CARMINE MAGAZINE

Carmine Magazine: How would you define your style?
Melissa Haslam: Illustrative, whimsical, melancholic, sensual, escapist. It probably falls into the pop-surreal genre.

CM: What things inspire and influence you and your artwork?
MH: So many things! Nature (especially the exotic), the female form, fashion photography, vintage culture, and botanical art.

CM: Do you listen to music when you create? Describe your perfect creative work environment.
MH: Not when I need to think. Unfortunately I find it really difficult to develop ideas and problem solve with music on, I work much better when its quiet. But when I paint it’s ok. I have started listening to audio books when I paint, at the moment it’s The Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb.

CM: What mediums do you work in the most? Why do you use them?
MH: At the moment I do a lot of drawing, mostly in graphite. When I come across a drawing I like I turn it into an oil painting. Oils are very rich and versatile and have so much possibility for me to further develop my technique. I have tried acrylics but they dry so fast!

CM: Name a few of your favorite artists.
MH: Historically - Henri Rousseau, J.W.Waterhouse, Arthur Rackham
Contemporary - Del Kathryn Barton (for her bizarre twisted botanical and animal representations, and all those little decorative dots), Jason Benjamin (for his dark, moody landscapes), and many of the artists you see in publications such as Hi-Fructose and Juxtapoz who blend art with an illustration aesthetic (too many to name them all - I’d probably miss some). I love art with imagination, femininity and a slightly dark undertone.

CM: If there was one style of art that you could take up what would it be?
MH: I have always thought that one day I might make a short, animated film.

Find Melissa’s work at these places on the web:
Melissa Haslam.com
Cherry Chai on Livejournal

Some artwork from Melissa Halsam: