Karl Kwasny, also known as Monaux, has just embarked on a rather ambitious digital art book project - he’ll be publishing one illustration per week for two years. It’ll be one playful book when he’s done; you might recognise the Australian illustrator’s style from some recently released Insight51 and Mooks tees.

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I like the retro colours and subtle detail that permeates the work of Australian illustration and design duo, Benjamin Johnson and Vince Agostino.

Ynki and her magical and intricate world of imagination is the creation of Berlin-based artist, Zoe Keogh, whose pastels and brightly coloured love injected into her artworks is such a joy. She draws, scratches, prints, inks, and presses, creating delicate delights, which were on display as part of her first solo show at Keith and Lotti in Perth, Australia, earlier this year. Keogh has also exhibited in London, New York and Paris and is working on an intriguing seven sins concept.

Australian illustrator Eamo Donnelly creates work that is busy, busy and colorful to boot. His illustrations never feel stale, even upon multiple viewings.

Ashley Wood is my favorite illustrator. You can’t go wrong with sexy women and robots! He’s from Australia and is extremely prolific, putting out several books a year including his magazine Swallow.

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He may not be French in his spare time, but Australian illustrator Pierre surely does know how to draw, creating wonderfully fractured universes in which the creatures of his imagination dwell. Pierre has recently released his own children’s picture book, which anyone who writes for children would know is one of the hardest things in the world to achieve, let alone when you’ve done the entire script, illustrating and publishing yourself.

Oh man! This kid is amazing. And when I say kid, I mean kid. Moofus is eleven years old, lives in my hometown of Sydney, and is still at school. In his own words, ‘my mum and dad won’t let me leave school to get a proper job as I won’t fit up chimneys anymore. So I draw lots of pictures’. Every month he gives a percentage of the sales of his drawings to charity. This month it’s going to International Animal Rescue. The artworks themselves could be collectors items one day. The kid has real talent.

Sugar by name, Sugar by … well, so it goes. And so she goes, the Australian artist nomadically, restlessly traveling the globe in search of inspiration, persperation and a different menu each night of the week. Such is the life. We interviewed Sugar recently: You’re in Mexico? I never quite know where you’ll be next. What brings you there? ‘I know! Since we have started communicating in 2006, I have lived in Melbourne, Zurich, Barcelona, London, Buenos Aires and now in Mexico. It is crazy but I love it’.
Why Mexico?
‘Well, I think I realized, travelling so much, that it is my spirit home. It is the most beautiful place on earth to me. Don’t get me wrong. I will never stop travelling. There is just too much to see. Maybe even outer-space. Who knows. But my heart is here I know that much. People can be inextricably drawn to certain places and I think it is really important to listen to that. To listen to that thing within you that comes alive.

Now this place could be the puddles you played in at the end of your street, your favourite roller-rink or the town of “Truth or Consequences”. (This really is a town in New Mexico, I have been there) Ha. My point is that you need to follow that thing that takes you there. Mexico. Hell. It is gorgeous.

There is colour everywhere and music and ribbons and fire-crackers and the kinds of people’s faces that make you cry because you can see the wind and the desert and the earth in them. I love the hand-painted sign-age, the colonial architecture, the retablos, the day of the dead, the food, the language, the textiles and patterns, the landscape, the light on the cobble-stones, the every-day-ness. I love how shitty the drivers are and that some cars are held together by plastic bands. I want to melt into every atom of it all.

Yesterday I was swimming in a lagoon surrounded by hummingbirds and I had to cry-swim because it was so beautiful.

I suppose on a practical level also, I just signed with Anna Goodson Management and something made me want to be closer to North America.

I think Mexico is a good centre for me to be able to travel to and from yet keep my heart warm.

How fluent is your creative process? Is it bursts of energy and inspiration or are you a walking, talking well of ideas?
‘I think I am pretty manic. I take a lot of time looking, observing, retreating, hiding and scheming. Being very reclusive, actually. Then someone or something clicks that switch, I am “on” and there is no turning “off”. Some of my closest friends find this pretty hilarious. One once said, “You are the most extroverted introvert I have ever known”. I think that is very true.

To be fair, though, I work every day and consistently create without really needing a break. I feel most alive when I am making things or writing or burdening my friends with my alien soliloquies. So I guess I am fluent with spikes and valleys, if that makes sense’.

How personal is your art/design work: do you inject a little piece of Sugar into every creation or is a job, a job, a job …?
‘Everything I do is personal and full of love or I would not do it. I chose very carefully, after years of horrible menial work, to find a way of living where I would always be present at the centre of what I was doing in a meaningful way. It is so much more fun to care about what you do.

I made the Lint Museum intimate because I wanted to celebrate the intimate. I did not want to be hired by anyone who was not interested in that or the ephemeral or the eclectic. I wanted to work with people who are as excited as I am about the little things in life.

I also think the Lint Museum is a pretty honest way of showing people what they are going to get if we work together. It is much more than a portfolio.

Are your costumes a fun way to lose yourself in fantasy or an even more fun way of losing yourself in reality?
‘I don’t think it is either really. I think costumes are a way to express yourself or make fun of yourself but I don’t think you get lost. In fact, I think you reveal more about who you are through costumes.

Take halloween, for example, aren’t you always intrigued by what people choose for themselves?

There is a big difference between a girl who dresses up as a chicken or a gnome and a girl who choses to be a nun or a witch or a werewolf or a stripper.

(I love werewolves by the way)

Anyhow. I think that we are all dressed in costumes all the time anyway. Conservative business man, emo, priest, cowboy, sex-kitten, hippy, high-roller or average joe.

There is really no time when we are not in costume. Sometimes they are just a little more elaborate. Like the one I dressed in for you today. (see illustration)

Thank you Zolton. You are a star. I am a huge fan of lost at e minor and have been amazed by how prolific you are and how the site has grown.

Champagne! For all my friends!’

Sydney-based illustrator and designer, Jane Abma, has recently set up her own design studio — 1000 Words — and is keeping herself busy with a variety of interesting projects. I caught up with her to chat about her studio and her work routine: What time of day do you feel the most creative? ‘It totally depends on the amount of Zs I get, but usually first thing in the morning or quite late at night. Most of my ideas come about when I’m lying in bed trying to get to sleep’.
What does it take to get you there?
‘Numerous flat whites, cheese (mmmm … white Costello), thumping music (loving UK breaks DJ Tipper at the moment), and my trusty design books. Occasionally a glass of Tokay is involved when deadlines get pushed into the late hours of the night. These things, as well as burning my favourite incense (Egyptian Musk), always help me to get into the right head space to produce creative work’.

Do you consider you workspace to be inspiring or just a place to get inspiration elsewhere?
‘I love my studio as a place to chill as well as get projects completed. I usually have illustrations and design pieces that I have collected tacked to my walls to encourage me down new paths. Having said that, you can often find me trawling through books in the design section at Kinokuniya for hours at a time. If you see me there, please tell me not to spend any more money!’

Any colours you’re gravitating towards — both with your fashion and your illustration/design?
‘I quite fancy yellow and melon pigments at the moment. My illustrations are usually done in black and white, initially using pencil or ink. Then my colours of choice are incorporated at the last stages of the piece, or sometimes not at all’.

See any work lately that has blown you away?
‘I’m always a fan of Alex Trochut’s work. I check out what he has been up to when I need an extra kick of inspiration. I am also impressed by the work of Grand People and Non Format. All of the above have a deep appreciation of design and typography, which I constantly aspire towards’.

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Hailing from Australia’s Gold Coast (how does she get any work done?), Honor Bowden is a freelance artist and illustrator using a mixture of traditional and modern techniques and drawing upon ink, watercolour, and digital collage.

We caught up with Australian-born, New York-based illustrator, Edwina White, recently. What have you been obsessing about lately outside of illustration? ‘Where does it end? I have been obsessing about curled celery, Ginger Syrup with champagne, about an A Detacher dress, old science charts and Third Drawer Down goodies’. Is there a song or album that always gets your creative energy racing? ‘It’s old school … Linus and Lucy by Vince Guaraldi gently shifts me deep into my paper pencil kingdom. It may have something to do with the Sesame Streetness of my adopted neighborhood. Right now I am hanging my show and it’s all sharp knives and white paint and arranging. I’m listening to Nico Muhly ‘Speaks Volumes’. And soaring with it. It’s perfectly matching with my brain spitting and ticking and there are melting parts in there that are keeping me quite sane while noticing the way the light falls’.

Luke Feldman is an Australian born illustrator and animator recently relocated to San Francisco due to work demands. ‘His work, both vector and ink illustrations, is a unique collection of bizarre creatures often surrounded by contrasting environments. Each piece is its own narrative’.