05:
Jillian Wood is the founder and designer of Headmistress. I find the name to be fantastically sexy and alluring. Not to mention, Jillian’s collection is a beauty.
After attending McGill University, Jillian found herself with a degree in Sociology/Political Science/Religious Studies and no idea what to do next. So after spending a summer in Montreal, Jillian and her boyfriend moved back home to Stratford, Ontario to save money in hopes to travel. In January 2009, they took off for the Edinburgh with a stop over in London. But they never made it all way to Edinburgh. Instead, they ended up staying in London for 9 months. And it was in London where Jillian started her business. She rented a stall at the Sunday Upmarket on Brick Lane in East London and began selling her creations. While interacting with customers on a weekly basis, her creations started to evolve so she quickly expanded her line to suit people’s tastes. From there, she made some wholesale connections with stores in Italy, Australia, Ireland and Taiwan. And it wasn’t long after, that Jillian decided to move back to Toronto with her boyfriend in October 2009. Today, Headmistress is sold on the website as well in 22 stores, in 6 countries.
But oddly enough, it was never Jillian’s dream to become a designer. In fact, she had wanted to be a writer and even deliberated on becoming a lawyer. While her entrepreneurial side has been instilled in her at a young age by her parents, the artistic side has been heavily influenced by her mom, who is a Ryerson fashion grad and an artist in more ways than one (cement sculpture, wood carving and sewing amongst other things).
Though Jillian’s recent works have been heavily inspired by textiles and prints, she loves pulling colour palette inspirations from fabric. Her current work is mostly feather based but her Autumn/Winter 2010 Winter line will transition to incorporate vintage fur. So it is outdoor pursuits as well as materials found in nature that continue to inspire her designs.
Jillian’s day is golden simply due to dogs. Even though her and her boyfriend don’t currently own a dog, they enjoy walking over to the unofficial dog park near their home to look at other people’s dogs. It’s a sight to enjoy as there are many different breeds and sizes of dogs all playing harmoniously. Though you may find it odd, there is simply nothing better. Jillian is also very fond of her parent’s golden retriever, Loxley, as well her sister’s new flat coat retriever, Winston. Dogs are, after all, man’s best friend.
{Photos are Copyright 2010 Headmistress. All rights reserved.}
28:
Who doesn’t love food? When Justine came across Aran Goyoaga’s Cannelle Et Vanille, I was delighted to share a beautiful find with you.
Aran grew up in Bilbao in the Spanish Basque country and her grandparents owned a pastry shop. Aran remembers spending a lot of time at the pastry shop with her aunts, uncles and cousins. Food and conversations about food have always been the center of her life so it was only natural that Aran decided to venture down this path. Her father and brother are avid painters and photographers so visual arts was also an integral part of her upbringing.
Up until Aran had her first child, she used to work as a pastry chef. Soon after, Aran decided to start Cannelle Et Vanille and to work as a freelance stylist and photographer. Now with a new addition to her family, a 5 month old baby girl, Aran’s life has become more chaotic and beautiful.
Being influenced by her senses, Aran finds simple things like ingredients, fashion and music to evoke a mood which helps direct her work. While her romanticized ideas about seasons and locations have influenced how she works, magazines such as Donna Hay and Elle a Table have influenced her styling and photography.
Aran’s day is golden when she finds the time to cook breakfast for her family and finding some alone time in her kitchen to bake and cook while listening to music. She also enjoys carrying conversations about food and politics with those she loves around a big table. She is Basque after all!
Copyright 2010 Aran Goyoaga. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Aran Goyoaga. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Aran Goyoaga. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Aran Goyoaga. All rights reserved.
21:
Ghostpatrol. I love the name.
As a self taught artist, living and drawing in Melbourne, he used to do a lot of street art. But now, he spends most of his days darwing in his studio and listening to science lectures. His studio is named “mitten fortress studio”.
Everything in his life inspires his art. Ghostpatrol is mostly influenced by positive things, animals, other artists, anime, 80′s cartoons, turn of the century children’s illustartions, science and video games.
Just for kicks, happy children, David Shrigley, beers on balcony and curling up with his girlfriend at the end of day as well as riding his bike while listening to cosmic music makes his day golden.
And in 5 years you’ll see Ghostpatrol on the moon. Make sure you look up to say a quick hello!
{Images and Photos are Copyright 2010 Ghostpatrol. All rights reserved.}
14:
This week’s Bee’s Knees spotlight is on Miki Sato. She’s a recent graduate of OCAD where she spent her time focusing and learning illustration. Using mixed media as well as various surfaces like fabrics and layering them, she’s able to make art that is almost three dimensional.
As a child, Miki Sato has been influenced by the works of Miyazaki Hayao and some other Japaneses comic artists. This also happens to be the reason she started to draw and create art. Although Miki has long since left her childhood behind, she still likes to revisit their work and believes these artists influence her creative thought process. Miki’s art is also inspired by nature and the great outdoors. And who better to venture out into the outdoors than her cat Chacha!
Miki’s day is gold every time something insignificant happens. Like when her cat Chacha does something odd, or when Miki receives an unexpected letter or even how the air smells different at night.
Copyright 2010 Miki Sato. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Miki Sato. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Miki Sato. All rights reserved.
07:
I’ve recently had the pleasure of conversing with Yumiko Sekine, founder and designer of Fog Linen Work. She was incredibly kind and I was excited to share her work with you.
Yumiko Sekine first started Fog Linen Work out of necessity. She was looking for linens that had a simple design, at a reasonable cost. When she couldn’t find what she desired, it only made sense for her to start her own collection. As a designer, Yumiko looks to her everyday life for inspiration. She also likes to design pieces that are useful and often envisions products she can see herself use at home. Her linens are not only beautiful but reminds you of home.
Copyright 2010 Fog Linen Work. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Fog Linen Work. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Fog Linen Work. All rights reserved.
31:
I’ve fallen in sweet love with Alberto’s Family through ETSY but you can also visit their website or blog. Sebastian Bandin is the owner and designer of Alberto’s Family. But what you may not know about him is that he’s also an illustrator as well as a musician. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentia, Sebastian has always enjoyed drawing as it was something that came naturally to him.
Then 5 years ago, Sebastian decided to move to Berlin. In the midst of moving to a new country, he started to make toys. This was a way of making three dimensional figures from his drawings. And it wasn’t too long before he started to receive great feedback. That’s when he started the Alberto’s Family project which includes handmade dolls, illustrations, postcards, notebooks, bags and stickers.
As an artist and designer, Sebastian feels that every day we further distance ourselves from nature and forget how important love is. In order to mend this problem, Sebastian uses love as the theme for his overall work. Thus giving him energy to spread the message on the importance of love. While he keeps his drawings simple and primitive, Sebastian is influenced by the work of other similar artists. And it’s the inner child in me that’s become attached to his dolls. You can’t help but love each and every one of his wonderful characters.
Copyright 2010 Alberto's Family. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Alberto's Family. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Alberto's Family. All rights reserved.
24:
Oddly enough when I first came across Zach Hertman’s work, I was looking for wedding photographers. While Zach’s personal work isn’t geared towards weddings, I wanted to find out a bit more Zach and his art.
Zach started photography pretty early on while building his first pinhole camera back in high school. He fell in love with the darkroom right away and quickly moved to shooting his dad’s Nikon film camera. Even though the camera was worn with years of use, it still captured amazing images. Zach simply loved the timeless quality of the whole method. While attending University, he continued to shoot using film and made good use of the darkroom to do his printing. Eventually, he switched to a digital camera. While he was finishing up his degree at Concordia University, he started to work at Mango Studios and was hired full time after upon his graduation. Since then he’s been shooting professionally for two years.
As an artist, Zach has been heavily inspired by Tim Walker, a fashion photographer. Tim Walker creates elaborate theatrical staged setups for his photos which Zach describes to be breathtaking. Each shot has its own mood and character, all full of life. Zach also finds music to be inspiring as songs can evoke strong feelings or state of mind that helps build a base for his shoots. Influenced by everything from his daily life to his family, friends and other photographers, Zach usually starts by setting out a defined feeling or atmosphere he wants to create. From there, he decides on a location, models, lighting and props.
His current work is focused on fashion and editorials and has been heavily influenced by lifestyle and photo journalistic work. From models to lighting, everything on set is very controlled. Although it’s difficult to integrate a natural feel to a staged image, Zach finds that by shooting documentary type work and real people, it helps him bring back the sense of reality to something that is in essence, unreal.
Copyright 2010 Zach Hertzman. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Zach Hertzman. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Zach Hertzman. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Zach Hertzman. All rights reserved.
17:
I first came across Julie while browsing through ETSY. Her photos caught my eye and I wanted to know more about the artist behind the lens. So naturally I got in contact with Julie to find a little more about her background in photography. Julie was first exposed to photography at the tender age of 12. As her sister went off to college, she left behind an old Minolta SLR . Julie in turn took this opportunity to sign up for Photography at school. She still remembers her teacher’s name – Mr. Caballo. It didn’t take long for Julie to fall in love with the feel of the camera and the weight of it in her hands, the way the light reflected off objects, the precision and repetition of developing film and making prints. So she continued to experiment with photography.
While living in Hawaii, she received a Canon EOS AE2 as a graduation present from her parents which lead to more exploring. Living on the islands became her communion with nature, an expression of love and awe for the beauty she was surrounded in. Since then, Julie has been pursuing photography with a passion.
Two years ago, she moved to Berlin, Germany where she has been able to focus all her time on developing herself as an artist. She is continually inspired by her surroundings and has found a way to relate and understand the crazy world we live in through her camera lens.
Copyright 2010 Julie Davis. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Julie Davis. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Julie Davis. All rights reserved.
10:
Over the years, my love for pottery has grown. It’s multifunctional and can be used as a standalone decorative piece and can also help to accentuate flowers or food. So naturally when I came across Whitney Smith’s work I wanted to share her designs with you. Whitney’s inspiration is drawn from various forms of nature; flowers and leaves are the two most notable. As a designer, she’s told me that she’s heavily influenced by Art Nouveau and the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th and early 20th century. And she likes her work to be completely function for every day use and constantly thinks about how her pieces can be used and how it will function. We’ll keep you updated about her works but for now make sure you visit her ETSY page.
Copyright 2010 Whitney Smith. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Whitney Smith. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Whitney Smith. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2010 Whitney Smith. All rights reserved.
03:
Copyright 2010 Snippet and Ink. All rights reserved.
With summer around the corner, I know there are a lot of brides who are preparing for their summer wedding. So this week, I thought I’d share with you Kathryn Storke’s wonderful blog, Snippet & Ink. Above is one of Kathryn’s favourite inspiration boards that she’s put together thus far and is titled #369 Blue Grass Love Song.
When I first came across Kathryn’s blog, I reveled in her beautiful wedding themed inspiration boards. It’s clear to see that Kathryn’s love for the pretty things that go along with weddings is a great place to draw inspiration from. She often draws inspiration from someting simple as the changing seasons to books, movies, art museums and other blogs. And when asked how Snippet & Ink began, she told me she started Snippet & Ink as a hobby while applying to graduate programs but before she knew it, Snippet & Ink became her full time job.
Currently, Kathryn is redesigning her site and working on fun projects with other bloggers and wedding vendors. Her goal is to continue enjoying what she does and connecting with the material she posts online and hopefully inspire brides.
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