Artists in Motion: The meaningful art of Joanna Concejo
Artists in Motion: Lieke van der Vorst "I learned so many things: from being alone and overcome my fears, to how lovely people are to strangers"
Dutch artist Lieke van der Vorst was born in Kaatsheuvel, a village between Tilburg and ’s-Hertogenbosch in the southern part of the Netherlands. She started her blog and studio Liekeland, in 2011.
In her work she combines everyday life with dreamlike scenes: a dinner table with people and wild animals, a garden with a girl and a bear planting together, meaningful and beautiful images that transport us to a whimsical land.
Perhaps her drawings are reflections of how Lieke would like the world to be: a place where we are all connected with nature, where every living thing can find a place at our table and people and nature live in harmony.
Lieke's work is printed on Arctic Paper from Sweden, with only a minimum amount of water and energy, Arctic Paper produces ecological and FSC certified types of paper.
Artists in Motion: Cinta Arribas
Cinta studied Fine Arts at Salamanca and completed her education in Kassel (Germany). Now she lives in Madrid, where she works as a freelance illustrator. Among her publishing projects is Bababum, a series of activity books for kids, or Hijos de Fruta, a colorable fanzine "for kids who enjoy farts and burps championships".
Cofounder of the Crispis studio in Madrid, she publishes fanzines and works on projects such as Bababum. For several years she illustrated articles in the Economy and Society section of the Eco magazine, in Galicia and she also coordinates the illustration workshop for children, Taller de dinosaurios.
Cinta’s work focuses on people, she likes to imagine stories inspired by different characters. Her work is intense, colorful and expressive; it plays with a subtle sense of humor that highlights the fact that life should always be a little fun.
We Love Art
At Toi, we think art is the best present you can give someone you love.... so, in anticipation of Valentine's Day, we asked Toi's artists about the connection between art and love.
They illustrated their answers, and we love what they did. You will too!
Eleonora Arroyo
How risky to talk about love without sounding cheesy! Especially when talking about art and love. The most important thing for me is to express a feeling or an idea through my work. When I illustrate, I translate that idea or emotion to a visual language. I allow the image take charge. Form, color, composition, everything has to communicate, to express a feeling.
I’m not sure what is the best present for someone we love. But I’m certain art is one of the best possible presents. What a joy is to choose an artwork, to think of how this would please this person, and how this piece will be in their life forever.
The Meaning of Meaningful
I find the dictionary definition of meaningful, (and its synonyms significant, important, valid) very similar to some aspects of art.
Meaningful is described as “communicating something that is not directly expressed” the same way that art transmits feelings or, as Leo Tolstoy put it, “[in art] the receiver enters a kind of relationship.”
Artists in Motion. Anne Baier: "I think to surround yourself with beautiful things have an impact on the way you feel."
Anne Baier grew up in the North of Germany. She has studied Visual Communication at the Bauhaus University Weimar and at École Supérieure des beaux-arts de Toulouse. Since 2013, she works as a freelance illustrator in her studio in Potsdam, Berlin. Her illustrations have been published in several magazines and newspapers in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and England. She also works for publishers and clients in the field of graphic and editorial design. Anne loves using graphite pencils and doing all kinds of prints. Her illustrations are inspired by nature, everyday life and music and have a strong sense for abstraction and textures.
Artists in Motion: Catarina Sobral "Literature creates readers, visual arts create the possibility of reading and thinking through images... All those types of literacy are equally important."
Born in Portugal in 1985, Catarina Sobral is a published author and illustrator. After studying Graphic Design, she graduated in Illustration in 2012. Her illustrations are a regular presence in editorial, album covers and posters, and she has ten books published in eleven different languages. Her work has been exhibited both in solo and group shows in many places around the world and recognized by the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the Portuguese National Illustration Award, the Portuguese Authors’ Society, the White Ravens catalogue and the 3x3 magazine.
Artists in Motion. Miren Asiain Lora: “I like to create climates, atmospheres and/or sensations. I prefer to leave my work open to interpretation.”
Miren was born in 1988 in Pamplona, Spain and now lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She graduated in Fine Arts from the University of the Basque Country, attending her final year in Buenos Aires. Her work has been shown in several exhibitions in Spain, Argentina and Mexico. She has created posters for various musical and theatrical projects and festivals, as well as a project-image for Amnesty International. In 2012 her book Hara, written and illustrated by her, won the Etxepare Illustrated Album Award. In 2013 she was a finalist for the Euskadi prize for Literature; in 2015 she was awarded the "Iberoamérica Ilustra" award from SM Foundation, The Ilustradero and the Guadalajara International Book Fair (Mexico). Her works convey the magic of everyday life, the charm of little moments that hold a secret to be deciphered.
