An Interview with Cecillia Hidayat

Please visit Cecillia's Blog!

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Your full name: Cecillia Hidayat

Your age: 26

Your location: Jakarta, Indonesia

Can you describe what you do?

-I'm a freelance illustrator and art director. I'm currently working on illustrations for children's book, and do some art directing for advertising agency. I'm also doing some t shirt designs :D

When did you first become interested in art? Was there anything specific that prompted this interest?

-I love to draw since I was a kid. I often get reprimanded for doodling on walls and during classes :p and um, i'm not sure what prompted this interest...it was kinda i was born with this love for art :)

Do you have formal training in art?

-I attend visual communication design for college :)

What inspires you to create?

-Everything! :D sometimes I see a fallen leaf and get inspired to draw something from that. Or sun rays that shine through the curtains, pile of stones, random things everywhere :) Oh and music also inspires me a lot :)

When did you become interested in advertising?

-Since I attend college.

Have advertising and designing been rewarding for you?

-For me, Working in advertising/ design field lets you create and learn something different everyday :) You could pour your mind into different kinds of media, and talking visually to other people. 

I found that interesting :)

You have created some t-shirt designs! Was designing these any different from your normal design work?

-Not really :) But this is because I usually only did the designs, I have a third party to do the production. I think the only thing that differentiate designing t-shirts from others is that you have to think about the production, you have to make sure that the person wear your design is still comfortable :)

Do you have a favorite type of project to work on?

-So far I enjoyed illustrating for children's books most. But i'm always willing to try something new :D

What is it like working on projects with multiple people?

-It's fun! :) you met all kinds of people and you learn a lot from them. Sometimes I admit it's not easy working with people with different mindsets, but all the arguments and the difficulties, in the end is a new lesson for you.

How is your personal art different from your professional art?

-I think my personal art is saying more about who I am :)). I  express my feelings more through my personal artworks :)

What message do you hope your art will convey?

-mmm...to tell you the truth i never take this seriously :)) lol

I usually do art for fun, in my humble opinion, some artists are too focused on telling people "messages" on their work, they forgot the fun :D But this doesn't mean that i'm against conceptual artists, it's just me that never taken these kind of things seriously :p Most of my artworks don't have any specific messages, they're just like a mirror that reflects my feelings and my thoughts. How people interpret them, it's up to each person :)

How does art affect your work life? Your personal life?

-It's killing me! l'm always lack of sleep because inspirations always visit me at night-time, mostly. LOL no I'm kidding :p How does art affect my life...I think it made my whole life fun :) I dunno what i will be doing if I don't do art for my living :p

What has been the most rewarding aspect of your art career so far?

-My team was rewarded with several awards when I still worked full-time in advertising agency, and I'm not going to be a hypocrite, it did felt good! :D

But the most rewarding aspect for me personally is to see my artwork could "touch" other people.

Comments and critiques from the society means they're interested in my works, and that feels great :)

What is the ultimate goal for your art?

-wow, this is hard :)) lol like I said before, I never think of this seriously, but I do wish someday I could put a "mark" in the art world for my specific style. I don't think I have a very unique style until now and it's kinda frustrating sometimes. I'm a very random person I couldn't stick for a style so far :(

An Interview with Yoda Navarrete

Please visit Yoda's website and her deviantart page!

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Your full name: Yoda Navarrete

Your age: 29

Your location: México

When did you first become interested in art?

-Art was always a part of my life since I was borned. My dad was a musician (clasical) and my mum is a songwriter and also writes. Was there anything specific that prompted this interest? I wanted to make animations and my dream was to work with Disney or Tim Burton, also I wanted to make comic books. Now I don't do either, just a few stop motion animations.

Do you have formal training in art?

-I studied visual arts at the university, before that I took classes in Mexico City in the schools "La Esmeralda" and "Academia de San Carlos", even before that I studied drawing and painting.

What inspires you to create?

-Dreams, not just mines but others too, movies, stories or books I read, works of other artists, and sometimes even boredome.

Is there are reason for your choice to create your artwork in journals?

-Is something I've been doing for several years. When I was taking therapy it was part of my "homework"; one day I decided to not only write but also make drawings in it. I thought that just writing down wasn't giving me the whole picture of what I was going through. Sometimes images or just words are not enough.

Many of your pieces include writing, as well as pictures. Do you have an interest in writing or typography as well as visual art?

-I write stories and poetry (though I don't like to use such word). Unlike what people think I don't write things for children, so, many of those I've never shown them anywhere.

You designed a CD cover for Elba Rodriguez. Are you interesting in doing more work like this?

-I'd like to, but is not my main goal.

You work in a variety of mediums - do you have a favorite?

-Drawing with pencils and with ink. Colours are very difficult for me to use, still I enjoy using them now and then.

Your artwork has such a personal feel to it. Does creating art for other people change the way you work? 
-I try not to and do things as I normaly do, but is inevitable to feel certain pressure. There's always a big chance that the person won't like some things or even the whole work.

What was it like being published in the premier issue of bluecanvas magazine?

-It was a surrealistic experience.

What message do you hope your art will convey?

-It doesn't matter much what I would like or not with my art. It all deppends of how the audience will take it, see in it and interpretate. In such case perhaps is to keep true to myself.

How does art affect your work life? Your personal life?

-Art touches everything inside and outside me, but in a way that most times I can't see it because is part of my daily life; I only see it when meet people that have never been in touch with it. In that moment I feel like a carnival freak.

Do you have any future goals for your artwork?
-I'd like my work to be published on big editorials, make a movie, or several, but most of all to be a way for living.

Portfolio Bird

This is an old marker doodle. My scanner killed the colors a bit, and I had to take out the background because the scanner added some random dark spots to the background. Anyway, I decided to make this the new picture for the front page of my deviantart portfolio. Drawn with copic sketch markers.

An Interview with Hannah Kaminsky

I have taste-tested Hannah's recipes myself, and they are fabulous! Please visit her blog, and check out her cookbook!

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Your full name: Hannah Kaminsky

Your age: 20

Your location: Connecticut

You have so many creative recipes! What inspires you to create new things?

-Really, the question should be, what doesn't inspire me!  My family always jokes that I have too many ideas, and even the most mundane tasks can set me off brainstorming new projects and recipes.  Mostly, however, I try to at least focus my inspiration on the current season, in order to utilize the freshest and best ingredients available. 

Do you have formal culinary training?

-Nope, I just learned through trial and (a lot of) error.

Has baking with vegan ingredients been difficult for you?

-Not at all, because I never baked or even cooked before going vegan.  I think that helped me a lot with baking, because I never felt the need to seek out "replacements," as I never knew what the "real" thing was like to begin with.

When did you first become interested in becoming vegan?

-I first became aware of veganism when I entered high school.  A lot of my friends were vegetarian, and I dabbled in that for a bit because it seemed "trendy"... But then I actually did some research about animal rights, and realized how horribly cruel the meat, dairy, egg, etc industries were.  Pretty much overnight, I decided to take the leap and go 100% vegan.  I just love animals too much to let them suffer, especially when there are perfectly viable alternatives.

What message do you hope your blog and recipes will convey?

-The blog wasn't created with a message in mind, but more as a simple platform on which I could share my latest creations.  Now, however, I hope that both vegans and non-vegans alike will take away how easy it is to lead a cruelty-free lifestyle, and that it doesn't need to be about restriction and deprivation, but that it can be genuinely fun.  If nothing else, I want to show the world that we aren't missing out, and on the contrary, we're leading the way in many food-related fields.

What was it like publishing My Sweet Vegan?

-In a word: Unreal! It all happened so fast, I could hardly believe it. It still seems like some far-fetched plot that's entirely dreamed up.

You have published several e-books! How has this been different from publishing My Sweet Vegan, if at all?

-Oh, making the ebooks are completely different than physical cookbooks.  Sure, the process for writing, testing, and photographing the recipes is the same, but on top of all that, I'm completely in charge of formatting and designing the ebooks.  (Trust me, this is a much bigger headache than it sounds like!) The turnaround is infinitely faster, as I can finish an ebook in 1 - 2 weeks if I really buckle down- It also helps that they're much shorter, containing an average of 12 recipes.  Usually I can get them online very quickly, distribute at will, and charge much less than I would for a book, since there are no printing costs.  It's really a win-win for everyone!

How does your cooking affect your work life? Your personal life?

-Without cooking, there is no life, in every sense imaginable.  Cooking to me is about physical nourishment, but also about love, compassion, experimentation, art... Just about everything in my life circles back to food in one way or another.  I cook for a living at a tiny little restuarant in town, then I have an internship as a food photographer, then I go home and write about food, and finally, I wind my days down by cooking some more, just for myself.  I guess you could say I'm pretty thoroughly obsessed, for better or for worse.

I know that you not only bake, but also do your own food photography! Has this created any new difficulties for your in your craft? Has it been a rewarding experience for you?

-I don't see it as creating additional difficulties, but opportunities.  It allows me to portray exactly what I have in mind for a dish, and have better creative control over the final product.  I feel terrible for other cookbook authors who have to deal with photographers who interpret their dishes wrong because they don't share the same vision!  It's been incredibly rewarding for me, and I've already had my work published in a number of other cookbooks, magazines, and websites.  In fact, I'm currently pursuing a degree in photography in hopes of furthering my skills.

Do you have any future cookbooks or cooking-related goals in mind for the future?

-Well I am working on a second cookbook, and I'm currently approaching various publishers with my proposal... It might still be a while, but I'm hoping that I will have something to show for all this work before mid 2010, one way or another...