17:
No, The Land of Fig is not some kind of Lilliput-like land of dancing fig people. Although it could be, if it wanted to. In fact, Sneakies, it’s a cheek-squeezingly whimsical label created by Nicole Figueroa.
We met Nicole at this year’s Sydney Finders Keepers. Her work is minimalist and meticulous, sweet and hand-sewn. She is also a self confessed fig pusher.
Meet The Land of Fig.
{ Where did the name The Land of Fig come from? It sounds like a delicious place! }
Ha! A colleague of mine actually asked another colleague why she thought I called my label ‘The Land of Fig‘. She mentioned “I don’t know exactly but maybe it’s because she loves figs and would always offer me figs…?”. I admit I am a fig pusher and I really do love figs and eat dried figs on a daily basis. However, the name actually came about several years ago.
When my best friend was living abroad, we used to write letters to each other and she’d always ask ‘…so, what’s been happening in the land of fig?’ (Fig being short for my surname, Figueroa). I took up the name instantly and started using it as a label for all my creative endeavours.
{ What inspires your creations? }
Daydreams and doodles! I’m a big daydreamer. So my daydreams inspire me on a daily basis. I usually find myself staring out of the window, allowing my mind to become absorbed in the wonder of what I see. I tend to doodle throughout the day, anything from basic shapes to repeated lines on a post-it note, and from this, an idea or a story for a piece usually evolves.
I like to walk around the streets looking at houses and gardens, where I find inspiration in the form, colour palettes and textures I see. My creations are also heavily influenced by foreign movies, especially the narratives and colour palettes in many French & Spanish movies.
{ Why did you decide to sell at this year’s Finders Keepers markets in Sydney? }
I wanted the experience of setting up a stall or ‘pop-up shop’ with my creations and I knew Finders Keepers was the right environment to do this in. I believe Finders Keepers was the first art/design market of its kind in Australia so I knew I had to be involved. I felt that FK was the right type of community for me to share my wares in because
I think it meets my aesthetic & target market. I wanted to put my art and creations out there for the first time and see how they would be received, and at the same time be part of such an inspiring, creative and fun environment. It was great to be surrounded by such talented artisans and in a way ‘exhibit’ our work together. Given that, I also hope to be able to sell new and exciting wares at various other markets in the future.
{ How exactly do you make your teeny tiny embroidered cards? }
Yes, it is very meticulous and labour-intensive work, which I have come to realise is my favourite form of creating! I like to immerse myself completely in each one, therefore I like to do a batch at the same time rather than just one at a time. The process of creating a card involves a few steps:
1. Hand-drawing a graphic motif that I think would be effective both as a stitched image and as a greeting card. I then scan this to the computer and position it on the front of my card template.
2. I then print the design onto A5-sized watercolour paper, then score and fold the card and punch out the rounded corners.
3. Then comes hand-stitching the motif colour by colour. I tend to go by instinct when creating a new card design and eventually establish some sort of a strategy for stitching them more efficiently later on.
4. After they are stitched, I place an envelope inside the card then tie with string and place in a cello sleeve.
{ We hear that your recent wedding celebrations were filled with handmade creations. How did you incorporate your cute craftiness into the event? }
Yes, I got married in September 2011 at Centennial Park, and it was actually from this event that the idea of releasing hand-embroidered cards evolved. For our celebrations, we chose to DIY everything except the catering. We involved our network of friends and family in the DIY & styling plans, including picking out our own flowers and arranging them in our collected jars, and a very talented friend of mine from Small Stall created our bouquets and buttonieres.
My sister organised the sweets table which included lots of yummy treats arranged onto various vintage platters she had collected especially for the wedding. I designed and illustrated our invitations. I did about 50+ invitations. On days when I found myself stitching for about 7hrs straight, my fingers would morph into some kind of weird alien formation!
For our bonbonnieres (which doubled up as name cards), we filled small paper bags with multicolour & multi-flavoured jellybeans, sewed them shut, and then I hand stitched the name labels on, which were also hand written and stitched with a little red kiss.
We also made many pom-poms of which a few were strung onto the tree at the ceremony and the remaining turned into garlands for the reception decor. I would really recommend DIY’ing most of your wedding, if possible, as it creates a more unique and personal occasion as well as bringing a community of your favourite people together!
11:
Swedish-born and super adorable, Sophia Edstrand is in a long-time love affair with Indian city Jaipur.
It’s a fantasy land of silks and precious stones that inspired Sophia to start her label,Sophia 203. Injected with the aesthetic fruits of her Indian adventures, Sophia 203 is a range of whimsically sweet accessories for women and children. The label incorporates the ancient Hindu art of embroidering miniature figures with her own contemporary aesthetic. Stocked in some of the world’s top boutiques, Sophia 203 has set our hearts (and wallets) aflutter.
We had a gab with Sophie herself about her handmade handicrafts as well as her new Melting Rainbows collection.
Here’s the sneakypeek.
{ How are your lovely pieces made? }
The pieces are embroidered using an ancient Indian technique. All the pieces are embroidered by the most skilled artisans in my atelier in Jaipur, India.
{ What made you want to design using embroidery? }
One of the reasons I started to do this is that I am fascinated by handicrafts in all forms, and since its a dying art I am very happy to be able to be a part of the conservation of it!
{ How did the Melting Rainbows collection come about? Is this collection different to your others? }
I am always inspired by the dreamy, the colorful and the magical. I think spring summer 2013 is very ‘me’- it contains all the pieces that I would like to wear this spring!
{ Your pieces are so intricate! How long does it take you to create them? }
My team of embroiderers are very good and precise! For a big belt, it takes about 100 hours, only for the embroidery. Its quite amazing to observe the process of how a piece gets done. Its like couture.
23:
We love spotlighting new illustrators. Mainly because we hope that once they become famous, world-dominatingly dictatorial and the leaders of an army of autocratically artistic robots, that they will spare us from an untimely end.
Luckily, Susie Julia’s general loveliness is an indicator that this will never happen.
Instead, we’re spotlighting this young illustrator/photographer because of her pure, liquid talent!
With an incredibly whimsical eye for design, Susie Julia creates collages and illustrations filled with printed dresses, swirling hairstyles and vintage photo cut-outs. She’s a student at Ontario College of Art and Design, but we’re betting that this lovely lady’s work is going to end up on the front of adorable magazines and in quirky fashion campaigns. You heard it hear first! (Now please, artistic robot army, spare us?).
{ How did you learn how to draw? }
I have been drawing since a very early age. Ever since I could remember, I have always had a pencil and paper in my hand. I would draw everything and anything! My family comes from a long line of artists and creators. My grandmother used to make commissioned portraits, my father attended a fine arts academy for interior design, and my mother designs handmade jewellery. Drawing runs in the family and it was only natural for me to become involved in it.
{ What artists and eras inspire your illustrations? }
I am in love with the art nouveau era. Artists like Alphonse Mucha greatly inspire me: the detail and craftsmanship in his drawings simply amaze me. The organic and flowery motifs are something that I am very drawn to. His rendering of the feminine form is beautiful.
I also admire Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, and Rene Magritte. From more recent illustrators, I am very attracted to Stina Persson’s illustrative style. She works with watercolour to create very simple yet striking fashion portraits. Cate Parr has a similar style which I also admire.
{ Tell us a bit about your illustration style }
It is fashion illustration that is quirky, colourful, very feminine, decorative and delicate. I like to draw the figure and portrait with a twist. So whether it is a fun pattern or texture, splash of colour, or bright pink hair, there is always something in my illustrations that stands out.
{ Your collages are so quirky! Where do you find the images that you use in them? }
I have only recently begun to work in the collage medium, but I have been fascinated by it for a while now. There are many collage artists that are featured regularly on artist websites such as booooooom.com that have inspired me greatly. I take my images from various old magazines that I have in my house, or that I find in thrift stores. All the collages are made digitally. I scan in the images and rework them in photoshop. For my latest collage series, I worked with the idea of juxtaposition and surreal landscape.
{ We’ve also heard that you’re a magnificent baker! Do baked goods feature in any of your illustrations? }
Thank you! Baking and the pastry arts are a current passion of mine that I would like to continue and possibly transform into a future career. I love baking cupcakes, and have made a few watercolour cupcake illustrations in the past. I plan on making more ‘dessert illustrations’, so keep checking back! Make sure to check out my baking blog, Pastel Macaron!
You can drink up Susie’s creative concoctions via her Etsy page.
04:
Jacqueline Chan is a class-A crafter.
Designing under her label, Whimsy Milieu, Jacqueline creates everything from wooden rings to tea towels, necklaces to home-wares. Minimalistic, delicate and totally kawaii, her designs are engineered to a whimsical perfection. And after visiting her sweet little stall at this year’s Sydney Finders Keepers Market, we simply had to wrangle her for a sneaky interview. And wrangled we did.
Accordingly, we had a sneaky sitdown with Jacqueline herself to talk about her newly released Prix collection (pictured below) and her pop up shop at Sydney’s Gaffa Gallery.
{ How would you describe your design aesthetic? }
I would say whimsical, and veering towards cute. In my mind, I always plan and want to come up with something that looks very cool and minimal, but somehow the final designs always end up on the contrary. But then that’s the fun part, seeing where the design process takes me.
{ What inspired the Prix collection? }
The Prix collection is inspired by medals, awards and rosettes. The idea came many months ago when I saw one very lovely image of a beautiful rosette made by textile artist Tara Badcock. And also with this year being Olympic year, I presumed that wearing medal necklaces would be fun.
{ You jumped from the world of engineering to the life of a designer. What made you change your career? }
I have always been interested in creative things and have been crafting & drawing as a kid. I planned to study architecture or industrial design after high school, but ended up studying engineering instead because there were some obstacles and I guess I was not determined enough to go for what I really loved. However, once I started working as an engineer, I realized that if I did not make the leap, I would be unhappy for the rest of my life.
{ You’ve created everything from illustrations to housewares. What was the first thing you made and how did you end up expanding your range? }
The first thing I made under the Whimsy Milieu label was actually bags made using nostalgic and authentic ‘Good Morning’ towels. As a child, I remember using these towels at my grandmother’s house and they were also very popular at old-school salons back in Malaysia at that time. In the beginning while setting up Whimsy Milieu, I wanted to design & make everything, but I told myself to choose one thing (which was jewellery) but of course, I couldn’t help myself and so now I have my illustrations and some tea towels!
{ What are you working on at the moment? }
I am currently busy preparing for my pop-up event, which will be happening at the Gaffa Gallery on the 6th September from 10am – 8pm. Everyone is invited to this pop-up, and I hope to meet and chat with people who like my designs. After the pop-up is over, I will be working on the next jewellery collection, which I hope to release in early December.
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