Twin » Talent Watch

Talent Watch: Hattie Stewart

Lucia — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 14:09:45 +0000

Who: Hattie Stewart

Age: 21

What: Illustrator

Where: Kingston/London/Essex

On her work: “It’s a rainbow in grey skies. I like to use my work for escapism so I can disappear into my own little world.”

Drive: “My friends are my biggest driving force and inspiration. I love nothing more than talking about work over a few glasses of wine and some roll-ups. It’s as if we can rule the world if we really put our minds to it.”

“Negativity also motivates me in a big way, I’ve been told I’m not good enough, original, unique and all that jazz time and time again. Being constantly reminded by someone that you’re not that great sucks, but I actually kinda like it. I like getting angry and frustrated and letting all those frustrations out, because I end up getting a more realistic view on things and it makes me work a hell of a lot harder.”

Favourite work: “Those that take a long time to draw and take on a life of their own – being able to fill a blank piece of paper with so much detail is incredibly satisfying for me!”

Best commission: “Luella and Katie Hillier who I’m doing some work for right now – I have been very fortunate with them as they not only appreciate my work but me as a person. They are brilliant people who have taught me a lot.”

Work space: “I work in my room – I have to go through a tidying ritual before starting a drawing session. Music is very important too – if I don’t have a good soundtrack I don’t draw as well.”

Favourite colour: “I know its not really a colour but black. Mmmmmm.”

Best-loved subject: “Bloody skulls. It’s the one thing I have never stopped drawing. I have no idea why I like them so much.”

Future: “Obviously lots of drawing (and money if possible). I also want to look back to those few who didn’t believe in me and say, ‘I told you so!’”.

Not many people know: “My biggest fear is losing my right hand. But most embarrassing of all is the fact that I talk to my sketchbooks and introduce the old one to the new, yep, me and my work have a very intense relationship. I have a feeling I may regret saying that.”

hattiestewart.blogspot.com

http://www.brilliantlove.co.uk

Talent Watch: Sophie Harris-Taylor

Lucia — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:45:30 +0000

Who: Sophie Harris-Taylor, 21, London.

What: Photographer.

On her work: “I use a documentary process to capture the lives of the people closest to me. I like looking at the mundane – moments of intimacy, vulnerability, boredom.”

Influences: “My friends – I love the intimacy I share with the people I photograph, every one of them inspires me to take more and more images.”

Inspiration: “Nan Goldin and the painter Gerhard Richter have definitely inspired me the most over the years. More recently I’ve been looking at the incredible work of Maarit Hotheri and Nigel Shaffran.”

Sophie’s favourite photographs: “I change my mind on a daily basis. At the moment I’m working on my first book – these are the first images I’ve chosen to start the book – I haven’t got bored of these yet!” (See above and below)

Not many people know: “I don’t actually know how to use cameras!”

www.sophieharristaylor.com

Boy (talent) watch: Grant Thomas

Lucia — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:28:27 +0000

Who: Grant Thomas, 17, London.

What: Fashion photographer.

On his work: “Some of my best ideas for shoots have come from the most mundane situations. The other day I was smoking on the ledge of a second storey window with Debbie [his stylist] and I decided to base a shoot on that.”

Influences: “The insanely talented Sebastian Kim, and the few close friends I surround myself with.”

Grant’s favourite photograph: “I’m a sucker for liking my most recent work – so at the moments it’s an image of the strong-faced model, Georgia Davies (below). She’s standing tough, but elegantly, wearing a vintage floral dress, a white leather corset and the tallest shoes known to man. Truly good photos have the ability to make me cry – so I like people to feel something from my photography too.”

Not many people know: Grant’s originally from Wales and moved to London by himself when he was 16 years old.

www.grant-thomas.com

TALENT WATCH: ELEANOR TAYLOR

Lucia — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:12:32 +0000

Who: Eleanor Taylor, 22, Alton.
What: Illustrator.
Where: Royal College of Art.
Eleanor says: “I like to create images with an underlying narrative through which the viewer can go on a journey. I love the idea of people being able to explore other worlds through my illustrations, and think that this plays a very important part in my work.”
Influences: Old world medieval stories, The Pilgrim Fathers and, “vulnerable environments that have an underlying threat. The image shown, ‘Spook House’, appears on the surface to be an ordinary house but there is a definite dark and threatening mood lurking: Something disturbing, something unnerving, something not quite right. When drawing this image I had the idea that a lone woman was living in the house with hundreds of animals, and developing odd relationships with them. This led me to do other related illustrations like ‘The Fox Dance’ (also pictured),” says Eleanor.
This dark and twisted tone is prevalent in much of Eleanor’s work, which still manages to enchant viewers, albeit in a peculiar sort of way.
Not many people know: Eleanor loves baking her own fresh bread.

www.flickr.com/eleanortaylor

Talent Watch: Amy Carter

Lucia — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:48:16 +0000

Who: Amy Carter, 24, Devon
What: Illustrator
Where: Royal College of Art
Amy says: “I like to communicate the world in my head to people through my illustrations. I found creating my self-authored short story, ‘The Cat Lady’ (pictured) challenging, but extremely exciting at the same time”.
Inspiration: Dark, surreal and macabre literature, “I am particularly interested in Angela Carter’s novels (no family connection), many of which I have illustrated in my work. The drawing pictured was taken from ‘The Erl-King’ which was published in Carter’s 1979 collection of short stories, ‘The Bloody Chamber’. I like the way she reworks classic fairy-tales, exploring the underlying themes of bestiality in human nature and the inherent, powerful forces of sexual desire.”
Secret obsession: “Birds-I’m more of a bird drawer than a bird-watcher though.”
Projects: Amy is looking to illustrate more of her own stories. If ‘The Cat Lady’ is anything to go by, bookshops should save space for A. Carter tomes on their shelves now.

www.pencilshavings.co.uk

Talent watch: Somang Lee

Lucia — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:45:18 +0000

Who: Somang Lee, 27, Stuttgart.
What: Illustrator
Where: Royal College of Art
Somang says: “There is a certain magic about illustration. It allows you to tap into things that go under the surface; inner worlds that you can take from a piece of paper. One of the pieces of my work pictured is taken from a series I did called ‘An Arctic Tale’ (picture above), which were displayed at the Bargehouse earlier this year. The other is part of a series of etchings inspired by Jonathan Safran Foe’s novel ‘Extremely loud and incredibly close’ (below). This was an exploration of two people who are physically close but have vast inner distances to cross to be truly close to each other.”
Inspiration: Stories – writing combined with illustration make the perfect pair.
Not many people know: Somang takes ‘Free the inner voice’ classes to explore the subconscious in her voice and to help connect with her inner self, which she can then express through her illustrations.

www.somanglee.com

Talent Watch: Alice Moloney

Lucia — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:12:56 +0000

Who: Alice Moloney, 22, London
What: Illustrator
Where: Royal College of Art
Alice says: “This watercolour portrait (pictured) is from a series entitled ‘10 til 3′. It’s based on a week spent at Newent House Day Centre for the elderly. My final degree show piece is based on criminals. I like the fact that you can never tell who really is evil, and who isn’t, just by looking at mug shots. Some of the characters look completely innocent, but they’re not.”
Influences: Marlene Dumas and Uwe Wittwer.
Obsession: Collecting unicorns, vintage glasses and old photographs from car-boot sales.
Projects: Illustrating a set of commissioned books; one of which is based on the county of Middlesex.