_{The Lake}

If there’€™s one thing an artist must appreciate, it’s the experience of picturing something in the mind’s eye, then turning it into a reality. In his Redbubble profile, uberkraaft (Matt Williams) explains, ‘€˜… I make things I really want to see’€™. The ability to do so with a good deal of finesse and attention to detail brings us our next feature artist.

Matt completed a degree in sculpture at the University of Sheffield and then went on to a Masters in Digital Media at Coventry. But his artistic journey doesn’€™t start there – He’€™s been creating since he was old enough to pick stuff up and, even from a very young age, was never in doubt that his future lay in the creative industries. Right he was, too, since uberkraaft no…

_{Nature’s Choir – Mono}

Doom, gloom and political nit-picking. Honestly, it’s hard to stomach your breakfast with the news switched on these days. If there’€™s anything the world needs more of, it’s a bit more fun, and Budi Satria Kwan (radiomode) will help your fruit loops go down with a smile. While he describes his portfolio as ‘€˜Surreal, carefree, minimalist. Mostly colorful’€™, some of us would go a step further and call it innovative, insightful, sometimes fantastical and often side-splittingly funny.

Budi’s work is ingenious in its own right, but he has an appreciation for other people’s finest repartee as well, and in many cases his visual treatment of such commentary functions as an effective value-adding tool. Check out the pe…

_Changes

Being a freelance artist can be pretty tough. You might find yourself struggling to stay motivated one minute and swamped with work the next. You do, however, get to plot your own course and it is in light of this that language like ‘self-taught’€™, ’€˜autonomous’€™ and ‘self-reliant’ tends to come up in the freelancers’€™ resumes.

Chris Wahl grabbed hold of the rudder a short time after high school when, after a brief stint in retail (yes, an oft-told story) he had the opportunity of a six-month apprenticeship with Walt Disney TV Animation Australia. Incidentally, this wasn’t Chris’s first choice: He was originally aiming to become a newspaper caricaturist, but the merging of newspapers in Australia at the time meant fewer opp…

_Untitled

In the Japanese art of aikido, the concept of ‘chou-wa’ relates to spiritual harmony. This can refer to harmony with one’s opponent, but the idea is not limited to the dojo; it extends to every aspect of life, not least what you do with it. For example, when your daughter asks you to help with a project involving photography and you find passion and talent for the art (while also discovering a great creative partner, model and muse), you give due consideration to taking it up more seriously.

That’€™s precisely what Nikki Smith (aka Citizen) did.

Nikki’€™s work with book covers is another example of her application of spiritual harmony, since she did not initially set out to create them, but certainly views them as a pleasing accomplishment. And indee…

_{Two deer ii}

In modern life, we tend, intentionally or otherwise, to surround ourselves with the banal. At times, the combined weight of obligation, bureaucracy and the desire to impress can be such that we soon forget life is full of wonder, hope and mystery. It’€™s times like these that you might be pleased to have someone like Randi Antonsen (aka claravox) to remind you. Antonsen hails out of Indery, Norway, and describes herself as a dreamer and an artist€™. Her portfolio is both versatile and extensive.

Perhaps it is the artist’€™s upbringing on an island – quite literally near the top of the world – and in some degree of isolation that behaved as a catalyst in the development of her unique style. She describes the experience of growing up with limited expos…

_{Harpy Sunset}

‘Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence’. So begins Calvin Coolidge’€™s famous quote inspiring sports and business people, academics and artists alike. David Kennett describes himself as a late starter in illustration and is even a trifle self-effacing when describing his early work. If indeed his entry to the world of illustration was as difficult as he describes, it’€™s hard to believe looking at his portfolio today. But the artist may well be a shining example of Coolidge’s sentiments. He describes his work as €˜time consuming, enjoyably so€™, which is reflected in his highly diverse and meticulously produced portfolio.

Upon completing his studies in illustration, Kennett was recommended by one of his lecturers to work on a 16-…

_{Unicycling Trio}

“Hey, you! The one with the camera. Yeah, you! Point and click, my friend, and don’t delay. I’m a vibrant street scene, full of activity and color, and I need to be photographed. Behold my bold triangles and contrasts. See how I respond to depth-of-field experimentation.”

When a scene confronts you like this, you want to have a good camera handy. Fortunately, Pepijn Sauer (agnostic) is as well prepared as any boy scout and carries some sort of camera wherever he goes. Naturally, the process is never quite as easy as this, and such a description would belie the true cleverness that goes into the work. Shooting a scene from a unique angle to create an eye-catching composition is but one of the skills that separates photographers like Sauer from any…

_{Caffeine Powers… Activate!}

It’s one thing to wave your illustrative talents about, making others green with envy but it’s quite another to do so with an added pinch of cleverness and a wicked sense of humor. If you’re prone to jealousy, look away now as we’re about to take a closer look at the talents of one Nathan Davis.

Nathan hails from Melbourne, Australia and makes illustration look easy. Which it clearly isn’t. Demonstrating some serious skills in Illustrator, Nathan’s portfolio of work includes sweet and sketchy storybook style, subtle, clever pop culture references, characters that ooze personality and line work so crisp you’ll need to put another sweater on. He also knows his stuff when it comes to typography so his designs look all…

_{Midnight under my toes}

Coming of age seems to be a process by which a person is torn untimely from naive beliefs, like fairies, magic and human understanding. Some call it the school of hard knocks. But, what if the lessons were wrong? Imagine that, born out of sheer survival instinct, this veneer of ruthless competition and self-preservation merely shrouds the fact that beneath, we are all creatures of harmony and love. Armed only her camera, our featured artist, Alexandra Sophie, seeks to peel back the disguise and reveal the magic underneath.

The young photographer left school early due to health issues and, with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, sought to understand the world around her through books, photographs and observation. Her photographic style, however, she discovered from…

_{Walking the Dog – South Johnstone}

A popular internet meme describes Australia as a land of milk and honey… Well, free public healthcare and a liberal approach to differing viewpoints, at least. Long has it been known as “€˜the lucky country”€™. So, what is life like for the inhabitants of this veritable wonderland?

The work of Cary McAulay is a good starting point for curious types who have never been so “€˜lucky” as to visit and find out. McAulay’€™s work depicts life particularly in rural and coastal Australia: The iconic beaches, informal cricket games on dusty red streets of country towns, surf and fishing culture. (Actually, to a population which is largely urbanised, the images are, for most, more accurate depictions of aspirations for the w…