Kiwilicious Jewelery #16 - Melanie Muir

It's hard to find someone who had no plasticine as a kid. There are people who continue to play with it as adults, such as Melanie Muir, who is working on a colourful polymer clay. After finishing Glasgow School of Art (with honors) she decided to stay in Scotland and work on minimalistic designs and pastel colours, which she combines as well as a professional painter. A real art in design.

Classic Artist of the Week #16 - Hans Holbein

If you read this rubric at least a few times, you know that we try writing about more modern artists from the late nineteenth or twentieth century. But it is not a rule, so I don't have to make an exception here (if it was, I'd still make an exception). Ladies and gentlemen - Hans Holbein the Younger. One of the most recognized Renaissance painters and the earliest professional designers. Undobtful master and a hipster of his times (unlike others, Holbein never founded a school). Would you agree that he deserves a place here?

Sandra Backlund's crochet creations

Fashion? Yep. Fashion. Why? Because it is a kind of design - wearable art is, after all, usable art. Therefore, design. And Sandra Backland's creations deserve recognition not only as "clothes", but as sculptural forms, made entirely out of wool. I would love to see these outfits made for men, but for now, I'll have to be glad with my own crocheting skills...

Sherif Elhage - Photography

These are all real. That is how I'd like to start before you start viewing the photographs. Left unmodified, those half-abstract shots are made using only a camera and the natural surroundings. The white stripes in the middle of a picture? Flag poles. Black outlines? A cave. Very imaginative use of the world, however weird it sounds. Wonderful imagination of a young French photographer, Sherif Elhage who worked on nearly everything in the wide "world of art" - from advertisements to fashion.

Chris Trueman - Paintings

We all know that there are many approaches to painting - the genres, changing through the history. Art of a Californian painting teacher is somewhere between pop art (with the print-like imagery), abstraction and neo-industrialism. The repetitive motifs of stripes try to conceal the colours, but they enhance them instead. Wonderful compositions, soothing yet sharp. Mr. Trueman is certainly one of my favourite contemporary painters. Do you agree?

Kiwilicious Jewelry #15 - Denise Julia Reytan

Light, energetic, always positive. That's what appears to be Denise Julia Reytan, that's what her creations certainly are. Denise is an artist living in Berlin, working on jewelry, installations, assemblages and styling. Her work has been featured in many prestigious galleries - it is even available in Centre Pompidou!
Saturated colours, variety of materials, original forms, shapes and compositions. The world looks sweeter already! 

Heiko Mueller - Paintings

If you, like me, love walking in forests, there is a chance that you've encountered the natives of those - the wild animals. A small squirrel escaping through branches or a regal deer staring into your eyes. But behind this serene facade, what is really going on? A Hamburg-based artist Heiko Mueller is puzzled by this question and tries to answer with paintings about strange creatures fighting with each other in a fierce manner. And, a few dogs. But a great and unique technique!

Brian Donnelly - Paintings

The ancient peoples loved human-animal hybrids to the extent of making them represent certain gods. Brian Donnelly is a Toronto-based painter who picked up the idea - but mostly inspired by dr. Frankenstein. What are they about? Going back to our roots? Animistic instincts buried deep in our brains? Shocking? Whatever the purpose is, someone who creates a special e-mail address for "Complaints, Insults, and General Distaste" has my respect.

Clara Mata - Illustration and collages

Clara Mata is a Spanish industrial designer who started as an illustrator, working with manual collages. I always liked this kind of artistic expression - ready-made pictures combined in non-obvious, thought-provoking combinations. The themes, as you can see, are ranging from technology and money, through human condition to nearly abstract compositions that evoke different meanings depending on who sees them. But they always show a lot of sensitiveness towards the form.

So... we're back!

Yes, we are! After nearly three weeks of cross-Europe tour and countless adventures I am ready to get back to writing.

Except more. Soon.

Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin - me and the Master

A bit of news - Toginis Europe Tour!

Hello there ladies and gentlemen!

I have already written about it on the fanpage, but I feel I should make a special post about it. Unfortunately, there will be no posts in two weeks. I, the main writer of Toginis is starting a hitch-hiking trip across Europe in search for more awesome art and design.

Perhaps you will even stumble upon me on the way - or some day you'll find the remains of my travel in the form of a sticker. I come prepared!

I hope to update a bit on the way. Until then - keep being awesome! Thank you all and see ya!

Interview #13 - Nicole Hyde

What got you started? What keeps you in?

I dabbled in a variety of creative pursuits before settling into oil painting. In my late thirties, I left the corporate life behind, moved from Vancouver, Canada to Denver and married an artist (Wes Hyde). Suddenly I had access to an in-house studio, a constant source of art supplies and encouragement. So I began. My first painting ended up in a gallery in Santa Fe. The flood gates were blown open and I haven't looked back since.