PECULIARBLISS
ISSUE 7 / CREATURES / SHYAMA GOLDEN
PeculiarBliss.com is a stream of doodles and images, featuring creative, original works from sketchbooks and other mediums into one location, with the hope to inspire continued creative thinking. PeculiarBliss Magazine is the quarterly continuation of this effort. This issues theme: “Creatures� Cover Image: Shyama Golden
Food with Legs No. 2 - VAUGHN FENDER
P E C U L I A R B L I S S ISS U E S EV EN
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CREATURES - Harriet Gray
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CREATURES - C. M. Carter
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Muntjac - K. Kramer
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CREATURES - A.G. Fabrega
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Collage #737 - Mildred Town
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CREATURES - Falco Verholen
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The KEyHole MONSTER - Jason Ruddy
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CREATURES 1 - Paul Windle
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SPECIMEN - Nicole Miles
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whales - Ryan Crane
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kraken - Poonam Mistry
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Striped Elephant - Robin Cottage
PREVIEW
introducing
Shyama Golden “ Rhymes with Llama”– mix equal parts education and creativity, add the heat of a deadline and a splash of humor. Shyama Golden has found a way to temper her creative impulses with the demands of a small business. As an artist and designer in demand, Golden shares with us, her ingredients to success as a professional. interview BY: SHANNON DUGGAN
“RED RIVER NIGHT CAP” IN PROCESS (OiL PAINTING)
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PREVIEW: SHYA M A GOLDEN
Sometimes it’s a mood I want to capture from a certain place or person, and sometimes it’s the way I feel about a time and place that exists only in my imagination.
What does “creature” mean to you (as a child and now)? The first impression that comes to mind is something quirky and not human. As a child, I would have thought of a creature as more fun, and a lot less lame than a grown up. You have specific processes for creating your work: sketch, refine, scan project, rework, complete. Do you have a process for working with clients? Yes, and it’s pretty similar. Actually another step that’s important to me is starting with some research before I sketch. Whether it’s for design work or a painting, I rarely just think of an idea and execute it right away. Process is even more important when working for clients because keeping the client in the loop early on can save you both time in the long run.
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Are there techniques you use to alleviate the disconnect between request (client) and response (designer)? It’s all about finding the right match. One designer’s ideal client is another designer’s worst nightmare—you just have to be up front about the kind of work you are looking for. Personally, I look for work that allows me creative freedom, although technical restrictions are fine. Ask any new client the right questions to make sure you both want the same things. Do they want you to come up with your own concept or are they only using you for your knowledge of the Adobe Suite? Can they show you design that they like, and if so, what do you think of it? Figure out early if you like similar things, otherwise there’s a whole lot of pain waiting for you. Do you have an interest in the subject matter you are dealing with? You will need to do some research and understand their business, and it helps if that is something that interests you, and at the very least not something you are opposed to. PREVIEW: SHYA M A GOLDEN
“ Passion poster” • typeset
“ C LIENTS FROM HELL poster” • HAND DRAWN, LETTERPRESS
“ C andyvore poster” • hand drawn, LETTERPRESS
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PREVIEW: SHYA M A GOLDEN
How do you deal with looming deadlines, intricate visions, and specific client restrictions? Deadlines and technical restrictions aren’t normally a negative experience for me. I actually do quite well with them. Some of my favorite projects have involved both of these (that’s not necessarily why they turned out to be my favorite, but it didn’t affect them one way or another). Intricate visions can be a bit more tricky. If it’s a vision I agree with, or someone I can learn from creatively, that’s great, but for the most part I’d rather work with people who make the extra effort to find and hire those who they already trust and then allow them to do their jobs. Are there certain artist or designer stereotypes you wish to debunk or perhaps rely on through your work and online presence? Maybe the idea that being an artist isn’t a real job. An artist is a small business owner and should be seen that way, and think of herself that way. Where do you go for critical feedback? I usually ask a few friends, keeping it to a small group so I don’t get overwhelmed with conflicting opinions. I’ve gotten valuable feedback through twitter, flickr and the like, but ultimately the advice of my close friends tends to have more weight. Do you invite friends, clients, and buyers into your work space? My work space is also my home, and I like to have friends over for that reason, but I have buyers and clients at the studio only occasionally. Buyers have usually seen the work in a public place already, but of course they are always welcome to see it in my work space if they’d like to. Clients rarely meet me at my place, as it seems more professional to me to meet in a neutral space like a coffee shop. In an interview for The Daily Texan, Lizelle Villapando, co-owner of Parts & Labour, shared that she felt that your work is“…not trying to send a message; it’s just cute.” Could you offer a follow-up response? Lizelle’s quote may be taken a bit out of context, but yes, it’s true that my art is meant to give you a feeling rather than a message. 18
Sometimes it’s a mood I want to capture from a certain place or person, and sometimes it’s the way I feel about a time and place that exists only in my imagination. Whenever I get an email from a stranger saying that my work made their day, I know my art is serving its purpose. By including your preliminary sketches with your final products on your website, the viewer is allowed to see a bit more of your process and personality. What lead you to post the sets of images? I started posting my process because I’ve always been interested in the process of other artists. In a time when privacy is being replaced by the idea of transparency, and in theory, honesty, an artist who is still trying to hide behind a shroud of mystery might be missing out on a chance to really connect with fans and fellow artists. If I didn’t share my process, it would be easier to convince people that I’m superhuman, divinely inspired, and never make mistakes. That would be really cool, but I’ve found that people like the fact that I’m just human. There’s no magic to what I do—just dedication and a bit of resourcefulness which all people are capable of. You mentioned learning code and participating in a NASA program on your own accord as a young student. How would you like to see high school art classes embracing the visual arts of this age? Is there technology or assignments that you believe could be brought into a k-12 arts curriculum? I think it wouldn’t hurt for kids to learn how to write some HTML and CSS in grade school, just to dispel some of the fear around it. I think technology relating to the web changes too often—it’s something you need to learn on your own rather that in a class— but maybe more people would teach themselves if they had a background in it. I also didn’t have any concept of what graphic design was before college, and that’s something that would be great to teach earlier on as well, as many people would benefit from a basic understanding of it.
“ Home Sweet Brachiosaurus ” • OIL Painting
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PREVIEW: SHYA M A GOLDEN
“ C overt Operation ” • OIL Painting
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PREVIEW: SHYA M A GOLDEN
“ K ENNY AND THE bADLUCK KITTEN” • hand drawn, SILKSCREEN
“ R ed River Nightcap” • OIL Painting
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PREVIEW: SHYA M A GOLDEN
While dinosaurs and some retro elements can be spotted in your portfolio, I tend to read your work as futuristic. How does time and history fuel your projects? That’s an interesting way to look at it. Elements from the past always repeat themselves and I don’t see the future as being something that will completely reinvent itself. That’s why I like the use of anachronistic elements that are a weird remix of history. It’s a safe bet that the future won’t look like my paintings, but it will probably be some other blend of things from the past, present, and things we’ve never seen before. I do tend to fixate on the aesthetics mid–century era which was ironically preoccupied with glorifying the future (which is now the present). It’s not that I wish I had been born in those times, discrimination against women and minorities was an accepted part of American culture back then, for one thing. What draws me to that era is how people seemed to feel so modern in comparison to past generations, and the fact that we feel the same way about ourselves today. I like to imagine how people 70 years from now will look at our times and see us as “retro and cute.” Are there certain aesthetic choices you make due to your multicultural upbringing? How do certain traditions imbue themselves in your work? I don’t think I’ve made any conscious choices to include elements that are unique to my Sri Lankan-American upbringing. I do have a different perspective on American culture than someone with a purely Western background, which may make its way into what I do on some level, but it hasn’t been a recognizable part of my work yet, at least. How do you view the intersection of music and visual art in Austin and in your personal arts career? Having such a vibrant live music community, Austin is also home to some great gig poster art, which is really an intersection between music, art, and design. I think artists in particular have a connection to music because it inspires what we do. I know for me personally, I always have music on when I’m working, it keeps me productive and happy, and it’s part of my creative process. 22
letter press BUSINESS CARDS
What can we expect next from you? I’m working on my first series of paintings, which are narrative and illustrative much like my existing work. END
visit SHYAMA’S website for more info: www.SHYAMAGOLDEN.COM
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Horsefly & Seahorse - Louise Byng
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a fourth beast - Josh LaFayette
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creatures - Hayley Warnham
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creature - Duran Rose
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creatures - Abe Honest
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creatures - Zach Cohen
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cross section of creatures - Hannah Fichandler
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Pink mohawk - Zak Hutson
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Creatures - Mark Mottershead
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squiddle - Chris Howker
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flamingocrown - Laura Wolfram
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creatures 2 - Paul Windle
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Boneyard Butterfly - Stephen Brown
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Creatures - Emma Cowley
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wolf - Meeralee Patel
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Hybrid - Ashley Niro
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swarm behavior - Corey Corcoran
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specimen - Tyler Varsell
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Sounding creatures I (wet) - Scarlett - Karen KRAMER Tierney
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creatures - Chris Piascik
P E C ULIA RB LIS S IS SUE S EV EN PeculiarBliss Magazine is a quarterly publication. To contribute to the magazine or website, email us: pbsubmissions@gmail.com
Editor / Designer Vaughn Fender www.vaughnfender.com @vaughnfender
Associate Editor Hannah Fichandler
Writer Shannon Duggan @sduggs
Contributors Shyama Golden www.ShyamaGolden.com www.twitter.com/shyamagolden Harriet Gray www.harrietgray.co.uk C. M. Carter www.inthequiff.blogspot.com K. Kramer www.vainvanveen.tumblr.com A. G. Fabrega www.blog.agfabrega.com Mildred Town www.unclemildred.blogspot.com Falco Verholen www.lifemachine.daportfolio.com
Louise Byng www.louisebyng.blogspot.com
Meeralee Patel www.meeralee.blogspot.com
Hayley Warnham www.hayleywarnham.com
Ashley Niro
Josh Lafayette www.joshlafayette.com Duran Rose www.duranrose.com Abe Honest www.flickr.com/photos/abehonest Zach Cohen www.cohzach.com Hannah Fichandler Zak Hutson
Jason Ruddy www.monsterriot.com
Mark Mottershead www.canhoto.co.uk
Paul Windle www.prehistoricgnar.tumblr.com
Chris Howker www.chrishowker.artworkfolio.com
Nicole Miles www.pyropanda.carbonmade.com
Laura Wolfram www.laurawolfram.com
Ryan Crane
Stephen Brown
Poonam Mistry www.poonam-mistry.com
Emma Cowley www.emmacowley.co.uk
Robin Cottage www.robin-cottage.de
Michael Hsiung www.michaelchsiung.com
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Corey Corcoran http://coreycorcoran.com Tyler Varsell www.tylervarsell.com Scarlett Tierney www.scarlettrebecca.co.uk Chris Piascik www.chrispiascik.com Craig Fishink www.Fishink.co.uk Camz D. www.heycamz.tk Jason Yang www.invisibleelement.com Alvaro Tapia Hidalgo www.alvarotapia.com Ale Siniestro www.alesiniestro.com Graham Franciose www.grahamfranciose.com
ISSUE 7 - Q3 - 2011
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creatures - Craig Fishink
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double furball - camz d.
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creatures - jason yang
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BESTIA - Alvaro Tapia Hidalgo
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extasis - ale siniestro
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beauty and the beast - GRAHAM FRANCIOSE
We are now accepting submissions for the theme:
“EXPLOSIVE”
Submission Deadline
12.16.11
Content: We are open to all mediums —doodles, photography, digital, paintings, collages etc. All work should be sent by email. Please submit work to pbsubmissions@gmail.com with the title of the current theme. Guidelines: 1. Dimensions: 10 x 10 Inches 2. P lease create your work high res and provide a copy @ 100 dpi. 3. P rovide your contact info with all submissions. 4. O nly send work you want to have considered for publication.
Photo by Tamir Kalifa
P E C U LI A R B LI S S . C O M