CREATIVE

PET
PROJECT

CREATIVE

PET
PROJECT
animals and their artists
drawn to one cause

Humpback Press
www.creative-pet-project.com
First published 2014
copyright Creative Pet Project 2014
individual copyright to artists work
are marked next to the image.
Rob Snow is hereby identified as the
author of this work in accordance with
Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without the prior
permission of Humpback Press/
Creative Pet project.
Printed in China

CONTENT
ANIMAL CHARITIES
04PETA 04INTERNATIONALFUNDANIMALWELFARE 06BORNFREEUSA
ARTISTS
04TAMSINABBOTT

06TEODORUBADIU

08RAFFAELEBAFEFIT

10ANABAGAYAN

12ALEXANDRABALL

14SHERALYNBARNES

16DILKABEAR 18PETRAVANBERKUM 20RICKDIENZOBLANCO 22CHRISBRETT 24JOHNBROPHY 26CHRISBUZELLI 28ERICACALARDO

40LYNNECHAPMAN

32ANTONIORODRGUEZCANO
42SERGESCHAVES

52GILLIANCOMERFORD

DEDICATION

64ELFIE

There is also a very special dedication to all the little companions that have
helped make this book come alive. Each and every artist would agree that
their lives have not been complete without their affection, love, patience and
mere presence: to all our animal companions.

56DAVIDCOWLES

66SYLVIAVIVANCOEXTRAMIANA

88ANNIKAHILTUNEN

This book sends a special dedication to all the earthlings that make up this
beautiful planet Earth; whether they be fauna or flora.

100ANDYKEHOE

90BRYANHOLLAND

80PAULINAGRA

92BRYCEHUFFMAN

104SHONKIM

36JOHNCASEY

46ELGATOCHIMNEY

58CHRISCRITES

68ORIANAFENWICK

78TESAGONZLEZ

102BRIANKESINGER

34ANTONELLACARACENI

44MARYCHIARAMONTE

54JAWCOOPER

76JUANCARLOSPAZGMEZ

30RACHELCALDWELL

48SASCHRISTIAN

60MARTY-CROUZ

70NOEMIGAMBINI
94FABIOHURTADO

50JUDITHCLAY

62ANTONIOSEGURADONAT

72LOLGILL

82COENHAMELINK

106JEANCHRISTIANKNAFF

38SILVIALVAREZCASTELLAR

74GIOVANNAGIULIANO

84WILLIAMBHAND
96CATHERINEHYDE

108MATTHEWKNIGHT

86KATHYHARE
98JONJAYLO

110OKSANAKOFMAN

112SLAVENLUNARKOSANOVIC 114LORENAKRAUSE 116ANITAKUNZ 118LINAKUSAITE 120HLNELAGNIEU 122MARTINLAKSMAN

124COLELEMKE 126JENLOBO 128GERMNGLLEGOLORN 130ESTRELALOURENO 132DIOGOMACHADO 134JESSICAMAERTENS
136ELOMARC

138TARAMcPHERSON

146MARIOSNCHEZNEVADO
154ELENAOSPINA

140JACKIEMORRIS

142LAZARINANEDELCHEVA

148KATHIEOLIVAS&BRANDTPETERS

156DARIAPALOTTI

158LOUPATROU

150ROGEROLMOS

160NINONPELLETIER

144JEZABELNEKRANEA

152RICARDOMARTINEZORTEGA

162PAOLOPETRANGELI

164LOUPIMENTEL

166MARCOPIUNTI 168CAROLPOWELL 170MARKOZETSPRPI 172ROBREGER 174CAROLRIZZO 176MARTINDEDIEGOSDABA

178KIRSISALONEN

180CSARSAMANIEGO

182SASITASAMARNPHARB

184SVETLANALEDNEVASCHUKINA

186YUKOSHIMIZO

188SHICHIGOROSHINGO 190JSLATTUM 192ROBSNOW 194YATINGSUN 196LIRANSZEIMAN 198CHASETAFOYA 200HEIDITAILLEFER

202ERIKATCOGOEVA 204KRISTINTERCEK 206ANIATOMICKA 208VICTORTORRES 210VILDEDYRNESULRIKSEN 212ANDREAUROCK
214VICTORIAUSOVA
APPENDICES
04SUPPORTTHANKS

216ERICVASQUEZ

218MICHELLEWHITE

220HANNAHWILLOW

222MARTINWITTFOOTH

224CHETZAR

Theres no doubt that a unanimous agreement would be bestowed on Mother Nature for being the
greatest artist that this planet Earth could possibly know. The fantastic range of species, in form
and colour, is truly phenomenal. I personally stand in breathless awe at the majesty and beauty of
many of the fauna and flora that inhabits the planet. As I exhale however, it nevertheless comes
with a humiliating sigh to the affects to which mankind has brought upon this gem of a planet. It
is with a great deal of sadness that news of dying species comes at the hands, and price, of the
money making machine that drives our existence. No amount of lifestyle can warrant the need to
destructively eradicate whole areas of this planet with some shocking concern or reaction. For this
reason, and for the love of my pet companion, I decided, early in 2012, to try and do something
about this.
Although the domestication of animals is a two edged sword, the caring of abandoned creature that
fall victim to the malice of some human minds, is a strong and highly respectful pursuit. For that
reason, as a creative person, I set out to find like-minded creatives who also had that strong belief
and connection with their fellow earthlings and would in turn like to use their talents in a way that
could benefit the planet.
This volume is the sum total of works undertaken to deliver the emotional concerns of over 100
fellow creatives, who wish to help this planet in a way they feel able to achieve; through their art. It is
a collection of over 100 individual pieces contributed by the artists themselves, than not only show
an aesthetic side to nature that you will not see anywhere else, but at the same time an indicator to
the close bond that these artists have with their companions, and nature, to their creative skills. It
has been a great pleasure discovering the talent contained here within, and at the same time, being
touched by the amazing images and stories of their love for their companions.
The submission of work by contributors was undertaken with the understanding that money raised
from the sales of this book would go to help the charitible causes of the hand chosen animal
organisations. Each in turn working hard to deliver an impact to the task of educating, protecting
and advancing the rights and concerns of the voiceless earthlings we share this planet with. I hope
that you will enjoy this book as much as I have in creating it, and in some way knowing that you in
turn are helping to contribute to the well-being of this planet.

~ Rob P Snow, project creator

INTRODUCTION

~ Charles Darwin

A mans friendships are one of the best measures of his worth.

Ana Bagayan was born in Armenia, in the countrys capital,

Yerevan. She later moved to the States in 1990 at the age of
six. Since an early age Ana has had a fascination with the arts,
and can remember drawing as long ago as the age of five.
Saying that, after her move, she used art as a way to cope
with the extreme changes that occurred in her life, at the time.
In 2001 Ana entered the Pasadena Art Center College of
Design, where she took a Bachelors degree in Fine Art, with
a specialism toward illustration. Her influences from a young
age were the old masters such as Leonardo Da Vinci and
Van Gogh. Also as several of her teachers were known pop
surrealist artists, it seemed natural that her painting style
edged toward this genre.
Ana Bagayan has stated she feels the embodiment of two
types of artists at times. One reason for this is that away from
her gallery painting work, she also pursues illustration work,
and has appeared in Rolling Stones, GQ, Spin magazine and
BMG records.
The process of doing her painting is an enjoyable one for Ana,
as she finds that the hard part of creating the idea comes out
earlier in the sketching phase. And also states that some of
her best ideas are the ones that simply pop into her head,
capriciously. When working on gallery projects Ana finds that
one idea tends to promote and lead onto the next, which
makes the process even more enjoyable.

Ana Bagayan with Sushi and Jake

Anas work is inspired by the metaphysical; ghosts, spirits,

intergalactic space creatures and anything else that hints at
the idea that we are just a small part of the unimaginably vast
universe. All of the works, she feels incorporates the inherent
beauty of interpreting both the known and unknown.

Jake is a 12 year old German Shepherd. He is a highly

intelligent dog and loves to go swimming. When he was
younger, he saved the family of Anas husband from a house
fire. He smelt the smoke and woke everyone up so they could
get to safety. He is a hero.
Sushi is a four year old Pomeranian-Yorkie mix. She is
also very intelligent, but she is sneaky and likes to get into
mischief. She loves to sleep on the couch when the family
are not home. She enjoys running free, chasing squirrels, and
barking at anything with two wheels or up to four legs.

ANABAGAYAN
painter

Venice Beach, California | USA

Anabagayan@gmail.com
www.anabagayan.com

Undersea Moon: The painting was inspired by my love for

undersea creatures, my interest in the ancient city of Atlantis,
and my obsession with space. I love combining elements from
earth with space to create fictional alien planets from alternate
realities to show that anything is possible and everything is
connected. Paintings of that size usually take me one to two
weeks. Although there was a lot of detailing, I went through it
very quickly because it was fun. The painting part is the easiest,
as most of my energy goes into sketching out ideas until Im
happy with the piece. While I love the painting process, the
most exciting part is coming up with ideas.

under sea moon copyright ana bagayan 2012 | oil on panel

Jake and Sushi met a year ago when Jake drove across the
country (with Anas husband) from Brooklyn to Los Angeles to
live with them. They are best buds now!

Undersea Moon ~ Ana Bagayan, 2012 (oil on panel)

11

Alexandra Ball is a childrens book illustrator who specialises

in whimsical yet sensitive illustrations of animals. She had a
long path to get into the illustration career, that she always
wanted, and it all started one rainy day when she was a mere
child, living in her small village home.
Alexandra spent her early years in a small village in the middle
of the countryside of Hampshire, England. The family lived
on a farm, kept chickens and had pet springer spaniels. The
majority of her early memories are of playing outside with her
older brother, climbing trees, making dens and generally being
amongst the wildlife. However, on wet days when she could
not go out and play, Alexandra would always be drawing or
creating something. She would get her grandfathers heavy,
old, blue typewriter out and start thwacking away at the keys
until she had invented a little story. She would always leave a
large blank space at the bottom of the page for her favourite
part, drawing an illustration.
She followed her love of art to the rough and rugged beauty
of Cornwall, where Alexandra took a degree in illustration at
Falmouth College of Arts. After completing the course in 2001
she returned to Hampshire and found that getting into the
illustration world was a lot harder than she had previously
thought. After a few months of trying with no bites from
publishers or agents, the need to earn money took over and
she ended up getting a full-time job as a childrens bookseller,
hoping that this might potentially lead her the right way.

Alexandra Ball with Bee and Gloria

It was 3 jobs, 2 house-moves and 7 years later that Alexandra

finally found her break. She had been working in a building
society and her office had been made redundant and paid
severance. Instead of being crestfallen Alexandra recognised
that this was the perfect opportunity to realise her dream, and
spent the next 6 months working on updating her portfolio.
She was quickly snapped up by the agency, Illustration Ltd,
who she has happily been working with since.

Alexandra and her boyfriend had always planned to get a dog

and they felt like it was the right time. One day they were
out in a pet shop buying bird food in the cold winter of 2010
and saw that there was a notice advertising a litter of springer
spaniels. When visiting the family Alexandra fell in love with
the mother dog who was so well behaved and loving, and she
thought that her offspring would be the same. So they picked
the cutest little bumble-bee of the litter, who has now grown
up to be the bestest sidekick an illustrator could ever want.

ALEXANDRABALL
illustrator

Hampshire | United Kingdom

alex@alexandraball.co.uk
www.alexandraball.co.uk

Bee is now two years, but when they first saw her she was
so small (the smallest of the litter) and round, just like a furry
little bumble-bee. Then, when they were able to take her
home she was a bit of a minx with play biting so the couple
always said she was cute, but had a sting in her tail. Although
Bee has all the craziness and rascally ways of the Tasmanian
Devil she can be the sweetest little dog in all the world and is
often found sleeping on Alexandras feet or lap whilst she is
working. One day there may even be a childrens book about
Bees many cheeky exploits.

otter copyright alexandra ball 2012 | pencil/photoshop

After living in London and then North Wales, Alexandra is now

living back in her beloved Hampshire with her little sidekick,
springer spaniel, Bee and 3 ex-battery hens; Gloria, Maude
and Philys.

Otter: When illustrating my aim is to make the viewer want

to belong to the imaginary world I create. I try and make the
composition as fun and visually interesting as possible.
This illustration was drawn for my dearest friend who adores
otters. In creating this piece I wanted to capture the pure joy
and exuberance that otters evoke whilst swimming and the
beautifully streamlined and fluid shapes that their bodies have
evolved to be.
My illustrations start life as pencil line-drawings which I scan in
and colour in Photoshop. I have a bank of previously scanned
in patterns and textures, which I cut out and fit in the pencil
lines, much like a collage. A lot of the animals I draw, such as
this otter, have a fur texture to make them a little life-like. This
texture is in fact the result of scanning in my favourite winter hat
and layering it over the colour. Although I create my artwork on
the computer I try to make it as traditional looking as possible as
I adore the nostalgic and homely feeling this provides.

Otter ~ Alexandra Ball, 2012 (pencil/digital)

13

Dilka Bear was born in Alma-Ata, Soviet Union, in 1977. She

has been drawing since a very early age and always wanted
to be an artist as long as she can remember. Dilka was always
inspired by the stories of the Brothers Grimm, that held her
liking for fairytales and the dark side of fantasy.
She received her education at the Art Department of Almaty
State University, where she studied architecture. After her
studies, she worked as a graphic designer and illustrator until
2005. In 2007 she moved to Italy and began her career as an
artist. Now living and working in Triste, Italy.
Dilka likes to start her process off by sketching. She has a
sketchbook she holds as a notebook, which she carries with
her religiously, but also can find time to draw on any available
paper, including newspaper.
Dilka would describe her painting style as a figurative dreamy
state. And she will explain that every painting has its own
story. Sometimes its more like a fairytale, sometimes its a
story about a real person that she heard or read somewhere,
or sometimes Dilka paints people from her dreams. Shes
not good at writing so she tries to tell her stories through her
paintings. Her success has lead to her paintings being shown
around the world, in such places as London, Los Angeles,
Amsterdam, Rome and Australia.

Dilka Bear with Oscar

Oscar is Dilkas best friend. Hes a 2 years old French bulldog.

Although through her childhood Dilka has always had cats for
pets, she has always wanted to have a gremlin or something
like stitch, something weird looking, so she found Oscar. Hes
more a person than a dog. He likes to sleep until late, he likes
to paint when Dilka is letting him, and chews her pencils.

DILKABEAR
painter

Trieste | Italy
dilkabear@gmail.com
www.dilkabear.com

bird funeral copyright dilka bear 2012 | acrylic on wood

Oscars name is derived from the character of Oscar Matzerath

from The Tin Drum

Bird Funeral: The idea for this painting was taken from
childhood memories. When I was small we used to find dead
birds with my friends and gave them real funeral, with flowers
and tears and grave stones. The cat on the painting has nothing
to do with the death of the bird, its innocent and its also crying.
I see the representation of dead birds as a strong symbol of
broken dreams.
I sketch out many of my ideas before hand, but always paint the
final pieces on wood, using acrylic colours I obtain from a local
art store in Trieste.

Bird Funeral ~ Dilka Bear, 2012 (acrylic on wood)

17

John Brophy is an American artist living in the Seattle area

and has been showing his work at Roq La Rue Gallery for the
past few years. His work has also been featured in shows at
Copro Gallery in Los Angeles and Dorothy Circus Gallery in
Rome as well as in several publications.
John spent a lot of time traveling when he was a kid. His father
worked in aerospace and his family moved a lot while he was
growing up. He was born in St. Louis, but spent a large part
of his life living outside the U.S., in Japan (twice) for nearly 12
years, Greece, and Spain, plus various places around the U.S.
Because of having such a diversified background, he doesnt
consider himself typically American.
He studied art history and art conservation/restoration at the
University of Madrid. In the end however, he wasnt satisfied
with being a fan of other artists work and wanted to make his
own. After several years of trial and error, he taught himself
how to paint. He is a student of the sheer force of will school
of painting.

John Brophy with Moo-chan

John usually works out his compositions on the computer

using Maya, ZBrush, and Photoshop and uses the result as
a concept for the final painting. He loves the freedom that
designing in 3D allows, even though it is very technical and
demanding. However, he considers digital imagery less
interesting than traditional painting because it has no object
quality. Thats why he thinks it is so important to execute the
painting by hand in oil using the traditional techniques of the
15th century Flemish painters that he most admires, Memling,
David, Van der Weyden, Van Eyck, etc. The digital study is
only a launching point for the final painting.
In addition to the 15th century Flemish artists, he also has
great admiration for contemporary artists like Todd Schorr,
Alex Gross, Brian Despain, Thomas Woodruff, Pierre et Gilles
and the writings of Haruki Murakami.

In 97 John brought him back from Tokyo to L.A. (He did not
approve of that flight one bit!). The two made a couple more
moves before the trek to Issaquah, Washington, where they
live now with his wife, Louise, and their other new cat, Butter.

JOHNBROPHY
painter

Issaquah, Washington | USA

john@jbrophy.com

Moo-chan is very attached to John and doesnt care for other

people very much. So on New Years Eve 2011 they got a new
cat that they named Butter so Johns wife could enjoy the love
and affection of a cat as well. Unfortunately, Butter and Moochan dont get along so they have to keep them separated.
Butter is young and strong and Moo-chan is old and arthritic.
Its too bad, but fortunately they have enough room for them
to enjoy their own separate spaces.
Moo-chan often sleeps at Johns feet in the painting room
when hes working. He loves to sit on his cat condo next to
the upstairs bedroom window and watch the squirrels, birds,
possum, and raccoons that come through their back yard,
and sleep in front of the spot heater in the winter.

animism regions copyright john brophy 2009 | oil on panel

Moo-chan has been Johns constant companion for the past

17+ years. Even though this photo was taken back in 05, it
is one of Johns all time favorite pictures of him because it
highlights his super long fangs. John got him in 95 in the pet
store on the top floor of Tokyu Hands Dept. store in Machida,
Japan near where he used to live. They had a program
where people would bring in doraneko (strays) from the
neighborhood and the pet store would try to find homes for
them for only a small kennel fee. John arrived at the pet store
and he was the only one of his litter left and the poor guy
was scared and crying. So even though Johns building didnt
allow pets he adopted him and brought him home.

Animism Regions: The Baku (tapir) in Japanese myth is the

dream-eater. He devours dreams. So when a child has a
nightmare the parents console them by telling them to give the
dream to the Baku to make it go away. I loved the idea of this
and decided to make it into a character for painting. In Animism
Regions the Baku is faced with an apparition of the Venus of
Willendorf. This prehistoric sculpture is to me a symbol of a kind
of pure reverence before the concept of gods and formalized
religion has developed.
It is thought that the Venus figuring was clutched during childbirth
as a means of ensuring good luck and protecting against all
the bad things that happened frequently during childbirth in the
ancient world. She is another kind of Baku, one from another
time and culture from the Baku in the painting. So its kind of a
close encounters piece.

Animism Regions ~ John Brophy, 2009 (oil on panel)

25

Chris Buzelli was born and raised in Chicagos Southland.At

a young age Chris was influenced by painting side by side
with his Grandfather Armondo Buzelli. Armondo was actually
a television repairman who decided to set up a couple of
easels and oil paint sets in his shop for theweekendsspent
with his seven year old grandson. The years of painting in the
television shop led Chris to college atRhode Island School of
Design. After graduation he moved to New York City to follow
his passion of becoming an illustrator. He now lives in the
East Village with his wifeSooJin and their dog Sota.
His oil paintings can be seen in publications likeRolling Stone,
TIME, The New York Times, PlayboyandHarpersmagazines.
He hasworkedon ad campaigns/posters for Saatchi &
Saatchi, Macys, United Airlines, MGM Resorts, Tropen
Museum and ICON - The Illustration Conference.As well as
book covers for Abrams books, Tor, St. Martins Press and
Random House. Chris currently shows his original paintings
in galleries throughout the U.S. and teaches once a week at
Rhode Island School of Design and The School of Visual Arts.

the future of a south asia union copyright chris buzelli 2011 | oil on canvas

Chris Buzelli with Minnesota

Chris grew upwith avery faithful german shepherd named

Buzzy who dragged him around like Chris was his own pup.
Now he has a red miniature-pinscher named Minnesota
(a.k.a.Sota) who thinks he is a giant german-shepherd. Sota
has become Chris faithful studio mate, friend and a fierce
guard dog when anyone dare knock on the door. Sota also
loves his travel bag and accompanies Chris and SooJin on
manylecture and workshoptrips.

The Future of a South Asia Union: This was an editorial

commission taken via the Global Brief magazine. The
commission was to show the business connection of the
countries contained within the lower parts of Asia.

CHRISBUZELLI
painter

Chicago, Illinois | USA

chris@chrisbuzelli.com
www.chrisbuzelli.com

To be more symbolic with the piece I decided to combine

some of the more characteristic animals of these countries as
a hybrid creature, born of all things Asian. These included the
classic Asian elephant, tiger and one of the more characteristic
monkeys of the area. The hybrid was intended to be a symbolic
coming together of the Asian countries, as an article on the
business affairs. This image I intended to give some harmonious
symbolism in the natural aspect, as these countries have strong
visual iconic forms.
The piece was achieved in much the same way as my other
pieces. Built from the initial concept on canvas, and slowly
layered in oils to bring the final form. This is the second hybrid
creature I have painted, with another editorial piece named
Hybrid Funds, done for Plansponsor Magazine, also mixture
of three creature created to form one. On that occasion I chose
to do a zebra, bear and bird form.

The Future of a South Asia Union ~ Chris Buzelli, 2011 (oil on canvas)

27

Sergio Chaves was born in, 1987 in Bogot, Colombia.

He liked drawing, he liked it a lot. With that in mind, he chose
to pursue an Industrial Design degree, which he ended up not
liking much (in spite of actually graduating top of his class).
Deciding he really liked drawing better than anything else, he
began a rather self-taught path into art. Now he works as a
100% freelance illustrator and animator (Specialist Degree of
2D Animation, a degree he was able to attend actually thanks
to his Industrial Design degree). Winner of the TAD-KCMO
2012 winter illustration workshop scholarship at The Art
Department (www.theartdepartment.org), Kansas City, US;
Honorable mention at the 1st Unpublished Illustrated Book
Award (Ministry of Culture, Colombia); 1st Place at SENA
IlustRATON digital (digital painting competition, SENA
institute, Colombia); Member of the 2nd Iberoamerican
illustration Catalog (Ediciones SM El ilustradero, Mexico)
and, recently, First Place young illustrator category - in the
Imagenpalabra3 Illustration Showroom (Bogot, Colombia).

Sergio Chaves with Spok

His illustrations have been published in shows and specialized

media in Colombia, Mexico, Argentina and Spain, and his
work has been featured in online and printed illustration
magazines. He has done illustrations and visual development
projects in advertising for clients such as Ford, Coca-Cola,
Visa, Claro, Televisa, among others. He also works as concept
artist for some cinematography ventures. As an animator, his
2009 short-film Figurillas (figurines) was selected for the
animation show at the Bogota Film Festival 2010. He still
really likes drawing, and painting, and now, likes teaching.

In the middle of that thinking, he received a phone call from

his girlfriend. A friend of hers had recently rescued a cat and
her 4 kitties from a construction site her mom works near
to. The kittens needed to be adopted (Sergio doubted they
wanted to pursue a career in construction) and by the time
Sergio got the phone call, only one was left. The decision was
made and a couple of days later, he was home. That little,
purple-greenish-bluish-grayish eyed orange cat had a place
in their family. He allowed Sergio to write this article without
stepping on the keyboard, so he must be trashing some of
the stuffed animals in the apartment. We could talk about why
we named him Spok (not mr. Spock), but that story has to
many inside jokes to make any sense here. But there this little
orange chap has his name and his place.

SERGIOCHAVES
illustrator | painter
Bogat | Colombia
izerial@gmail.com
www.sergiochavesart.com
www.behance.net/izerial

las abejas no tienen rey (bees have no king) copyright sergio chaves 2011 | mixed media

In 25 years Sergio has never had a pet, but the idea had been
on his mind for quite a long time. A dog? The apartment he
lives in is way too small, he/she wouldnt be comfortable there.
A bird? Nope, he is 100% against having caged animals,
thats no way to live for a creature; a lizard, a tarantula, an
eagle, a polar bear? How about we let them stay where God
intended them to prosper and be themselves. Maybe Sergio
was to think about it for another couple of decades.

Las Abejas No Tienen Rey (bees have no king): Something

feels off with this image. The total absence of land is not it, nor is
it the closeness and immensity of that single cloud that almost
feels like smoke, either. The bees look as usual, with their healthy
tails and shiny scales, flying around those concrete, pink-barbed
platforms they are known to buy. The cats come down this time
of the year, every year, to harvest honey, the kind that floats, not
the other stuff. Whats off in the painting is the big guy in the
platform, why? Well, he is wearing the crown. Everybody knows
bees have queens, not kings. His fancy mustache and bow tie
gave him away.
Las abejas no tienen rey (Bees have no king), is a Mixed
Media painting on Paper. It was created to be published in the
Argentinian illustration magazine revista Gooo Issue 11. That
issues theme was titled illogical. The surreal content, the
arrangement of multiple impossible creatures, the skies, the
oddities, and successive layering of paint can be seen in this
and all my work.

Las Abejas No Tienen Rey (bees have no king) ~ Sergio Chaves, 2011 (mixed media on paper)

43

Sas Christian was born in London in 1968, the eldest of four.

She began drawing, with pencils, from an early age. Liked
drawing figures/landscapes and fashion. At 13 Sas was sent
away to boarding school. A Church of England private girls
school with compulsory morning and evening chapel services.
A shy introverted child lacking in self confidenceit wasquite
a challenge to adapt to.Won Barclays Bank Young Fashion
Designer Award when 15. But a passion for drawing and
piano kept her going, eventually leading to her attendance at
Bournemouth & Poole College of Art to study Graphic Design.
Received an Associate Degree in Graphic Design from there
in 1988.
In 1992 Sas and her husband, Colin Christian, moved to South
Florida; The year of Hurricane Andrew. They started their own
couture latex company called Hotbox Inc. which specialized
in custom made fetish rubber clothing. Manufacturing their
own rubber and the first to utilize intricate fabric patterns and
graphics. It was an exciting venture, but lack of capital made
it difficult to grow as a business.
Then in 1999 Sas Christian began painting. A life long wish,
Sas bought books online, on the subject and through trial and
error taught herself to paint - first in acrylics and then moving
onto oils. Sas technique is formed by painting multiple
transparent glazes of color over a grisaille underpainting and
like to include fine detailing. A painting can take anything from
2 weeks to 4 months depending on size and subject matter.

Sas Christian with Bunny and Brody

Sas original inspirations relied heavily on anime, Tamara De

Lempicka and Mark Ryden. She loved the creative expression
of the Harajuku kids in Tokyo. They filled her with such hope
and excitement. Originally the intention of her paintings was
just about creating a strong image, purely visual. Sas wanted
to impart a modern tongue-in-cheek humor, incorporating my
experiences. Contemporary, ballsy, flirty, weepy girls; punk,
catholic, no-nonsense, damaged but not broken girls. Funny,
intelligent, unusual, independent, odd ball, outsiders. Lovely.
Sas has had multiple solo shows nationally and internationally.
Work exhibited at the Bristol Museum of Art, UK and Laguna
Art Museum, USA.
Sas attempts to harness a single moment in time, in her art,
an emotional response, seemingly insignificant gesture that
can mean so much.

SASCHRISTIAN
painter

Riverview, Florida | USA

hotbox2001@aol.com
www.saschristian.com
www.sasandcolinchristian.bigcartel.com

Brody has an incredible understanding of language and

understands the concept of tomorrow. If Sas or her husband
promise to take him and Bunny to the park tomorrow he
remembers and wakes them up first thing in the morning and
doesnt take no for an answer. He finds their walking boots
for them and spins around like a loony until they leave. Bunny
likes people to stroke her - with their feet.Tron can climb up
and over a 1 foot fence. Sas also caught him climbing up
bushes - he makes the sound of a cooing baby whilst doing
so. Pris and Padme like to eat dog poop - much to Sas
dismay and better sense of taste!

In Dog We Trust: A painting featuring my dearly departed long

haired dachshund Wiggywisk. When I had adopted her along
with her parents a life long love of dachshunds was born. They
are so loving and loyal and incredibly entertaining.

in dog we trust copyright sas christian 2003 | acrylic on canvas

Sas is surrounded by animals in her Florida home. At present

she has two Long Haired Dachshunds and three Redfoot
tortoises. Both of the dachshunds came from small private
breeders in central Florida. Tortoises Tron and Pris are rescue
tortoises - Tron from a sanctuary in South Florida and Pris
from a family whose children lost interest. Padme was bought
from a private breeder. Brody was named after Captain Brody
in Sas favorite movie Jaws. Bunny was so named as she
was born on Good Friday and likes to hop up & down. Tron,
Padme & Pris because Sas and husband Colin are huge sci-fi
geeks and honored the tortoises such.

In Dog We Trust ~ Sas Christian, 2003 (acrylic on canvas)

49

JAW Cooper was born in England and grew up in Africa,

Sweden, Ireland, various other locations throughout Europe,
and California. With an aquatic biologist / ecologist father and
an entomologist / scientific illustrator mother, Coopers love
of drawing and curiosity toward the natural world evolved
naturally as they traveled around the globe. Living somewhat
nomadically drawing was an easy way to stay entertained
while traveling light.
Today, JAW Cooper continues to cultivate a deep curiosity
toward the natural world and is inspired by forms found in
nature, curio cabinets, fashion photography, the grotesque,
alien, and flawed, as well as nipples in general.
Cooper makes a living as a freelance illustrator, gallery, and
sketch artist and currently lives and works in downtown Los
Angeles, California with a chinchilla named Rupert.

Rupert, the rodent is a constant source of entertainment and

enjoys running around their loft, stealing scraps of paper,
hoovering up crumbs in the kitchen, and generally focusing
all of his mental energy on finding ways to get into trouble.
Rupert is currently training to run a marathon and attacks his
nightly work-outs on the giant wheel in his cage with a ferocity
you would not expect from such a small and furry-panted little
man.

JAWCOOPER

illustrator | gallery artist | sketch artist

Los Angeles, California | USA
jawcooper@gmail.com
www.jawcooper.com
jawcooper.blogspot.com

Dappled: This piece titled Dappled explores the beauty of

flaws and vulnerability. I tend to be drawn to strange beauty and
thusly chose to paint a Sphinx, a hairless breed of cat. Although
these animals are often considered grotesque, to me they are
absolutely stunning wrinkled skin, freckles, puckered mouths
an all. The girl supporting the cat has the same dappled skin
and similarly distorted features, but appears vulnerable while
the cat emotes confidence. Flaws and vulnerability are much
more interesting and beautiful than perfection.
I executed this painting with washes of india ink to build up
the tones and then slowly built up the colors with thin layers of
gouache. The line work was done in graphite and I finished it off
with flecks of gold paint to add texture to the background.

dappled copyright jaw cooper 2012 | graphite/ink/gouache

JAW Cooper with Rupert

Dappled ~ JAW Cooper, 2012 (graphite, ink, gouache)

55

Antonio Segura Donat (Dulk) is a hungry and insatiable all

terrain illustrator. Urban art, illustration and graphic design are
his fields, and his twisted imagination does the rest. He has
shown his work in England, Germany, Holland, France, Italy
and Belgium, where he has recently been the recipient of a
major international award.
His style is an explosive combination of influences like
Caravaggios tenebrism or the obsessive detail brushwork
of Flemish painting, all mixed with a bizarre, burlesque and
affectionate touch that makes it compact, direct and very
honest. Antonio enjoys creating characters and stories based
on his own dreams and everyday events, mixing fact and
fiction, with a touch of pop surrealism. Hes one of the leading
figures of the Spanish illustration scene.

Antonio Segura Donat with Irka

Antonio has always drawn, since his childhood his hand has
been with pencils. During this period all the school books,
he owned, were full of sketches and mixed characters, but
there was a time when he decided to formalize everything
and it came when he made a decision. At 18 years old he
started to paint in the streets. That year he began to study
economics at university as well, and, as when he was a child,
he spent the time in classes drawing in the notebooks of
financial mathematics and statistics. He lasted one year at the
university and then decided to leave it. The following year he
changed his city and he began to study illustration. This was
the turning point that began to change his life completely. At
the same time he had returned to painting in the street, for a
year. From here he started to combine illustration in the street
and illustration in his studies and it began to lay the foundation
for what he is doing today. Years later he studied graphic
design and illustration at Valencias University. Graduating
the degree some 4 years ago, in 2009. This was a different
arena and very constructive for his work. He started noticing
things that were not clear in his mind; such as cleaning, and
message clarity. It is clear that education helped him to move
forward. Learning is basic, it is a must for day to day.

ANTONIOSEGURADONAT

illustrator | urban artist | graphic designer

Ontinyent, Valencia | Spain
info@dulk.es
www.dulk.es

Since Antonio was a child he has been surrounded by

animals. His father had always some dogs, birds, fishes, in
fact lots of them. Now Antonio also has birds, and two other
dogs; a Pointer Setter and a Yorkshire Terrier. But he feels
he has never had a pet like Irka or Tara. Antonio thinks the
Labrador Retriever is a different race of dog. They are such
great characters and he thinks all the world should have one
at their side.

Just Dream: This personal illustration is a recreation of a dream

which I had when I was a child. I always was dreaming about
the relationship with animals and this is a clear example about
that. Sometimes my bed went out through the window of my
bedroom just to have some fun, and in this case we found a
big buffalo who carried with ourselves and with more special
characters that we found while on our trips to neverland. Most
of the times I take a pencil I try to do it from the innocence,
through the eyes of a child, I have never stopped doing it and I
guess it can be so visible on my work. At last it is like a game to
me, where you demands to yourself in what will appear or not
in each scene.

just dream copyright antonio segura donat 2012 | pencil on paper

Irka is the name of Antonios favourite pet; a Labrador

retriever. She was born 7 years ago, and she is one of the
four daughters that Tara had in 2006. Tara was his first pet; a
chocolate labrador retriever. She was with the family since the
first day that they moved to live in their country house. Tara
left them last Christmas because of a very advanced disease.
Antonio can remember the night when Tara gave birth to four
beautiful ladies. It was a hot summer night, his parents went
to bed and he stayed all night beside her in his first maternal
experience. It was an incredible sensation. The small Irka
was the last one to be born, and between the third puppy
and her birth was a one hour pause. Antonio was somewhat
concerned, but he knew that all will go well. Years later Irka
is a great dog. She is so curious and at the same time very
vague, but with great gratitude. She is so named, based on
Antonios creative imagination. The name means nothing in
particular. It is simply another creation of his mind.

Just Dream ~ Antonio Segura Donat, 2012 (pencil on paper)

63

Lola Gil was born in 1975, but her age does not define her.
Lolas past has molded her into a genuine soul, believing very
strongly all things are for a reason.
College was uneventful, yet taught her that she had the ability
to find her own techniques and expression. Lolas experience
as a tattoo artist in the late 90s was incredible, yet only
fulfilled 9 out of 10 of her necessary reasons to live as an
artist. And demanded too much time out of the studio and at
home with her 2 daughters. Painting gave this single mom the
opportunity to have the flexibility and ability to focus purely on
imagination of her own.
We need harmony, lyrics, and a visual escape from reality,
because reality has become somewhat of a nightmare. War,
genocide, hunger, death, disaster, political disappointment.
Lola paints to start a positive dialog amongst strangers. And
she paints because it is her most precious gift in life. She
sings through her brushes the way a song might touch your
heart and knock you off your feet so that you might feel for
one moment and forget how the media desensitizes you and
holds you in its grips with fear tactics.

If she can bring you back to your own early memories for
even one minute as you gaze upon what has become her
lifes work, you just might recognize a not too distant feeling
of pure emotion as you were once so innocent. Lola wishes
upon a star that this feeling might have a domino effect, ease
a day, and bring a smile. Because a smile is infectious and if
our hearts are happy, nothing can stop us.

akitsushima copyright lola gil 2010 | acrylic on panel

Lola Gil with Maxamillion

Lola likes to invent, imagine, and execute a place full of

space where the world can evolve into a magical copacetic
machine, sparing the disintegration of our earth and harm to
innocent creatures and beings. If not for the ability to paint,
her voice might become just another static white noise. Of all
her childhood memories, the ones which stick with her most
are from pure imagination.

Lola has exhibited in many prestigious galleries and museums

throughout America, as well as internationally since 2001. She
has been published in multitudes of publications including
Underground Culture from all parts of the world, Gothic Art
Now, DPI Designs Stars Boulevard, Pop Surrealism what a
wondertool world, and more. Features and interviews include
Juxtapoz Magazine, Territory Mag, Wooden Toy, Hi Fructose,
Bliss, dpi mag, Staf. the new pop culture etc. LA Weekly,
Lemonade, Inked, to name a few. You can find her latest work
collaboration with the candy company Hint Mint, part of a 5
tin design series released throughout 2011 all over the world.

Maxamillion was a rescue cat the family took home 8 years

ago. Along with his sister Frida Kahlo, they were only 3
months old. In the first week they had him, he got very sick.
The vet shared that it would be costly and time consuming to
medicate him and nurse him back to health. The easier option
was to put him to sleep. But that just didnt sit well. It only
took a few weeks and he was a new healthy happy and very
talkative cat.

LOLAGIL
painter

Bristol, Avon | United Kingdom

info@lolafineart.com
www.lolafineart.com

Maxamillion took his name during a family throw around for

possible names for the cat and Maxamillion seemed the
strongest to the family, so it stuck. Hes grown to the size of
a small bear now, and loves to chat with everyone. Hes the
sweetest guy around.

Akitsushima ~ Lola Gil, 2010 (acrylic on panel)

Akitsushima: Based from one of my favorite childhood

books The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein. This painting
incorporates growth from love and self acceptance. The
journey through introspection opens up doors to a greater
understanding of ones self, allowing us to feel and understand
the world around us.
Personal growth is something I like to focus on within the visuals
of my paintings to remind the viewer of its importance in forward
thinking. A happy heart shares its smile and travels effortlessly
though one person to the next. And a happy visual can be more
than effective.

73

Tesa Gonzlez was born in the north of Spain, in a town

called Getxo. Since she was a little girl she remembered how
she liked the colours and draw everything imagined, cartoon
characters and other worlds. With her love of reading she
decided she wanted to develop her two hobbies: reading
and drawing...and decided she wanted to know more about
making drawn books and studied at the School of Art, in
Oviedo, where she majored Design and Illustration.
Since 1993 is professionally engaged in childrens illustration.
She has published numerous works with leading market
publishers and has a complete dedication to the world of
childrens and youth narratives, where she has illustrated the
most prestigious writers. She has written well over a hundred
childrens books during her career
Although immersed in her profession as a professional
illustrator, Tesa is also active in workshops and conferences
helping to promote reading and illustration.

Tesa Gonzlez with Farah

Her career is preceded by several awards and recognitions.

In the latest edition of the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava,
Slovakia, one of the most important exhibitions of world
illustration, she was also nominated to represent her country
of Spain. In 2011 the Ministry of Culture named her juror for the
voting of the National Illustration Award. One of her last works,
Lu Shzus Dream was nominated for the awards for the best
books published in 2011 in the International Childrens Book
Fair, Bologna (Italy), the largest fair in the sector, worldwide.
With this same play was a finalist Illustration CCEI this 2012.

blancflor copyright tesa gonzlez 2012 | mixed media

Farah is Tesas best friend. She is very big but her character
is like a puppy. Farah received her name after being given the
honour of being named after the last Persian Empress, who
was called Farah Diba. As Tesa lives far away from her family
Farah is very important in her life and an inspiration to her
work. Farah has lived with her since

she was two months old

and is a very quiet dog and very, very affectionate and playful.
Farah often takes her ball and comes with it in her mouth to
play with Tesa and her husband.
Every day she plays with her friend Thor, a Golden Retriever,
and they run all together 3 or 4 kms on the beach before work!

TESAGONZLEZ
illustrator

Getxo, Vizcaya | Spain

tesa@tesagonzalez.com
www.tesagonzalez.blogspot.com

Blancaflor: Blancaflor was worked with several techniques.

There you can see a lot of papers, after black Ink and water
colour above them. The textures of the papers is very important
in Tesas work. She looks for the small details and wrinkles in
papers and fabrics. The wings of the horse are made of typical
school paper with colours points. The horse is made by hand
directly in the graphic tablet based in a rectangle and you can
read the story in his body.
In the picture you can see the horse called Wind (with his
wings) and the two characters, Devils Daughter and Prince, and
the representation of the Devil in the tiger you can see in the
lower left corner. The moon is made with a dry leaf. And is the
hard point to the story; their flight to freedom.

Blancaflor from Blancaflor, la hija del diablo ~ Tesa Gonzlez, 2012 (mixed media)

79

Paulina Gra was born in 1977, in Poland. Her early

recollections were that her favourite activity at kindergarten
was drawing with crayons and painting. During her artistic
development she was inspired by the great masters, and has
a great fondness for Hieronymus Bosch. Other influences on
her work are her family, to whom she is close, and many of the
things around her. One of which is her love or reading. And she
has a great love for mystery and the fairy tales of the Grimm
brothers and Hans Christian Anderson. Paulina is self-taught
and would class her work as being pop surrealism, magical
surrealism, with some inclusion of symbolism. Working mainly
with oil paints, she paints in her home, and loves the process
of oil paints as they have vibrance in their colours. Most of
her work begins as a sketch in pencil, which Paulina states is
her most used method. Paulina addresses her works to both
adult and young audiences.
Paulinas style has grown out of her influences, and the
familiar symbiotical mannequin images of wide eyed people
are an expression of her unique style, that she feels is painted
under the impression of the moment. Most of her work is
never really planned. She believes the characters themselves
come alive to tell their own stories.

Yuki, a young, alley cat is a very important figure in Paulinas

life. Her name translated into English means Snow - and
originates from the Japanese language.

Paulina Gra and Yuki

She is a very funny and curious pet. Yuki and Paulina well,
the whole family loves cats. They spend most of their day
in each others company. The whole family all adore the little
creature, therefore she gets all their attention.

cat and the fly.anxiety.076 copyright paulina gra 2011 | oil on cotton canvas

Life with their little pet is brighter, more interesting, funnier.

Enriched in general. What else can Paulina say about her...
She loves to sleep in her purse. She doesnt like to be alone,
so is very sociable. Paulina has always loved cats for their
character and independence.

Cat and the Fly.anxiety.076: I love animals, especially cats,

so a cat character or cat similar creature sometimes appears
in my paintings or drawings. In my works, not always cat
character have something to symbolize, but I always associate
with something good, wise, mysterious and spiritual, like they
knew some secrets. I believe that cats are amazing, beautiful
mysterious, quiet, independent and smart, cuddly and loveable
at the same time.

PAULINAGRA

painter | graphic designer

Szynwald | Poland
www.paulee1.deviantart.com/

About the painting...flies and other insects symbolize the

shortness of life. They are also pests, causing the corruption
here. The fly also symbolizes anxiety also, and a degree of
uncertainty. The symbolism of the cat is very broad. From sin,
witchcraft, devil, darkness and death (black cat), cunning and
infidelity, and many other negative aspect to more positive ones,
like: grace, freedom, pride, purity, diligence, caring motherhood.
The cat also symbolizes longevity.
In ancient Egypt, the cat was a sacred animal, the attribute of
goddess Bastet and a symbol of fertility, joy, happiness. The
cat was the protector of the house and killing the animal would
result in severely punishment.

Cat and the Fly.anxiety.076 ~ Paulina Gra, 2011 (oil on cotton canvas)

81

Bryan Holland grew up in Minnesota and has always been

fascinated with animals and nature. Growing up, Bryan loved
looking for and catching anything he could; frogs, toads,
snakes, insects, salamanders, turtles, and so on. Once
in a while, his newly made friends would come to live with
Bryan in his room for a short time, though sometimes would
escape their makeshift confines and venture around the
house unchaperoned (one memorable occurrence happened
with about a dozen baby garter snakes). Bryan also enjoyed
drawing as a child, some of his earliest drawings were of
dinosaurs. He also spent time with another friend who liked to
draw, together they created their own comic books, in which
they were the main characters.
Since graduation, Bryan has worked professionally as
an artist, a graphic artist, and a college professor. He is
currently resides and works as an artist in Minnesota, both
collaboratively and independently. His work has been in
numerous exhibitions, from solo to regional and national
juried and invitational exhibitions.
Bryans work is a mix of oil painting, collage, found art, image
transfer techniques, and a variety of other techniques and
experimentation. His work is influenced by graphic design,
vintage art, painting, photography, mythology and a little bit
of science and philosophy.

Bryan Holland with Freddy

end of the day copyright bryan holland 2012 | oil + mixed media on cradled panel

Freddy is a papillon who is full of life and energy, loves

anything that squeaks, and accompanies Bryan to the studio
every day. He was raised and named by former neighbors of
Bryan and his wife, who took notice of him as he was the only
one of his litter mates not running around and barking when
they visited.
Bryans wife fell in love with Freddy and wanted to add him
to their family, but Bryan was a little reluctant and said no as
they had a new 8 month old child at home and a 10 year old
dog (who was not happy about the new addition to the pack
as it was). Fortunately, Bryans wife came up with a solution:
Bryan got Freddy as a fathers day gift that year. Best Fathers
day gift. Ever!

End of the Day: This painting was done for a circus themed
show, and for some reason had the idea that the elephant was
going to be pink, which is how he started out. After some work,
I decided against this, and ended up giving him a kind of whitewash on the body. By the time I was finishing the painting, I felt
like I had really abused the poor fellow, and that he looked tired,
which I thought appropriate for the theme. I titled the painting
end of the day as I imagined the elephant going home (so to
speak) after a long day.

BRYANHOLLAND
painter

St.Peters, Minnesota | USA

bholland@starpoint.net
www.bryanholland.com

End of the Day ~ Bryan Holland, 2012 (oil + mixed media on cradled panel)

I also wanted to incorporate circus style letters and colors in

the painting, and contrast the three-dimensional realism of
the animal with two-dimensional mechanical, man made stuff.
Quite some time after completing the painting, I suddenly saw
the band of dots running through the middle of the painting
as a kind of veil the elephant is passing through, removing the
residue from the day, into hope.
Bryan strives to create work that ask questions of the viewer
rather than simply provide answers.

91

Bryce Huffman was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario,

Bryce developed a love for the arts at an early age. Growing
up in a large family, Bryces parents encouraged each of their
children to pursue their talents, and for Bryce this meant
summers at art camp. His artistic approach balances between
graphic, painterly and figurative pieces of work. Textures are
common in his work, as are a wide range of characters - both
real and imagined.
His creative flair can be seen in the unique characters he
puts to canvas. After graduating from the Sheridan College
Illustration Program, Later, with Bryces aesthetic qualification,
he was able to do many gallery showings as well as freelance
illustration in the up and coming arts community in Hamilton
and Toronto. Bryce was able to take his art even further by
applying his creativity as permanent pieces of work as he
currently works as an tattooist at Cottage 13 Tattoo Shop.

Freddy is a recently new addition to Bryces family. This

miniature poodle had pretty big paws to fill, as the family dog
of 17 years (eerily also a poodle, named Teddy) had passed
only a few months before. Freddy had spent the first year
of his life with another family that was rather busy and he
required major patience and TLC.

BRYCEHUFFMAN
illustrator | tattooist

Hamilton, Ontario | Canada

bryce.huffman@gmail.com
www.brycehuffman.com

ship wreck copyright bryce huffman 2011 | acrylic on panel

Bryce Huffman with Freddy

After overcoming some awkward social tendencies, Freddy

Cuddles (as he is appropriately named) has become a fullfledged member of the family. Unlike the complicated
relationships of people, the bond between man and his pet
does not need vocal acknowledgement, and the addition of
Freddy helped ease the loss of the first family pet. Bryce is
looking forward to the paw-sibilities of what the future holds
for him and Freddy.

Ship wreck: This was an important piece for me to work on.

I had just started working at a tattoo shop and was trying to
wrap my head around the rules and regulations applicable to
tattoo world. When I was first commissioned to do this piece,
the only instructions given to me were include a whale and
whatever you want. it is rare for an artist to have such creative
freedom while earning a pay check. I have always admired life
that dwells in the depth of the sea. There is an overwhelming
array of shapes, sizes, colours as well as textures. The images
can be both terrifying and beautiful.
Life in the deep water is foreign and mystical of what it can
hide and even something as docile as the humpback whale
intimidates me. I wanted to create a sense of scale and
atmosphere with the image. Using what I learned from my
illustration degree combined with my personal interpretation
from tattooing, I was able to incorporate line sensitivity and
texture. The image portrays my wonder and trepidation with the
giants of the deep.

Ship wreck ~ Bryce Huffman, 2011 (acrylic on panel)

93

Anita Kunz was born in Toronto. She was greatly inspired

by her uncle, who was an illustrator, and would influence her
in making the decision to follow in his footsteps. He sadly
died when she was 13, but she decided to go to art school,
to follow her dream. She graduated Ontario College of Art in
1978. Since then Anita Kunz has lived in London, New York
and Toronto, where she has contributed to magazines as well
as working for design firms, book publishers and advertising
agencies internationally.
Anitas portfolio has included producing cover art for many
magazines including Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Sports
Illustrated, Time Magazine, Newsweek Magazine, the Atlantic
Monthly and The New York Times Magazine.
She has also illustrated more than fifty book jacket covers, and
has shown her work at a number of galleries internationally.
In the fall of 2003 she was the first woman and the first
Canadian to have a solo show at the Library of Congress in
Washington DC. Later, in spring of 2007 Anita gave a short
presentation about her New Yorker covers at the prestigious
TED conference in Monterey California.
Anita has been named one of the fifty most influential women
in Canada by the National Post newspaper.

Anita Kunz with Sophie and Lily

In the past 10 years, Kunz has produced a body of work best

described as personal work, which is now shown in galleries.
She has recently received an honorary doctorate from the
Ontario college of Art and Design in Toronto, and has been
made an Officer of the Order of Canada, Canadas highest
civilian honor.
Anita has recently received the Queens Diamond Jubilee
Medal of Honour for her work.

the marked copyright anita kunz 2011 | acrylic

Anita and her husband Dick Chin have had dogs all of their
relationship. The couple got Sophie 4 years ago. Shes
absolutely the best dog. Shes an English chocolate labrador,
and she has the sweetest disposition ever. Her main hobbies
are swimming and chasing the ball, as well as playing with her
friend, Photon.
Lily has a bit of a sad story. She was abandoned in a box in
the couples back lane with 4 other little kittens. They were out
of town but the neighbors told the Anita and her husband that
her kittens all disappeared one by one, presumably eaten by
raccoons. When they returned home, all they had was the little
starving cat mother living behind the house. So they decided
to take her in, they named her Lily and she is thriving. She is
only 5 pounds but shes clearly the boss of the household.

ANITAKUNZ
artist | educator

Toronto | Canada
akunz@anitakunz.com
www.anitakunz.com
www.anitakunzart.com

The Marked: For nearly three decades Anita Kunzs work

has been published widely and internationally. She has been
concerned with political systems and social justice, and her
work has reflected her concern for the human condition. More
recently in what can be considered Chapter 2, Kunz has come
to realize the limits of political solutions and has begun to focus
instead on anthropological origins of our collective behavior as
a means of understanding the frailty of our existence.

The Marked ~ Anita Kunz, 2011 (acrylic)

To this end she examines gender politics, our brutish treatment

of animals and recent discoveries in neuroscience that overtly
clash with accepted religious doctrines.
The Marked is an example of how we, as a species, inflict
ourselves onto other species.

117

Jen Lobo was born and raised along the beaches of Los
Angeles. Her childhood home was alongside the Port of
LA, where she spent her days at the beaches, the marine
aquarium, and watching the ships come in and out of port.
She remembers the whale festivals fondly and late nights
staying awake to watch the grunion come ashore.
A love of nature was fostered early and she has been fortunate
enough to have had many pets growing up. Her bond with
animals has always been strong and they soon became
natural subjects for her art.
Jen attended Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. It
was in college that she began painting with oils. The medium
has become her preferred choice. Her methods are quite
traditional and straightforward, although she strongly dislikes
thumbnail sketching and pre-drawing. She would rather dive
right in and paint directly on wood, adding layers until the
desired amount of detail is achieved.

the timekeeper copyright jen lobo 2011 | oil on wood

After living her entire life in California, Jen has recently moved
to a small ranch outside of Phoenix, Arizona. The desert
landscapes, native animals, and heritage livestock have
inspired her most recent work. As breathtaking as the desert
sky is, she still misses the salty air.
She lives with her husband, their three children, a little gang of
dogs, a cat, some reptiles and an ever-growing array of other
creature companions.

Jen Lobo with Chico

This is Chico. He is one of two llamas that currently live with

the family. Chico is in his retirement years, having spent his
life as a pack animal. He and his brother Rajah were placed
with Jen through a local rescue.
The sad reality of a lot of beasts of burden; horses, mules,
llamas, is that once they arent useful any longer, often times
they find themselves without a home. Somewhere along the
way, poor Chico lost part of his ear. He is sweet as can be,
though, with so much extra personality. Chico will follow you
anywhere if he suspects you have treats. They really are goofy
gentle giants.

The Timekeeper ~ Jen Lobo, 2011 (oil on wood)

The Timekeeper: This painting came about after I had read

about a bowhead whale found with a bomb lance fragment
embedded in its neck. It is estimated that the fragment was
manufactured around 1880.

JENLOBO
artist

Phoenix, Arizona | USA

jennifermlobo@gmail.com
www.jenlobo.com
www.jenlobo.blogspot.com

It completely blew my mind that this whale was carrying around

this relic for over a century and along with it, very antiquated
attitudes towards animals and nature. These whales are living
time capsules. Current estimations of their average lifespan can
be anywhere from 150 - 200 years.
Ironically, and heartbreakingly, the whales end was brought forth
by the act of whaling, albeit under very different circumstances.
The whale was harvested as part of The Alaska Eskimo
subsistence bowhead whale hunt. Currently, indigenous tribes
are the only groups legally allowed to hunt bowhead whales.

127

Tara McPherson was born on the west coast, in San

Francisco, in 1975 and raised in Los Angeles. From an early
age she had an interest in the arts, and had a cross over
interest between art and music. Tara has been playing bass
guitar since the age of fifteen, and as a teenager she started
out making band posters for friends and various groups that
she was into. In 2001 she received her BFA, from Arts Center
in Pasadena, California. She graduated with honours from the
college, with the main focus in illustration and a minor in Fine
Art. During her higher education she interned at Rough Draft
Studios, where she spent time working on Matt Groenings
Futurama series.
Tara made the move to New York in 2005. Setting up home
and studio in Brooklyn, where she still lives and works today.
Her characteristic style is a focus on her interest in people
that have odd ways. Many of her pieces have reflections on
myths, legends and the good old days that she remembers
from her childhood. Wanting to create characters, in images,
that are thought provoking and at the same time seductive.
Achieving this by painting expressive characterisations that
exude an idealised innocence with a glimpse of hard earned
wisdom in their eyes.

Tara McPherson with Jupiter

photo: Jeaneen Lund/jeaneenlund.com

Tara exhibits her paintings and serigraphs in fine art galleries

all over the world. Named the crown princess of poster art
by ELLE Magazine, she has created numerous gig posters
for rock bands such as Beck, Modest Mouse, and Melvins.
Her array of art also includes creating toys with companies
like Kidrobot, Dark Horse, and Toy2R, painted comics and
covers for DC Vertigo, advertising and editorial illustrations
for companies such as Wyden+Kennedy and Spin Magazine,
and teaching a class at Parsons in NYC.
In 2011 Tara, with Sean Leonard, opened the Brooklyn based
Cotton Candy Machine store. A commercial venture to
promote and sell the artwork, and at the same time deliver art
openings and signings.

TARAMcPHERSON
artist | illustrator

Brooklyn, New York | USA

info@taramcpherson.com
www.taramcpherson.com

safety of water copyright tara mcpherson 2010 | oil on linen

Tara adopted Jupiter from the animal shelter in Brooklyn. The

carers at the shelter said he was found hopping around Staten
Island (Tara like to call him her alley bunny). Tara and Jupiter
have been together for 6 years now. He likes to hang around
in his double decker bunny condo in the familys apartment,
in Brooklyn and eat mangos. Hes pretty awesome as a pet,
low maintenance and easy going. Just like Tara (she states)!

Safety of Water: This painting is about finding safety in an

isolated place amidst chaos. The myth originates from an
ancient Greek didactic text, The Epiphanius, where the
elephants when preparing to mate would ingest the Mandrake
root. When ready to give birth the elephant would find safety
from their enemies by entering a small body of water.
The Kappa, who is riding the elephant, having a pool of water
in his head, becomes frozen if the water spills. They need the
water to survive and flourish. The elephant, as the all mighty
vehicle, has taken the Kappa and the two women, a mother and
daughter, to the pool to escape those who are chasing them.
The fabric of the seat on the elephant is adorned with Mandrake
flowers to symbolise fertility. They find safety in this mystical
liquid place, a lake that is a fountain of never ending water
streaming down like a round waterfall.

Safety of Water ~ Tara McPherson, 2010 (oil on linen)

139

Roger Olmos was born in Barcelona, Spain on the 23rd of

December, 1975. As a child Roger was always drawing to
occupy himself, but as a difference with all the others he
never did stop.
Roger studied Illustration in Barcelona in Llotja Avinyo
school, (the same school where Mir learned his skills).
Since then he has always been involved with this profession;
illustrating books in Spain and other countries. More than 50
books, and experience in different fields such as publicity,
magazines and television.

Roger is currently living in his house with five animals.

First was Rama, his wifes cat curiously getting along better
with dogs than with other cats. Later they adopted Charly,
who is a beautiful black cat with huge vampire fangs. the
couple know its a cat because his shape, but could well be
a dog and he likes to wake Roger up every morning with his
vomits.
Poska is a beautiful Siamese cat that the couple housed
temporarily while waiting for Poskas owner to find stability
after an eviction. But they never returned to pick the cat up.
Poska is Charlys lover.

Roger Olmos with Tao and Python

A puppy, Tao, was found under a car and at the beginning

he was so afraid of humans. Today Tao is Rogers best mate.
Python was the last to arrive. He is an old dog the couple
found in a small adoption page from the other side of the
country and he stole their hearts. At home its all love, but
on the street it reminds them of the actor, Joe Pesci in The
Goodfellas.

domino copyright roger olmos 2011 | mixed media

Now Rogers house is full of life and every detail of his

everyday life inspires him in his work.

Domino: This is Domino, a cat adopted from an animal shelter

about five years ago. He was the most weak and fearful of
everyone who was there and immediately captivated us.

ROGEROLMOS

illustrator | graphic designer

Canet de Mar | Spain
www.rogerolmos.blogspot.com
www.rogerolmos.carbonmade.com

Unfortunately he had a complicated disease and we were

fighting for two years. And when at last it seemed that he was
cured, he died.
My love for animals comes from when I was a child. Ive always
felt very connected to them to the point of making me vegan. I
do not understand how millions of people are able to close their
eyes and ears to so much pain and suffering of all animals, not
just cats and dogs.
I do not tolerate any kind of cruelty to any non-human species.
And I am also active in many projects dedicated to them. So
here I am.

Domino ~ Roger Olmos, 2011 (mixed media)

151

Ricardo Martinez Ortega was born in Santiago, Chile,

of Spanish parents. At the age of thirteen the whole family
moved back to Spain. In Spain, he made the decision to work
in commercial art. Ricardo studed art for a couple of years at
Artes y Oficios, but mainly he has self taught himself the skills
he has today.
Ricardos father was a painter and so took much of his
inspiration for him, but has also admired the works of such
people as Hal Foster, T.S.Sullivant and Don Wright.
He moved to the States in 1981, where he married his
girlfriend from Tennessee. He and his wife worked for five
years at The Miami News. She worked as a librarian, and
Ricardo doing just about everything: page design, photo
edition, informational graphics, cartoons and illustrations. In
1989 he started working at the Miami Herald illustrating the
Viewpoint section.
Later that year he got an offer to move back to Madrid to be
the Informational Graphic and Illustration Director of a new
newspaper called El Mundo. At El Mundo, he also does
the weekly editorial illustration for the editors column, and a
comic strip called Goomer, which was made into a movie
in 1998.

Ricardo Martinez Ortega with Blue

In 1990 he started doing an editorial cartoon. Ricardo has

worked continuously in this newspaper since that time. He
has had work in several publications, such as Time Magazine,
Scientific American, New Yorker; has done advertisements for
American Express, 7 Up, Dr. Pepper, Gillette, Telefonica, Seat
among others. Has won several awards in Spain and in the
United States, among them several Gold Awards from the
Society of Newspaper design. Ricardo was also the recipient
of the International Press Award for Graphic Humour.

RICARDOMARTINEZORTEGA
cartoonist | comic strip artist | illustrator
Madrid | Spain
ricardo.martinez@elmundo.es

Humans on Trial: This is an illustration for the cover of a book

about a trial. All the animals are putting man on trial for his
deplorable treatment towards them - for eating them, for using
their names as insults, for conducting experiments on them, etc.
The book uses humour to make a reflection on the disdain with
which animals are treated by humans. The defence attorney is a
dog, the attorney for the accussed is a snake, and the judge is
an owl. Several witnesses are put on the stand and they testify
about the mistreatment received at the hands of humans. A very
successful musical adaptation was done for theatre in Madrid.

trial of the human race copyright ricardo martinez ortega 2011 | ink/photoshop

Ricardos six year old Weimaraner is called Blue. Blue came

as a Birthday present for Ricardos daughter Erin. She insisted
until he gave up. Now theyre all very happy with Blue as part
of the family. He has been given that name because when the
family got him they noticed that he had a very sad expression.
He is a very happy dog (despite his expression). Ricardo and
his family havent taught him many tricks, but he does high
fives, shakes hands, and plays dead! But he is by far the most
obedient and well behaved member of the family. Ricardo
often wishes he could be more like him. He is such a good
person.

Humans on Trial ~ Ricardo Martinez Ortega, 2011 (scratchboard, indian ink, and coloured in photoshop)

153

Elena Ospina was born and raised in Colombia, in 1963. Since

her childhood she has shown her preference for drawing, and
since then you would find her drawing her little heart away.
Never stopping to learn new techniques, participating in
workshops and exploring artistic possibilities. As her career
grew she has travelled between Colombia, Spain and USA.
Fascinated in the mixed media techniques, she was always
mixing materials to form artwork; from oil, watercolour,
gouache, and then to lead on to using programs for digital
illustration, such as Photoshop. Elena thinks that you should
never lose the sense of wonder, passion for creative work and
finding new things, so her style is constantly evolving and her
colour palette is unpredictable. She admires many artists but
lately she follows the work of Mattotti and Ajubel.
She spends much of her time making cartoons and is currently
working on creating a comic strip as a personal project. She
has worked for years on creating and illustrating innumerable
editorial and publicity projects. She has been awarded several
international and national contest prizes and honourable
mentions in graphic humour and illustration. She has also
taken part in individual and collective worldwide exhibitions
and her work has been published in books, newspapers and
magazines, worldwide. Currently, Elena lives in the USA and
develops illustration projects for Europe and Latin America
clients.

Elena Ospina with Borges

Elenas cat was a beautiful surprise gift from a great painter

friend of hers. He is a Persian breed, and now at the good
old age of ten years. They decided to name him Borges, in
honour of the famous Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges,
and also because he loves being read to, loves music and
strangely does not like television.

ELENAOSPINA

illustrator | cartoonist
Dallas, Texas | USA
elenaospin@hotmail.com
elenaospina.blogspot.com/

dragon shell copyright elena ospina 2012 | mixed media

He is very pleasant company, when Elena is working, he is

always beside her and is very curious. Tends to like seeing
what Eleni is drawing. The family has changed their country
of residency and continent several times and he has always
travelled with them. He is considered another member of the
family and so gains respect and responsibility. Elena cant
understand how some people can abandon their pets.

Dragon Shell: I think that each picture could create a world, an

atmosphere, a story. It is amazing to know that each person has
a different perception about the things that an image suggests.
I believe that communication is the most important aspect,
people see things in your work that you didnt think of and thats
magical, being open to interpretation.
For this illustration I used a watercolour background, in a random
spot technique. The character was built from a detail of another
illustration: it is an eye and an ear and a horn at the same time.
Around this I began building the composition. The character is
drawn with a pencil that accentuates light and shadow, then
with colored pencils, and then finally put in photoshop for
finishing and details.

Dragon Shell ~ Elena Ospina, 2012 (pencils, watercolor and photoshop)

155

Daria Palotti is a restless artist.

She nibbles spicy black roots and whirls the brushes on
the canvas. If she turns on the right, through the half-moon
windows, her gaze gets lost, endless space, on the countryside
of Pisa, where, after various wanderings, she returned to vent
her dariactivity, brushing colour here and there.
But when did all this start? Many, many years before...
She seems to remember she had spent a lot of time, while
still a child, on the book Sogni di giorno by Roland Topor,
lost in the monstrous designs, brilliant, and surreal, so full of
nightmare and dreams...and she likes to think that everything
started from there. Her passion has gone unscathed by the
high schools and academies that she attended in Florence,
where she graduated in stage design with a bewildering
thesis on Alice in Wonderland.
Enamoured of illustration for children, Daria begins to mix
her colors for books and picture books. But there are not
only the pages of books for her. Darias hands, elegant to
tell the truth, play with brushes and with canvas, creating an
imaginary world far from the stories loved by children and
often populated by female characters with great emotional
force: flooded by her motherhood, subtle and intelligent
women who charm with their awareness, dismembered
by their melancholy or mystical keepers of a heavy, painful
secret. And joyous playmates of insects, balanced on a life
of an acrobat.

Daria Palotti with La Mamma

Since Daria is a restless artist, and when canvas and brushes

are not enough to tell her stories, her hands take clay and
papier-mch and they model, until those dolls or dancers
fill her eyes and the floor planks of her studio. The one from
which, through half moon windows, she sees an endless
treasure chest of wonders.
alice in wonderland; the mad tea copyright daria palotti 2008 | mixed

Daria Palotti was born March 3, 1977. She graduated in

Accademia delle Belle Arti in Florence in 2002. She followed
a training path in illustration for childrens fiction and she has
published six books for Italian editors.
In recent years, the painting is her main activity, which leads
her to exhibit in group and solo exhibitions. She intertwines
the artistic activity with educational activities conducting
painting, clay or papier-mch modeling or circus workshops
addressed to children.

La Mamma is the mom of several generations of babies.

She looks like a small, skinny wide-eyed kitten. When she
was younger she was a little owl-cat! The family live close
to woods and sometimes some cats leave the home and
become wild cats, other are real pets and come and ring the
bell to have their lunch.
La Mamma is 7 years old and she is a mom, grandmother and
great-grandmother: her sons Red and Brigitte are part of the
crew, but many others come, eat, a few caresses and away
towards other adventures!

Alice in Wonderland; the Mad Tea ~ Daria Palotti, 2008 (mixed)

DARIAPALOTTI

illustrator | painter | sculpture

Pisa | Italy

www.dariapalotti.it
info@dariapalotti.it

Alice in Wonderland; the Mad Tea: This is my interpretation,

from some time ago, of the crazy tea party in Alice in Wonderland.
This is my favourite tale, because it is an inexhaustible source
of inspiration, thinking and images. It lends itself well to surreal
and magical interpretations, perhaps with a background of
disquietude.

157

Marco Piunti was born in a seaside town ontheMediterranean

Sea: San Benedetto del Tronto. Surprisingly enough, Marco
seems to like his town only in winter, when the place is
completely abandoned by humans. On the contrary, when
summer comes and the streets are filled with tourists, he
craves for solitude.
At some point in the past, at six perhaps, he threw away all
his crayons and abandoned his career as an artist: childish
frescoes on walls made his mother angry.
His life went on without art till 2008 when two turning
pointsoccurred: Lou, his dog, was born and made San
Benedetto del Tronto a better place; he was given a book
about Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain which
changedhis attitude to drawing. While he was reading it he
realised that there is no such thing as talent and that drawing
skills are not God-given gifts. He realised that skills must be
improved and achievements are the result of intensive study
and endless practice.

Lou is anoverexcited Czechoslovakianwolfdog. He was a gift

to Marco from his brother, one christmas. He took his name
from the rock musician, of Velvet Underground fame, Lou
Reed. He loves thewoods and,in the autumn, his favourite
season, he runs overfallen leaves.

Marco Piunti with Lou

Lou goes crazy for the snow and doesnt hesitate to jump
into a snow pile: the deeper, the better.On the other side, he
doesnt likedeep water, but is charmed by people swimming
in it.

MARCOPIUNTI
illustrator | painter
Milan | Italy
info@marcopiunti.com
www.marcopiunti.com

hope for rain copyright marco piunti 2011 | digital

Inspring he will run after butterflies trying to bite them. When

summercomeshewilldo nothing but sleep all afternoon: he
will wake upin the night to hunt fireflies.

Hope for Rain: Hope for rain portraits the uneasiness of the
individual living outside its natural environment, constantly
feeling like a fish out of water. Ive always been impressed by
the discomfort people experience on a daily basis: the fact that
people do not feel at ease with their body and their surroundings.
I felt the need to give it a shape.
One day, while I was working in a pharmacy shop, I sketched
Hope for Rain on a 5x5 cm piece of paper, the kind of paper
doctors use to prescribe pills. I immediately realized two things:
I was getting closer to illustrate my worldview; I was spending
eight hours a day in the wrong place. As a result, I quit the job,
gathered up as many pencils as I could and, like the fish, began
to hope for rain.

Hope for Rain ~ Marco Piunti, 2011 (digital)

167

Yuko Shimizu ()is a Japanese illustrator based in

New York City and instructor at the School of Visual Arts.
Newsweek Japanhas chosen Yuko as one of 100 Japanese
People the World Respects100)in
2009. Her first self-titled monographwas released world-wide
from German publisher Gestalten in 2011. The first childrens
book is scheduled to come out from Abrams in 2013.
You may have seen her work on The Gap T-shirts, Pepsi
cans, VISA billboards, Microsoft and Target ads, as well as
on the book covers of Penguin, Scholastic, DC Comics, and
on the pages of NY Times, Time, Rolling Stone, New Yorker
and in many other publications over last ten years.
But illustration is actually Yukos second career choice.
Although art has always been her passion, she had initially
chosen a more practical path of studying advertising and
marketing at Waseda University and took a job in corporate
PR in Tokyo.It never quite made her happy. At age 22, she
was in mid-life crisis.
Yuko ended up working the corporate job for 11 years, so she
could figure out what she really wanted in life, as well as to
save up just enough to play a biggest gamble of her life: She
moved to New York City in 1999, where she briefly spent her
childhood, to study art for the first time. Yuko graduated with
MFA from SVAs Illustration as Visual Essay Program in 2003
and has been illustrating since. She has also been teaching
the next generation of talents at the alma mater.

Yuko Shimizu with Bruiser

photo: Anton Repponen/photo.repponen.com

She works at her studio in midtown Manhattan, and fulfils

her passion of world travel by giving lectures and workshops
around the globe and various cities in the US. She has not
gotten into mid-life crisis since she has become an artist.
the progressive calendar copyright yuko shimizu 2010 | ink with digital colouring

Bruiser, just turned 8 years old, and became part of Yukos

family three years ago at age 5. He was originally the dog
of Yukos sister, but Bruiser was experiencing hard times
getting along with two other dogs she had. Yuko was initially
supposed to babysit him for ten days while she was away.
Bruiser never went back to his original home. Yuko assumed
he was given his name based on the movie Legally Blonde,
which Yuko mentions she has actually never seen. Yuko was
initially very hesitant of becoming one of those New York girls
who has a tiny pet Chihuahua. But it didnt take long before
Bruiser charmed her into loving him.
He almost always takes the subway to Yukos studio and
keeps her company, through the day. He loves chasing after
a mini tennis ball, during play, in a very long hallway that is
situated in Yukos studio floor. Bruiser is also one of those
cordial dogs, and likes going in and out of other studios to say
hi to the neighbors.

YUKOSHIMIZU

The Progressive Calendar: This image was created for The

Progressive Magazine for their annual Hidden History of the
United States calendar 2011.

New York City, New York | USA

The image was to commemorate June 12, 1967 when the

decision was made to legalize interracial marriage throughout
the United States.

illustrator

yuko@yukoart.com
www.yukoart.com

Instead of drawing figures, I wanted to use love birds of different

colors to symbolize this important day in the history.

The Progressive Calendar ~ Yuko Shimizu, 2010 (ink/digital)

187

Shichigoro-Shingo is a freelance illustrator from Japan.

He has been drawing since from a very early age, and
learned the art of oil painting at the University of Japan. He
graduated from the university in 2002. Shingo, however, had
to take several other jobs for the interim between graduation
and taking up illustration as a permanent career. He started
drawing again since four years ago, and turned his attention
to the art of digital pictures, using Photoshop. A tool that he
was self taught in, since his decision to become an illustrator.
Shingo then began to officially publish his illustrations on the
Internet, where he has gained a great reputation and respect
from his fans. Since then, he has spent every day at his work
station drawing and developing new picture concepts.
Shingos images are painted with a very characteristic
industrial theme. Mixing both biological and mechanised
machinery in a robot, Kuricha look, with a earthy mineral
quality to their textures. Many of the creations have a very
strong animal motif that is a characteristic of Shingos work.
Sometimes drawn with strong animal motifs.
Although the designs tend to carry a sense of dark, unhappy
and negative emotions, they are achieved to reflect Shingos
view on the developing environment around him. What is
intended is that the pieces also have a small light of peace,
kindness, joy contained within them that draws out the
positive in each miniature robot like image.

Shichigoro-Shingo with Apollo

One of Shingos main inspirations is Japanese bio-mech

illustrator, Kazuhiko Nakamura. Other artists that have
influenced Shingo in his work are depicted in such favorite
films like AKIRA. And from an early age artist Katsuhiro
Otomo. Generally Shingo is affected by a number of artists as
well as Manga and Anime, movies and music. Brian Despain
and H.R.Giger, to name just a couple of the influences. Shingo
also enjoys the steampunk world, and many of his works are
painted in the texture of the metal black. He feels there is a
strong attraction to black and white or the black metal texture
in this themes.

The union between Shingo and Apollo was not always good.
Although Shingo was a strong cat lover, their first meeting
was not of a strong mutual attraction toward each other.
Shingo would suffer from very strong cat allergies. However,
since their union, all has worked out well and the past eight
years they have become close and live together. With Apollo
able to relax and purr on his stomach. Also, for Shingo, the
past four years has seen a relaxing of the severe cat allergy.

SHICHIGOROSHINGO
illustrator

Yokohama | Japan
www.shichigoro.com

Although there have been a few trips to the vets in Apollos

old age, she remains strong and has maintained her fine lustre
in her fur. Shingo sees her as a precious part of his family.
Shingo sincerely hopes that they will spend many more long,
happy days together, with even more years of companionship
ahead for the both of them.

piyopiyo copyright shichigoro-shingo 2012 | digital drawing/photoshop

Shingos cat is Apollo, a 17-year-old female, American

Shorthair cat. The US NASA space program successfully
landed on the moon in 1969; using the name Apollo, who
in Greek mythology was the god of music and poetry. So,
Shingo being inspired by this therefore used the deity as the
origin of her name. She was born on July 20th.

Piyopiyo: I began to start working in the digital arena as at

the time it was economically expensive to buy the materials
for painting. The process I take, digitally, is using a tablet and
Photoshop. I process the image up on layers that are rendered
above an original sketch on the lower level.
Piyopiyo is one of the recent works that draws on the motif of
animal robots.
This is a robot modelled after the birds. There are other works
in the series, such as cats and rabbits and a hedgehog, based
on this mechanised nature theme. I have tried to contrast the
dirty and dark negative aspects of his body, with the dark
steampunk look, with the more foreign areas of his face and
chest. Using the light and colour to define curiosity and purity
which is reflected in his small eyes of red, and soothing music
of the bird song in the Suzuyaka pleasant wind that blows and
can be heard from the fans of his chest.
I aim to continue drawing new animal robots to accompany him
in the nature based series.

Piyopiyo ~ Shichigoro-Shingo, 2012 (digital drawing/photoshop)

189

Rob Snow was born in Leicester, England in 1965. His

earliest recollection of drawing was around the age of six,
when he used to study and draw E.H.Shepherds Winnie the
Pooh characters. Since then Rob has grown and developed
in his skills. Told by art teachers not to pursue the subject as
a career, he decided to prove them wrong. Robs birth in an
age without computers has made him appreciate and wonder
at the simplicity and complexities alike, of the humble pencil.
Rob has been drawing and being creative for over twenty-five
years now. Always able to draw from an early age, Rob took a
degree course in art and design, where his ability for drawing
steered him to the animation department. He graduated his
degree in media production in 1989. Later Rob decided to
take a master degree whilst lecturing at a British university.
There lateral thinking practices were a key element to his
thesis studies, and now aid greatly in his idea creations.
Although Rob worked in the animation business for a while,
he returned to the art of illustration and graphics after his
return to Greece, in 2000. Where he makes his living, as well
as enjoys his passion for drawing his own creative works (as
seen on the right).
Recently, Rob started a series of illustrations entitled Animal
Behaviour that showed the quirky side of nature, and was
the inspiration for this book along with his loving and trusty
companion, Honey. Rob intends to work on a second Animal
Behaviour book as well as two new series entitled Habitats
and Animal Talk, which both continue the theme of reflecting
his love of nature in a more bizarre, but meaningful way.
Rob has recently had a series of illustration on the front cover
of New Scientist, as well as working for animation companies
doing work for BBC childrens television. He also does design
work for the notable Ritzenhoff glass company, in Germany,
who have produced six of his designs in their range of high
class crystal glasses.
Rob, like Marko, is a strong believer that art is not a Godgiven talent and that to achieve anything to a greater level of
skill takes a great deal of practice, to which he is willing to
give in his spare time. Although Robs main love is the pencil,
he has also decided to engage technology and paints many
of his illustration on his Mac, using Photoshop. His new series
is actually a combination of the two techniques; traditional
and technological.

Honey, is a Vizsla mix, at the age of two years. She was saved
by one of Robs friends from certain death after a hunter
abandoned nine puppies from a litter, in woods, when she
was only four weeks of age.Although Rob went to see all the
puppies, it was obvious that Honey would be his companion.
Mainly, as on arriving to see the nine puppies sleeping in a
basket, Honey was the only one that awoke and walked to
Robs foot. Where she subsequently sat on it.

ROBSNOW

illustrator | graphic designer

Thessaloniki | Greece
robsnow@mac.com
www.robsnow.org

She took her name, after some discussion, based on the

amazing honey coloured sheen of her coat. Honey and Robs
lives have now become intertwined in more ways than one.
As Rob works at home, in his freelance capacity, and Honeys
breed lives up to its nickname, the sticker breed, you will
find the two of them glued. Whether in front of the television,
on the work chair in front of Robs iMac or even in the bed.
She loves to spend as much time with Rob as possible, and
has a strange ritual, that on his return from college or long
trips, Honey pushing him down on the sofa and licks his bald
head until she is happy.
Rob, like his whole family, has always been an animal lover.
Having several animals through his life. Honey however has
now become the strongest part of Robs life. Not only inspiring
the artist in his work, but making his life a little more fulfilled
and enjoyable. They both look forward to a long and happy
companionship together.

Fly in My Soup: There is a common English joke that begins;

Waiter, waiter! Theres a fly in my soup... Rob was thinking
about this one day, and the idea popped into his head of what
would be the best scenario for this joke. An image began to
appear in his head of a toad (who eats flies) taking out his
disgust in this humorous complaint. As the idea grew, it seemed
more creative that the toad was a stuffy old Victoria type, who
was talking about the incident in a kind of after dinner ramble of
daily events. So the image was formed.

fly in my soup copyright rob snow 2011 | pencil/photoshop

Rob Snow with Honey

Once the necessary reference images were collected, several

attempts were made to capture the pose of a nonchalant, but
grand old figure who has mind to say his business. To make this
work better the positioning of the toad in Victorian type clothing
and sitting in a regal chair was added, to help set the scene.
The sketch was done and scanned into the Mac. Then the
meticulous process of rendering the toads head took place.
Using some 20 layers to generate the whole effect. The entire
piece took three days to complete, and has become one of
Robs favourites.
Its style was congratulated one day, when New Scientist
magazine contacted Rob and asked him to recreate the image
with a tortoise, to be on the Christmas cover of their popular
magazine, in 2011. This however, stays the highlight in Robs
first illustration book, and inspired many more of the crazy
animal drawings contained within.

Fly in My Soup ~ Rob Snow, 2011 (pencil/digital)

193

Yating Sun was born in China, in a city named Qingdao,

famous for its beer. Since the year 2009, she decided to move
to America, to take up study in the Academy of Art university,
in San Fransisco, taking a major in Visual development and
soon she will complete her master degree.
During her study time, she has received several internships
and attracted freelance work from children book publishers
through to computer games companies. Working as an
illustrator and concept artist. Yating really likes working in
the cartoony style and wants to develop this approach more
in the future, and hopefully aims to get a job at her dream
companies of Dreamworks or Pixar animation.
She likes to draw in both traditional and digital media. Seeing
digital painting as a kind of faster approach, where its better
for commercial pictures. Yatings usual tools are Photoshop
and Illustrator. And sometimes she will enjoy oil painting or
watercolour, as she wants to feel that feeling when real pens
and brushes touch on paper.

YATINGSUN

concept artist | illustrator

San Francisco, California | USA
skllyanin123@gmail.com
www.krop.com/skllyanin/
www.facebook.com/skllyanin

foxes copyright yating sun 2012 | photoshop

Yating Sun with Seahorse

Yating has a very lovely pet cat named Seahorse. The cat
gained its name from his last owner. He is a two years
old, American shorthair cat, with a dark grey coat and
characteristic white flashes. Most of the time he is a quiet cat,
but sometimes likes a naughty moment of evilness. Seahorse
has become like Yatings very close friend and son. He likes
to sleep on her lap and always wake her up in the morning.
They spend a great deal of time in each others company and
if Yating wants him, he will always be there. Drawing is about
expression, and Yating likes to observe her cat, then draw his
expression or his poses sometimes on paper to express what
he is thinking.

Foxes: Foxes tells a story about two foxes. One fox mother
taking her fox son outside to find food on a snowing Winter
evening. Yating thinks illustration is the best form to express
the creator ideas, such as personality. Whether it be human or
animal, love will always exist, as in this moment; the fox son
wants to play around, but Mother with her responsibilities
doesnt let him. She must protect him. And in the image, Yating
uses very warm colours to render this moment, so even in a
cold Winter day, with snow falling, we will feel the warmth inside
them, and see the sense of emotions pervade.
Yating used Photoshop to do the whole picture, from the
initial sketch through to the final output. Firstly, however, she
researched to find some references about fox and have a big
direction to what kind of story the picture will tell. Then it was a
matter to choose cool and warm colours to give the necessary
contrast to the scene.

Foxes ~ Yating Sun, 2012 (digital)

195

Heidi Taillefer was born in 1970. She lived and grew up in

Montreal, Quebec, where she was raised by a family filled
with creative talent. For this reason, Heidi found it easy to
become interested in art, and began drawing at the age of
three. To continue her passion for art, and improve her skills,
Heidi took ten years of private lessons at La Palette School
of Art, Beaconsfield Quebec, with a strong discipline toward
watercolour painting.
Heidi has had a strong fascination of the bizarre, with great
interest in the oddities of animal specimens and turn-of-thecentury sideshow artefacts. Many of these elements can be
seen woven into her work today. Where they tend to focus
on the disassembled elements of mechanical and organic to
combine as a freakish entity, with carnival embellishments.
Later, Heidi pursued a course in Humanistic Studies at McGill
University, Montreal, Quebec. Taking trips to developing
countries and able to allow herself to focus on the human
condition as another point of focus that would later appear
in her artwork.

Heidi Taillefer with Cricket

Although her training at La Palette School of Art enabled her

to develop great skills in watercolour painting, Heidi today
paints mainly in oils. For the past 20 years Heidis work has
focused on the hybridization of biology with technology, at
first reflecting the ubiquity of technology throughout society
by depicting people and animals as robotic specimens, and
later incorporating organic material into its depiction. As
our dependance on technology and its myriad accessories
continues to explode, she connected this hybridization with
philosophical musings on the human condition, which seems
to be the one constant that does not change.
Heids work is styled in accordance with early turn of the
century surrealists such as Max Ernst, Girogio DeChirico and
Paul Delvaux. It consists largely of compositions of disparate
elements (also considered mechanical by virtue of their
composition) taken as a whole that defines a final meaning,
while exploring metaphysical, conscious and subconscious
aspects of our human nature. Seen in a contemporary context,
the robotic or machine-like forms are a reflection of our
relationship with technology today though at times, some of
the styling can be considered pop-surrealist in presentation.
Heidis work has been shown and collected worldwide. And
she also undertakes notable art projects for such companies
as Cirque du Soleil and Infiniti cars.

HEIDITAILLEFER
painter

Montreal | Canada
heidi.taillefer@gmail.com
www.heiditaillefer.com

Cricket is an oriental, with strong characteristics of the breed,

and Heidi states that he is like a cartoon character in her
eyes. With tons of personality, clever, mischievous and super
playful, all rolled up into one ball of fur.

cheshire copyright heidi taillefer 2009 | oil on canvas

Heidi has two cat companions; Cricket and Bean. Bean was
the first of her two cats, but Cricket (pictured here) became
adopted by Heidi to be a companion for Bean. Heidi decided
to give Cricket the name that best suited his character. Upon
receiving him into their home, Cricket would bounce up
and down on the spot, much as a cricket, and so the name
seemed more than appropriate.
Cheshire: Cheshire fits into a continued series of images I have
painted over the years, with a strong theme toward animals. As
I have a fond connection with all creatures, they have come to
play a strong role in my ideas and creations. This image is no
exception. Painted in oil, it features a cheshire cat (no relation
to Alice in Wonderland, even though its actions make it slowly
disappear before our eyes), who through its need to scratch in
typical cat fashion, is releasing a plethora of hatching butterflies.
Within its bodys shell are countless caterpillars who help fuel
the transformation into the flight of beauty and colour. Theres
not much more meaning in it than that, it was just a beautiful
image to produce, which I enjoyed painting.

Cheshire ~ Heidi Taillefer, 2009 (oil on canvas)

201

Kristin Tercek was born, raised and continues to live in New

Jersey. She graduated with a degree in film from NYU and
started a digital ink and paint company with her husband that
has provided animation services for nearly 20 years.
In 2005 she started Cuddly Rigor Mortis LLC, hand making
plush dolls of her own design in her spare time. Her Cuddly
characters quickly developed a worldwide following with fans
ranging from the United States to Japan. In 2009 she decided
to put away her sewing machine and pick up a paintbrush.
Self taught at the age of eleven, it has been a constant
calling. No longer limited by the constraints of plush design,
the range of Cuddly characters quickly grew to include food,
real and imaginary animals, and charming plant portraits. By
combining her love of nature with her art, she continues to
push herself with an ever expanding parade of cock-eyed
creatures.
Her paintings have been shown all over the world, from
Auguste Clown Gallery in Australia to Gallery Nucleus in
California to La Gaite Lyrique Museum in Paris. She most
recently added canines to her fanbase when her designs were
licensed by Petco and produced as plush dog toys.

Kristin Tercek with Ginger

Ginger has been with her and her husband for the past 10
years. Saved from a pet store that was going to send her
back because she was so sick with pneumonia, the couple
was able to get her emergency treatment. She spent the
first couple weeks hooked up to an IV in the pet hospital as
they desperately tried to control the infection. Kristin and her
husband visited her every day and she always wagged her
tail. When Ginger was given a clean bill of health and released
to their care, the hospital staff who cared for her came out
and thanked them for bringing her in.

KRISTINTERCEK
painter

Jackson, New Jersey | USA

kt@cuddlyrigormortis.com
www.cuddlyrigormortis.com

gwizzly copyright cuddly rigor mortis, llc 2012. all rights reserved | acrylic on wood

Ginger is Daddys girl, but finds it in her heart to spend time

with Kristin while she paints in her studio. Bringing her a ball
or toy and curling up in a blanket next to her desk. Kristin had
another chihuahua, Ricky, that she called her white shadow
because he followed her everywhere she went. Ricky was
16 when he passed away of an enlarged heart last year. She
hasnt been able to replace him, so Ginger is getting twice the
love now.

Gwizzly: Gwizzly is part of my ongoing Im Not Hungry

series. The series came about while I was in the midst of figuring
out a theme for an upcoming small solo show. I took a break
from brainstorming and stared at the many squirrels digging for
acorns in my backyard.
An image of a forelorn squirrel with an exuberant acorn dancing
on his head appeared in my mind. That image began the series
that also includes an Emperor Tamarin with a Brazilian cherry
and a Northern Saw-Whet Owl with a Deer Mouse. I thoroughly
enjoy researching animals and their favorite foods as well as
classic dance poses. Gwizzly is a Grizzly Bear with a dancing
Pink Salmon on his head (the salmons pose was inspired by
Fred Astaire).

Gwizzly ~ Kristin Tercek, 2012 (acrylic on wood)

205

Martin Wittfooth was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1981 and

raised in Finland, and now residing in Brooklyn, New York,
Martin Wittfooth received his MFA from The School of Visual
Arts in New York City. He has exhibited extensively in galleries
and museums throughout North America and Europe, and his
work has appeared in numerous publications, including cover
features in books and magazines such as New American
Paintings, Hi Fructose, and American Artist.
Much of Wittfooths work stems from a personal desire to
process and reflect on the increasingly haywire relationship,
confusion, and general detachment - both of experience and
understanding - that the modern-day industrialized world has
with its surrounding environment, and the forced and uneasy
assimilations that take place when the two inevitably meet.
Wittfooths art draws both technical and conceptual
inspiration from a wide variety of classical painters, but in
their subject matter and themes his paintings are concerned
with addressing a broad range of contemporary issues.

Martin got Luna as a rescue dog in early 2012. She had been
employed (or rather, interning) at a vet school somewhere
in the South, where the students would practice surgerypreparation shaving on her. When Martin received her she had
a patch of hair shaved from her side. He is happy to report
that its all grown back since though.

MARTINWITTFOOTH
painter

Brooklyn, New York | USA

info@martinwittfooth.com
www.martinwittfooth.com

entheogen copyright martin wittfooth 2012 | oil on linen

Martin Wittfooth with Luna

Needless to say, not a fitting destiny for this sweetie pie, whos
become a veritable beacon of positive vibes in Martins studio.
She has settled in quite nicely, and turned his previously
rather luxurious couch into an oversized dog-bed of sorts.
Martin works in a building with a lot of painter friends on
the various floors, and she has become the resident mascot
whos managed to steal everyones heart. Martin is afraid that
Luna might find him excruciatingly boring sometimes.

Entheogen: Entheogens, or as theyre more commonly known,

psychedelics, have a history of human synergistic relationships
as old as our species itself. Shamanism as its understood
in relation to a desire to reconnect with the other, with the
collectivity of life, with mystery, with nature, is a tradition largely
forgotten, and often stigmatized against, by modern ideologies.
This painting is a celebration of the rediscovery, and consequent
reinvigorated widespread dialogue about these tools and their
implications.

Entheogen ~ Martin Wittfooth, 2012 (oil on linen)

223

Chet Zar was born in 1967, in San Pedro, California. Chet

became interested in art at an early age. Luckily for Chet his
entire childhood was spent sketching, painting and sculpting,
due to his very supportive parents.
Chets darker aspects toward art started at an early age, with
a great deal of influence and born fascination with horror films
and such genres, at this age in his life. Even at this early age
he could relate to the portrayed emotions of fear, anxiety
and isolation the media would present. With great respect
to this, many of Chets early childhood imagery would reflect
this theme and his drawing from then through till today have
similar reflections of this.
Due to this fascination, it was inevitable that Chets first career
was that in the horror film industry, where he began work as
a special effects make-up artist, designer and sculpture.
Chet Zar has worked on notable films such as; The Ring,
Hellboy I & II, Planet of the Apes, where his role was to
create creature designs and special effects make-up. He was
also responsible for the critically acclaimed music videos,
featuring the art metal band Tool. Though much of Chets
work is based in his traditional forms, he has learnt to embrace
the digital tools to enable his career to work on special effects
as well. Making his dark visions come alive in 3D animation.
Which were used effectively in Tools live show and later his
own DVD of dark 3D animation, Disturb the Normal.

photo: Kevin Knight/theshutterclick.com

sleeping dragon copyright chet zar 2010 | oil on board

Chet Zar with Tatsu

Although working in the film industry was well rewarding and

challenging, Chet felt creatively stagnant, and so in 2000
at the suggestion of horror film director, Clive Barker, Chet
returned to his personal passions of drawing, painting and
sculpting and decided to concentrate on his own work. Try
his hand at painting in oils, his new series of images brought
a new inspired sense of purpose. Showing new levels of
artistic freedom that allowed his vision in the dark side to
be expressed better, with great effect (and often with dark
humor).
Chet Zar takes a great deal of influence for his artistic nature
from such painters as James Zar (stepfather and artistic
mentor), Beksinski, H.R. Giger, Frank Frazetta, M.C. Escher,
Bosch, John Singer Sargent and master of Americana,
Norman Rockwell.

Tatsu is a Rhodesian Ridgeback/Pitbull mix. He was being

sponsored by a local animal rescue called For The Love of
Animals dog and cat rescue and living in a shelter for nearly
2 1/2 years.
He is a super sweet dog, but he does have a lot of separation
anxiety due his long incarceration, so he pretty much follows
Chet everywhere he goes. Luckily, Chet works at home or he
would need to hire a dog sitter as Tatsu tears the house up if
he is left alone. Hes a pretty big dog (and a bit chunky) but he
thinks hes a lap dog and insists on sitting in Chets lap and
sleeping in the bed with Chet and his wife. Chet loves that
damn dog!

CHETZAR

painter | digital artist

Monrovia, California | USA
chet@chetzar.com
www.chetzar.com

Sleeping Dragon ~ Chet Zar, 2010 (oil on board)

Sleeping Dragon: One night (shortly after rescuing Tatsu) I was

painting in my studio and noticed that Tatsu had climbed up
onto this chair and fell asleep. I thought it was really cute so I
took a picture.
After looking at the picture, I realized it would make a great
painting. I hadnt done much traditional painting so this would
be my approach to it. I was really happy with it, so much so that
its one of the few pieces of mine that I will not sell.

225

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