If you are unsure about an entire wall the Franco- British duo behind the paper; Famille Summerbelle, are also the people behind the stylish London, Paris, NYC and San-Francisco city maps.

The wallpaper is £45 per roll.
The City Map is £45.

Tell us a bit about your style?
I work predominantly through Collage, whether it be by hand or digitally mainly because I enjoy having the freedom to work with layout and composition without having to commit straight away. It also suits my perfectionist tendencies.

Where did you find the images for the Everything is Beautiful series?
All the images in the series are photos taken by my Grandad in his younger days. He passed them all over to me in a small suitcase and I fell in love with them straight away. Alot of them feature my family, including my Mum as a toddler.

What was the inspiration behind them?
I really love old Black & White photography, and I particularly loved how all the photos were square rather than rectangular. I worked digitally so not to damage the original photographs, and I wanted to inject a sense of life and atmosphere into them. I had the idea to overlay vibrant colours and textures to highlight particular elements of the photograph and the first piece I created (and my favourite) was with the pigeons, I feel it truly captures what this series is all about, how when you start to take notice, everything really is beautiful.

What would be your dream client and / or commission?
I’d love the opportunity to adapt my collage work to a really large scale, maybe a shop window or a big wall mural. I’m also considering putting all of the Everything is Beautiful series together as a book, but at the moment it’s still growing so that’ll have to wait a while.

It starts Saturday 7th with a launch event between 2-4pm and the show will run for 6 weeks.

Go check it out!

Where are you based? Describe your creative surroundings…
I live in my family home in the suburbs of Dublin and this is where I do most of my work. All of my family are artistic in one way or another so the house has a great creative buzz about it and there’s always someone to bounce ideas off.

How did you start working as an artist?
I’ve been drawing ever since I can remember and had always wanted to “be an artist” but I didn’t really think you could choose that as your job when I was younger. As a child I had toyed with the idea of being a vet but I’m a bit squeamish so that was ruled out, I decided to be an artist and I’ve never looked back.

How would you describe your work?
I would describe my work as colourful, quirky, and nostalgic. My drawings remind me of the book illustrations I liked when I was a child and I think this is why my work is appreciated by young children and people my age.

What was your first commission?
It’s hard to remember, people in school used to ask me to draw things for them and they’d swap me something in return. The first big commission I had was a set of three little drawings of mice for a baby girl’s nursery. I also did a lot of personalised baby books that were all hand-drawn and those were really fun to do.

Where would you like to see your illustrations commissioned/exhibited?
I have written and illustrated quite a few children’s books and I would love to see one of them published.

What other artists do you take inspiration from?
I love children’s books and am always inspired by fresh and interesting illustration. I love Alice in Wonderland books and currently have 150 different editions in my collection, all done by different illustrators and these really inspire me.

What else inspires you to be creative?
I love patterns! I get most of my inspiration from old wallpaper, fabrics and china    tea-cups. I’ll see a pattern and immediately get an idea for a drawing and that idea usually sticks in my mind until I get it out on paper. My latest source of inspiration is my pet cockatiel Phoebe, I am currently writing a children’s book about all her adventures.

Do you have an exhibitions coming up?
My degree show exhibition will be opening in NCAD on June 10th and will run for a week. I also sell work in a
gallery in Dublin city centre called Jam Art Factory.

Contact: zombiefacesarah@gmail.com

Across the designs contrasting darker themes, apparent in Dan’s work, are infused and consist of solar systems, cowboys and cartoon animals. These are beautifully joined with colours and shapes that compliment each other by being a mixture of the weirdly wonderful.

Words: Lizz Whitehouse

Joe’s often retro-style illustrations have won us over, so we thought we’d ask him a bit about what he does. How do the illustrations get started? Isn’t it all a bit complicated?

“I start every project with pencil and paper,” says Joe. “Once I have a concept nailed down I’ll scan it in and play with it in Photoshop. Then I’ll print it off and carefully trace a pure copy using a light box, pencil and a fine liner. I can add all the fine details and extra bits at this stage. Then it’s back into Photoshop to bring it all together adding colours and texture”

For the non-creative among us, it seems only logical to think how difficult it must be to create something entirely new, or something that no-one else has done – how easy can it be to have your own ‘style’ in such a competitive art world? Joe says it’s something he found difficult, and something that was a long time coming.

“I didn’t really know I had a style for a long time. It just crept up on me. I spent many years trying to improve and iron out the wrinkles”.

He’s a perfectionist when it comes to his art, and says nothing is ever finished. Hands in particular, says Joe, were always tough to draw, leading him to sit for hours filling page after page of sketchbooks with hands, along with anything else he found difficult to draw.

Here at Fused, we love the characters from Joe’s designs, particularly the grumpy-but-cute ‘Happy Birthday princess‘ illustration (based on Joe’s wife!), which has been made into a greetings card. Joe tries never to draw the same character twice: “I have a generic man person that crops up a lot but I always try to mix him up a little each time”.

Joe has a few tips for other emerging illustrators, including the importance of your own site, as a lot of people “won’t take you seriously” unless you have a professional website. And for when you’re trying to impress clients?

“The trick is to put it on a plate and make it easy for a client to see how they could ultimately use your work” advises Joe, adding: “It’s always going to be highly competitive in whatever field you choose. Just don’t let that get inside your head. If you work hard and put yourself out there then why can’t you be a player too?”

Joe’s work is available to view on here and via his representation here. He’s adding a shop section to his website soon, so keep checking back for limited edition prints and future projects.

Words: Sophie Hannah

20 year old Harriet Shephard from Worcestershire, aka Alana, is flying the flag for skater girls everywhere with her impressive zine ‘Brash’, showcasing artwork of her own as well as other emerging artists and interviewing skaters, illustrators and anyone else who takes her fancy.

Harriet is currently in her second year of an illustration degree at Camberwell College (part of the University of the Arts London) and creates the zine in her spare time as well as personal art projects and skateboarding.

Fused caught up with Harriet to chat about the new issue of Brash which has evolved from a black and white photocopy to a skillfully screen-printed booklet full of great illustration.

Hi Harriet, do you mind us using your real name? Also, who is Alana?
Yeah you can use my real name, I’m not a Banksy or anything. Alana is my middle name (Alannah on my birth certificate), I use it as a sort of alter ego/pseudonym type thing and it’s kinda stuck now. I get called Alana at the skatepark sometimes which never fails to surprise me. I think it’s because people generally forget names but if they’ve received a zine from me it’ll have ‘alanasartwork.blogspot.com’ on the back, so of course they’re gonna call me Alana.

What made you want to start a zine?
The simple answer to that is skateboarding. Through skating I have met so many creative individuals who make stuff and get it out there, including zines, and when I realised how easy it was I began drawing and photocopying my creations. I started with really shitty ones on A4 paper, folded and cut in a way to make a book format because they were so cheap to make and I have easy access to photocopiers at Uni; I just wanted to give them out to everybody! Not only does it get my artwork out there, but it’s just a nice thing to do (giving them away for free). Sometimes it can make someone’s day and they’re so stoked to receive a little zine of my crazy scribblings.

I have had occasions when I’ve given zines to skater kids and they handed me them back wondering “what’s a zine?” I shake my head in disbelief, “call yourself a skater and you don’t what a zine is?!” I jest at them and I have to tell them “no, you can keep it!”

I think it’s sad that a lot of kids that start skating don’t know what a zine is because skaters just don’t make them anymore. I mean, I know a few skaters who do, but they’re in the minority. Zine making was a big part of skateboarding years ago, they used to zine swap all the time and dudes used post stuff out to their bros if they lived far away from each other. That kinda shit is sick! It’s a shame making skate zines doesn’t come hand in hand with skateboarding so much these days. I guess that, along with all the positive reactions I got from my little zines, is what encouraged me to start making Brash, a ‘proper’ skate zine that I could potentially sell very cheaply. Initially, I still kept the format cheap and simple (double-sided A3 folded to A5) but packed a ridiculous amount of stuff into it including an interview with a skater, a drawing of Rodney Mullen, music I was currently listening to, info on tricks I was learning at the time and a comic strip about accidentally flashing my boob to Kevin ‘Spanky’ Long (Professional Skateboarder).
I was so stoked that I was able to sell it and went round a few skate parks, hollering at skaters to buy it and a lot of them did…well you can’t complain at 20p!

I am so stoked on skateboarding, it is insane how much it has changed my life. I’ve even got a paid job out of it.  I teach young people, predominately girls, to skate. I want to share my continuous excitement with everybody and a zine is definitely the best way to go about it. As I am a female skateboarder, that is going to have some influence on what content I put in my zines because, naturally, I want to promote girls in skateboarding and promote skateboarding to girls. My attitude to skating is that it’s a fun thing to do, it’s not a boys thing, it’s not a girls thing, it just so happens that boys gravitate towards it more and girls shy away from it, maybe because they might feel intimidated by the sheer amount of testosterone at their local skatepark. Through my drawings, comics, anecdotes, interviews and articles, I want to encourage girls to skate and overcome that initial intimidation, or, if anything, just do something rad and worthwhile. The main focus of Brash is skateboarding but in the latest issue I have other stuff relating to art and music which I hope will be inspiring to my readers as well as all the skate stuff.

So tell us more about the new issue…
I have managed to make issue two of Brash into something of a nice little publication as part of a recent Uni project, with a screen printed cover and colour print inside as well as ‘traditional’ photocopied goodness. I’m over the moon on how it’s turned out and I’m currently ‘getting it out there’ posting it out to various people within the creative and skateboarding industry. However, I can’t help that feel I’m ‘selling out’ even though that is actually a stupid thought! Because it is now more of a book format and so much more time, effort and money went into it, I am charging a lot more that issue one’s 20p. I was doubtful that anyone would want to buy one but have been pleasantly surprised that people have quite happily handed me over £2 in exchange for my printed goods. I plan for future issues to be cheaper because I want everybody to benefit, including pre-pubescent ’skate rats’ with no money.

Who would you like to interview in future zines?
Oh wow, so many people! I’m really lucky that I know so many people that would make perfect interviewing material for Brash. Because Brash is about skateboarding and art from my perspective and about the scene that I’m directly involved in, it makes sense to talk to people that fit into that. It’s more real and honest. I want to interview people who have maybe not had that much exposure, or if they have, reveal something more about them. I wanna interview as many lady shredders as I possibly can, not only give them more exposure, but to show other girls that we are out there; you just have to get more involved. I also aim to interview people in person, the good ol’ fashioned way with a Dictaphone. To me, that’s the best bit. I had so much fun when I interviewed Bunny Bissoux for issue two as we had a real nice chat about her work and how she got to where she is today. It means it’s genuine. However, if it’s just not feasible to do that, I do like to have at least met the person a few times. I really wanted to interview Georgie Winter (sponsored skater) but in the time I had, meeting up was just not gonna happen. But, because I know her and we’ve hung out and skated a few times it didn’t matter so much. I hate the idea of just emailing someone I’ve never met a bunch of questions for them to just reply to. It’s not an interview then, it’s a questionnaire.

Can we read Brash online?
You can’t read my zine online because the whole idea of it is to actually have something in your hand to physically hold and experience. Too many things are online now, like magazines, which is sad. It gets a bit depressing if a person’s main stimulation comes from a computer or iphone screen. It’s good to step away from that sometimes. I do have a web presence though where you can read about my zine activities and how to get your hands on one – alanasartwork.blogspot.com – It also features my artwork, skate videos and stuff I think is cool…treadmill cats…

Contact Harriet via her blog or Facebook page to request a copy of Brash.

Girls Who Draw, a group of illustrators from the West Midlands and beyond, invite you to their Magic Show. The exhibitors – Jane Anderson, Mina Braun, Chloe Cook, Helen Entwisle, Ruth Green, Kate Hindley, Mary Kilvert, Sarah Lippett, Beth Morrison, Sarah Ray, Karoline Rerrie and Daisy Whitehouse – are a mix of recent graduates and emerging and experienced illustrators.

Girls Who Draw collaborate to produce a limited edition postcard book once a year, based on a theme and accompanied by an exhibition; this year’s theme is magic, and the Magic Show its exhibition. Each illustrator has explored the theme, interpreting it in their unique style and creating new work especially for the gallery. They’ve stitched, paper cut, painted and printed unusual artworks to adorn the whole space, ranging from small artists’ books and hand-sewn characters to large-scale installations.

Magic Show will be at Solihull Gallery from 4th April to 11th June, and throughout its run there will be opportunities to meet and even work with some of the illustrators involved.

Illustrators’ Afternoon Tea, G1 Gallery, 14th April, 3.30-8pm, free – Mary Kilvert and Sarah Ray will lead informal open portfolio reviews, giving those attending the chance to share their work with the group and gain feedback and encouragement. To book a place call the Solihull Gallery box office on 0121 704 6962.

Illustration and Print Fair with ‘Live Drawing’, Solihull Central Library and Arts Complex, 4th June, 10am-5pm – A chance to buy limited-edition prints, artists’ books, handmade cards and other unique artwork; the exhibitors will also be running ‘live drawing’ activities throughout the day – everyone is invited to participate in some large-scale drawing.

Illustration by Meeno.

Valentines is fast approaching and at Elphick’s we love these gorgeous Love inspired prints.  Ranging from £12 for a Claire Hartigan ‘Valentine Bears’ to £130 for Kate Gibb’s ‘I Love You’ if you don’t have anyone else to treat then just buy one for yourself.