ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Tor Freeman

Tor Freeman is a London-based illustrator who specializes in children's books.  But her work goes beyond the typical children's book illustrator in that her passion for her subjects combined with her talent as an artist make her one of those rare forces we are so lucky to have featured on the L+W blog.  Her work makes sense to both children and adults because of its depth and ability to tell a complete story through one picture.  We love and admire Tor's work.  Here is what she had to say about some of her pieces:

Although I'm interested in all kinds of illustration, my main work is in children's books. Here are some watercolour studies of kids.

I like drawing musical instruments, animals and kids playing them. Not sure what kind of horn this might be! Also in pen and watercolour.

Lately I've been experimenting more with digital colouring, feeling my way about a bit. I seem to be drawing a lot of pigs these days as well! In my initial sketches for this I was thinking of the scene in The Fabulous Baker Boys where Michelle Pfeiffer sings Makin' Whoopie on the piano, but more pig ladies joined in.

This was an earlier digital experiment, trying to get different textures. I guess my aim is to make the work still look as traditional as possible.

I love patterns, here I'd been looking at colours from Ezra Jack Keats' books. Maybe it could work as wrapping paper...

I really enjoyed doing these drawings, listening to the Cabaret soundtrack the while. My favourite thing is drawing characters, movement and expression. I'm trying to be stricter with myself about doing backgrounds too!

Visit Tor's site: http://www.torfreeman.com/index.html

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Mario Kolaric

Mario Kolaric has an uncanny way of creating illustrations that not only make me feel happy but also make me look at the more serious sides of life.  His explorations of the space in between black and white are, in my humble opinion, what give his work that level of subconscious life that looks at both light and dark simultaneously.  A brilliant illustrator and deep thinker- a talent that surely deserves recognition and wants to be seen.  Here is what he had to say about some of his work:

ILLUSION OF LIGHT page 4

This is one of four pages that I did for Cheap Magazine, UK.  It is the first series with a narrative, figurative theme that I did for a concept that had been haunting me, which is that everything is "between black and white..."

For years I did abstract drawings where I tried to find more about that subject, but recently I decided to explore the more figurative side of it.

for KANSAS RIVER small stories 

This is a series of illustrations for buttons for PlemPlem store in Germany... I love how some words or names can 

instantly make up stories... so I tried to give some insight to that.  Like all my work, it has the "between black and white" subject in it.

headline for BEDTIME STORIES

This is a series of illustrations that I made for Papier Gaché, France that is going to be released soon.

for new ZINE

This is one of my latest pieces that I made for my first zine.  The title will be I`LL BE MODEST, BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE THERE IS NOTHING!   It will be exhibited on a Zine Exhibition in Turkey.  This is a pilot zine, a test zine that I would like to release soon.

black drawing for BLOG

A few weeks ago I started  a new blog.  Its purpose is to be a diary for me, and maybe something interesting for you.  I hope that it will help me to finish my graduate work on Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, Croatia.

Document 2, Book 1

This is one of my books that I made for exploring space "between black and white".  

Visit Mario's site:  http://mariokolaric.wordpress.com/

Visit Mario's online diary: http://betweenblackandwhite.tumblr.com/

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Dalton Webb

Dalton Webb has the right idea- about everything, it seems.  He creates illustrations based on his love of drawing cartoons when he was little (primarily Garfield) and composes his work by gathering vintage lettering, cartoons and children's books and getting inspired.  He uses this technique to design incredible work for bands, comics, books, and just about anything he wants to work on.  We love his work because he loves what he's doing, and it shows.  Here is what he had to say about some of his pieces:

When I was commissioned to design a poster for a local band, Julia Massey and the Five Finger Discount, I was inspired by the burnt look of their CD booklet. So I drew a mischievous cat that is a firebug, burning a mid-century ranch style house. I learned later that the lead singer once accidentally set a house on fire and that's where the burnt look of their CD booklet was born.

Leilani Lanes was an old-school bowling alley from the 50s in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle. It had a great tiki bar with a floating fireplace above a waterfall. It was torn down a few years ago to make room for an upscale condo/apt building that is yet to break ground. The bulldozer behind the building and the clouds shows the opposite of a bowling paradise. The spirit of the place, however, live on in memory.

This gouache painting was created for Papercutter #12. It illustrates a scene from a comic story "Root Causes," written by Mark Campos and drawn by yours truly, that was featured in the same book. The Root Lady is a voodoo mole who help with a cat and a bunny with philandering boyfriends. When I work with a great writer, it inspires me to create wonderful scenes such as this one.

Here is another bowling alley that was demolished to make room for an apartment building yet to be built. The slogan on the piece was the actual slogan of the place. The empty sign and the fence is pretty much seen all over Seattle, a sign of greed that fed the present day recession. Don't let the bright colors fool you.

This viking was an exercise in working with acrylic gouache, a departure from traditional gouache. It is small at 4"x6" and the size forced me to look at the design aspect of a painting and keeping it simple. I used only the primary colors plus white to mix my palette and keep my color scheme pared down. 

Visit Dalton's site: http://www.mrmanifesto.com/index.html

VITAMIN ANGELS: COMMITTED TO ERADICATING POVERTY

©VitaminAngels/Dayka IN10

Howard Schiffer worked in the vitamin industry, and wanted to do something more for children in underprivileged countries. So he started Vitamin Angels, which is providing vitamins and minerals to over 20 million children this year. The results have been staggering in the fight against poverty. Here is full story:

Love+Water- How did you come up with the idea for Vitamin Angels?

©VitaminAngels/Dayka KE09

Howard Schiffer- I was a mid-wife in my early twenties, and was a part of the Home Birth Movement.  I became involved in learning as much as I could about childbirth nutrition.  At the time we were feeling pressure from the medical community and prenatal nutrition was a way in which we could help influence better birth outcomes for both the women and babies.  When women were healthy, eating the right foods, getting the right nutrients and rest we had healthy babies and moms.  That research and experience eventually lead me into the vitamin industry.  I created vitamin brands for 14 years, and got to a point where I enjoyed selling the products but I knew there was something more I wanted to do.  I knew they could have a positive impact on global health, but I didn’t know how to get them out to the villages that could benefit from them.  There was an earthquake in Southern California at that time, and a vitamin company I owned received a call from a relief agency wanting to distribute vitamins to a migrant community that had been destroyed.  I got them some vitamins, and realized that larger relief organizations did not have vitamins to distribute to people in need.  I met with a relief agency to talk about what vitamins I could get them, and I learned some amazing facts, one being that a high dose of vitamin A given to a child once every six months- which is two capsules a year- can stop a child from going blind.  I did not realize that, since I had never worked with children in such dire need, and was shocked at how easy it was to provide that for them.  That was the start of Vitamin Angels.  

L+W- Where did you go from there?

©VitaminAngels/Dayka KE09

HS- I started to contact people I knew in the vitamin industry and said that I wanted to get these vitamins to children in need in third world countries, and they all said that they had wanted to do that as well but never knew how to get the vitamins to them.  For the first ten years, if a company had a mis-formulation or a mislabel, we would get all of that product donated to us.  In the first year we distributed 100,000 vitamins, and thought that was wonderful.  Ten years later, in 2004, we had agreements with a number of vitamin companies and distributed 24 million vitamins in one year.  In 2005 we aimed to distribute 30 million, but the year opened with the Tsunami, then Hurricane Katrina and by the end of that year we had distributed 100 million vitamins to people in need.  

L+W- Where does most of your funding come from?

©VitaminAngels/Dayka HT09

HS- We have never taken an investment from anyone.  We had a number of vitamin companies who believed in us, and gave us what we needed for the first ten years.  We created our business model out of necessity, and we still use it today.  We would get products donated to us, and then piggyback on other organizations’ shipping costs, so we didn’t need to pay for shipping.  We would then partner with indigenous organizations who would receive the vitamins, take them from the port to a storage place and distribute them as needed, and we provided training for them.  All of our funding was through donations.  In 2005, we realized we needed to build a larger staff and organize ourselves in a way that could best sustain the volume of product we were shipping.  We decided that although we appreciate all the donations we received from the corporations we were working with, we needed to have a more consistent and reliable supply of vitamins on a regular basis for the children.  So we went back to some of the companies and asked them for a long-term commitment (ideally three years).  In 2006, we reached two million children, and in 2010 we are reaching 20 million children.  Now much of funding comes from our partners because we want Vitamin Angels to become part of what we are, and we want to be part of your marketing.  We don’t want you to just write us a check and put our logo on your product.  So for example, in November Whole Foods is having Vitamin Angels Month to promote what we do to their customers and vendors.  

L+W- What is the most moving moment you’ve had so far with Vitamin Angels?

©VitaminAngels/Dayka GT10

HS- The most moving moments to me lie in the connection I feel to the children we serve.  Seeing the children  we provide vitamins come up to me in their villages and hold my hand, or having a mom hand her baby to me and look me in the eye and say thank you.  Seeing pregnant women with babies who weigh seven pounds instead of being at risk of losing the baby.  A large percentage of children in the countries we serve don’t make it through their first five years because they are so vulnerable and their immune systems are not up to speed.  What amazed me was learning that diarrhea can kill a child because their immune systems can’t handle it.  We don’t need to spend years doing research- we know exactly what we need to do, we know what nutrients they need.  We always say at Vitamin Angels that these children are not dying from a lack of nutrients, but from a lack of commitment.  And we want to change that, which is why we strongly encourage long-term commitments from our partners.

L+W- Is there anything else we need to know about Vitamin Angels?

©VitaminAngels/Dayka BO10

HS- Vitamin Angels is an amazing opportunity to witness drastic changes in a short amount of time, and it only takes 25 cents per year.  With a solid commitment in place we have the ability to eradicate vitamin deficiencies in our lifetime, and I believe we are going to do that.

Visit the Vitamin Angels site: http://www.vitaminangels.org

Join the Facebook Fan Page

Follow Vitamin Angels on Twitter: @vitaminangels

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Kurt McRobert

Kurt McRobert's illustrations seem to capture action and make you think about your current surroundings, particularly if you live in NYC!  His use of color is bold but not gratuitous and his technique is simple but impressively mastered.  He also has a great sense of humor, which we can't ever deny as a plus.  We love his work!  Here is what he had to say about some of his pieces:


My work is a simple formula. I translate things I'm interested in and things I experience into pictures.  

Williamsburg Bridge Missed Connections

Official title:  Williamsburg Bridge Missed Connections - I live in Brooklyn and a lot of my work ends up being about that.  I frequently ride my bike over the Williamsburg Bridge and I pass by all kinds of bikers, dudes on Bianchis racing by me, hip girls chugging on slow beach cruisers, intense old men on fold-ups.  This piece is about the girl gliding downhill while you're sweaty and killing yourself trying to get past the uphill part of the bridge.

Spring in Brooklyn

 I made this when it was finally getting warm in New York and the trees were sprouting flowers and the hipsters were coming out of their apartments for some much needed sunshine.

Doomed (Together)

 I grew up on the gulf coast of Florida so I was a little pissed when I heard about the oil spill.  This piece is about how we're all doomed and we're all in it together.  The sisters have given up and they're trying to enjoy our last days before the apocalypse.

You Won't Find Your Soulmate With Headphones On

Pretty self explanatory.  Headphones are super isolating on the subway.  I still wear em anyway.

The L Train

 In keeping with the subway theme, this is one about how rush hour commuting sucks.  Don't get me wrong, the L train is the best train in New York, but when there's a never ending supply of people squeezing you tighter with each stop, resentment inevitably builds.  

Visit Kurt's site: http://www.kurtmcrobert.com/

Visit Kurt's blog: http://www.artkurt.blogspot.com/

PHOTOGRAPHY SPOTLIGHT: Scott Speck

Scott Speck's photography is so stunning that my mouth hung open for about five minutes the first time I saw one of his photos.  There was something about the contrasts, the angles, the absolute artistry behind each shot that takes photography to a whole other level of artistic mastery.  Then I found out they are all pinhole photographs.  This explains two things: Scott is an artist whose medium is the camera, and he is a craftsman who has honed his work to a state that nears perfection.  Here is what he had to say about his technique and some of his work:

I became interested in pinhole photography about four years ago.  My cameras are made of wood and metal, and they contain no lens -- only a small pinhole in the front of the camera.  My camera uses no electronics, is completely manual, and does not allow me to look through the camera to compose a photograph -- everything is done external to the camera.  I use medium and large format film for my work in both black/white and color, and my exposure times range from 1 sec (bright, outdoor scenes) to 1 hour (dark interiors, like dimly lit cathedrals).  The pinhole's unique optical characteristic is that it affords infinite depth of field, whereby all parts of a scene, no matter how close (0.5mm) or how far (infinity), are equally in focus.  This permits one to explore perspective, dimensionality, and an intimacy of texture.  My large format (4x5) pinhole camera affords an ultrawide field of view of 160 degrees, with no edge curvatures as occurs with a fisheye lens.  My favorite subjects are architectures, portraits, and landscapes.  I have had my work published in books and magazines, my work has won awards in juried competitions, and I frequently show my work in galleries, by invitation.  I also conduct interviews and pinhole photography seminars.  Prints of my works are available for sale upon request, and I enjoy doing commissioned pinhole photography for individuals, couples, music bands, etc.  Through the pinhole, I create the surreal from the real.  No other form of artistic expression has ever felt so right to me.


Foot Bridge in the Mist 


Fuji Acros 100 4x5 b/w film, 30 second exposure time,
foot bridge in Ellicott City, Maryland, during a misty rain.


Gothic Glory




Fuji Acros 100 4x5 b/w film, 35 minute exposure time,
National Cathedral in Washington, DC.


Forest in Wind




Fuji 160 4x5 color film, 3 minute exposure time, Spruce Knob
Mountain in West Virginia.


Patterns of Force




Kodak TMAX 400 4x5 b/w film, 5 second exposure time, Kelly
Kalac modeling.



Transcending




Kodak TMAX 400 4x5 b/w film, 3 second exposure time, Mount Vernon
district of the city of Baltimore, Kelly Kalac modeling.


Madrid Cathedral




Fuji Acros 100 4x5 b/w film, 15 minute exposure time, 
Madrid Cathedral, Spain.


Magnolia




Fuji Acros 100 6x6 b/w film, 30 second exposure time, magnolia blossom.



DC Metro




Fuji Acros 100 4x5 b/w film, 25 minute exposure time, Metro Center metro
station, Washington, DC.


Visit Scott's site: www.scottspeck.com

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Missi Jay

Missi Jay's work is fun, bold, girly, and fabulous for adults and kids alike.  Oh, and she's a pretty amazingly talented artist as well!  Her pop influences obviously contribute greatly to her work, but it's really her energy, which is infectious and comes right through her art, that adds that bit of magic that is not present in every artist's work.  How pleased I am to have her work on the blog!  Here is what she had to say about some of her pieces:

I LOVE "POP." Anything pop. Pop culture, pop music, pop art. I watch TONS of television. I am mesmerized by ad jingles, I quote movie lines, love music, stand up comedians and have a HUGE crush on Andy Warhol. He was my idol.

That being said, I have created art that juxtaposes bold color and silhouetted shapes with handwritten messages of all my favorite things: quotes, lyrics, and comedy.

When I hear something that strikes me, I make notes about it, find an image that suits that quote and marry the two ideas. As a trained visual artist and illustrator, I love creating shapes and images with hand-made type. I fill negative and positive spaces with words in all different styles imitating a variety of fonts. I like how you can graphically portray the same message with whimsey or a darkness, simply depending on the style of handwriting.

Chinese Plastic

This piece was inspired by my love for the fabulous Prentender's Chrissie Hynde, and her lyrics to "Boots of Chinese Plastic."

The Little Chocolate Donuts

At first glance, this a tribute to the late John Belushi. The secondary messages are actual fortunes my husband and I received the day we found out I was pregnant with our beautiful daughter, Ruby. Plus I just freakin' love donuts. I mean, who doesn't?

Never Enough I Love You's

Initially created to honor Kevyn Aucoin, the legendary makeup artist, this is about one's personal struggle to be accepted for who you are. As described in the Max Cannon quote in the background, you can be beautiful on the outside and still feel like an outsider. The quote, "there are never enough I love you's," is my favorite though, as it describes the feeling of fiercely wanting affection when you feel so alone.

Bring the Monkey With Us

Inspired by the awesome Beastie Boy's, "Brass Monkey." Enough said. 

Love One Another

This piece is about pure happiness and proudly being yourself, so who better to feature a quote from than the prolific creative dynamo, Frank Zappa. I love the humble quality added by Bryan Ferry. Also including quotes from other personal favorites: Joey Ramone, David Bowie, Mitch Hedberg and David Byrne.

Nonsense

For this piece, the image was my inspiration and the quotes followed--it is usually the other way around. I found this autobiographical "nonsense" quote by the storytelling genius, Theodor Geisel, who most people know as Dr. Seuss. I think the expression of "delirious confusion" on the girl's face accurately describes the "Seussical" magic that engulfs us all. My favorite part of this art is the small quote around her eye by musician Bjork, "People that complete other people's vision are understated." Well said.

Ruby Slippers

To honor my daughter, Ruby, I thought some ruby slippers á la "Wizard of Oz" would be appropriate. Naturally, glamourous shoes and Monolo Blahnik are synonymous, so the "high heels" quote seemed like a perfect fit. But the true acknowledgement here is to the beautiful, Gwen Stefani, the most stylish mom on the planet. I can only hope Ruby thinks I am half that cool...someday.

Visit Missi's site: http://www.gigglebox.net/

WITNESS: Using Video to Advocate for Human Rights

WITNESS was co-founded by Peter Gabriel when he went on tour in 1989 with Amnesty International and videotaped people all over the world talking about their experiences with human rights abuse. The rest is history-in-the-making, as WITNESS was established. Since 1992, WITNESS has been partnering with grassroots organizations to implement video tools into their programs to help further their causes. The results have been phenomenal, sustaining and awe-inspiring. I spoke with Miyoko Brunner to learn more about the amazing work WITNESS is doing around the world.

Love + Water- How did WINTESS begin?

Miyoko Brunner- WITNESS is co-founded with Peter Gabriel.  He went on tour with Amnesty International's Human Rights Tour in 1988 and took the Sony 8mm Handycam with him. He filmed people he met all over the world, many of whom had suffered human rights abuses, and had them tell their stories.  He found it so amazing that these people were experiencing these abuses and not only were they not being heard, but their stories were being denied.  He realized that something as simple as a video camera could bring these stories to the eyes of so many people.  WITNESS started with the simple idea that ‘seeing is believing’ in order to help empower people to create change for themselves and those around them.  In 1991, the Rodney King incident occurred, which was further motivation for Peter to move forward with his plan for WITNESS. By 1992 WITNESS was formed with Peter, the Lawyer's Committee for Human Rights and a seed grant from the Reebok Human Rights Foundation. In 1993 we sent our first 25 video cameras to local human rights groups around the world. Since then we have continued to partner with grassroots organizations in order to advocate for human rights.  

L+W- What are some of the areas WITNESS is working in today?

MB- The main way in which we are able to make this system work is by partnering with organizations all over the world.  We have partnered with grassroots organizations in such places as Brazil, India, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, Zimbabwe and Cambodia.  We create relationships where we work with them for one to three years to find out what their focus is, who their audience is and how we can incorporate video into their plan for change.  We also just started working with coalitions, which is one of our new strategic visions.  As technology evolves, we realize that cell phones are quickly taking the place of video cameras, and technology is evolving in new and exciting ways, so we are working with media outlets such as YouTube and Twitter in order to ensure we stay current in manning how video is best used to make human rights stories visible to the world.  

L+W- What is the most moving moment you’ve had so far with WITNESS?

MB- I think that change- real, sustainable change- can take such a long time, so when I see a campaign really get started and watch as a partner and think it through, and then actually see success, that is really moving.  I’ve been with WITNESS for three years now working with events and individuals mainly on support.  We have one partner that works with child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  It’s such a hard issue and so hard to watch these children talk about their experiences.   But then to have the child's story help lead to the International Criminal Court trial of warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo for crimes including the use of child soldier, that is really groundbreaking progress.  Also just meeting some of our partners, and having them thank us for instilling the aspect of video into their causes, which enables them to take the stories of the people they work with and turn them into tools for social justice is really moving as well.  Because after we leave them, they have the ability to continue using video to further their causes.  

L+W- How can people get involved with WITNESS?

MB- We’re working on creating a Video Advocacy Planning Toolkit where we walk through each step of how to get started with using video as a tool for advocating for social justice.  That will be available soon for people to use and we hope it will be a way to increase awareness and perpetuate the ability to take action.

L+W- Is there anything else we should know about WITNESS?

MB- The main idea is that change is possible, and that anyone can be involved in creating change.  Stories are so powerful, and that is the essence of why WITNESS was created.  A lot of high school students these days are so much more adept at video than most adults, so finding ways to empower young people now with the ability to use these tools to foster change is a key component to our mission.

Visit WITNESS site: http://www.witness.org/

Join the WITNESS cause on Facebook

Follow WITNESS on Twitter: @witnessorg

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Lambis Stratoudakis

Lambis Stratoudakis creates the most amazing art with his photography, mainly from Polaroids.  A true fashion photographer, he takes the world of "beauty" to a whole new level by deconstructing the image in a way that strips it down to its bare essence and makes us say "wow!".  This "wow" factor, so to speak, combined with his whimsical nature- he takes underwater photos that will blow your mind- make him one of the most unique and stunning artists we've seen.  Here is what he had to say about some of his work:

Beetween Shiele and Klimt 

Polaroid Artistic Time Zero film




Fly

Polaroid Artistic Time Zero film

Kads Ghosts 

A Polaroid Fade to Black film. I shot it in very dark conditions to get a long exposure and used light & movement to create the effect. This is an original, with no retouching or Photoshop effects involved.

Stina and the Rays

This is a photo from my dear friend Stina.  Sun, wind and fabrics created this effect.

Lana

The Dress was designed by Dutch fashion designer Anouk Wipprecht just for this idea. The Chinese lantern is the one that I have in my living room.  Inside it I attached a small lamp for an illumination effect.

Aquarell

This was my first try at cerating a combination of photo & traditional painting technique.

Underwater beauty

 This was shot underwater

Torso 

A portrait of a dear friend and model

Visit Lambis' site: www.lambisstratoudakis.com