The illustration work of Monika Melnychuk is wonderfully detailed and beautifully coloured. We interviewed her recently and asked, given her rather nomadic existence, where she is based these days. ‘Right now I live beside Alaska, in Canada — Yukon Territory. The obvious next question would be what am I doing up here? Being an illustrator, I take advantage of the total flexibility and move around often to experience very different lifestyles. So far I have lived in Toronto, LA and here … for now’. Your characters seem to be the fringe dwellers of society. do you relate to them in any way or are you strictly an observer? ‘I do, in a way, relate to the fringe dwellers of society, especially right now living in this place with such a unique, bizarre collection of people. It’s fascinating. In another way, I am just an observer, a curious admirer, drawing strangers in bars and coffee shops. Their lives and faces are far more interesting — not beautiful, not perfect, not glossy — rule breakers. I love imperfection. Everything on the fringes seems to have more substance, emotion and depth’. Anyone out there whose illustration work is making you go weak at the knees? ‘I love so many other illustrators. Hmm, Juliette Borda, recently Jillian Tamaki, and I have this book another illustrator I love, Aaron Leighton, gave to me a few years ago by Juile Doucet called Long Time Relationship. It’s amazing’.

Tagged: Canada, Canadian illustrators
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James White is a mixed-media artist and graphic designer living in Nova Scotia, Canada. Read more
Canadian illustrator Michael Wandelmaier creates moody and atmospheric work which burns deeply in your inner-most conscience. Read more

Throw out that notion of kitschy maple syrup bottles shaped as log cabins. Canadians now have Drip: a fresh, simple design that was handled with purity and thought, reflecting the product within. These luxury-inspired bottles, reminiscent of old school medicine jars, boast copy that echoes Drip’s concept — delicate, straightforward, delicious syrup. The bottles and its sweet contents are both worth heading north for, so bring on the pancakes.
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Crimea X is the coming together of two offbeat, disparate characters, DJ Rocca (Ajello, Super Sonic Lovers, Maffia Sound System) and Jukka Reverberi from 90s Italian glam cult rockers, Giardini di Mirò, who have often have been compared with the sound of Mogwai, Arab Strap, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. We asked them about their favourite music and they started with The Smiths song, Ask [listen below] ‘I saw them playing live on Italian TV. It was during the 80s when I was extremely young, and I’ve never stopped listening to this song’. Read the rest of Crimea X’s Secret Playlist.

I love the curated selection of abandoned swimming pool photos on Feature Shoot today, featuring work by Carlo Van de Roer and Albert Jodar, amongst others.

Win a set of Sony personal audio prizes
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
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If the zombie apocalypse looks anything like Max Kauffman’s artwork, we have nothing to fear because there will be cute zombie birds. Also, zombies in Kauffman’s universe prefer Eskimo kisses to brains. Read more
We have reported on Danish firm, JDS Architects, before. And here their memorable work continues. This glorious design for the Holmenkollen Ski Jump in Oslo is the result of an international competition and is to be completed in time for the 2011 World Championships. Read more
Luxury goods have been getting a bad rap lately, and for good reason. Now I don’t know how you roll, but we don’t know many people who enjoy covering themselves head-to-toe in someone else’s initials. Yet for some reason designers think that diamante logos and monogrammed tapestries are the best mediums to communicate their brand. So it’s just as well LA based eyewear label Barton Perreira doesn’t play by the rules. Starting out less than a year ago, you won’t find their designs getting over-excited by insignia. Instead, these guys hand make their frames in Japan to rely on precision, fit and design. And that’s the way it should be.
There’s a radiance about the creative work emanating from Brooklyn, New York right now; a glistening, velvetine glow that seeps through the illustrations and art and tickles the melodies of every hipster four-piece. Read more
I’m one of those people who lament the death of analog film as a medium, not because I romanticize the process, but because I love the unpredictable imperfections inherent in non-digital formats. Read more
Improv Everywhere strikes again with a spontaneous musical in a Los Angeles mall. Wireless microphones hooked up to the mall’s PA system ensured the feeding masses didn’t slip into Cinnabon-induced comas until after the show was over. Note especially the angry dude in sunglasses at about 2:51 — apparently he thinks nothing can ever top Rent.
Metal icon Peter Tägtgren has produced the harshest and most underground music of the European metal scene — Immortal, Dimmu Borgir, Celtic Frost, among many others. His own band, Hypocrisy, is one of the most revered melodic death metal bands in the world. Read more
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Forget battery powered vehicles. Cars made from ice are the future of transportation: no pollution, no honking horns, no painful rap music blasting out of souped up stereos. And if they melt, they melt. You just swim the rest of the way down the slipstream.

Good thing Kris Kuksi channelled the trauma of growing up with an alcoholic stepfather, his disdain for ‘the typical American life and pop culture’, and his fascination with the macabre into obsessive, baroque assemblages, paintings, and drawings. Read more

Check out Mike Stimpson’s Lego reinterpretations of classic photographs. Stimpson’s version of Malcolm Browne’s iconic 1963 photograph of the self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc is particularly twisted. Read more

Scanners’ new single Salvation
I love this track by London based rock group, Scanners, which is off their latest album, Submarine. Having toured with acts such as The Horrors, The Wedding Present, The Charlatans, Electric Six, and Juliette & The Licks, Scanners could well blow up in 2010. Figuratively speaking, not literally. No, that wouldn’t be fun.

Wheeeeee! This game is so freaking fun! You move your cursor over each dot to make them split into four smaller dots ad infinitum.
Thanks to Sony Australia, four Lost At E Minor readers will win personal audio prizes, including the new 8GB Walkman S series video MP3 player and the MDRXB500 Extra Bass headphones. Read more
From an artist selection of t-shirts comes this limited edition David Bray illustrated silkscreened tee, distributed in a vinyl sleeve with a biography of the artist on the back of the sleeve. Every t-shirt is numbered and signed by the artist, and comes in organic American Apparel cotton. We like! Read more












