Scrapatorium

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Angelica Paez has been making collages since she was a young girl. "I probably started as soon as I had safety scissors in my hand as a small kid. I had a love for construction paper then and enjoyed cutting out make-believe scenes using some of my mother's catalogs and magazines. Little has changed since then, except now I use sharp scissors." Visit her sites: Scrapatorium and Scrapiteria.

Amy Wright

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Amy Wright is an illustrator, textile designer and painter based in Melbourne, Australia. If she hadn't discovered her love and talent of image-making, she likely would have become a botanist. Flowers and foliage are the driving inspiration of her work.

"My Grandmother was a very skilled botanical watercolour painter, from whom I earned a lot from as a child... I grew up between UK and Australia, so much time was spent exploring English countryside and English plant life. Back in Australia, I was taught by Yolande Calkoen—a wonderful elderly dutch artist who studied once upon a time at the Bauhaus. She was as an inspiration, and her major influence was the way she taught me to 'look through' something to see what is happening on the other side, rather than just' looking at' it. From that 3d understanding I moved into Sculpture at the Victorian College of Arts, in Melbourne, before jumping ship and moving over to Textile Design, which was a perfect fit for me as it allowed me to be a painter and illustrator while giving a medium to create a product."

Amy current image-making investigates plant forms, both real and imagined. "I have been drawing 'true to life' plants from life for as long as I can remember," she says. "As a challenge, I have taken away the life subjects and stepped into an imaginatively driven interpretation of what I understand of plant forms." Her intention is to highlight the art of botanical illustration in a contemporary environment.

"The ideas of John Wyndhams 'Day of the Triffids' is a major influence, as the concept of plants 'taking over the world' fascinates me. For when everything else dies away and no longer exists, the plants (in some form) remain."

Amy and her partner Jess, a bespoke shoemaker, have a company called Woot n' Wright. They create leather satchels with prints, and other leather products such as bound notebooks, soft homewares such as cushions, stretched printed canvas frames and teatowels. "[Jess] is a whiz with leather, and I do all the printed artwork (taking it from original design work, through to physically printing with silk screens) All our product is 100% Melbourne Made, by us in our studio."

Illustrator Jillian Ditner

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Recently I received a virtual introduction from Jillian Ditner. I was immediately impressed by the colour palette and mood of her artwork and illustrations. When I saw the image of a typist with white sheets (above) that she illustrated for Oprah at Home magazine, I was even more impressed. Based in Toronto, Jillian graduated from the Ontario College of Art & Design last year where she studied fine art and focused on printmaking.

"I have been active as both an artist and illustrator," she says. "My focus right now is more on illustration, as I am currently out of studio, but my love of printmaking continues... I would love to branch out into the design realm in the future."

I asked Jillian what her most exciting project has been to date. "The most exciting project I've worked on was with 'Lights Out Toronto' (image below with the bird in flight). This city-run organization whose aim it is to reduce the amount of migratory bird deaths in Toronto. For their spring campaign I created a series of limited edition screen prints to be awarded to building owners/ architects who strive to make city buildings 'bird friendly'. The reason I enjoyed this project so much is because I feel it is important for artists to become involved with environmental/social causes, and due to lack of funding for these types of projects, it can be very difficult to do so. I am happy to say that this project has sparked the interest for similar campaigns in other cities across North America."

We look forward to seeing more work from Jillian. You can see her portfolio of prints and illustrations at Painted by Number.

Nigel Peake

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For one of Glen's Christmas presents, I purchased a Guide to Fifty-nine Fields by Nigel Peake. Nigel Peake is an Edinburgh-based artist. "A world renowned field expert, let Nigel open your unseeing eyes to the fields that surround you. Whether it's a field of leaves, bikes, beehives, or a conversation of birds, after familiarizing yourself with the Nigel's chart, a world of fields will reveal itself all around you. Perhaps you work in a bookshop -- or perhaps you work in a field of books. On one hand you are trapped in a cave -- on the other hand, you are reclining in a field of bats. Do you live in a messy home? Or do you live in a field of cats and sneakers? Nigel Peake's Illustrated Guide to Fields will effortlessly transport you to a land of fields in the life-side where you've always dreamed of living." Visit Nigel's website and blog to view more of his work.

{ Video discovered via Analogue Books. }

Amazing Animation

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This Is Where We Live from 4th Estate on Vimeo.

This wonderful masterpiece was created by Apt Studios and Asylum Films in celebration of 4th Estate's 25th anniversary. Asked to create something stunning by this division of Harper Collins in the UK, this is what Peter Collingridge proposed:

"We pitched a crazy, beautiful, and ambitious 3-minute animation to 4th Estate’s managing director, John Bond, and marketing director Ben Hurd. The animation would take place in a city made - literally - out of books, and we would pass through the city like a bird flying down the streets, witnessing scenes from these books taking place in lots of different districts over the course of an afternoon, evening and early morning."

You can read more about the project here, and see production stills here. View a larger version of the video plus more about the process of making "This is Where We Live" on Vimeo. {discovered via Black Eiffel}

Carolyn's book in today's New York Times Sunday Book Review!

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Thank you to everyone who attended the First Thursday launch of The Snow Show and came for Carolyn's reading yesterday afternoon. It was great to see so many people.

I'm sure you all share my excitement for Carolyn's latest news: The Snow Show is favourably reviewed in The New York Times Sunday Book Review.

"The concept is funny, but the real fun is in the execution. {...} It’s one of the most gloriously exuberant, inventive displays of computer-­created art that I have seen in a picture book," writes illustrator/reviewer and Caldecott-recipient Paul O. Zelinsky.

We are temporarily sold out of her book, but more are on their way and should arrive by Wednesday if not sooner. You can purchase a signed copy in our shop (just email us a note if you want it signed to a particular person).

Congratulations to our artists

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I would like to congratulate all the artists we know and adore who have been accepted into the Society of Illustrators' 2009 annual. Their work will be part of the 51st Annual Exhibition Book and Editorial show in New York from January 28th to February 28th.

Work/Life contributors Luc Melanson (his piece from Work/Life was selected), Byron Eggenschwhiler (this is his winning piece, above), Douglas Fraser, Renata Liwska (her piece from Old School was selected), Jody Hewgill, Jillian Tamaki and Sam Weber are all being recognized.

Some of The Shatner Show illustrators are also featured in the annual: Marc Burckhardt, Marcos Chin, Eddie Guy, Paul Hoppe, Ronald Kurniawan, Jesse Lefkowitz, and Zina Saunders. Past exhibitors The Heads of State, Ryan Heshka and Christopher Silas Neal are also in! I am incredibly proud of the caliber of talent that has shown here in the gallery. Keep up the greatness everybody!

It's The Snow Show!

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It was a flurry of activity and now Carolyn Fisher's The Snow Show is up! This exhibition's focus is on Carolyn's process for writing and illustrating this book. Her process sketches, thumbnails, storyboards and editor's notes are all available for you to peruse. It really gives one an appreciation for the amount of time (four years!) and effort a book project can involve.

Pick up Thursday's FFWD for an article on Carolyn and listen to CBC 1010 AM tomorrow at 3pm for an interview. (And there's a podcast review here.)

The opening is First Thursday from 5-9pm. If you're unable to make it, you may purchase a signed book in the online shop.