Andy Smith

Born and raised in Norfolk, Andy Smith studied illustration at the University of Brighton and the Royal College of Art, London. Graduating in 1998 he quickly established a client list of advertising, publishing and editorial clients including Orange, Mercedes, McDonalds, The Guardian, Expedia, Sony, Vodafone, Random House and Penguin Books, directing Run London a commercial for Nike in 2000.

His work combines illustration and typography to create images that have humor, energy and optimism and all are executed with a handmade, hand-printed, tactile feel. Quirky characters find themselves in absurd situations, often with a large piece of lettering nearby. When not producing commercial work for clients Andy can be found in the studio screen printing books and posters about Fatty, the Target People and the Hot Dog. He has exhibited in the UK, USA, France and Australia. He lives and pretends to work by the sea in Hastings, East Sussex. His favorite color is blue.

February 24, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Phil Dunne

Phillip Dunne is an artist from northside Dublin, Ireland. For the past five years, he’s been working as an artist on a variety of commercial, personal and published art projects. His distinctive style of colorful, intricate work is a combination of traditional and digital mediums such as pencil, pen, watercolor, ink and digital coloring and rendering using computer applications. He is a member of Depthcore, an international modern art collective.

February 18, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Debbie Smyth

Debbie Smyth is textile artist most identifiable by her statement thread drawings; these playful yet sophisticated contemporary artworks are created by stretching a network of threads between accurately plotted pins. Her work beautifully blurs the boundaries between fine art drawings and textile art, flat and 3D work, illustration and embroidery, literally lifting the drawn line off the page in a series of “pin and thread” drawings. Debbie plays with scale well; creating both gallery installations and works for domestic interiors. Her unique style lends itself to suit corporate environments, public spaces, window display, set design, graphic design and illustration. By collaborating with interior designers, architects and other creative practitioners, Debbie pushes the expected scope of her work even further. Debbie has worked with companies both nationally and internationally including Ellesse, The New York Times, The Canadian Red Cross, Sony, and The Dorchester Hotel Group

February 16, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Trey Speegle

A unique mix of commercial and fine art has characterized Trey Speegle’s diverse career. Using one of the world’s largest collections of vintage paint-by-number paintings as raw source material, he draws inspiration from it as a “visual vocabulary.” In his work, Speegle explores themes of hope, love, longing, and loss by using affirmations, double entendre, and word play that resonate with a broad Pop appeal. The Texas-born artist was part of the 80’s East Village art scene, designing catalogues for art galleries, producing downtown club events and curated various shows. For 25 years, he art directed and designed for many publications such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and US Weekly.

In 2009, he collaborated with Anthropologie to adapt his artwork to a variety of decorative home objects such as gift soaps, plates, puzzles, pillows, rugs, and bed linens that were available throughout the United States and London. He was also commissioned by Stella McCartney to create a 18 X 32’ painting as a backdrop for her runway show in Paris in October of ’09. Smaller versions of the painting were also created for McCartney’s Los Angeles, New York, Paris, London and Beijing shops in April ’10.

February 15, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Micah Lidberg

The work in Micah Lidberg’s portfolio is abundantly colorful and frequently inspired by nature and dream-like worlds. His star has been steadily shining as his exposure grows in the gallery, product and editorial worlds. Nearly every drawing looks like it’s out of the playbook of Where the Wild Things Are, only infused with colorful, random twists that push the genre 10 leaps forward. When asked by Jessica Goldfond, of The Shiny Squirrel, what inspires him, Lidberg’s answer reminds us why you should trust your creative gut, “I’ve only had one memorable epiphany. A professor I had in England, Japser Goodall, told a bunch of us students to draw whatever we wanted to draw. It sounds silly that that sparked my epiphany, but it did the trick. I’ve been drawing furry dinosaurs and deranged clouds ever since.”

February 8, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik

Lisa Toff

Lisa Toff is an illustrator, designer, photographer, traveler and explorer. She lives between Coney Island and Manhattan and works as a footwear designer for DKNY.

When she’s not illustrating shoes, she’s penning magnificant alphabets and scouring Coney Island, Tokyo and Paris for photographic inspiration. Schooled in art history, photography and communication design, it’s no wonder her talent’s vast in scope. Toff’s creative career’s a fun one to follow as she moves from project to project with consistant and creative ease. Have a look!

February 3, 2012 | By: Shayna Kulik