Cuban-born Laura Lacámara is the award-winning author and illustrator of Dalia’s Wondrous Hair / El cabello maravilloso de Dalia (Piñata Books), a bilingual picture book about a clever girl who transforms her unruly hair into a vibrant garden.
Laura also wrote Floating on Mama’s Song/ Flotando en la canción de mamá, a bilingual picture book inspired by her mother, who was an opera singer in Havana. Illustrated by Yuyi Morales and published by HarperCollins, Floating on Mama’s Song was a Junior Library Guild Selection for Fall 2010 and was a Tejas Star Book Award Finalist for 2011-2012.
Laura illustrated the 2012 Tejas Star Book Award winner, The Runaway Piggy / El cochinito fugitivo (Piñata Books), as well as Alicia’s Fruity Drinks / Las aguas frescas de Alicia (Piñata Books).
Laura recently illustrated Mamá the Alien / Mamá la extraterrestre (Lee and Low Books, 2016), which received a starred review from Kirkus.
@ChariseHarper, the award-winning author, and illustrator of numerous children’s books and series, including Just Grace, Fashion Kitty, and I Can Not Draw a Horse.
Hi, I’m oliVia. And I am from China. I am currently pursuing my MFA in illustration with SCAD. I have been learning art since I was young, and I really enjoy it. I studied fabric design in College. At that time I may consider more about finding a job, so I have chosen design rather than fine art. However, I still want to do more drawing and painting after I graduated from college.
2. You’ve studied textile design for your undergrad, why did you decide to get your master’s in illustration? Why SCAD?
During my time in college, by chance, I got a part-time job doing illustration, so I was a freelance illustrator for a few years, I think learning more about illustration can help my career, also that’s what I am really interested in. I have practiced drawing fundamental skills for so many years, and I have some work experience, so I find that I am lacking in areas like the concept, ideas, creativity, imagination. And you know, China’s educational system is very different from America, where they will pay more attention to creativity rather than just focusing on technique. So based on my skills I should improve my creativity and open my eyes. Then, when I was applying to schools, I got a few offers from London, like royal RCA, and UAL, but they only have one year, for me, I feel it’s too short for study, especially in a foreign country. So I decided to choose SCAD, which has a two-year program in a small beautiful town. I believe I will be able to better focus on my artwork as compared to studying in a big city.
3. What has it been like coming to study in the US? What was the hardest thing? Anything you miss from your home country?
To be honest, there has been so much pressure on me. The financial aspect of things as well as the social aspect. It is very lonely to move to a foreign country without knowing anyone. Everything is different from before. Not being fluent in the language also has held be back from a lot of things. Then the pandemic also makes everything hard, online class feels like self-study, also hard to make friends.
I miss all my friends, family, my dog, and Chinese food! Haha.
4. Are there any skills you have from textile design that have been helpful with your illustrations?
Emmm…. Actually, I also draw a lot in undergrad, mostly for pattern design, we have learned Chinese traditional painting patterns as well as Japanese and European patterns. I also learned about fabric in a more hands-on capacity such as through learning different sewing and embroidery techniques. So I practice more drawing styles also make me interested in texture. I always incorporate different textures and materials in my painting.
5. How do you time manage?
I like to create to-do lists for both my short and long-term goals. From what I need to do every day to what I need to achieve by the end of a quarter. The to-do list helps keep me clear on what needs to be done.
Another thing to better utilize your time is to do things in an efficient manner. And for me, the key to that is focusing on the task at hand. I generally take breaks until I finish my work.
Private Collection
6. How do you stay motivated?
For me, I find pleasure through my work, if you did something you really like you will keep doing it without any pressure. If you did something you don’t like, you should think about how to fix it and solve the problem then you will be happy with your improvement.
7. Any artists you think I should look at for inspiration?
I would recommend Egon Shiele, because he is my favorite artist since I was in high school, especially his drawing, his linework always makes me excited. Those are really amazing line with power that shows energy and emotion. Alexandra Levasseur is another artist I would recommend. she has a very unique style. It is whimsical and incredibly imaginative, every piece of her work is telling a whole story. While her work is not narrative-based, her work still has very strong storytelling, so you doing children’s book illustration maybe could be inspired about a different way to telling a story. Then, the last one is Dinara Mirtalipova, she doing a children’s book, her work is like a fairy tale, really beautiful, cute and detailed. I think you will like it.
8. If you could go back in time what would you tell yourself about having an art career?
I don’t know, I may tell myself do not to worry too much about earning money when I was in high school, should choose what I love as the major. But I don’t regret anything in the past, because the past makes me who I am, even some mistakes help me grow as a person.
9. What are your future goals?
I hope I can be an artist, do what I really love, also have people love my work.
Day 19 Inspiration #amonthinpaper My inspiration has been meeting so many wonderful creatives that are willing to share their art journey. You can learn so much from talking with other artists. Some days I go back and listen to the interviews and I’m inspired. Two other things that have come from doing the podcast are persistence and time management. Season 9 Guests! Check out these artists and their work! 102 Jun Zhou, Ilustrator @junzhou_draw 1/30
I was thrilled to chat with Will Terry about teaching and the direction that art education is headed in. I took his classes when he started Folio Academy and then took classes on SVS Learn. I learned a lot about the process of children’s book illustration. I recommend to my high school students to try different online schools if they aren’t sure what they want to do in the arts.
Season 7 is upon us and I had time between quarters to chat with another group of really nice artists for this season. Many of the came from my book illustration class and from my SVS Learns Children’s Book Pro Class.
Thanks for listening everyone! I was surprised to see that there has been over 3000 listens to the interviews. I hope they have been inspiring and help you on your art journey! If you have any questions or topics you want to hear more about please drop a comment.
I’m into season 6 of my podcast interviewing creatives and how and why they create their art. I decided this season should focus on animation. Though I struggled dearly with creating works for my animation class I had so many supportive and friendly classmates in my animation class. Here’s the list of accomplished people and I’ll be making a recap at the end of what I learned. I seem to get a lot more listens when I do that. I would normally do separate posts for each person, but I’m short of time and have been super busy with personal and side projects. There seems to never been enough time in a day or week for that matter. Really lovely group of people and I hope you’ll take the time to listen and check out their work on their sites. Links have been provided below. Thanks for everyone’s support and listens to the podcast please like and subscribe! I’m nearing close to 3,000 listens.
June 06 6.01 Nino or Xinyi Cao @blanknk5512, Illustrator
June 13 6.02 Morgan Holub @moholub, Animator and Storyteller
June 20 6.03 Robin Mallory @rgmallo, Painter and Illustrator
I interviewed fellow SCAD student Adam Strickland. Adam is a talented graduate animation student that I met during art criticism class. Here is a little more about Adam.
I have several years of motion graphics and graphic design experience. My primary services are creating motion graphics for online advertisements and graphic design for print and digital media. I also do storyboarding, writing, voice narration, and video editing.
Check out his Demo Reel! It’s excellent work!
It was inspiring to speak with Adam. Listen to his interview on My Creative Life.
It’s great to have Nikita back. He was a guest during my earlier seasons. This is an update about his life and a teacher and graphic designer during these crazy times. Here is a bit about Nikita.Nikita is an NYC-based lettering artist, graphic designer, and design professor. His minimalist style reflects an admiration for work such as pure marks by Stefan Kanchev and beautiful typography of Doyald Young. As one happy client put it, ‘his work is conceptual, clean, and the reasoning behind every design decision is crystal clear.’ Focusing mainly on logotypes and lettering, Nikita has worked on a variety of design projects for local and international clients. He is an ambigram expert that has taught several ambigram workshops–in addition to having written a book about ambigrams. Nikita’s work has been featured in multiple design books and websites.His love of bad puns and jokes is second only to his love of type. To pass the time between projects, he reads, scuba dives, skydives, wingwalks, skis (not very gracefully), and travels. He thinks that writing about himself in third person is a bit strange, but he has gotten used to it.
Here is a written version of his response from the interview.
1. Reminder for the audience tell us bit about yourself? I am a lettering artist, graphic designer, and design teacher residing in NYC. With a strong focus on typography, I have worked for a variety of clients, ranging from small independent businesses to Fortune 500 companies. I have conducted workshops for several universities, AIGA, and Typism Conference, as well as being a featured keynote speaker for the latter. I am also an ambigram expert who has written a book about ambigrams, and my design work has been featured in multiple books and has been honored with several industry awards.
2. How have things changed in your life as a graphic designer during pandemic? Has it affected getting freelance work? I haven’t really focused on much freelance word, doing only a small one-off project or two during the pandemic. Teaching has taken up quite a bit of my time, and I like the flexibility of working on personal projects rather than meeting client deadlines in my spare time.
3. How have things changed as a professor during pandemic? As a professor/design teacher, everything has shifted to remote teaching for now. We use tools such as Zoom, Notion, Slack, and Canvas as a replacement for in-classroom interaction, grading, and communication with the students. Although nothing can replace a true in-classroom experience, we try to keep it similar as possible.
4. Where are the cool kids (designers and illustrators) showcasing their work these days as far as portfolio sites to get work? Behance, Instagram, Working-Not-Working, and a few other websites. There are some Instagram accounts that focus on lettering, branding, typeface design, illustration, and other niches of the creative industry. Those are also a good place to showcase your work.
5. How was the speaking engagement in Australia since we last spoke? The engagement was fantastic! It was one of the best experiences of my life as a designer – I’ve connected with a lot of old friends that I’ve only been able to communicate with online, made some new contacts, and was able to travel Australia for almost 3 weeks after the conference. It was a trip of a lifetime – that I plan to repeat again soon!
6. What are you currently working on? Are there any future events you’ll be speaking at? Currently, just personal lettering projects, design work, and laser-cutting various creations out of wood and plastic – a new obsession.
7. How are you managing work/life balance during the pandemic? I’ve been relatively consistent in terms of disconnecting after work and keeping fit – working out at home, playing tennis, or going for distanced outdoor hikes. It has helped keep my sanity and health!
8. How do you stay creative during a time like this? I’ve actually allowed myself to be less creative and not force it. During ‘normal’ times, I’ve tried to do an ambigram or a piece of lettering almost every day. Now, during these latest times, I allow myself to not create something every day, and taking that pressure off myself has allowed me to be more productive and creative when I need to be.
9. Where can people see more of your work? My work can be found at nikitaprokhorov.com, and instagram.com/typebynikita for more experiments, weekly lettering, and illustrations.
10. Some of my guest say they would like to teach at the college level. What advice would you give them to get hired for the job? Also are there more online options for professors and teaching. I would say that most colleges in the United States require an MA or MFA from an accredited school. So, if you have the time/money to get an advanced degree, I say – why not? It will set you up for the future if you decide to teach, and if you decide not to, you will still have an advanced degree that you can put to good use as a designer, even if you never become a professor. There are also some programs that don’t require you to have an advanced degree to teach. I teach at a school like that currently (Shillington), and I’ve seen first hand that it’s not always about the name of the school you attend or teach at – all that really matters is the desire to succeed as a designer, hard work, and everything else will fall into place.
Ryan is a return guest that I had on from season 1. If you haven’t heard that episode go back and listen to it. His story of breaking into animation is fascinating. I noticed on Instagram that Ryan had started a new company with his sister Stephanie called BirdBott Toys. They create 3D models and 3D printed interactive toys. Picture above is one of their toys. The parts all move and the mouth even opens. I had to have them on as guests to hear how they got it started. They also have their 3D models for sale and free downloads to print them on your own 3D printer. Check out their work! If you are a teacher that is looking for quality 3D files to try on your 3D printer check out their models below.
In this episode Heather Tietz, a previous guest and I are talking about starting our publishing company Applesauce Books. This has been something we worked on in our spare time. We should have hardcopies by the time this interview drops. We go over some things we’ve learned in the process. It’s really about trying something new and see where it can take us.
I decided to have Reema come back and speak on my podcast to hear how things are going as a teacher during Covid. She was kind enough to share her teaching expertise. Here is a bit about Reema.Reema Zoumut, “Ms. Z “, an enthusiastic artist and 32 year instructor(10 yrs in private sch., 22 yrs. in public school, and 7 yrs with the City of Corona- on Saturday Mornings) … who is excited about all the tools to creating art and helping students understand their own conceptual thinking & artistic potential.Check out her work at:Her School Website.Reema’s Zoumut IGBolsa Grande_Animation IG
Mrs. Miller - Messy Art Teacher Blog 