Who knows what's going on in the world these days? I would've thought that we'd be taking steps forward instead of leaps backward. During times like these, it's easy to get into a spiral of negativity, gloom, and doom. However... Instead of focusing on the negative, we should do what we can to make our own positive impact in the world. Play our part in making the world a little better each . . .
Miniature Worlds
Australia's often forgotten, being so far away from everything else. However, I've seen a pretty decent portion of art, culture and design news flowing out from our borders over the past few years. Just came across this 15-year-old girl who did an amazing rendition of David Bowie's song 'Space Oddity' on The Voice. In other news – check out this incredible Australian artist Joshua Smith, . . .
Trading Tattoos
I first came across Miso during my visit to the Philip Shaw winery in Australia, and immediately fell in love with her style of illustration. Ukrainian artist Miso (also known as Stanislava Pinchuk) is based in Melbourne, Australia. She started her career as a street artist but later moved her attention to mediums such as paper and installations. Although her ideas bubble up wherever she . . .
Mini Lives in Mini Worlds
We seem to have a strange fascination with all things mini - from teacup pigs to paintings on sugar cubes. There's something there that warms up our heart with every glance towards that direction. Pierre Javelle and Akiko Ida clearly feel the same way. Since 2002, the duo has been photographing a series of playful dioramas combining miniature figurines with various kinds of food. Titled . . .
Dreamy Mix of Watercolour & Pencil
Here's one about a fellow Aussie - Elisa Mazzone is a talented art director, illustrator and an avid fan of all things beautiful. Now based in London, she creates gorgeous visual landscapes and keepsakes, weaving mediums together with allegorical needle and thread. She explores the female form through her choice of colours, shapes and flowing lines. Purposely unfinished, the illustrations have an . . .
Denim as Art
Ian Berry is a Contemporary British Artist who uses an interesting medium to create his art - denim. It all started in 2006 when Ian was inspired by some old jeans he found while cleaning his room. Since then, he's been endlessly creating art using denim in their original form. Without any use of bleach or paint, Ian sifts through the thousands of jeans he has to find the perfect tones and . . .
A Flower For You?
I went to the Tim Burton exhibition in Shanghai and for those of you who are based in this city, please go and visit it. It's one of my top three all-time favourite exhibitions together with Yayoi Kusama and Cai Guo Qiang. The amount of work that he's created throughout his years is incredible and so inspirational. A smorgasbord of whimsy, creepy and magnificent - all in one place. One of . . .
Patterned Pages
When things get busy, it's hard to find the time to sit down and start drawing. Once in a while, you need a little inspiration and when I see things like this...it certainly works magic on my motivation. Throughout Angela Chan's notebook are beautifully detailed hand-drawn patterns. There's something about patterns that is so therapeutic...and suddenly the world seems bright and shiny . . .
Miniature Works
Istanbul-based Microartist, Hasan Kale, uses extreme precision and a steady hand to create a series of impossibly small paintings using everyday objects as his canvas. According to Kale, “things we usually see can turn into something invisible” - this thought inspired his new direction and his work calls attention to the things that we see yet often ignore in daily life. Anything from a butterfly . . .
Depth in Folds
New York-based Brazilian artist Marcelo Daldoce likes to go beyond the conventional 2D landscape of paper and canvas, bringing life to a flat surface, and he certainly does this with his creative artwork. In order to construct these optical illusions, Daldoces uses acrylic paint to create images on paper, then proceeds to fold it into different patterns and designs - giving his work a kick of . . .