art…?

a)Most recently I’ve exhibited some work in a group show called GUMBO in London.

q) What haven’t you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

a)Go to Mongolia, Morocco, Yemen, Ethiopia, Iran, Israel, Usbekistan.
Have children and cats and dogs.

q) How important is self-promotion for an artist nowadays?

a)It’s extremely important. Even if you produce some amazing art, it’s of no use if the world out there doesn’t know about it. And with the Internet being such a powerful resource, there is no excuse not to promote oneself using it.

q) Would you say that your work consciously reflects characters and situations found within your daily life?

a)Yes, absolutely, my daily life in London is what feeds my work most. Be it in direct and obvious ways or indirectly.

q) Favourite book?

a)‘Everything is Illuminated’ by Jonathan Safran Foer


q) Designers/Artists you admire?

a)Calef Brown, Irene Schoch, Christopher Corr, Clayton Brothers, Christian Northeast, Mark Todd,
Neo Rauch, ATAK, Rutu Modan, Johnny Hannah, Carmen Lomas Garza, Margaret Kilgallen, Clare Rojas, Alfredo Vilchis Roque, Chéri Samba


q) Your contacts….e-mail…links…

a) www.catell.co.uk
www.catellronca.co.uk
catell@catellronca.co.uk

Interview with Michael Gillette

q) Introduce yourself first please?

a)Hello Claudio, I'm Michael Gillette

q) Where do you live and work?

a)I live in San Francisco, I have a studio at home. I moved to America from London back in 2001, San Francisco is a place I'm really grateful for.

q) How did you started? How have you realized you wanted to become an artist?

a) My mum was an art teacher so drawing was always in my life. I do remember entering a school art competition when I was 5 or 6, I did a picture of the moon with loads of spacemen on it, and I was called out in assembly in front of the school to show it. It won a £1 book token and I thought this is alright, I like this.
I did well academically at school, and university was on the cards, geography at Cambridge, or art history at Manchester. I knew however that I'd probably never graduate at either, I had no real interest. My parents were good enough to trust that instinct.so I went to art college with the pretense of being a graphic designer, (probably thinking in practical terms of earning a living, so 80's ) though really I wanted to be in a band. I thought, go to art college, form band, and then the rest of my life would roll out like a big red carpet. Over the course of my degree I realized that neither music nor graphic design were happening for me, but by the time I'd come to that conclusion I was in my final year and had learnt pretty much nothing. So I graduated, by default, as an illustrator.The week after I left college, I felt I'd better shake some action, I needed money of course. I had more knowledge of music than skill as an artist, and Saint Etienne were similar pop culture enthusiasts, so, I found their address on the back of a single, made them up a package of my work and hand posted it. They liked it and I did some work with them which started me rolling, I was lucky to pick the right band at the right time. I think they were charmed by my naivety. I was keen.

q) What's your favorite medium to work in, and why?

a)I don't have a favourite, the first 7 years out of college I painted solely in acrylic and I got really tired of working the same way continually, I'd sort of painted myself in to a corner. I barely even drew, I'd trapped myself in a media. One weekend, I had a real freak out and pretty much ceased painting in acrylic, turned down commissions and started working digitally. When I started using the computer I absolutely set out to try different things. The modus operandi was anything goes.with different media, new possibilities are presented. This week I did a piece in chalks which is something relatively new to me, and it brought a feel that had previously eluded me. I have recently also been painting a lot with watercolour. It's really important to me to keep mixing stuff up, learning, getting turned on. I'm not hooked on technical ecstasy, but I do appreciate a bit o' skill.

q) Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians, books…?

a)Music really is very important, trying to capture a musical vibe in picture form is a strong motivation for me. The core of my musical taste is 60's psychedelia, which branches in so many different directions.For a few years at least I've been influenced by Victorian illustrators, Rackham. Grandville, Edmund Dulac John Singer Sargent's drawings, a lot is fairytale related, I think tackling more modern subject matter with that vibe is interesting, avoiding the cliches or subverting them. British Pop art is really important too Peter Blake, Hockney's drawings. I think the level of design and simplicity of the is work is important reminder. I saw a documentary about Frank Frazetta yesterday, and although sci-fi, fantasy has such a nerd reputation, it was very inspiring to see that level of creativity.

q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?

a)I try and keep things as open as possible and create in a way that serves the idea best, that really is my goal now, to be in service of an idea rather than giving the same kind of solution to whatever problem confronts.

q) What haven’t you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

a)I try to create a project that has a longevity, I have an animated series idea which at some point I want to do

q) Are there any contemporary artists that you love?

a)I really love Roger Andersson he's a swedish, I guess he's a deathmetal watercolourist, he's working in the vein of Durer's studies but his subject matter is troubled kids, weeds.... the margins. I like work that finds a deep beauty in seemingly ugly things. I think that is an amiable thing to do.

q) How long does it take for you to finish a piece?

a)It depends how I'm working. But generally no longer than a day or two.

q) What music, if any, do you like to have on while you're working?

a) A lot of 60's pop & psychedelia, soul, soundtracks, folk. I like finding obscure music. currently I've been listening to Ronnie Lane from the faces, his pastoral solo work. I'd like to set up a little music blog.

q) Do you do many art shows?

a)I've done 4 in the last 10 years. Every few years I get the urge to do a show.Making art, displaying art and selling art are three different jobs. I had a couple of large solo shows in London, and I was seriously looking in to the idea of giving up commercial work, but I realized after a while, that it wasn't what I wanted to do. it wasn't me, I like to do a variety of things. I think we are all on our own little journey and the variables are infinite, so I try and just trust my gut.

q) Favorite clothing setup?

a)I've always been a bit of mod, pretty much all my clothes are second hand, I'm not trying to look like it's feb 7th 1966, but San Francisco is a goldmine for really amazing quality used clothes. I avoid FASHION wherever possible, the whole disposable made in China aspect of it really disturbs me. I guess clothes are more about dignity at this point.

q) What are you doing when you are not creating?

a)I listen to a lot of music. But mainly in my spare time I walk around San Francisco, it's endlessly entertaining. I'm a wanderer

q) Do you get emotionally attached to your work and do you miss your work when it is sold?

a)As I do so much commissioned work, when I make work for myself I don't actually have to sell it. These pieces are really for my own mental well being, and I'm fairly attached to them. Now I have a really great print maker who will make editions of my work, and I find that works out a lot better, people get to own affordable pieces, and I get to keep the original. The shows I had in London, I'd be about £5,000 down on framing, advertising, booze.... I had to sell at those events and I gratefully sold a lot of work which I never even managed to have photographed. I regret that a little but it really pleases me that my work is hanging in peoples lives.

q) What new projects or exhibits are in your future?

a)I think I'll have a show in the next year , I plan a drawing show, I have about 6 large pieces ready and I've been finding some amazing frames for them, so gradually it's coming together, I'm in no hurry though. I deal with deadlines constantly elsewhere in my life so my own art is protected behind a velvet rope.I've been collating work for a book, a sorta forward looking retrospective. That is a real priority, to get a publisher and put it out. Also I'm doing a talk in New York at the NYC Center for Architecture on Saturday March 17 as part of the candy sweet talk series. Commissions wise I'm doing some sleeves for Candie Payne in Britain and the envy corps in the U.S.

q) Describe your work space.

a) It's about 10 by 17ft room one half is my computer/ digital setup and the other half is based around a large drawing / painting table. It's the first solid place I've had to work since 2000.

q) What kind of projects/shows have you been involved in?

a) Whewff... for 6 months last year I worked on a large website involving the comedian Demetri Martin, called clearification.com I did some work for beck throughout that time too, and over the years I've done all manner of work, from animation for the Beastie Boys through advertising and a about a zillion tee shirts.

q)your contacts….e-mail…links

a) m.gillette@sbcglobal.net
http://www.michaelgillette.com

http://www.myspace.com/michael_gillette
http://www.candyculture.net/sweettalk.html

Interview with Mark Zigarelli

q) Introduce yourself first please?

a) Mark Zingarelli

q) Where do you live and work?

a) I live in a small town (North Huntingdon) near the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States of America. I am married to a lovely redheaded woman from Texas and we have three daughters who still live at home. I work in a studio within my home.

q) How did you started? How have you realized you wanted to become an artist?

a) I have always enjoyed drawing. I began drawing and copying cartoons from MAD Magazine when I was 5 or 6 years old. My parents encouraged me to be an artist. My father taught me how to draw in perspective and he took a special interest in my talents. I guess I have always just wanted to be an artist of one kind or another, but over the many years I have been working as a freelance artist, I have come to prefer cartoons and comics as a way of expressing myself.

q) What's your favorite medium to work in, and why?

a) I have worked in several mediums over the years. I enjoyed printmaking, and etching when in school. I also did scratchboard in my late 20’s, but I always came back to drawing…first with pencil, then with pen and ink and today I do mostly brush and ink with additional work (color) in Photoshop on the computer.

q) Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians, books…?

a) As a child, I was influenced by books and magazines I got at the library or on the news stand. Mad Magazine, EC comics, comic books, (DC’c Sgt. Rock & Easy Co., Superman), horror movie magazines like Famous Monsters of Filmland, the paintings/illustrations of N.C. Wyeth, Howard Pyle, Walter Crane, Aubrey Beardsley, J.C. Leyendecker and Edmund Dulac.

q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?

a) My favorite type of work is the kind that tells a story of some kind. A story about people…their passions, their emotions, their interconnectiveness to all that is around us.

q) What haven’t you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

a) I have been interested in painting in oils, but have yet to try my hand at it.

q) Are there any contemporary artists that you love?

a) I admire the work of several artists working today. In the comics and graphic novel field I like Charles Burns, Roberto Baldazzini, Gipi, Baru, Vittorio Giardino, Robert Crumb, Jacques Tardi, Loustal, Marti, Jason Lutes and others. I also enjoy the work of Rod Filbrandt, Bonni Reid, Ray Caesar, Lori Earley, Colette Calassione and Mort Drucker.

q) How long does it take for you to finish a piece?

a) That depends on the medium, the scope of a project and it’s size.

q) What music, if any, do you like to have on while you're working?

a) I listen to a wide variety of music, from old-time jazz and pre-war blues to Tom Waits.

q) Do you do many art shows?

a) I had a show in Chicago last year, and two shows running currently (the moth of February 2007) in the Pittsburgh area.

q) Favorite clothing setup?

a) Do you mean what do I like to wear? Baggy chinos, comfortable shoes, and long-sleeved soft and worn t-shirts.

q) What are you doing when you are not creating?

a) Reading, watching movies, and spending time with family and friends eating out. I also enjoy sitting at an outdoor café, sipping espresso and watching people. Dopio or macchiato, with biscotti, per favore!

q) Do you get emotionally attached to your work and do you miss your work when it is sold?

a) I do not sell many pieces so I do not miss them.

q) What new projects or exhibits are in your future?

a) I am currently finishing up 8 pieces for Monte Beauchamp’s BLAB!

q) Describe your work space.

a) My studio is a single room about 15’ x 15’ located in a daylight basement (next to a furnace room) in an old house that sits on top of a hill overlooking a small town.

q) What kind of projects/shows have you been involved in?

a) The gallery shows have mainly been group shows for the past few years. But I always have several personal projects I’m working on at any given time.

q)your contacts….e-mail…links

a) E-mail :

markzing@comcast.net
Online portfolios :
www.houseofzing.com
www.theispot.com/artist/mzingarelli/

Interview with Matt Burden

q) Something about you…what you want…

a)Born in St. Albans, UK, 1978… 6’1”, blue eyes, blond-ish hair, fairly well built… What I want? – That’s a good question… World peace… and England to win the World Cup… (So I guess I’m set for a lot of disappointment…)

q) What are your main goals when you create?

a)If it’s specifically for something, that there be somekind of intuitve connection between the what it is and what it’s for… and generally just to express myself, test myself, and have some fun…

q) Do you rule by any tendency in your creative work, or you only follow what comes in your mind?

a)In terms of the practicalities each picture usually evolves it’s own set of aesthetic rules pretty quickly - if they weren’t in place already… In terms of ideas and concepts it’s more a case of the lights are on but no one’s in… You just switch off and it comes out by itself…

q) How has the internet and your website helped you spread your artwork to a wider audience?

a)It’s been massive… This interview is a prime example – it wouldn’t be happening were it not for… I think artists today are really lucky to have cyberspace at their disposal…

q) How do you define your style…

a)Loud, angry, strange, violent, playful, crude, direct…

q)…and how would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?

a)Tasteful water colours…

q) What materials do you use to realize your creations?

a)Pens, paper, pencils, camera, scanner, G5, Photoshop, Illustrator, Google image search, bits of stuff…

q) What is your favourite a) taste b) sound c) sight d) scent e) tactile sensation?

a)An attractive young lady… for all 5… haha…

q) What are you doing now…your current projects…

a)I’ve just been finishing the artwork for the Milanese Adapt EP due for release on Planet Mu later this year, along with a t-shirt for another reputable music label… and I’ve recently begun working on a short comic for my own self indulgence…

q) Do you listen to music while you’re creating and what do you listen and what do you like to listen?

a)If I’m making an album cover for someone I make a point of listening to the music that’s to go on it as much as possible throughout the process…
Beyond that, as fate would have it, the majority of my friends make up a rather diverse, mongrel horde of musicians - encompassing everything from Balkan to Dubstep - so I have the privilege of being constantly introduced to (or force fed) a really quite wide range of stuff…
Funcrusher Plus by Company Flow is still probably my favourite album…

q) Do you draw influences from a wide range of artists, musicians, books…?

a)From an early age I was obsessed with comics and dinosaurs… So the majority of my artistic schooling came from prehistory books and the legacy of Jack Kirby… Stuff like Carlo Ranzi, Jim Lee, Sam Keith, John Romita Jnr, Albert Uderzo - along with a host of natural history illustrators whose names I never knew in the first place… These are the guys who taught me how to draw…
These days, whilst the source material has changed, the same issues and ideas still interest and excite me… Evolution, science, religion, humour, people, animals, faces& forms, sequence, distortion, intoxication, malevolence… Though I try not to consciously look at too much art & design when I’m working, as I think it’s kind of counter productive… It’d be like trying to write music whilst at a concert…
At the end of the day you’re always going to be constantly influenced by whatever world you inhabit… Whether directly or indirectly… There’s no escape….

q) Name 3 things you couldn’t create without?

a)Food, water, oxygen…

q) Where have you show your art…?

a)To date, shows have been pretty limited – a handful of low key events here in the UK, plus a piece in a group show over in California a couple of months back… (So if anybody out there’s interested my contact details are below…)

q) What haven’t you done yet that you definitely want to try someday?

a)Artistically – film…

q) How important is self-promotion for an artist nowadays?

a)It’s paramount…

q) Would you say that your work consciously reflects characters and situations found within your daily life?

a)Sometimes – yes – very much so… But by no means always… Though if they’re not there overtly and explicitly they usually still find a way in… There’s a lot more going on at the back of your head than there is in the front…

q) Favourite book?

a)The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

q) Designers/Artists you admire?

a)Right now I’m really into Kinki Texas, Jessica Joslin, Brendan Danielsson, Gregory Jacobsen, Paul Chatem… Dave Gibbons was a big hero to me as a kid… And I’ve always got time for Picasso…

q) Your contacts….e-mail…links…

a)

www.mattburden.co.uk
www.myspace.com/mjburden
info@mattburden.co.uk