Happy Friday everyone! To kick off the weekend here’s a little inspirational interview by Chrissy Lau! Her delicate ink illustrations are currently featured in Blankets Consumer Issue but you may have also seen her work in Curvy 5 {Yen Magazine’s Top 100 Female Artists}.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I ‘run’ Decipher the Day illustrations. I am 25 years old (time goes so quick), born in Yorkshire, UK but now live in Sydney, Australia. At the moment I am learning to play my guitar, so indeed like any beginner I am rocking out to Stairway to Heaven, much to the annoyance of my accomplished musician boyfriend! Besides drawing my other endeavours include making dresses, cooking and watching English comedies. Oh I do miss English TV! (How funny is Gavin & Stacey?)

Describe your work?
My illustrations are comprised of ink and pen because I can set up anywhere and it doesn’t take much effort to tidy up… so through sheer laziness and efficiency I have chosen this medium. My favourite tool is my fountain pen and some black ink – it creates nice smooth, textured lines and patterns that are signature to the majority of my drawings. I do enjoy dabbling in watercolours, acrylic and spraypaint from time to time too. Most of my work can be interpreted on two levels, the viewer can look at it and just enjoy what they see or they can choose to read between the lines. When I used to manage an art gallery, people liked to hear deep and meaningful explanations with reasons behind the work. It depends who you are I guess, above all I like my art to be inviting rather than alienating. They tend to be quirky, endearing, often full of love and hopefully full of intrigue.

Is art a full time job for you?
Since graduating in 2005 with a law degree I have dabbled in some artistic employment of sorts. I started a clothing label for a while and ran this alongside managing an art gallery up until I left England for a holiday Down Under and ended up staying. Unfortunately art isn’t a fulltime job now but I would like to find an agent to represent me so I can expose the world to my artwork. I have found it quite hard to find an agent here, I just don’t know where to look! So if anyone out there knows an agency in Sydney please let me know.

How do you balance your art and work life?
Oh I think I do this quite easily in terms of producing drawings. Work is pretty much Monday to Friday 8am – 4pm so this leaves me a lot of free time to draw. Sometimes I even sneak in a quick drawing or two during work hours. Balloon Girl is a little drawing I started and finished at work yesterday. It popped into my mind and I decided I better draw it before I forget. I’m often leaving work with scraps of drawings in my bag. If work gets too busy I tend to write down a description of a drawing and do it when I get home. I always make time for drawing because it is so therapeutic. In some ways my work life does stop me from pursuing my dream of becoming a fully fledged illustrator. In the last few months I have decided to take a more proactive role in searching for commissions and building a portfolio.

What have you learned from another artist lately?
Oh I have learnt a lot from many artists and those that blog. I have learnt the following:

1. Try something new. Don’t get obsessed with one medium (for too long anyway) – so last month I ventured out stickering my drawings all over town. I would love to do the large paste ups that I see but I think I am too scared someone will tell me off.

2. Blog and interact – I’m not very good at self promotion but I find blogging is any easy way to communicate with fellow bloggers. It’s nice to receive feedback on my drawings. You can visit my blog here. My blog motivates me to draw more – I have to keep my 15 followers entertained if they have taken the time to follow me! I recently decided I should submit my work to more zines and websites and take part in more projects and collaborations, this way it focuses my drawing and also helps me think out of the box. It’s also a cheap and often free way to participate, whereas a full blown exhibition can cost a lot.

3. Dream and follow your dream – I have read so many ‘about’ sections of other artists and it is so encouraging to hear about where/how they started their art and how it has grown into an empire. So to me anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

How did you discover Blanket and what do you like about it?
I think I ventured across it whilst trawling the web for something interesting and inspiring to read. When I saw that I could submit my work I thought why not! I jumped for joy when I was featured in the Consumer Issue, it’s encouraging to have some work published alongside some really great artists. Blanket Magazine has given me a great opportunity to showcase my work, it’s very accessible to artists whether they are emerging or established.

To see more work by Chrissy go to her website Decipher the Day

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