One of the great things about being on the Metsy team is the incredible amount of talent to be found on this team. I'm fairly new to the team and offered to blog some profiles of team members because I'm so impressed with the variety and depth of talent on the team.
For my first profile I chose 'AKJapan' (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5364658 ) aka Andrea Kobayashi. I could have chosen her for her fabulous name, but when looking through her shop, blog and website there were so many other reasons to choose her that I just couldn't help myself.
Andrea's work is incredibly diverse, using many different mediums, ones that I don't even fully understand from a technique standpoint. But I find her work rich in texture, easy to connect to and inspiring. My three favorite pieces from her Etsy shop are below and I've included some information from their postings.
I love this piece for the colors and texture. It reminds me of fleeting spring in Japan:
This mixed media piece uses a monotype made with Holbein artists block printing ink on handmade washi for the stalks and branches on the Japanese quince and Holbein artists watercolour for the flowers. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10446428
I really like this one for the effect she's created with the bulging red eye on a black and white background:
This original hand-painted monotype has been made with Holbein water-based block printing ink and poster paint on handmade washi from the famous paper-making town of Ogawamachi in Saitama Prefecture. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20345471
I really like this one for the effect she's created with the bulging red eye on a black and white background:
This original hand-painted monotype has been made with Holbein water-based block printing ink and poster paint on handmade washi from the famous paper-making town of Ogawamachi in Saitama Prefecture. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20345471
This last one is my absolute favorite from her Etsy shop. It's titled 'Don't Get Angry'. I love the face on this little guy and the gradation in colors. Can't you hear him squawking at you as you pass by?
Dou shite? What's wrong?This little green bird is part of my ongoing studio project Karasu/Yatagarsu (two and three-legged crows) and its sub-project Not Everyone Gets to be Cute. This project focuses of the experience of being a migrant and/or outsider.This particular original ink and watercolour painting measures 10" by 8" (30cms x 20cms) and has been made with Japanese calligraphy ink and traditional watercolours on hand-torn washi. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23394795
I sent Andrea a few questions in order to try to better understand what drives her work, and to give you something far more interesting to read than my ramblings about how much I simply love her work. If you want to see more of her work you can go to her blog and website which you can find here:
I hope you enjoy her art and interview answers as much as I did. I expect that we'll be seeing her art around for a very long time.
Until next time...
Andrea at Studio6or7
********************************************************************************
Andrea Kobyashi Interview:
1. What's your favorite medium to work in, and why?
1. What's your favorite medium to work in, and why?
My favourite medium is plain old oil on linen, but I don't stock so much of that in my Etsy shop as it is so slow for me to produce, and eventually I want to exhibit my oil paintings. One benefit of having opened a shop on Etsy is that I have rediscovered media that I hadn't used in years such as pen and ink and linocut. My favourite mixed media now is watercolour and ink. I love to draw and I love to experiment with paper and how different wet or dry media sit on it. I also like wax resist with watercolour very much. I would like to be a wizard with collage, but I never seem to be able to crack it.
2. What or who has been the greatest influence on your work? Where do you get most of your inspiration from?
Oh a tough question. Always a tough question for any artist! In a loose sense I guess it is narrative or journey. This could be seeing the plants on the riverbank near my house change as the seasons progress, or listening to Abbey Road, or reading novels and biographies. I have a large collection of antiquarian postcards, and I like to look and daydream about the stories behind them; the photographer, the buildings, the people. At the moment I'm right into the Susan Boyle hype. Everyone, everything has a story. This interests me.
3. Are there any new methods that you've started using recently that you're excited about?
I am always thinking about some kind of simple printmaking methods. I like the idea of a very simple, low-tech way of reproducing an image. I don't have anywhere near enough time to experiment, but I'm always thinking about it. Recently I have been using carbon paper. The Shafu-shafu Crow is a mixed media piece using a carbon transfer with watercolour.
4. What is your favorite piece out of all of your works and why? Do you have a favorite piece by another artist that has been especially influential for you?
Oddly, on Etsy, my favourite pieces are the ones that garner the lowest views! I am most happy with the Mind Map Monotypes. I was very happy with the gocco print of the green three-legged crow on calligraphy paper, but only one of the edition has sold. I thought, "Oh this will leap outta the shop." Of course I was wrong!
I also like 'Ferdinand', a collage/ink/watercolour drawing.
As for other artists, it's a questions too huge to answer! Too diverse. That and my favourites bear little resemblance to my own work, so it may seem strange if I say I like Warhol or Koons when I'm producing landscapes. But it is often the way I think. The identification goes beyond the superficialities of similar subject matter. It is the grittiness and poignancy of Pop, its commentary on temporality, that I like.
I am very active on Flickr and there are so many great artists showing their work there. I like fauve_gal, pogorita, Scott Riley, Martin Beek, grisz, Hiroshi Matsumoto and M.A.Y.U.K. very much. Hiroshi recently opened a shop on Etsy and it looks great.On Etsy I have bought art from artists I like: fellpainter, foratimeintheworld, JunkyardSam and David Cornelius.
5. What is your biggest challenge as an artist?
Finding time. We moved house at the beginning of the year, there is still so much to do to set it up, no garden etc. I have a toddler at home full-time and little access to baby-sitting, so my studio 'hours' are really studio minutes, or seconds! If I have the energy, I go into the studio very early in the morning or late at night. Dealing with the frustration of very limited studio time is my biggest art challenge.
6. What are your thoughts on technology and it's ability to link your work with admirers, buyers and other artists around the world?
It's amazing. It really is a revolution. We are just seeing the beginning of it. I can't imagine how it will be in 10 or 20 years. I find it enormously exciting.7. What can the world expect to see from you in the next couple of years?Family responsibilities being what they are, nothing new or particular *large*. However, say in 5 or 10 years time, I would like to be producing some larger landscapes and have more conceptually resolved work in some of my studio projects, especially Karasu/Yatagarasu, which is a new project. I like blogging, so I might be doing more blogging. I am interested in translating some of my designs into fabric prints too.
