July Review

July

July was a busy month all round, blog, work and personal life so having the opportunity to write this blog does give me a bit of 'me' time and the opportunity to focus on something positive and creative makes me happy.

This blog is only a month and a half old and I've already met some amazingly friendly people through it.

This month again we met some extremely talented people.  End of the month review is the opportunity to just have a quick look at their incredibly diverse work again.

Belinda Maines

So first off we had the talented Belinda Maines, she is a Face painter from the UK.  Her favourite piece of her work is the Lion, I'm going to repost that for two reasons, first and foremost it's amazing! and secondly in memory of Cecil the Lion.  Belinda has captured the majesty of this beautiful creature perfectly.  One of the things I love about Belinda's work is how she almost totally disregards her own features and paints around them as if her face (or subjects face) is a blank canvas.

Find her full article HERE

Mike K. Viner

Mike was up next, he's from Russia living in Israel and makes the most amazingly accurate Caricature Portrait Sculptures based on some very well known unmistakable faces.

Here is one that was not in the original article (which you can find HERE) it's the instantly recognisable figure of Christopher Walken from the film Blast From The Past..   Check out the full article for more details about Mike.

Heather Aguilera

Heather Aguilera (Florida)  has received a lot of recognition for her artistic skills.  She is a Face and Body Artist.  All of her work is gorgeous but it was the Prenatal Bump work that I particularly loved.  Such a special time, totally different for each child and an amazing time to capture and celebrate.  I have so many favourites.  I particularly like the sea and beach themes like these Humpback Whales 

This beautiful Lion is incredible (yes there will be a Lion theme if I can get it in there today RIP Cecil) 

All of Heather's social media links are on her own feature page HERE

Orca and Dolphin

So this month saw the first theme art post.  Without getting too deep into it I have a passion for Cetacean and to see them cooped up in Aquarium's around the world in nowhere close to ideal situations is heart-breaking.  So this month I featured Orca and Dolphin and shared work from various artists, I'm going to put all the work here and if you would like to see more or meet the artists please visit that post HERE.  

Jian Chen   UK                     

  

             

Michaeline Macdonald   Oregan USA 

                                                                               

@Chadsart

           

Gali Lutski

Doug Parrott Photography       

Amber @ Artist Amber Marine                                                

    

 Colourful Cat Studio

All of the artists are linked on the original feature with all of their social media sites please check them out HERE 

Laura Brownhill

The lovely Laura was next.  Miniatures are a family tradition that Laura is still learning but she's so talented already.  Laura's work just screamed at me, since the article I have had contact with Laura who was really pleased with the feature as she felt it represented what she does.  That was lovely to hear, I'm new to the writing lark, well publishing it for people to read anyway, so to get some positive feedback was amazing.  

Laura's work is nature inspired.  So the first image is of little fishing nets and jars for the catch and the second are some tiny snails.  Check out more of Laura's work HERE

Steve Casino

Steve's work was incredibly popular when I featured it on my blog.  I love the quirkiness of  Steve's Peanut Portraits and other sculptures.  Check out the full feature HERE.

David Bowie (Process)

Nadia @Cyrilliart

Nadia was the next to feature during July, I've seen and admired Nadia's dedication to her artwork for a while.  Her work is loved by millions of One Direction fans, although One Direction isn't the only artwork that she does.  The world of One Direction changes rapidly and Nadia is always right there with current artwork.  She has created a colouring book of some of her drawings so that other people can be creative through her work - I love that.  If you have a 1D fan as a friend/family member then you can find it here in Nadia's Etsy shop  You can find all Nadia's links on her feature page HERE.

The picture below is an illustration of an interview that the boys did when they were launching their album 'Four' and if you saw the interview I think it was called   Four Hangout you will know this is a perfect interpretation of that interview.

Sue Beatrice

Sue was the penultimate Artist during July.  Her talent is incredible.  I'm sure whatever she wanted to use she could make a sculpture from anything.  I showcased her Steampunk Watch Sculptures, her Sand Sculptures and the amazing Pumpkin Sculptures that she does.  Visit Sue's feature page HERE to find out more about Sue and where to find her work.

How beautiful are there two pieces of Sue's work - love that Pumpkin Elephant! carved for Bronx Zoo 

NicolettaCecconi

Finally in July was Nicoletta, her art is stunning there is something about it that is compelling for me.  I love anything whimsical and surreal so Nicoletta's artwork is just perfect.  Nicoletta's feature page is HERE if you'd like to find out more about her and her work.

Thank you

So this blog is called 'A World Of Creative People' and this month we visited a Russian living in Isreal, the UK, USA, Australia and San Marino, I think that can count as a world of creative people!  I just wanted to say a massive thank you to each and every Artist that has featured this month.  Your work is incredible and you were all such kind approachable people.  I look forward to seeing all your future projects.

Next Month... August...

I have some amazing talent lined up for August, please join me on my next round the world trip looking at some beautiful Artwork created by some pretty inspiring people.

Nicoletta Ceccoli

I'm very excited about today's artist.  I've admired Nicoletta's work for so long.  It's been so long I actually cannot remember where I first saw it, it's just captivating.  

Sometimes when I give my feelings on an Artists work I worry in case I've 'got it all wrong' and it is completely different than the Artist intended, but Art is meant to be subjective, in the eye of the beholder, isn't it?

Nicoletta was born and still lives in one of the world's oldest republics in the world, San Marino which is surrounded by Northern Italy.  I thought I would share a picture of San Marino, such a beautiful place, lots of original Architecture - I would love to go there as I would Northern Italy (well all of Italy to be fair).

Back to Nicoletta and her work.  Nicoletta studied animation at the Institute of Art in the Palace of Urbino.  She quotes the place as being an inspiration to her, it was built around the 16th Century and seems like time has almost stood still.  There were paintings there from one of her favourite artists Pierro Della Francesca who was an Italian Painter from the early Renaissance. Other inspirations include the many children's books she'd read.  Since then Nicoletta has illustrated many books and some of her work has been made into an Artbook called Beautiful Nightmares.

Nicoletta's work is very dreamlike and surreal, the type of description you can imagine hearing someone say preceded by 'I had the strangest dreams last night'. Her work is very personal, she puts a lot of feeling into the images whatever that feeling maybe, whether it's fear, beauty, sweetness or cruelty, Nicoletta doesn't shy away from that. 

I think that's what draws me in, is the fact that sometimes the subject matter is dark but the figures etc are often very pretty and sweet. Sometimes a sugar sweetness with what sometimes appears to be a sadistic feel, like you never know if these girls will hurt the subject matter in the images with them. For example the picture above and the one below of the girls with the broken Gingerbread man. They're eating parts of him while he appears to be crying.

You know the feeling kind of reminds me of Imelda Staunton's character Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter, outwardly everything is pink, fluffy and sweet but the underlying nature was pleasure from cruelty, power and unpredictability all sugar coated.

Here are a few more of Nicoletta's images: some with an air of sweet freakishness or a hint of sensuality. But all of them appear to have a story attached.  

I read a great description while researching Nicoletta as soon as I read it I instantly thought 'Yes! that's it' It was on Beautifulbizarre.net and written by I believe Miu Vermillion they were reviewing Nicoletta's work and said that they felt that each picture is almost like a frozen frame of an animation film.....perfect description!

     

Nicoletta has had her work in Galleries in various exhibitions across America as well as in Italy and Germany and she has won awards for her work, which is completely understandable.

So let's meet the talented lady herself...

My name is Nicoletta Ceccoli, I am 43 years old. I am from  the republic of San Marino. 

Tell us about your art now and what you do

For many years I worked as freelance illustrator, now I am dedicating to my personal art only. In my pictures I play with contradictions.  My creations looks both enticing and scary.

I think it is important to give a face to our fears.  Not hiding the dark aspects of life. My dark and sometimes  macabre fictions exude a cuteness that is distinctly feminine while avoiding overt sentimentality.  A scene may portray a struggle, a fight or blood but it is presented in a seductively shiny surface ,and my characters looks adorable even if they are 'freaks'.  I always offer a delectable mix of repulsive and attractive in my images.  The characters in my pictures  are a kind of  my alter ego. they tell stories that are very tied to me.  Painting is a way to exorcize my ghosts using irony.

What is your earliest creative memory?

As a child I spent lot of time by my father's laboratory creating objects and toys in wood, he inspired me and the love for nature and for creating things with my own hands as he is a wood craftsman. 

My mother was always surrounded with beautiful picture books instead. Books make me wonder about other lives, they inspired me to invent my own other worlds. I dedicated several years to  illustration for children's books.  Only in the last years I have left  illustration  to dedicate to  my personal art. But I never felt ready to abandon childhood for the adult world yet. (I don't blame you!)

What is your favourite medium

I love both traditional acrylics on paper and digital,sometimes I love to mix the both

Do you ever suffer from a creative block and if so how do you get yourself out of it?

I am a very anxious person, in the last years I feel a bit the pressure of the expectations when I am preparing a new show. so I am afraid to do wrong.  Then I try to remember that to be creative means to make errors only by following the usual paths you don’t make mistakes.

Who inspires you?

Everything I see and experience nurtures my inspiration: poetry, paintings, literature, fairy tales. I am inspired by mythology for the irrepressible imagination and metamorphosis between creatures of the world and the humanization of all things.

From the first idea comes a process of 'obsession' that last weeks, I try several sketch and the initial  intuition takes form, the idea is enriched with conscious elements that I feel are connected with the initial concept  that is spontaneous, unconscious

What is your favourite piece of work that you've created?

It changes from time to time, now I would say ’Contrary Mary’.  This work shows a princess, her skirt is hiding a dangerous dragon.  It shows her power, her will for independence and need for protect from the outside world.  In an ironic way..

What are your creative ambitions for the future?

To always feel a sincere inner need to express myself through art.  Not to end up to repeat myself wearily. 

How do you silence your inner critic ?

I can’t. He bites me hard every day.

What do you do when you're not being creative?

I go to the sea for a swim or a walk. My studio is full of weird broken toys that I found near the seashore (in winter) in a special place were they gather. They are castaway objects, like fragments of forgotten memories, that are touching to me .

Tell us where we can find your work and your social media sites.

www.nicolettaceccoli.com

www.facebook.com/NicolettaCeccoliPainter

And finally....What would be your 3 desert island craft/art items

Pencils, charcoal .

To draw like primitives did with graffiti in caves and over rocks. I really love nature, exploring caves.  Living a bit like a primitive attracts me.. maybe because of the many hours spent in my room with paintings I feel like I am gasping for air sometimes..However I feel I need the intimacy and silence of my studio to create..

It's been an honour to feature Nicoletta's work.  I feel there is so much more to find out about her and her dreamlike work.  I'd like to share my favourite piece of Nicoletta's but I genuinely cannot pick a favourite, but I will share one I do love before I go.. it's one of the Beauties and Beasts, it's a beautiful piece with a whimsical feel.  

I hope you've enjoyed Nicoletta's work as much as I have reviewing and researching it, follow her on Facebook and visit her website, her work is fascinating.

A big thank you to Nicoletta for taking the time to answer my questions.  I appreciate it and good luck for everything you do in the future.

Let's meet Sue Beatrice

Sue Beatrice has a fascinating sculpture career, some of it has been spent with and commissioned by large Corporate companies like Disney, Warner Bros (Harry Potter) and Franklin Mint, The Jim Henson Corporation and Nickelodeon amongst others, I think most of that work is not something I can share with you for licensing reasons.

Sue worked on some Lumiere (from Beauty and the Beast) table centrepieces on board the Disney cruise ships,  she worked on the Cabbage Patch Kids (loved them!) and more recently Harry Potter Figurines.  Here is one of her sculptures of my favourite HP character - Severus Snape and also Luna Lovegood.. Incredibly accurate facial detail, especially with Snape.

My focus for this blogpost though is on Sue's Steampunk/Watch part pieces of sculpture, her sand sculptures and pumpkin carving, that makes it sound like something similar to what I used to do with my children years ago, but it's so much more than that as you'll see.

Sue's company is called All Natural Arts and you can see much more of her work HERE on her Facebook page.

It was Sue's Steampunk Sculptures that I first found through Facebook.   I love anything with a Steampunk or  whimsical feel and the intricate detail that Sue goes to is just incredible.  One of my favourites was the tiny Fairy at the top of the post.

I'm going to share a few more of my favourites:

The intricacy in all of these pieces just blows my mind, never mind the sheer creativity of it, the actual physical creation is incredible, Sue must have the patience of a Saint.  The Mermaid is beautiful, the Dragon is exquisite and I just love the Father and Son fishing.

Then below we have a Dachshund, Seahorse and an amazing depiction of the Titanic in a pocket watch!

I could just show you all of Sue's Steampunk creations but I'll leave some of them for you to discover yourself after all that's half the fun, why do you think I do this blog!

Oh go on then just one more... this is just beyond brilliant..

The Library in a Pocket Watch case created entirely from watch pieces. It's just so difficult to not be completely enthused about Sue's pieces.  Even the fire glows red because there is a tiny piece of Garnet behind the  grate!  This piece of work shows Sue's expertise with perspective as well because this is only half an inch deep but it looks so much deeper.  The ceiling is very clever I think, it helps give the depth perspective as do the stairs.

So now we'll move onto some slightly larger sculptures.  Sue also sculpts Pumpkins, these are just crazily good, I can just about get a grimace out of the pumpkins I've tried in the past,  One of my favourites is the Giraffe (who doesn't love a Giraffe). This was made from one pumpkin, the bottom was cut off and used for the neck and head.

When I look through Sue's work I have so many favourites.  I do love this Shipwreck Pumpkin, the sealife, the Eel poking it's head out of the broken ship and don't get me even started on the Shark. How do you get that level of detail in a fruit!

There must be some huge Pumpkins in USA, I don't recall seeing anything near the size that must have been used to create these incredible sculptures here in the UK.  This Panther leaping from the Jungle that Sue made for the Bronx Zoo for example, was cut from a 100lb pumpkin!  Everything about that Panther is perfect.  Below the Panther is a very short video showing a kinetic Cuckoo Clock - from Pumpkin!

Sue sculpts many things including sand.  Here is a video of her sculpting a Steampunk Lion from sand!  The gears carved into his mane are a brilliant idea.

I was so keen to have Sue’s work on my blog… Sue was in the middle of quite a lot of commissions when I contacted her so she was unable to spend time answering my usual questions but sent me lots of information on what she’s done in the past and what’s coming up.

So instead of the usual questions I’m going to do a little Bio piece because as with any self-employed profession client’s commissions come first. I’m sure we all understand that.

There will be the occasional post like this only because I’m incredibly impatient and want to share as soon as possible or because I’m unable to get hold of the Artist but still want to showcase their work.

So here’s a little more about Sue…

Sue is from New Jersey in America. Her goal was always to be an Artist, she’s felt that for as long as she can remember, it was always a totally natural thing to know that’s what she’d be.

Her first big moment came when she was 15 – Sue had some paintings on show for a year in the Congressional Offices, but she was making things to give as gifts from a very early age and had a stall at the age of 10 at a local park to sell pastels and painted rocks to raise money for a local animal shelter.

At the age of 14, it was a show of her paintings in a local bank that led to the exposure to get her the show at the Congressional Offices.

Sue then attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

By the age of 18 Sue was a Sculptor at Franklin Mint in the metals department since then Sue has gone on to sculpt and design for quite a lot of major companies and expanded into Mould-Making.

We’ve seen her watch part Steampunk work, Sand and Pumpkin Sculptures and as we’ve learnt Sue paints as well. She also sculpts Pasta! I’m not sure there is anything she wouldn’t be able to sculpt with.

The best advice Sue can give to anyone looking to make a career in Art is to be fearless. Do not worry about what other people are doing or what you think should be done. Try new things, Mix-up what you are doing to keep it fresh. Attempting and sometimes failing is all part of the process. Failure is not the enemy, not trying is.

Sue now has All Natural Arts which is her venue for selling all of her creations you can find it on Facebook HERE you’ll find lots of upcycled, recycled and repurposed beauties there.

If you want to contact Sue you can either do so on her facebook page or email her at info@allnaturalarts.com

Sue’s work is amazing, I’m sure you’ll agree.. I have a fascination for miniature anything as you may have realised after showcasing Sue’s work and the lovely Laura Brownhill’s too. But I also appreciate (because why wouldn’t you they’re amazing) Sue’s larger sculptures and sometimes the ability to make something from a pile of something else is just inspiring as with Steve Casino and the Peanuts (sounds like a band!) Added to the fact that a lot of Sue’s work is often very whimsical which I love then I was so pleased that Sue was happy for me to share her work.

I didn't ask Sue what her 3 desert Island craft/art supplies would be, but I can imagine how pretty that Island would look seeing as Sue could build sand sculptures to her hearts content!

I hope you've enjoyed Sue's work, it is amazing and I've enjoyed learning more about Sue and all of her beautiful pieces of work.  Thank you Sue!

Facebook - All Natural Arts

Unmistakably William Shakespeare!