Vera van Wolferen

Dutch animator, set designer and visual artist Vera van Wolferen creates intricate and meticulously-constructed scenes out of paper, cardboard and wood.  She creates mostly miniature sculptures that look like sets for animated films, dividing her time between self-initiated projects and working for commercial clients. Her designs are kept to a minimalist style as the designer focuses on the architecture rather on an intricate color scheme.  On The Jealous Curator she says this about her work: 

“During my study in Fine Arts I was in the sculpture department, and kept making videos of my sculptures. That’s why I went to do animation, cause everyone said – hey you should make your sculptures move! So I did stop motion for a year, but figured out I was most interested in creating the set design, lighting and photographing the sets… not so much the animation part of it. I now focus on making “Story Objects”, sculptures that are vehicles for the imagination of the viewer. It feels like the objects contain a story, but it up to you to create your own.”

You can follow the artist on her website, Behance, Dribble, Facebook and Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Vera van Wolferen.

Makiko Hastings

Makiko Hastings is based in a small Yorkshire town in the UK, where her little pottery garden studio is located.  She currently makes two collections of tableware, one with blue and white whimsical designs and another with beautiful four colors of handmade glaze. She works with stoneware, mostly hand-thrown on a wheel. Her passion for tableware is strongly influenced by the food culture from her native Japan.  On Heiter Magazine she says this about self-employment:

“Being my own boss is certainly an advantage! I had worked for an organisation for a long time, and there were times where I felt I was going nowhere (because of the management system). I like the fact that I don’t have to bang my head against a wall anymore for such reasons. Of course there are difficult times being self-employed and you have to work hard. But having control over how I work is great.”

“Another good thing is flexibility. Whilst before I had to juggle a lot to take time off work, but now I can organise my time without much restriction, so that I can arrange to come and see my daughter’s show at school etc. and sometime I can take a day off to go to ceramic events, which I did a couple of times this year and it was great!”

“Lack of time is the most challenging part for me. At the moment, my girl is in her first year at school, so she still needs me quite a lot. So I can only work during her school hours and when my husband is available to look after her in the eveving or on the weekend. I never have enough time for the making process, but I guess lack of time is everyone’s challenge. Pottery is time consuming, and you need to get work done at the right condition of clay, so balancing timing within your limited time is hard.”

More of her work can be found on her website, Facebook and Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Makiko Hastings.

Justin Wheatley

Justin Wheatley was born and raised in Clinton, Utah. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Utah State University with an emphasis in drawing and painting, and a Masters of Arts from National University. Art and architecture seem to be a reoccurring theme in his work and life.  His work has long explored the idea of home as a safe place.  He is represented by galleries across the west and are present in museums and universities. On the Krakens he says this about his work: 

“During college I studied abroad in Germany and a considerable amount of our coursework was based around drawing and painting architecture. I quickly became fascinated at the amount of thought and work that goes into constructing the buildings we work and dwell in and their relatively short lifespan. Buildings come and go. Cities come and go. From there I began thinking of the relationship that architecture has with its surroundings, and it’s pretty clear that nature always has the upper hand.”

“I have long considered the houses I paint to be representations of people. In that sense, many of my paintings could be a critique on social media as well as suburbia. The paintings are relatively simple, but they address complicated issues. I hope that even though there is a dark side to some of my work, it can be viewed in a humorous way.”

The artist can be followed on his website, Facebook and Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Justin Wheatley.

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