Jonathan Vermersch’s dynamic and playful illustrations are a journey into the unknown

Posted in Art, Illustration
By Sam Bathe on 5 Dec 2018

Jonathan Vermersch’s surreal illustrations feature vibrant colours and elongated limbs that feel forever in motion. Show the rest of this post…

Creating hectic scenes that almost animated themselves as you scan across the image, Jonathan’s style create an almost fish-eye effect, with a remarkable use of perspective that immediately knocks you off-kilter. Yet inspired by yoga and meditation, Jonathan maintains a rhythm and harmony, with characters interlocking to create a sense of control.

You can find more of Jonathan’s work on his portfolio: www.jonathanvermersch.com

Oliwia Bober puts a personal twist on traditional Polish folklore

Posted in Art, Illustration
By Sam Bathe on 7 Nov 2018

Born in Poland before moving to the UK when she was 11, Oliwia Bober’s journey into illustration wasn’t always the smoothest. Finding art at school never focused on actual creative expression, then at university she never really found her feet. Show the rest of this post…

Taking a year out for mental health reasons before finishing her third year, Oliwia started painting and drawing simply to create – with any brief or deadline – and it drew out more personal themes in her work. Referncing Polish folklore, her stunning art tackles love and relationships and gave Oliwia an outlet to “express and navigate her feelings”. With a remarkable sense of form and colour, each piece tells a powerful story, putting a twist on the traditional folk style.

Check out more of Oliwia’s work on her site: www.oliwiabober.com

Photographer Adam Naples embraces the vanlife to explore cross-country Americas

Posted in Art, Photography
By Sam Bathe on 31 Oct 2018

Falling into the vanlife rather than searching it out, Adam Naples is a wedding and editorial photographer roaming northwest USA in his red VW Camper Van. Driving from Pennsylvania to California for their first trip, Adam told himself, “it’s not about the miles, it’s about the smiles,” heading out with his brother to take in some of the most stunning sites the States has to offer. Show the rest of this post…

Taking in the likes of Badlands National Park, Yellowstone, and The Redwoods, with plenty of skateboard stops along the way, Adam captures his trip with real texture to his photography and came out of it as something of an expert about vintage cars. Or moreover, how to get them going again.

Check out more of Adam’s work on his site: www.adamnaples.com

Illustrator Seb Agresti’s bright colours and bold outline are as sharp as the stories he tells with each piece

Posted in Art, Illustration
By Sam Bathe on 19 Sep 2018

Comissioned by everyone from The New Yorker, to Monocle, to The New York Times, Seb Agresti’s bold illustration style feature bright block colours, and bold black outlines. Sitting in almost comic book-like composition, Seb’s illustrations tease a complex story, with whimsical elements that don’t always appear to make sense. Show the rest of this post…

You can find more of Seb’s work on his portfolio: www.sebagresti.com

Wally Koval is curating your best life with ‘Accidentally Wes Anderson’

Posted in Art, Film, Photography
By Sam Bathe on 12 Sep 2018

Starting out as a thread on Reddit, Wally Koval’s Instagram feed, Accidentally Wes Anderson, is a greatest hits of the scenes in real life that look like they’re straight out of an Anderson production. Featuring pastel tones, Art Deco facades and never-ending symmetry, Koval features photos from photographers around the world, including where it was shot and the history of the subject. Show the rest of this post…

Check it out at: https://www.instagram.com/accidentallywesanderson

Photo credits from top: @jhogarty_, @kimakimberlin, @veeceecheng, @gidivanm, @concretelibraries, @elizabethdaniels01, @nadinberrrlin, @johnnyhifi.

Planet Earth looks even more breathtaking from the clouds in Milan Radisics’ WATER.SHAPES.EARTH

Posted in Art, Photography
By Sam Bathe on 5 Sep 2018

Whilst urban development dominates the horizon from ground level, up in the clouds, nature is quick to remind us that this is her planet. A project that showcases the most breathtaking sights formed in nature, photographer Milan Radisics’ WATER.SHAPES.EARTH hopes to put a new perspective on our planet, because one day, these sights might disappear. Show the rest of this post…

Check out more of Radisics’ stunning shots at: water.shapes.earth

Artist Felipe Bedoya depicts the patterns of Cartagena’s beach vendors in his series ‘The Walkers’

Posted in Art, Photography
By Sam Bathe on 16 Jan 2018

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Mixing photography with collage and fine art experimentation, Felipe Bedoya‘s series Los Caminantes, or The Walkers, captures the almost rhythmic patterns of Cartagena’s beach vendors. Blending photography with actual sand collected from the region, Bedoya constructed miniature scenes of the vendors at work, selling food, drinks and inflatable toys, up and down the beach. Show the rest of this post…

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Check out more of Felipe Bedoya’s work on his site: www.behance.net/doya

Mica Warren’s fun illustrations use bloated forms and chunky outlines to create each hectic scene

Posted in Art, Illustration
By Sam Bathe on 14 Dec 2017

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With a stylised, almost Morph-like human form, Mica Warren‘s illustrations combine block colours and thick linework. Originally from Wicklow in Ireland but now based in London, there’s a sense of joy and energy in Mica’s work, creating almost cluttered scenes with so much absorb and take in. Show the rest of this post…

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Rodrigo Bravo’s Monolith Series showcases the extraordinary materials and production methods taken from Chilean geography

Posted in Art
By Sam Bathe on 30 Oct 2017

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All carved from single chunks of combarbalita, a stone native to northern Chile, Rodrigo Bravo‘s Monolith Series wanted to find a way to highlight the “production methods, technologies, and materials taken from Chilean geography.” Working with a local stone-turning craftsman, Bravo sketched countless designs for vessels, ultimately collaborating to create a collection of 80 pieces. Show the rest of this post…

From small bowls and vases, to lidded boxes and cups, no two objects in the series are the same, in no small part thanks to the remarkable combarbalita Made from volcanic processes, the material integrates diverse compositions of kaolinite, natroalunite, silica, and hemanite, plus some of the minerals represented in copper and silver oxides.

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Graduate artist Morgan Ward shows a talent for colour, space and form that belies his relative youth

Posted in Art, Illustration
By Sam Bathe on 12 Oct 2017

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Graduating this year from the University of Chichester, artist Morgan Ward has an eye well beyond his years. Inspired by a phrase from one of his lecturers that always stuck; ‘Don’t create work that gives answers, create work that asks questions,’ Ward’s work is the product of a continual battle into his personal development. Mixing hard lines with rough brush strokes, Morgan’s pieces are collision of bright, neon colour that pulls your eye back and forth. Show the rest of this post…

“My work has seen drastic change over the three years at university but I have always kept to a constant theme of research into how a canvas can be filled as an object of illusion, as after all a painting is a 2 dimensional plane depicting a tree dimensional space,” Morgan explains, to see where he could go over the next three years will be a very exciting wait.

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Check out more of Morgan’s work on his site: www.morganwardartist.com

FAN THE FIRE is a digital magazine about lifestyle and creative culture. Launching back in 2005 as a digital publication about Sony’s PSP handheld games console, we’ve grown and evolved now covering the arts and lifestyle, architecture, design and travel.