Jersey Beach Art Festival. Andres working. Photo: Stepane Gimenez Photography

Scribble Town (ST): The world is your canvas!  Visual artist Andres Amador proves that to be true with his landscape art whose primary canvas currently is the beach.  After you read more about Andres I think you’ll be inspired to create with the earth and appreciate it for all its beautiful components that make it fresh, colorful and alive.

Andres Amador (AA): I call myself an Earthscape Artist, though this feels to more capture the heart of my pursuit- engaging the natural world at the landscape level using natural materials.

ST: I think Earthscape Artist encapsulates what you are doing and what the art is about!  Where are you and what are your days like?

AA: Currently I reside in an open-walled, safari-style tent on a family homestead farm outside Grass Valley, California. When I am not working on the farm, I am working on projects for clients and developing the next iterations of my art.

ST: You live and work with nature- both with sand and soil.  When did you start creating beach murals?

AA: I started in 2004. The idea came to me as I was studying crop circles and sacred geometry while on vacation in Hawaii. I was on the beach explaining concepts to a friend when, like a bolt from the blue, I saw what could be possible on the beach.

ST: Wow! I can imagine the blue bolt came straight out of those Hawaiian blue ocean waters! You never know how these ideas will volcano out from your imagination. When it comes to visualizing your projects, does the place inspire your style or is it the purpose of the drawing that takes precedence?

AA: In general the design is primary. However, there have been opportunities in which the shape or limitations of a location suggested a certain way to work with it. There have been rare moments in which a location inspired a design.

Inspired by the cave and the narrow channel leading from the cave to the larger beach. I started way at the back of the cave where the sand started. In my mind the cave was breathing flames which turned into vines, then flowers off of which bud planets and stars. Plemont Beach, Island of Jersey. during the MyMemory.com World Beach Art Championships.

Currently, now that I am using a remote controlled aerial camera, I will have the opportunity to truly work with the landscape- to know what it looks like from vantage points higher than I have been able to see from before and to capture the imagery. This is the cutting edge of my art development and has me quite excited.

ST: It’s great to see how technology is advancing your artwork not only with documentation but also with accessibility.  I can really see how the cave and the rocks guided the flow of your design elements!  What other forms of creativity do you do?

AA: At the moment I am appreciating origami- its tough! I also love contact improvisation dance, in which I have been developing a signature style. Sculpture weaves in and out. Cooking is a major love. Many creative thoughts pass by me all the time, like butterflies flitting about. It feels as though I am capturing and expressing such a tiny percentage at any particular time. As my major expression at the moment is the earthscape art, many of my ideas turn towards pushing its boundaries. Often this means entirely new lines of creativity being born and adapted to the beach.

ST: For a person that has so many different creative interests, sometimes it’s also good to just put more attention to one project or medium. How do you start planning your projects?  Some have been very big productions requiring a lot of help from others! What is then your process for creating it on the beach?

AA: The main thing I do is somehow capture the idea- whether as a sketch, a written note, a phone message to myself, a recording- whatever I have on hand. For the past 10 years I carry with me practically all the time a pencil case with pencil, sharpener, and flash cards. I have found flashcards to work the best for me. With them I can do many sketches of ideas and make variations then later group them into categories and later still select a few that would make good candidates for being on the beach. I also carry an iPod touch, the kind with a camera. I use it for taking notes, for doing recordings, and most usually for taking quick photos of inspirational imagery.

Andres Amador’s example of a flash card with a design sketch.

If there is geometry to work out then I will use Illustrator on the computer as it makes the process, and being perfect, very easy (with the geometric designs perfection is important).

Once on the beach I will turn to a number of techniques. Often I am coming up with new ones to fit the needs of the design. In general though, the main thing I am working with is keeping a sense of what is happening around me while I work from the inside. Its an acquired skill, keeping it together. With the geometric is about knowing the steps I have set for myself. With the organic designs its about knowing the process I am engaging, which shifts according to the design. I am always learning more. Now that I am using an aerial camera, the scale can go even larger, which means that the lines that have generally been good enough now much be much much larger to be visible. So there’s a constant re-orienting. For me that’s part of the fun. There is no ‘way’ to do it. It’s a constant exploration.

Here’s a guide I made to create a geometric design,

Torus-recreation

which became this:

Ocean Beach, SF

Below is a photo of an organic design.

Ocean Beach, SF

ST: I really like the impermanent aspect of your work. So much effort only to last for a short time. I wonder in what ways do you document your work (to make it permanent : ) ).

AA: Impermanence was not an aspect I was looking to engage when I started. But its the overwhelming feature of the artwork. Often as I am working on a piece it is being simultaneously washed away. I was being filmed recently and as I finished and the film crew was flying a camera up, a huge wave bit into the art- too soon! We had to redo the creation the next day (fortunately we had that option!). Prior to this art form I was doing large sculptural installations. I still have a garage full of my art. I can’t let it go! With the beach, I have no choice, which is refreshing   Of course I do take care to capture my creations and so am dealing with digital detritus(!)

If someone didn’t know how large my works were, the designs alone would not be so impressive. But knowing that so much effort went into something with such a short lifespan creates a different impact. Attention is given to the work and the reasoning behind it. Philosophically, the aspect of impermanence has had a big impact on me. In the end, our own existence is temporary. Nothing that is made will last forever. We subconsciously anchor ourselves to what we feel is solid in the world. We act as though the lives we live have stability to them. But that is an illusion. When upheavals in life happens we are reminded that the only thing we can count on is change.

It can seem as though making my paintings on the beach is a pointless act. But in reality, all acts are ‘pointless’ in that there is no inherent meaning. When we are able to stand tall and enthusiastically create from our hearts unencumbered by such concerns, aware that all our acts and achievements are but drops in the rain but engaging regardless, the offering becomes even more powerful, more poignant, more infectious. It doesn’t matter what we do- if it is done as an expression of love- that is its own validation and it is then a true offering to the world.

ST: Even if your beach murals have faded, they have made an impact on who has experienced them. Have you done collaborative beach murals with other artists?  I got an idea- what about collage beach murals?!  Your murals would be a perfect stage for a performance- instead of a curtain you can draw the next props to set the scene!

AA: I’ve done lots of collaboration. I love collaboration- the mixing up of ideas and abilities. At the moment I am collaborating with the director of the Santa Cruz Symphony. I am always open to interesting collaborations. And I have done performance within the artwork [see image below]. I look forward to other opportunities to do interesting things within the art I create.

‘This Constant Yearning’ dance performance

Over the years the art has dictated the documentation. As I got more serious about the art, I had to get more serious about the recording of it. I’m working on the next iteration of that trend as I shop the next level of camera I wish to use. I recently did a memorial ceremony artwork [see image below] that had about 200 participants, which was very powerful.

Ceremony artwork by Andres Amador

ST: Please tell us more about your Playa Painting Workshops.  How can we get involved?

AA: I haven’t been as active with the workshops since I moved from the San Francisco bay Area. However I do work with groups and very much enjoy working with schools. I am also looking to do some very large creations for which I will be putting out calls for assistance. The best way to be involved with something I do is to join my facebook fan page:

ST: Thanks Andres for all your insight and inspiration!  Scribblers, here’s an activity Andres came up for you to start with your own Earthscape Art.  Click here to have a look.  See you by the shore!

Now that it’s officially summer, you probably have plans to take your kids to the beach.  No need to take an extra bag with art supplies. With objects found on the beach and a little imagination your kids will have a fun day filled with creative inspiration from mother nature.

Your little Scribblers can create sculptures crafted with with stones, sand and seaweed and all kids of things that wash up from the ocean.

Pebble Fish by Richard Shilling

Here are some things to think about before creating your beach master piece.

Relax and take a good look around.

Take in the color, smells and textures of the air, water and sand.

Let the ocean speak to you then decide what you would like to create.

Select some objects and materials that you would like to use to make your art….sand, stones, seaweed, etc.

Get creative, draw designs in the sand by swirling the sand with a stick or your hand. 

Play with patterns, and textures.  You may want to use sea shells to create patterns in the sand or use a stick  to carve lines.

Take a look at this Sandy Lion – amazingly this sculpture is created completely from sand and seaweed! 

Lion On The Beach – Gurnsey Arts Commission

I love this Rock Man.  How fun!  Some seaweed and rocks and there you have it!

Rock Man Photo by Hubpages.com

Art in the sand can be created by using a rake, a stick, objects that wash up from the ocean.Think about the wonderful patterns that can be created when you use the sand as your canvas.

Beach Art by Andres Amador

Try making art the next time you go to the beach and let us see what you and your kids come up with.

Please send us photos.  We’d love to share your creativity and inspiration with our readers!!!

Happy Scribbling!

Scribble Town (ST): Yulia is everywhere!  We first discovered her while flipping through an Oprah magazine and then saw her work featured in Material World: The Modern Craft Bible.  Yulia is an expert paper artist and is generous to share her tips!  Where are you and what are you up to these days?

Yulia Brodskaya (YB): I live close to London, very busy with my paper art and two little kids.

M Real by Yulia Brodskaya

ST: I have never seen anything like your art.  How would you define your work?  It seems to be a peaceful combination of craft and fine art.

YB: I just call them paper artworks; but I don’t normally try to put any labels such as craft or fine art or even focusing on the term ‘quilling’ too much. I use a combination of paper manipulation techniques to create my paper artworks.

Jungle Bird by Yulia Brodskaya

ST: How did you discover this artistic process of creating paper artworks?  Was there somebody that encouraged you?  With your two kids perhaps they help with the playful aspect of your images!  Your birds and butterflies look like they will just fly away.

YB: I always had a special fascination for paper, I’ve tried many different methods and techniques of working with paper, for instance Origami, paper collages, however Quilling technique turned out to be ‘the one’ for me. I started to use it about five years ago: I was planning to create a small brochure with my hand-drawn illustrations to be sent out to potential clients and I was looking for an eye-catching image with my name ‘Yulia’ for the cover. I created a number of hand-drawn variants, but I didn’t like any of them and then I remembered an image from some school book showing a paper strips standing on edge, so tried to make the letters using this technique and apparently the attempt was successful; over the next couple months I switched to paper illustration completely.

Nature by Yulia Brodskaya

ST: Through playing and dabbling we just stumble upon what we didn’t expect! Where do you find yourself feeling really inspired to create?

YB: In my little studio.

ST: How do you manipulate your paper? What is the process?

YB: I use cocktail straw and little cocktail sticks for rolling the paper strips (I didn’t know that there are specially designed tools available when I taught myself to shape the paper strips, I started to use the cocktail straw and I still use it now). Also, scissors, twisters for little details, glue and of course paper paper paper. For the process the best thing will be to search for some basic youtube lessons.

ST: Yup, anything can be a helpful tool especially when you know what your aim is.  Cocktail straws do the trick!  Yulia, any tips for our scribblers out there?

YB: Just have fun with it; it will be a pleasure if you enjoy it. The process is very slow and time-consuming so if you are not enjoying it the whole experience can be a plain torture.  I have a fish pattern that I designed for my workshop in Shanghai, it is very simple, people can use it as a basis for the quilling experiments.

ST: Thanks Yulia!  I’m going to give it a try!

Pure by Yulia Brodskaya

Scribble Town (ST): Carly Kasner shows us how animations bring to life more imagination than we could imagine.  It is easy to see in her artwork and her approach to creativity!

Carly Kasner (CK): Hello Scribblers, I come from Long Island and graduated from FIT, May 2012. I am a graphic designer with some essence of illustrator mixed in. From the time I was little till this very day, I have had a special connection with cartoons, which inspires and or impacts my work today.

Anime self portrait of Carly Kasner

ST: How are you spending your time these days?

CK: I am currently interning at The Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services in New York City. It is a non-profit organization that provides mental health and social services. I design various flyers, books, and print/e-mail invitations there. In my spare time, I have been recently involved in t-shirt design contests between the websites threadless.com, and welovefine.com.

In addition to that, I occasionally create my own characters for fun. In recent years, I do consider my work to be more digital but I still highly respect the traditional methods as well as the digital I utilized InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator as my main digital formats I use whatever tool(s) will get the job done in the best way for my idea/client.

Monster’s Inc scribble shirt by Carly Kasner

ST: Designing t-shirts sounds really fun and it must feel good when you see somebody wearing one of your ideas. When did you start illustrating / scribbling / being creative?  Was there somebody that encouraged you?

CK: The beginning of my creative era was around kindergarten I stumbled into my interest of drawing through the inspiration I got from cartoons and my love for doodling. I used to like to draw dogs. I feel that I was born with a love for drawing.

ST: Your love for dogs is seen in your North Shore Animal League Logo.  I really like how you’ve nested the dog and the cat together.  It’s as if they were hugging each other.  It’s a very clever design!  Where do you find yourself feeling really inspired to create?

North Shore Animal League logo by Carly Kasner

CK: I think my inspiration can come from different sources and/or artists, but I think my, main root was the endless hours I spent in front of the TV growing up. I was a 90s child and some of my favorite cartoons were Courage the Cowardly Dog, Hey Arnold, the Rugrats, and The Angry Beavers. I was inspired not only by the characters image; I was inspired by the stories that molded the characters personalities. And as I got older, I became inspired by Japanese cartoons and comic books a.k.a. anime and manga.

ST: What other forms of art do you practice?

CK: In high school, I did some ceramics, collages, oil painting, and water colors in recent years, I am still partial to the sketchpad and pencil. I try to use that for my creativity as much as possible and even though I haven’t practiced it much lately I am also fascinated by watercolors.

ST: What is your favorite movie?

CK: My favorite movie is Hayo Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.

ST: I also really liked Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle.  The story and images are unforgettable!  Carly, please share any tips, advice, or ways of encouraging scribblers.

CK: I struggle sometimes with accepting mistakes but it is important to accept mistakes and to learn from them. Try not to let them discourage you. I try to look at mistakes as boundaries to define what not to do next time. Keep in mind that you can’t get something right unless you get it wrong.

ST: Thanks Carly! That’s great advice!  Making mistakes is a big part of life and making art.  At least we can say we tried

Sweet Bots by Carly Kasner

Scribble Town (ST): With us is Joel Garten, an artist, composer, writer, and entrepreneur.  Joel says, “I have so many different things that I do, and the thing that unites them all is a sense of flow and creative energy.  I use that sense of flow and intuition in everything I create, and try to have a sense of flow in my path through life.”  Yes, you do Joel and it is seen in your colorful, vibrant, and musical paintings.

Joel, where are you and what are you up to these days?

Joel Garten (JG): I am working on a series of large scale paintings. These paintings are 4 feet by 8 feet, really long scrolls of paper that I paint with many different type of media.  I also compose music on the piano regularly.

ST: When did music enter your life and was there somebody that encouraged you to compose?  I wonder what came first- music or painting?  I say this because I can see the music in your paintings!

JG: The music certainly came first in my life.  It came very early, I started playing piano when I was eight or nine, and I began composing music very soon thereafter.  It is something I took to very naturally, and I have been composing for more than 20 years.  Interestingly, I have a lot of difficulty reading music – almost like music notation dyslexia – which meant that I devoted most of my musical output to improvising music.  This means I write the music as I play, it is all one artistic creation of the moment.  My music is very personal, and an expression of my sense of intuition and rhythym.  My music has also always been influenced and inspired by visual art, such artists as Jackson Pollock, Giorgio Morandi, and Richard Diebenkorn.  It is meditative, soulful, dissonant, and repetitive; but repetitive in a good way – the way that repetition can unearth deeper truths in the music as it unfolds.

Here is an improvisation from a recent concert I did in Toronto: joel-garten-live-in-concert

"Untitled" 22x30 inches, mixed media on paper by Joel Garten

ST: And with painting- how do you feel the two artistic elements support each other?

JG: Creating visual art myself is something that happened only recently, and has really increased in intensity in the past few months.  I was inspired to create art by seeing works by Jean-Michel Basquiat.  Just like Basquiat, my work has a lot of bright, joyful colors, but also works at deeper level, what the Abstract Expressionist called “the sublime”.  Abstract expressionism is an influence on my art, as is the work of Cy Twombley.  Yes, there is a lot of music in my artwork, and a lot of people say they can really see music in my paintings.  It is because there is a lot of energy, vibration, and that sense of flow that I talked about earlier in the paintings.  The artworks have rhythm.

ST: When did you start composing, playing the piano and painting?  You play improvisational music- do you ever paint in that manner?

JG: The artwork is definitely improvisational.  I start with no preconceived plan or sketch, I simply start in, and follow my intuition.  I let the painting tell me what to do.  And recently I have been starting to use acrylic paints to do essentially finger painting – except using my whole hand, and sometimes my whole arm.  I also use both hands to paint, sometimes at the same time, just like using my right and left hand to play piano.

ST: What have you been listening to when you paint?  What kind of music do you like?

JG: I have a number of different things on when I paint, sometimes it is Stevie Wonder, sometimes it is jazz by Keith Jarrett (a big influence in my music) or Bobo Stenson.  I like classical music, jazz and Motown, as well as new music.

ST: Where do you find yourself feeling really inspired to create?  If there’s a process you go through to spark the creativity, please let us know.

JG: I usually get most inspired at night.  I don’t really need daylight to paint, I like to paint under incandescent lighting. I put on some music, take some supplies and start painting.

"Untitled" 22×30 inches, oil pastel and oil stick on paper by Joel Garten

ST: What are some other forms of art you practice? Do you ever mix other mediums with your oil pastels?

JG: Well, I have a plan to do a number of other types of art.  The next thing I would like to do is use my artwork to create fashion.  Yes, I use oil pastels, oil stick (oil paint in stick form), and acrylic paint.

ST: I can’t wait to wear a piece of your art!  Do you ever play with other musicians?  Please let us know of your next show.

JG: I improvise music on my own, it is a very personal, and maybe even spiritual experience.  I do have interactions with other musician though.  When I was younger I was invited by the rock musician Bryan Adams to play a concert at his studio in Vancouver.  I am also doing a series of artist profiles of musicians, which is being published on the Huffington Post.  Right now I am focusing on doing small scale studio sessions-concerts of my music, and I want to turn those into a CD.

"Untitled" 22x30 inches, mixed media on paper by Joel Garten

ST: You are up to all sort of creative happenings. Definitely keep Scribble Town posted on all your adventures! Just hearing about how energetic, active, and open you are is encouraging in itself.

JG: A lot of children are natural artists, and famous painters like Basquiat and Jean Dubuffet were inspired by children’s paintings.  It is hard for people to hold onto to their child-like talents as the get older, and marry those instincts with experience.

ST: Thank you Joel for all your insight and inspiration!  Joel has also given parents and teachers tips on how to talk about art with young artists.  To read more about that please go to the Scribble Shop Inspirations page: http://www.scribbleshop.com/content/artist-joel-garten-shares-how-create-and-talk-about-art-your-child

Check out Joel Garten’s website www.joelgarten.com!

"Untitled" 22x30 inches, mixed media on paper by Joel Garten

Scribble Town (ST): From a distance what looks like a beautiful volcano of color and texture turns out to be an ingenious technique of rolled paper and paint. Amy Eisenfeld Genser has mastered the art of creating an organic effect by using mixed-media. Amy is also a mom of three sons from West Hartford, CT.  She says, “I’m a tad obsessed with paper and paint, color, patterns, and texture.”  You’ll soon see why!

Let’s start with, what does a day look like for you?

Amy Eisenfeld Genser (AEG): I am usually in my studio, on the third floor of my home. I work about five hours a day while my kids are in school. It is a juggling act. My typical day is to get the kids off to school, hit the gym for an hour, and then come home to work. Because my studio is in my home, it’s sometimes hard not to get “mess-tracted” as I call it (starting to do laundry, clean dishes, etc…) but having the studio on another floor helps. Going up the stairs is like crossing a threshold. I also listen to books on tape while I work. Time flies when I’m working on a piece and into a great story, but when I see the bus coming down my street at 3:45, my work day is over.

ST: I’ve never heard that term “mess-tracted” before, but I like it because I can completely relate to you! When you do get to your work, how would you define your art?  It seems to be a peaceful combination of craft and fine art.  I have never seen anything like it before.

AEG: I refer to it as mixed-media. I’ve been able to live in both the fine art and craft worlds. It’s nice to be welcome in both places.

ST: I can see how your artworks really settled nicely in the two worlds too. How did you discover this artistic process of paper quilling?  Was there somebody that encouraged you?

AEG: Technically, my process is not quilling – I will outline my process below. I first started experimenting with paper during a papermaking class while studying for my MFA in Graphic Design at RISD (Road Island School of Design). My professor Jan Baker encouraged us to test the limits of what paper can be.

River Run by Amy Genser

ST: Where do you find yourself feeling really inspired to create? On your website (About page) you mention, “The sources of my work are textures, patterns, and grids. I look for forms that can be repeated to create a pattern when they are joined.”  Please expand on that and if you have a story we’d love to hear it!

AEG: Most of my inspiration comes from nature because it is perfectly imperfect. I love all kinds of organic processes. They are visually intriguing and engaging. We spend a lot of our summers on the beach in Rhode Island. I love watching the water, the rocks, and the light. Our beach has rocks with these really neat barnacles and seaweed. Their colors are always changing. Sometimes there’s a lot of it, and sometimes just a little. It’s neat to watch the progression. One day when the seaweed was purple, brown, yellow and green, my husband made the awesome observation that nature never clashes. I love that.

Mineral Violet by Amy Eisenfeld Genser

In reference to my latest “mineral series”, I have always been drawn to gem-like colors. My mother is a jeweler who works with a lot of gemstones. I’ve grown up peering into tourmalines, garnet,diamonds, opals, citrine, etc. We always talk about how juicy and “lickable” the colors are. I have recently been looking at a lot of agate and geodes. The colors are simultaneously vibrant and translucent. Pretty amazing. I thought I’d take a stab at my own interpretation of them.

ST: So how do you turn your paper to look like gems, minerals, and other elements of life? What is the process?

AEG: Using Thai Unryu, I treat the paper almost as a pigment, layering colors one on top of the other to create different colors. My pieces are about a foot wide. Then I roll one layer on top of the other in all different thicknesses. I seal the roll with acid-free, archival glue stick, and then cut the long piece into sections with scissors or pruning shears. I have pruning shears of all different sizes to accommodate different widths.

ST: Wow! What a laboratory of processes! What forms of art do you include in your mixed-media paintings? What are some tools you like to use?

AEG: The actual rolling and cutting process is pretty quick. At this point I could pretty much do it in my sleep. It’s the composition/editing process that usually takes the longest. I paint my surface, either canvas or paper first, with acrylic and a lot of gel medium. Then I place my paper pieces on top and manipulate them until I have a satisfactory composition. It’s like putting a puzzle together, only I don’t know the final picture until I see it. I roll my pieces accordingly as I develop and build the piece. It’s a back-and-forth process. The paper and the piece lay on different tables in my studio. I attach the paper onto the canvas with PVA once I have the pieces where I want them.

Tall Tower by Amy Eisenfeld Genser

ST: Is there a song that moves you at the moment?  Perhaps you can place a song with one of your works.

AEG: I can place a piece with a book on tape – one of my favorite- Prince of Tides” by Pat Conroy. I usually listen to books on tape while I work. My head is usually in the story, and my hands are free to do what they need to do.

ST: The titles of your pieces are very revealing and help the viewer guide how they can look your work.  How do you come up with these titles?

AEG: Usually it had to do with the inspiration for the piece. I just look at the work and figure out a title. They always feel a little uncomfortable and arbitrary to me. It’s hard for me to give words to something that is visual.

ST: Amy, what’s a piece of advice you can give our Scribblers?

AEG: Have fun! Do what feels good. Keep your hands busy and the work will follow along. There’s nothing like getting rid of creative energy through using your hands. I was that kid who was always weaving potholders on the plastic loom and making complicated patterns in woven friendship bracelets.

ST: Thanks Amy for sharing so much with us! Amy has shared an activity for us to get started on our own artwork.  Check out Scribble Shop for more details:
http://www.scribbleshop.com/content/roll-it-your-wonder-amy-eisenfeld-genser

Portrait of Amy Eisenfeld Genser

Scribble Town (ST): With us on the Scribble Blog is Timothy Young! Timothy has a long, creative career as an illustrator, graphic designer, toy designer, animator, puppet builder and sculptor and continues to surprise us with his imagination.

Timothy Young with Barney!

Timothy Young (TY): Hi! I live in Maryland with my family on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. My first book, I’m Looking For A Monster!, came out in 2008 and my 4th book, I Hate Picture Books!, has just come out from Schiffer Publishing.

ST: Where are you and what are you up to these days? I’m sure very excited about your book ‘I Hate Picture Books!’ reaching people everywhere! Please tell us a bit about your book. A little sneak peak please

TY: I Hate Picture Books! is about a boy named Max who is having a bit of a temper tantrum and is throwing away his picture books. Throughout the book Max describes how picture books have gotten him in trouble and all the while we see him either pictured in these books or showing what he is describing in the style of many classic children’s books that the reader will recognize. I really enjoyed poking fun at many of the books I have loved through the years.

I Hate Picture Books by Timothy Young

ST: Throughout your years of experience have you found a favorite place to write and draw?

TY: I have a home office where I do most of my drawing. I write in many places, including when I’m mowing the lawn or driving in my car. That is, I think up a lot of ideas and write them down later on.

ST: I think writing while mowing the lawn is it’s own art form! What other kinds of art do you practice?

TY: I have done a lot of different types of art. I draw, I sculpt, I use the computer to design graphics and advertising. I use Photoshop to finish most of my illustrations.

A few character designs by Timothy Young

I design toys and I have a new toy line coming out soon called HEDZZ™. I designed them and sculpted the prototypes. I’ll let you know more soon about where to get them. You can see more of my artwork at http://www.creaturesandcharacters.com.

ST: All of your characters whether they are in books or in the shape of a toy have such different personalities. What do you hope to communicate with your stories?

Timothy Young's Books

TY: I don’t start out with any specific message, I usually think of a character and a situation they find themselves in. If some kind of lesson sneaks in there, that’s a plus. Mostly I write books for myself and I hope other people like them too.

ST:What was your favorite storybook growing up? Or is there a character that you connected with especially?

Max Eating Green Ham by Timothy Young

TY: I loved Dr Seuss and P. D. Eastman’s books along with many others. Two of my favorites are no longer in print. I especially liked The Ice-Cream Cone Coot by Arnold Lobel and GWOT! Horribly Funny Hairticklers by Steven Kellogg.

ST: I can see your love for Dr. Seuss in your picture of Max eating green ham (look to your right). Dr. Seuss would have loved that! Your designs and inventions inspire us to go to adventure lands! Where do you get your inspiration from?

TY: Everywhere! I can’t stop these characters and ideas from running around in my brain.

Often times I just doodle things until they become a creature or a character who’s story needs to be told. These days I like drawing on really cheap tracing pads I buy at the supermarket. The paper is rough and I like the line quality I get with my drawing pencils. My favorite pencils are Creatacolor Nero extra soft #1s. Once I have a sketch I like I take another piece of paper and trace over my first to get cleaner lines. Then I scan it into my MacBook Pro and do all of my color work in Photoshop.

I wanted to let everyone know about my contest. If you can name 40 books of the over 250 that are referred to in I Hate Picture Books!, you can enter to win over a dozen autographed books by authors whose books are in my book. You can find all of the details at http://www.ihatepicturebooks.com/contest.html.

ST: Thanks Tim for the challenge! I’m up for it. On your mark, get set, go!

The cover of I Hate Picture Books by Timothy Young

Scribble Town (ST): Hi Ernest! To me, your work is very playful so I wonder how do you describe your own artwork.  Especially in the portrait of you I can see the play oozing out of you as you play at work on your One Cloud painting (see below)!

Ernest Concepcion (EC): Hi! My name is Ernest Concepcion. I’m a Filipino visual artist and currently live in Brooklyn, NY. My works usually depict opposing forces engaged in ridiculous battle based on the nostalgic references of childhood and adolescence.

One Cloud, work in progress by Ernest Concepcion

ST: From the Philippines all the way to Brooklyn, where are you and what are you up to these days?

EC: I still live in Brooklyn, and have been here since moving from the Philippines in 2002. I do go back often to my home city of Manila and was just there for 6 months last year. It was probably my most productive trip so far. I was only scheduled for 1 solo show and then when my friends found out I was coming home, they invited me over to participate for more shows. In half a year, from February till August 2012, I ended up having 2 solo shows and 4 group shows, including exhibiting at a prominent museum in Manila. It was pretty crazy.

Gerana (The Wrath Of), ink, acrylic and colored pencil on paper by Ernest Concepcion

All the works were made there. For the first three months I was cranking it up doing 6 x 4 feet paintings. My sleeping habits changed. I started doing the UBERMAN cycle. Have you ever heard of that? You’re basically awake and work for 4 hours then take powernaps for 30 minutes to an hour and then work again for 4 hours and so forth. I tried it – I wasn’t exactly successful. Haha. Nah, I took it easy and still hung out with friends. I found out it’s better that way. But when I do work at the studio, I’m like an unstoppable freight train. I’m going back this year on August 2013 for more art projects.

ST: Your friends sound so great! So supportive of you and your art. I’m sure they were also just so happy to have you back home. When did you start drawing?

EC: I would say I started drawing when I was real young mostly because I was inspired by my older brother. He would draw these fantastic cars based on the 80’s movie Mad Max and I totally got into and started copying him. Later on I started drawing my own little stories with pictures on notebooks similar to the CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURES books. Comicbooks and Saturday morning cartoons have been a major influence as well. Come to think of it, my drawing style has not changed much at all. It probably has changed technique-wise in terms of perspective, anatomy, linework – but I would say it has retained its childlike qualities that harkens back to young Ernest. I was trying to think if art school changed my drawing style at all, but I think not that much. Undergrad in the Philippines was more about theory for me and my drawing process went into a dormant state because I got heavily into conceptual art and video. But when I moved to New York, it almost seems like that hibernating child-general woke up all of a sudden ready for action.

Life In A Hidden Valley by Ernest Concepcion

ST: Between all the traveling, is there a favorite place you like to create?

EC: Well, I currently work from home and do my oil paintings in my own apartment. Oftentimes I couldn’t believe how I managed to do this but I guess I was able to adapt and develop my organizational skills in paintings. So I would say this is my favorite place right now. I did have a studio in Gowanus, Brooklyn for 3 years and that used to be my favorite place to work. I would spend countless hours there and was able to produce a ton of work. But alas, I had to move out in 2009. However, when I fly back to Manila I work at Mom’s house and she has prepared a space for me to work there, which I would say is probably the best. Its right beside her garden and there’s a sense of calm and serenity in the studio – a perfect contrast to my conflict-ridden works. I’m not exactly the type who draws in the subway, in a café, etc. I don’t usually carry a sketchpad at all even. Just a notebook to jot down ideas and that’s it. I make art at the studio. When I’m at a café, I drink coffee.

Queens 2020, Ernest Concepcion

ST: What other forms of art do you practice? What are your favorite tools you use to create?

EC: I also practice installation art and I collaborate murals with my friend Mike Estabrook as the Shining Mantis. I’ve been getting more and more into comicbook making and that’s definitely something I would like to develop soon. I was a big fan of the Sharpie for my drawings, I still am! But I’m totally getting into drawing with a brush these days and India ink tends to stay longer and seem more vibrant in the long run. Also, I could make entire fields of black with an ink-filled brush and that saves a lot of time.

ST: I’m seeing and hearing a theme of childhood in your artwork, but is there something in particular you want to say with your art?

EC: In my works, I would like to express what it’s like to be a kid again. The joy of expressing relentlessly.

ST: Is there a piece of art that speaks to you?

EC: There are so much art that speaks to me, but the ones I really appreciate are the works that I could feel express a certain vibe of ferocious expression – I don’t know, I can’t explain it too well.

Pajama People vs. Apparitions, ink on acetate, watercolor on paper by Ernest Concepcion

ST: Where do you get your inspiration from and who inspires you?

EC: Right now I’m getting a lot of inspiration from independent game designers. Haha. Seriously. I’m an avid gamer and seeing the works of most indie game developers and feel the years they spent on coding, designing, beta testing and perfecting these games via patches and downloadable content never fail to inspire me. I recently attended a festival about Andy Kaufman and it ran for 2 weeks. I was there almost every day! It was amazing. For me he’s a real inspiration, and he’s true to his craft. And when I mean ‘true’, I meant he doesn’t care what he was doing really, he was totally just having so much fun at the moment. And to me that’s awesome.

Kangarok 1 and 10th, Ernest Concepcion

ST: Your work does look fun and Ernest, you have done so much!  Any tips for us?

EC: I would advice to everyone to just keep making work and expressing without boundaries. I am also an art teacher myself to kids and I have always been open in encouraging my students to constantly experiment and explore. Breaking rules are great, but it will be futile if you don’t know the rules first. So learn the basics, the parameters, the limitations, the rules, and then transcend them.

ST: Thank you Ernest for sharing so much with us!  And don’t forget to play Ernest’s Shooting Stars game, http://www.scribbleshop.com/content/play-shooting-stars-game-ernest-concepcion

Kangarok III

Scribble Town (ST): From afar and up close, Erin Schmidt’s cross stitching is magnificent!  Erin is drawing with needle and thread!  Erin lives in Hudson, OH, which is outside of Akron/Cleveland.   Her family moved here from the St. Louis suburbs back in 2011.  Not only is she a cross stitching extraordinaire, she is also an attorney.  Erin, what is your favorite thing to create?

The Fairy Moon by Erin Schmidt

Erin Schmidt (ES): I think my favorite thing to create is a little bit of magic and the emotions that surround the work.  It is capturing something beautiful and preserving it for time.  Sometimes it is the picture as a whole that catches my interest, and sometimes it is just a color.  But often it is the emotional response.  Not only does this come from the finished project, but also all the work that goes into it.

The Fairy Moon (close up) by Erin Schmidt

ST: I like how you create magic  What other forms of art do you practice?

ES: Besides cross stitching, I also do crocheting and some photography.

ST: Both are very expressive mediums in very different ways.  Is there something you want to say with your art?

ES:It depends on the form.  My cross stitch evokes a lot of emotion for me.  It can be used to memorialize events in your life, which I have done.  But I tend to lean towards patterns that invoke a more elegant or magical age.  Which is why  you will see lots of ball gowns, faeries, and a lot of detailed use of specialty threads and beads.  I love the artwork of Nene Thomas and I have several of her prints in my house and have started gathering others in the form of cross stitch patterns.

The Fairy Queen (in progress) by Erin Schmidt

When it comes to crochet, it is all about home and comfort.  These are much more for everyday usage, and a daily reminder of the person who made it for them.

Photography, like cross stitching, I like to capture a simplistic beauty.  I live near a National Park so I do a lot of scenery and wildlife pictures.

All of these activities I find rather relaxing, even when I mess them up or become frustrated with them.

ST: It’s great when we can relax even when we mess up.  Thanks for reminding us about that!  Where do you get your inspiration from and who inspires you?

ES:Part of my inspiration is just a need to relax and allow myself to drift off to another place.    With Cross Stitch, we get the luxury of being able to do just about any drawing, painting, or picture that catches your eye to recreate into multi textural work.  The best part of the art I like to do is that anyone can do them, even younger kids.   Cross stitch patterns come in many sizes, from projects with very few stitches to the ones I do with 60,000-100,000 stitches.  I started cross stitching at age 7 with simple Christmas ornaments that I gave to relatives.

ST: Thank you Erin for sharing you artwork with us.  We all need to relax and let ourselves get swooped up by the activities we enjoy.  You have found your magic!  To start your own magic you can go to Scribble Shop Blog and see the Box Stitch activity Erin has created for you:
http://www.scribbleshop.com/content/box-stitching-erin-schmidt

Sabrina by Erin Schmidt