Interview with Luuk Bode

q) What is your name and what do you do?

a)My name is Luuk Bode, and I make paintings, drawings, sculptures, illustrations, designs. All kinds of things, really, but mostly paintings an drawings.

q)When did you really get into art?

a)I got interested in comics as a kid, and from there on I got interested in art more and more

q)How did you come to the realization that you should try your luck at art on a more serious level?

a)At 15 I had to choose which courses to take in school, and I did'nt have any alternatives but to go to art school to study illustration. There simply wasn't anything else I wanted to do. Since I am entirely incapable in doing things I don't want to do, there was but one thing I could do... so I did.

q)How did you discover the particular style that you have?

a)In art school, I basically tried

everything, from rough impasto painting and charcoal drawings etc. to graphic styles. Slowly my preference for pop-influences became more obvious. Later on everything became more symmetrical and then even more geometrical. At one point everything was really basic, then the outlines grew fatter- the flow came later on. Last year my work really took a turn: I started to make abstract paintings. So everything is developing very rapidly right now and at this point I don't have a clue where I'm going to end up. But I'm really satisfied with some of the results so far - so I'm riding this wave and see where it crashes.

q)How would you describe your style?

a)Bright colours, fat outlines.

q)Who or what influences your art?

a)Well, mostly what I see around me. The city, posters, design, billboards. Also -or lately, especially- if they're torn or worn out. And comics, religious parafernalia. In the art department influences range from Roy Lichtenstein, to Piet Mondriaan and Barnett Newman, Jasper Johns... but also Rick Griffin was a great inspiration.

q)How often do you create a new piece?

a)Difficult to tell. I'm always working but I also do some commercial art. To be honest, I think I only come up with 2, maybe 3 pieces a year that really measure up to my own standards. Last year I did 4 paintings and 1 project that were at the top of what I am capable of - so for myself that was a very good year. Still, it's not very productive and that bothers me.

q)What kind of success have you had with your art?

a)With three fellow-artists I did a sculpture in the centre of Rotterdam (the Netherlands), the city where I live. It's over 6 metres high and it looks really weird. Quite hysterical to be honest. It's a tribute to one of the most important comicbook artists in the Netherlands and it will be there for at least 30 years. That makes me proud.

Also, I did a cd-cover and booklet for the biggest rockband in Holland, Golden Earring. That was a dream since they were at their peak when I was 12 years old -and dreaming of being an artist, doing albumcovers.

In 2007 I did a painting on a market square in Rotterdam. It was over 3.500 square metres big and there was a tower in front to view the piece. It was a crazy project, the thing was huge. When I saw people riding their bicycles over my piece, the curves of the art and the curves they made were really matching perfectly sometimes. This gave me goosebumps. And goosebumps are a great measure for succes!

q)What would be the ultimate goal for you and your art?

a)Well, at this moment it's 00:30 o'clock, I've got my old Judas Priest-records blaring, I'm having my beer and I'm sketching.... so there's not a lot left to wish for, right now.

Tomorrow I'd probably tell you that my ultimate goal is to make art that becomes to be inevitable to people. That for them there's no way looking around it - annoying the hell out of most, but kicking butt to the rest...

q)What do you see as an accomplishment in the way of art?

a)Having those goosebumps...

q)What kind of message, if any, do you try to convey through your art?

a)Well, if that was something that can be answered in just one sentence, it would be quite sad, really. Just look at it, see if it raises any questiuons with you. And then trying to answer them yourself - that's the whole process, that's what it's all about.

q)Sum up your art in one word.

a)Me.

q)Any additional comments?

a)Thank you for your interest in me!

q)…your contacts…

a) Luuk Bode

e-mail: info@luukbode.com

website: www.luukbode.com

myspace: www.myspace.com/luukbode

Interview with EATCHO

q)Please introduce yourself.

a)EATCHO

q)Where do you live and work?

a)Portland Oregon

q)How would you describe your work to someone who has never seen it?

a)I don’t I just ask them to check out the site.

q)How did you start in the arts? How/when did you realize you were an artist?

a)I started drawing when I was six, like many people I fell in love with it.

q)What are your favorite art materials and why?

a)Pencil to paper a simple doodle just gets the mind rollin

q)What/who influences you most?

a)Mostly everything, great conversations usually get my head sparked up some new notions I rarely consider

q)Describe a typical day of art making for you.

a)I wake up get coffee and place my head on a table and begin drilling holes in it till little creatures start crawling out. Most days fluctuate but they all involve the drilling

q)Do you have goals, specific things you want to achieve with your art or in your career as an artist?

a)I want to build things more and further explore three dimensions and a comic book is in the works

q)What contemporary artists or developments in art interest you?

a)Right now James Jean, Zach Johnsen, lil kids and The Alfred Hitchcock hour

q)How long does it typically take you to finish a piece?

a)Depends on the matierials used, for a good painting..a week..an oil painting...never know

q)Do you enjoy selling your pieces, or are you emotionally attached to them?

a)I am emotionally attached to pieces yes but I like to see them go if they sit around the studio they will just drive me crazy.

q)Is music important to you? If so, what are some things you're listening to now?

a)music is very necessary right now I have been listening too Miriam Makeeba, Van Morrison, Dosh, dirty projectors, El olio wolof

q)Books?

a)Miles davis autobiography, sluaghterhouse five, the windup bird chronicles, 100 bullets the comic book

q)What theories or beliefs do you have regarding creativity or the creative process?

aAll ideas can be depicted the moment I see one viewpoint overpowering the overall feeling I try to change it such as nature does itself, still the indivual shines through
in the work

q)What do you do (or what do you enjoy doing) when you're not creating?

a)Eating, making love, smoking pot, riding my bike, wondering how we got here where were going and how it is and going to be

q)Do you have any projects or shows coming up that you are particularly excited about?

a)I’m redesigning an ole arcade game it is project with a friend, its going to be alot of work but Im lookin foward to it

q)Do you follow contemporary art scenes? If so, how?

What websites, magazines, galleries do you prefer?

a)I really enjoy fecalface.com

q)Ask yourself a question you'd like to answer, and answer it.
what super power do you want?

a)Telepathy

q)Any advice for aspiring artists?

a)Your work is yours no matter what anyone says
no idea is too crazy
fame is a human thing and art is much more than human

q)Where can we see more of your work online?

a) eatcho.com I will be uploading more on the site the first week of febuary.

Interview with Aron Wiesenfeld

q) What is your name and what do you do?

a)I'm Aron Wiesenfeld, and I am an artist. I do mostly oil paintings and charcoal drawings.

q)When did you really get into art?

a)I was about 12. I loved comic books and copied the art in comics like "Conan the Barbarian" I think comics were my first passion, and later I became interested in painting.

q)How did you come to the realization that you should try your luck at art on a more serious level?

a)I don't know if there was a moment when I made that decision, maybe because I was young when I started drawing a lot, it just seemed natural that I should try to have a career in art. I got a job in comic books when I was out of school, which was the fulfillment of my childhood dream. My work moved away from comics, but it still feels like I'm following my passion.

q)How did you discover the particular style that you have?

a)It has taken a lot of trial and error, so my style evolved in that way, and continues to... When I started out I wanted to emulate the work of the artists that inspired me, but after a lot of time spent in the studio I started to find my own path... but I'm just at the beginning.

q)How would you describe your style?

a)What I aspire to is monumental forms, the subject matter being people. In my ideal painting, the viewer would stand in front of it and feel a physical presence from the person in the painting.

q)Who or what influences your art?

a)I go through phases with artists. My current favorite in Velazquez, particularly his late portraits of court women in giant dresses. The artists that I seem to keep returning to are Edward Hopper, Casper David Friedrich, Odd Nerdrum, John Currin, El Greco, and Botero.

I also get a lot of inspiration from fiction, for example Ishiguro's "Never let me go" captured a mood that I felt very inspired by.

q)How often do you create a new piece?

a)A large painting takes 1 to 2 months, a large drawing about half that much time.

q)What kind of success have you had with your art?

a)Sales have been pretty good in the last 2 years.

q)What would be the ultimate goal for you and your art?

a)That is a tough question... working on art feels to me like being on a journey without a clear destination. Boiled down, my ultimate goal is to feel inspired. and to share that feeling with others.

q)What do you see as an accomplishment in the way of art?

a)The best artists have found something unique, and taken it to the highest level possible for them. Their greatest works are great partly because they don't look like anyone else's.

q)What kind of message, if any, do you try to convey through your art?

a)If there is a message, it is unconscious. I try to pay attention to things that inspire me visually, whether it be something I saw, or dreamed, or read about. I usually don't know why they provoke that feeling in me, but that is the source of my imagery. It may be that those things resonate with me unconsciously because of personal unresolved feelings, or because in those moments I am seeing something that is appealing universally.

q)Sum up your art in one word.

a)I wish I could.

q)Any additional comments?

a)Thanks for doing this!

q)…your contacts…

a) aronwiesenfeld@yahoo.com

www.aronwiesenfeld.com

Interview with Hugo Kaagman

q) What is your name and what do you do?

a)I am Hugo Kaagman and work as a visual artist inj Amsterdam.

q)When did you really get into art?

a)I started in 1977 making Punk fanzines in photocopy. From that I developed a stencil style graffiti to spray on walls in the city. Then I became a painter.

q)How did you come to the realization that you should try your luck at art on a more serious level?

a)First I was making anti-art, just to provoke. Suddenly I got art in commission to do fences, walls and tunnels. I earned my money with it, so it became serious

q)How did you discover the particular style that you have?

a)Saw a stencilled text sprayed on a wall. I loved the idea of putting images anywhere, so I started to cut figurative images, like the head of Johnny Rotten and Bob Marley.

I liked that style more than tags and bubble letter pieces, so I developed it and started my own gallery in my squat house.

q)How would you describe your style?

a)Pencil spraying, stencil graffiti, Street Art

q)Who or what influences your art?

a)Keith Haring, Escher, Dali, newspapers, books and internet

q)How often do you create a new piece?

a)Every day I work on paintings

q)What kind of success have you had with your art?

a)I had several murals in the world: USA, England, Japan, Russia, Greece, germany. The best was the tailfins for British Airways (19 Boeings). I have shows and I sell enough to make a living

q)What would be the ultimate goal for you and your art?

a)Influencing the artworld, changing people's minds and making money.

q)What do you see as an accomplishment in the way of art?

a)A good mural or a good exposition with a lot of response

q)What kind of message, if any, do you try to convey through your art?

a)Love of cultures, peace and freedom

q)Sum up your art in one word.

a)Pencil sprayed collages that make sense

q)Any additional comments?

a)Development

q)…your contacts…

a) www.artkitchen.nl

www.kaagman.nl

www.stencils.nl

www.oliebuma.nl

Interview with Joel Millerchip

q) What is your name and what do you do?

a)My names Joel millerchip and I’m a illustrator that specialises in black and white character illustration.

q)When did you really get into art?

a)5th april 1984 at 11.47, I was given two crayons and a back of a kellogs cornflake box. This is a fact!!

q)How did you come to the realization that you should try your luck at art on a more serious level?

a)Well, after I left school I found my self bouncing from one depressing job to another with no direction or passion or challange , so I decided to go back to college and do something I loved, so studied fine art and found a vocation in illustration, I always loved the work of people like Andrew rae, Dave Kinsey & sir Peter Blake and I guessed there careers sort or spured me on through uni.

q)How did you discover the particular style that you have?

a)Lots of trial and error, I always wanted to have my own style that was distictive, so I kept doodeling away and keep an eye out on what is contemory in illustration.

q)How would you describe your style?

a)Fun-der-ful dark line drawings of social misfits that appear in everyday life.

q)Who or what influences your art?

a)I love just sitting back,relaxing and watching the world go bye, so when I can, I find a coffee shop, get myself a an earl grey and watch people go by, I try to capture characters and scenes in my sketch book and then try to put them in to briefs and visual situations to produce my work.

q)How often do you create a new piece?

a)I try to draw every day and try to produce final pieces once a week.

q)What kind of success have you had with your art?

a)I have had work in three shows and had a few commissions, I’m currently working with a group of illustrators called lielow and sketch to produce a show and a publication which is all going to plan so far(watch this space).

q)What would be the ultimate goal for you and your art?

a)The only goal I have is to take on new challanges may it be through editorial briefs , toy designs, or murals. every brief has a challange, and I would like them to get bigger and harder.
I love a challange me

q)What do you see as an accomplishment in the way of art?

a)Praise/approval from the people you have produced the work for or other creatives in your field. If some one really like the illustration you have produced you get a real buzz.

q)What kind of message, if any, do you try to convey through your art?

a)I never try to complicate my work, so what you see is what you get.

q)Sum up your art in one word.

a)People

q)Any additional comments?

a)I’m always up for collaboration work, exhibitions or live painting so if any one is interested please get in contact.....& thank you for the interview Claudio your work is great:)

q)…your contacts…

a) www.mistermillerchip.blogspot.com

millerchip@hotmail.com