Lost Blooms

Lost Blooms by Alison Day

After enjoying the #SpoonChallenge in August, I decided to try my hand at #PaintingSeptember / #Paintseptember

Finding this interestingly difficult already and I seem to have got lost in the design.

© Alison Day Designs

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Myth is Myth

It seems that the much-feared predictions around 2012 and the end of the world could be a myth! 

A 1,200 year old mural has recently been found in an ancient Mayan house, and is said to include drawings and calculations of ancient scribes who kept records in this way in order to track the passing of time. 

This calendar refutes the previous one of the world's demise in 2012. Apparently, it is due to occur many thousands of years in the future, long after you and I have left this dimension - unless of course we succeed in the interim time of accelerating its demise!

Via DesignTaxi   Original article: National Geographic

Tarty Pantone

This looks delicious, I'll have 1797 C and a cappuccino to go... 

The idea of French food designer Emilie De Griottes these dessert tarts resemble Pantone color swatches and were created for French culinary magazine Fricote.

Via: Design Taxi

9 Women Gallery

For those of you who didn't manage to see my 9 Women series this year in The Netherlands, here they are 9 Women 

P.S. Don't forget to let me know what you think.

© Alison Day 2011

Own the Present

The Present from - m ss ng p eces more on @FastCodeDesign

Want to learn more about The Present? Join their mailing list: waitingforthepresent@mssngpeces.com.

London Fashion Week - Florian Jayet

Illustrations of a couple of the designs at the Florian Jayet show. London Fashion Week (LFW) A/W 2011. They accompany Helen Martin's article about the collection, which you can read here: Amelia's Magazine.

© Alison Day Feb 2011
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Illustration: LCF, Amelia's Magazine

An illustration I did over the weekend for a review of the London College of Fashion MA Exhibition, which was published in Amelia’s Magazine. Illustrating a design by Ivan Dauriz.

So far, I have worked on a variety of illustrations for the magazine, but this was my first fashion illustration. For more illustrative work visit my website: Alison Day Design 

© Alison Day
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Anna Brønsted of Our Broken Garden

Anna Brønsted of Our Broken Garden  - Illustration created using photo: Eva Edsjö.
My first illustration published in Amelia's Magazine  (Music) November 2010.

© Alison Day
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Connections Magazine - Autumn #29 2010

Cover of the Autumn issue of Connections with a theme of Rainbows 🌈

First published in the Connections magazine #29 Autumn 2010 

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs

Jessica Lelieveld - Artist interview

Jessica divides her time between a house in the countryside, situated in Norg (which she shares with her family and two dogs) and her studio in Groningen. With two such different worlds at her fingertips, she finds plenty of influences, which can be photographically captured. After much contemplation, an idea will emerge and this she then interprets in clay.

Particularly interested in the transience of existence, she is fascinated by the process, structure and colours in nature when something dies away. Layers and organic forms are recurrent themes in her work and with this in mind; her interpretation of the four seasons has emerged. This consists of twenty clay panels (mosaic-like in their layout), depicting the flora and colours typical of each season. During my visit to her studio, winter and summer were laid out on display, ready and waiting for the panels to be joined together with a copper-coloured wire to make a wall hanging.

Other current works include lamps; one of which has as its base form, a large stripped walnut tree trunk, encircled by metal swirls. The finished product will symbolize the relentless continuance of life. On display in windowsills smaller works can be seen, comprising of a series of clay tiles, some displaying cross-section slices of a small tree trunk, some a procession of pebbles, ever increasing in size. The roundness of the forms she uses symbolizes nurturing whilst the tile procession that of evolution.

With beautiful high ceilings and ornate decorations, Jessica has renovated her studio-house, imprinting on it her signature style, with a touch of the modern here and there where appropriate. Future plans are to decorate every room, door and space with her work so that it becomes an artistic house, where it would be possible to spend the night, or artistic companies could come and hold workshops and inspirational events.

Apart from the natural world, another inspirational source (as well as his philosophy) comes from the Austrian artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser. He was best known for the colourful buildings he designed as well as being a champion of human and environmentally friendly construction.

Jessica is a member of a collective of artists, Galerie Huis ter Heide, which can be found in a converted stall of a farm in Drenthe. The exhibits are refreshed every couple of months with new work and all works are for sale. More about the collective can be found at: Galerie Huis ter Heide.

The aftermath of the economic downturn has had its effect on every walk of life and particularly that of the artist. I asked her what kind of effect it has had on her and her work. From her reply it seems that art fairs have become more important as venues for artists to show and sell their work, as well as making a concerted effort to offer a selection of work in a broader range of prices. Jessica intends to show her work at a couple of these fairs, as well as taking part in Art Explosion, a platform for artists, which occurs annually in Assen.

She has no issues about parting with her work when it comes to selling it, for her it’s the process that is important, particularly whether her idea is feasible, not only from the design perspective, but within the confines of the size of her clay oven. The biggest ‘present’ for her is that she can make people happy with her work.

First published in the Connections magazine #27 Spring 2009 

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs

East Meets West - Maya Miklic

Comfortably nestled between the dominant modern blockhouses of east Groningen, in a row of seemingly forgotten terraced houses, is the home of Maya Miklic. The minimalist but welcoming interior with wooden flooring, is a complimentary setting for the powerful images of Maya’s paintings, hung in prominent places around the room. Intrigued by the imposing impression of a face eyeballing me as I enter called ‘Wanting’, with a very strong African influence and vibrant colours, I ask her if she has ever visited that continent. ‘No, I haven’t’ she says ‘Other people have said that too, but my work stems from an interest in people’s faces and the emotions that I see all around me, so much so that I have to paint them’.

As a former student of psychology in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Maya refused to accept the confines of her study as a true measure of the human condition. Instead she chooses to explore what she sees and feels about the world around her, with the aid of brush and canvas, often using photographs for portraits or as a stimulating reference for her work. This can be seen in ‘Satisfied’, where she has managed to capture the essence of the subject in a black and white photograph. 

Another impressive work is the triptych of El Tiempo, with its individual parts named el pasado, el presente, el futuro, (past, present and future). This monochrome piece was named after a holiday in Spain and can be hung as a single painting or as three individual panels. An expression her feelings at the time, there are hints of India in the shapes and intricate patterning on parts of this painting. India is a continent that she would very much like to visit in the future and maybe this piece of work reveals that subconscious desire.

‘Heart full of passion’, is a very graphic and striking image, which in its simplicity, with its almost ‘bleeding’, reds shows us yet again that the portrayal of emotions is very important to Maya in her work.

Maya arrived in Holland seven years ago from Slovenia, and has since then established herself under the name of ‘Indivisual’, She is, like many artists today, a multi-faceted one, busy exhibiting here and has plans for a future exhibition in Slovenia (subject matter, Holland!) as well as volunteering her time to work for a group called The Art of Living, who promote an improved lifestyle through the power of breathing. Maya’s talents include graphic and web design, photographic work, and paintings as well as translation work from Slovenian to Dutch.

When asked what direction she sees her work taking in the future Maya replies that she is searching for a more spiritual direction ‘But I am not ready yet’, she says. Like so many other creative people she also quotes wanting to achieve international fame through her work, but for Maya this is not just for personal comfort and acclaim. Her philosophy is that via her art she will be able experience life to the full, by meeting and learning from as many different types of people and cultures as she possibly can. This she sees as the natural way to develop ones awareness and talents in life. ‘To be just as you are, not pretending, this is what I like’, she says. Maybe we could all learn something from this philosophy.

First published in the Connections magazine #8 July 2005

View all issues of Connections HERE (editor, designer, illustrator: 2006-2013)

©  Alison Day Designs