Lost AT E Minor

Illustration / Catalina Estrada

September 30, 2006 | Illustration | by Zolton |

Columbian artist, Catalina Estrada, uses bright colours and simple decorative ornamentations to create her unique illustrations. As she told The Drama Magazine, her inspirations are ‘my country and my memories from it, folk art and music. I get very inspired by travelling to different countries, [meeting] people, and [discovering their] literature’. [see also Luke Feldman]

Photography / Melbourne Pixel

September 30, 2006 | Photography | by Zolton |

Issue 05 of the awesome Australian e-zine, Melbournepixel, is packed with the usual variety of pop culture goodness - illustrations, photography and a handful of cool weblinks to some of the hottest new products, design resources and whacky paraphernalia around. As they say themselves, each issue ‘brings you the latest and greatest in this disturbed creative world Down Under’. And so it does. They’re also after new contributors, so if you’re looking to get your work showcased in what is one of the better platforms for local creativity, hop, skip and jump to their website for more details.

Illustration / Tamami Urata

September 30, 2006 | Illustration | by Zolton |

Japanese artist, Tamami Urata, creates cute, almost kitsch watercolour works that are invariably cheeky, playful and vibrant. [see also Yuko Shimizu]

Products / Hidden Lives

September 30, 2006 | Products | by Zolton |

Any talented young designers out there looking for a freelance gig working on the visuals and functionality of a new online project called Hidden Lives should check out the prerequisites of the position and apply, apply, apply. This is for a ‘web designer who understands interaction design as well as the graphical elements’. Meanwhile, on a completely different tangent, a big up to the good folk at T-Shirt Alert for consistently posting some of the hottest damn tees you’ll ever find. It’s a one-stop guide to all the latest goodness. I’m especially digging the new Shirt Stain series. Now there’s an idea!

Art / Paul Ferney

September 29, 2006 | Art | by Zolton |

In a throwback to the glory days of yesteryear, San Francisco-based artist Paul Ferney works almost exclusively with oils. His paintings have been exhibited at Sonoma Plein Air (Sept 2006) and Studio Gallery in San Francisco, amongst many other places. ‘I love that feeling when you stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon for the first time and you know you’re seeing something amazing. Hopefully everyone has one of these experiences every day, even if it’s just in the way a tree looks as we step out of the house in the morning. Painting for me is a way to share these moments of beauty’. [see also Nicholas Blowers]

Events / Elevator Music

September 29, 2006 | Events | by Zolton |

This one comes direct from the source: ‘Appearing spontaneously in elevators throughout Melbourne’s CBD, Random Acts of Elevator Music will enlighten the consciousness of office workers with live muzaktronica. Dressed in suits, their portable studio hidden in briefcases, who knows where these undercover sonic redesigners will next strike. Log on to their website for the inside tip on where and when to experience the soothing oscillations and melodies of Random Acts of Elevator Music. Just don’t tell your HR department or the security guy at the front desk. Random Acts of Elevator Music will occur in CBD office buildings on weekdays within office hours during the Melbourne Fringe Festival between Monday October 2 and Friday October 13. Each evening information will be posted to the Random Acts of Elevator Music website on where they will appear the following day’. [see also Noah Butkus]

Products / Ordinarymary

September 29, 2006 | Products | by Zolton |

A couple of funky cushion designs from Marie Hanson, a freelance illustrator and designer working out of Copenhagen, Denmark. Her work is wonderfully vibrant, a sea of bright colours colliding in a seemingly random assortment of shapes and patterns. [see also Ben Frost; Sarah Beetson]

Music / Quiet Music For Quiet People (give away)

September 28, 2006 | Music | by Zolton |

Inga Liljestrom is one of the talented young crop of jazzy intoned electro artists emerging out of the cloistered Australian scene and taking their distinctive sound out into the international market. She is a wonderfully gifted artist, possessed of a voice that is as strong as it is fragile. A couple of years ago I wrote a review of her then album Elk in street music weekly, The Brag: ‘Liljestrom’s breathy tone is the catalyst to the expansive nature of Elk. It’s lush and atmospheric, dripping with melancholy but never weighed down by its emotive delivery. The opening track ‘Film Noir’, is the standout - the layered production the perfect foil for Liljestrom’s descriptive lyrics. But really the album is consistently good across all twelve tracks, suggesting that we have a new star within our midst’. And little has changed in the intervening time. She is still a star in the making and Quiet Music For Quiet People may well be the nudge that gets her across the line. We have five copies of this album to give away to random Lost At E Minor subscribers who visit Liljestrom’s My Space site, listen to a few snippets from the album, and leave a one sentence review under this posting. Simple really. And well worth the effort. Entries close October 10.

Illustration / Becoming the dragon

September 28, 2006 | Illustration | by Zolton |

Based in Collingwood, Melbourne, Ben Shackleton is a graphic designer, multimedia designer, and illustrator. He has studied at Shillington College and is about to complete his Advanced Diploma of Multimedia at Victoria University. Working out of his Melbourne studio each day, Ben creates his pictures using the inspiration of his surrounds - street art, music and the photographs he has accumulated during his time overseas. His final pieces are the result of endless reworking and digital manipulation’. [see also Porous Walker]

Photography / Davin Youngs

September 27, 2006 | Photography | by Zolton |

Working out of Chicago, Illinois, Davin Youngs is ‘drawn to moments that are a bit awkward and quiet’. His photos beautifully personalise the moment, adding a nice sense of pathos to an otherwise still life. [see also Velco Dojcinovski]

Illustration / Betty Sue

September 27, 2006 | Illustration | by Zolton |

‘I was born in Poland and graduated from both the College of Art and the Academy Of Fine Arts in Krakow with a Masters Degree in Graphic Arts. At present I live in London where I do traditional graphics (woodcut and linocut), illustrations, paintings and t-shirt design. Since I moved to London, the cityabyss idea started to rise up. In its subjective way it tells the story of a city. I am inspired by fashion stylists and photographers, modern design and big cities - with their skyscrapers, cold architecture, industrial areas, building sites, contemporary landscapes and human beings somewhere in between’. [see also Noumeda]

Illustration / Katie Yamasaki

September 27, 2006 | Illustration | by Zolton |

Brooklyn-based artist, Katie Yamasaki, did a Bachelors of Arts degree at Earlham College and a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She now ‘teaches 4th-8th grade art at Ballet Tech, The New York City Public School for Dance, and shares a studio with fellow illustrators and friends John Hendrix, Marcos Chin, and Yuko Shimizu’. [see also Sarajo Frieden]

Art / Mess with time

September 27, 2006 | Art | by Zolton |

One of my favourite Australian artists - Jonah Cacioppe (who just happens to be based in London) - has recently launched his website, and it’s just bursting with his highly original artworks which cover a variety of themes from ‘The Openess Of Being’ to ‘The World In A Grain Of Salt’. [see also Max Linegar]

Events / This Is Not Art (TINA)

September 26, 2006 | Events | by Zolton |

Here’s one for those who love their email newsletters. The Online Publishing panel - featuring an allstar contingent of e-newsletter afficionados, including Lost At E Minor’s own Zac Zavos - presents this Friday, September 29 from 6pm till 10pm as part of the This Is Not Art festival which is on at the Festival Club in Newcastle between September 28 and October 2. Amongst other things, the panel will address the questions of: ‘How online publications are fundamentally different to ‘real world’ ones? And, are there too many online titles out there, or does internet publishing allow niche publications to find large audiences?’ It should be one heck of an interesting and entertaining night. Check the This Is Not Art website for more details.

Photography / Vladimer Nachkebia

September 26, 2006 | Photography | by Zolton |

Working out of Georgia, photographer Vladimer Nachkebia uses a Nikon f65 to capture his wonderfully engaging images. His interests outside of photography are ’shapes, curves, music, and Alexander Rodchenko’. [see also Hillary Twigg]