Earlier, Peta chatted to our cover artist about her work, fairy tales, art.
Tell us about fairy tales - do you love them or hate them?
I love them of course and have loved them my entire life. As a child I was always 'seeking' for stories and I could look at illustrations in fairytale books for hours. Children from the neighbourhood then came to me and asked me if I wanted to tell them a story.
And still, I'm seeking for stories and create them where ever I am. In museums I'm always attracted by those objects without a description because I will then be able to invent the tale myself. I can stare at clouds for hours, looking for monsters. And, like to read books about heroic myths for entire night.
Fairytales are so beautifull because they are in fact a reflections of what we are.. They show us our fears, believes, ideals and desires. It is the history of the human soul and all his emotions and they teach us some very important lessons. Like they keep us reminding to seek for love in everything, to stay true to ourselves and fight for that what's right and nobel . And finally they tell us that everything can have a happy ending.
How do fairy tales influence your work?
They are the center of my work. Every drawing I make is a fairytale in it's own right. Sometimes it's a story I created and other times I make drawings of excisting tales. Without stories I would not have become an artist, it's because of these stories I draw.
Your work has a very old silhouette style to it - can you tell us a bit about how you found your artistic voice?
I found out about ink drawings and silhouette art by accident, during a course on illustrating. I had to make a drawing with indian-ink and simply felt in love with the material.
A little later I started to develop a big passion for silhouette-art. Especially those which can be found in Victorian fairy tale books and old Dutch paper-cut art. I like the nostalgic feeling silhouettes give you, it is like a memory of the past and it has this mysterious dark side like shadows. They never show you everything, it's like they capture a secret within.
What's your favourite fairy tale?
Oh my, that's hard to say because there are so many.... I like the Blackbeard stories, especially the version which can be found in a Dutch ballad called 'Heer Halewein' where the woman is the hero.
I'm not a femenist but it's just a nice version and I love ballads. But, I also love the more romantic fairy tales written by Oscar Wilde, like 'The happy prince'. And Andersen just makes me cry, how beautiful are his tales...... I worship him.
And your favourite fairy tale artists?
I love the work of Ivan Bilibin who illustrated many Russian folktales. Harry Clarke, especially his black and white illustrations for H.C. Andersen's Fairy tales. The Dutch artist Anton Pieck because of his romantic and dreamy style. Toriyama Sekien who made the "The Illustrated Night Parade of A Hundred Demons" showing a supernatural bestiary depicting creatures out of the Japanase folklore and John Bauer because he makes me happy, seeing his work brings a everlasting smile on my face.
What about inspiration? What inspires you, or moves you to create?
What inspires me are many things, myths, folklore, ballads,Victorian shadow puppetry, nature, old mechanical toys, paper cut art, and many,many other things. The list would be to long to mention it all. I believe that when you want to be inspired you can find the inspiration in all things.
What moves me is some sort of need to make this world a bit more beautiful. I don't know if I managed but that is what I am aiming for. Leaving 'stories' behind that tell others about the beauty I have seen through life and to share my love for everything mythical. And above all, to encourage people to believe in more, in love, in ideals. Too many times I see that people find believing naïve or consider it a weakness. But you must have a back-bone to believe. How many of us lose faith during life, it's a shame because there is so much beauty to believe in. Many of us are hunting the truth, expecting it can not be like a fairy tale, blinded by this they don't realize that the result of their lives is nothing more then a reflection of what they believed during their lives.
This cover is specifically based on Cinderella, and pieces of stories from this issue. Can you tell us about how developed it?
I started reading the articles first, seeking for 'Cinderella' in these stories. While reading I realized that certain themes seemed to come back everytime. Like magic and the desire to change a situation. So I thought, the part Cinderella changed into a 'princess' would be the right part to illustrate, because it symbolises transformation in a most magical way.
When you hear/read Cinderella, what do you think of? Does the story have any particular meaning to you?
It is a childhood memory for me, it must have been one of the first fairytales I have heard in my life. Therefore I feel some sort of bond with it. You never forget your first stories for some reason. Reading it now, I still think it is a wonderful dreamy tale, a bit shallow at times maybe, but wonderful.
How do you start/create a work?
The evening before I start working on a new drawing I try to create an image in my mind. Doing this by reading books, taking a walk or just daydream on the subject I want to draw. I always know exactly what I will draw before I start. Of course details create themselves while I'm are working on a drawing. The next morning I start early making very precise sketches with a simple pencil and later that day or the next I start 'coloring' them in with Indian ink.
What styles/media do you work in? Has it changed? Do you think it will change again?
My drawings are all made with Indian Ink and my shadow puppets are made of black cardboard. I started with these materials and never changed it. It is all very plain and simple, which I prefer and I am a person of habits.
The material is so pure and so closely related to the original ideas inside my head. I don't think I will change the materials I use, neither will I change the subjects. But my work itself is always developing. I can already see it gets more detailed every day. It is this detail I will mainly focus on, for now and in the future. I want my drawings to be so detailed they keep you looking for many hours, constantly discovering new details. That is where I am working on. I am still learning and trying many things to make this possible.
Is art a learned or an innate ability?
It can be both. Some are driven by passion for the materials they use and the knowledge how to use them while others just have a feeling driving them to make art. The only difference is that you can learn techniques but you can not learn yourself to have the 'feeling'. So I guess people who start with a feeling have an advantage.
The nice thing about art is that it is not so limited as most things are in life, it leaves enough space for everyone to do it their own way.
Any advice for other artists?
Believe. Believe in what you do and in who you are and never let go those feelings. Fight for it, nurture it, be a rebel, but always be ready to learn and improve. Don't be stubborn, no one is perfect so there is always work to do. Failure is not an option but continue untill you succeed in realizing your goals. Don't hunt goals which aren't yours just because they qualify the expectations of society.
But most importantly make sure that when your old and look back at your life and your work you can be proud and smile, whatever it is you have done.
More of Isabella's work can be found at Isabella's Art or can be purchased from Etsy.com
[contents]