Uppercase Work/ Life

I am very very very excited to say that the Uppercase Magazine's Work/ Life book is officially released!

So I can finally share the piece that I created for it. My assignment from Janine (editor) was....

"Envision your own folklore or fairy tale and make a self portrait in which elements of you

(ie your hair, limbs, clothes and/or body) depict the story."

It was almost TOO perfect, and I wanted to make something that was me, but also something new.

I'm very happy with how everything turned out. And I will post more images of the book when I receive it in the mail!

I am headed to Iceland tomorrow with 2 other artists who were also included in the book, Vicky Healy and Jenny Nieh!

You can find out more about the book here and buy it here!

Hardboiled (A Group Show in Bushwick)

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I last posted. It has been a very busy month though between my day job and freelance/ personal work.

I wanted to tell you all that I will be a part of a group show in Bushwick next Saturday that was organized by some amazing illustrators that I graduated with last year! You should all stop by if you happen to live in Brooklyn.

I have ALSO been printing/ cutting/ staring at wedding invitations:

And incase you were wondering, yes each tree hole does need to be cut out

More updates later this week (hopefully)!

Liz Calvi

Hello!

Today I wanted to talk about my dear dear friend and incredible photographer Liz Calvi.

Liz and I have known each other for about 19 years, which is really wild considering we are both 22.

Anyway, Liz has basically photographed everything for me since I started talking my illustrations seriously and at this point I wouldn't trust anyone else with this task, not just because we are soul sisters, but also because this girl is seriously talented both technically and conceptually.

Here are some gorgeous photos she has shot of my books and such:

I had been wanting to photograph the dollhouse that I made for my Secret Garden project because I only had shots of the individual rooms and no photos of the entire house. Liz suggested that we try to find a Victorian house to shoot the dollhouse in. I contacted a few houses in the Hartford, CT area (my dollhouse currently lived with my parents in CT) and eventually got a reply from the lovely Jacques Lamarre at the Mark Twain House. Liz and I toured the house and knew instantly that the Victorian charm would be the perfect companion to my dollhouse.

AND we got to shoot there this past Sunday!! It was ridiculous, and beautiful, and so inspiring and surreal to be in this house when I spent so long crafting Victorian miniatures last year.

Liz is currently working on editing the photos but I cannot wait to share them, so as a little prelude to that I wanted to post some of Liz's work, that she has done for me and otherwise.

Besides doing a variety of commercial freelance projects she also does beautiful fine art work, AND she makes jewelry:

Be sure to check out her website & blog

NG, 25th post (!), and busyness

So I have finally finished an submitted my pieces for the Neil Gaiman Calendar of Tales Project.

Not sure when we find out the results but it was a good experience regardless, It was interesting to create new assignment based work.

So:

February:

March:

and

August:

I have included links to each story, they are fun and very short so read them and the illustrations will make much more sense.

I have been so busy these past few weeks and that is why my blogging has become so sporadic, but I am getting back on track!

Also any illustrators out there have any luck with agency access or ad base? Is it worth the price?

Have a good Tuesday.

Uppercase Magazine

I am so excited to say that I have been selected to be a part of Uppercase Magazine's Live/Work illustration issue!

" The tagline for UPPERCASE magazine is "for the creative and curious" and this really is the somewhat loose guideline to content appearing in the magazine. Though the content is based in graphic design, illustration and crafting as its starting points, with such a broad statement the articles can be quite eclectic. I think it is this curious bent that makes the magazine unique and hopefully surprising with each new issue." Janine Vangool  publisher /editor /designer

Each illustrator that is featured creates a piece for the magazine, as well as an interview. I will know the topic of my piece by the             end of this month!

Be sure to check out their website and buy all of their beautiful high quality books

http://uppercasemagazine.com/

Wedding Invites

I have been very busy the past week working on the Calender of Tales project and I haven't had much time to come here to blog, or really do anything else to be honest. I cannot wait to post what I have been working on, but that will probably come in 2 weeks.

Besides the Calender of Tales I have been working for the past few months on a very fun wedding invite for a quirky and unique couple. The project was based around Alice in Wonderland and an overall Victorian aesthetic. The couples vision was very specific but I still had room to play, here is my favorite edit of the card with handwriting by my beloved Jenny Nieh:

This coming weekend I am so excited to say I will be taking photos of my dollhouse at the beautiful Mark Twain House in Hartford, CT with the lovely Liz Calvi, but I will get into more detail about that this week!

Also if you have twitter I have just officially joined, my name is @katieskau and I will be posting about my work, as well as other fun things, and I need people to follow!

February Birthdays

A few weeks ago I was discussing with one of my best friends Liz about how there are so many birthdays in February, and we named off quite a few mutual friends.

So although I made this quick birthday sign for my girlfriend (whose birthday is Saturday) it can be for any of you out there who have just celebrated or are about to celebrate a Feb birthday!

PS: I have a few very exciting projects coming up. I have also just discovered Neil Gaimans twitter illustration project, and if you did not know this before I LOVE NEIL GAIMAN and it has been a recent dream of mine to illustrate for him, so I cannot wait to participate.

A Buffalo Creature

So tonight I wanted to share more of an update about the buffalo I posted a few weeks ago, it is coming along slowly,

but the next time I post about it, it will be finished and hanging on my wall.

I am enjoying this series as an escape from the strong narrative that surrounded my work so much when I was in school, while I don't think I will ever fully get away from narrative it does feel fresh to me.

<3

Collaboration with Jenny Nieh

I have always wanted to do a collaboration with someone through the mail, and because Jenny and I have an understanding of each others work that I have never felt from anyone else it just had to be with her. We also are sadly about 100 miles apart.

I created the boar and handed it off to Jenny who turned it into a beautiful dyed diptych.

It is currently unfinished, I still will add more cut paper, but now it is Jenny's turn to start with a new project.

Although we haven't actually mailed anything yet I have hopes for the future...

be sure to also look at Jenny's work, she is an amazing designer and illustrator currently working for Free People

Nest Studio

So a few months ago I created a logo for Nest Studio, they make beautiful pillows (I have 3 on my couch) out of fabrics from all over the world.

Everything is completely handmade, including the tags which are block printed.

"Nest Studio, based in West Hartford, CT, is a textile studio, where one- of-a-kind decorative pillows are created by two friends, Erica Moses and Maureen Skau. The pillows are made from fabric from all over the world, including Brazil, Bali, India and Japan. Each pillow is different. No two are ever alike and all of them have surprising back." -Taken from their Etsy bio

I would highly recommend checking out their Etsy, as well as liking their new Facebook page.

 

Update! Still in progress but coming along, I haven't worked on my buffalo in a few days, but I'm hoping to finish it sometime next week. Once these are done I will include some higher quality scans to allow the pieces to be seen at their best.

PS: Hi new followers :)

The first 3 day...

The first 3 days in Rio have been eventful and amazing, we finally made it here after a postponed flight and a night at the airport. But it is all worth it to be in this city again.

I will continue to update with various sources of inspiration, whether it be fashion, art, texture, color, or anything else I may find throughout my time here