Carmine Magazine: What drives you to create? Also, what inspires you and your work?
Nikki Pinder: All my life I have loved making, creating, experimenting and inventing things, so being creative is just something which comes natural to me. I love art so much and I have so many ideas that it’s almost as if I have to express myself through art just to keep surviving. One of my biggest real drives to create is the thought that what I say and do might help someone in someway by for example thinking that they aren’t the only person thinking those thoughts. Also, I love to give people advice and help if I have some information which can point them in a better direction. A huge drive for me is that one day I will create something so big and magnificent that it will change some aspect of the world for the better. I have a dream to create some kind of guidance school or series of books and products which help people establish their own business and gain the confidence to achieve what they’ve set out to achieve in life. I really want to do something great and make an impact with the visual skills I have as I believe it’s possible.
Every single thing in life inspires me from the people I meet, the world I live in, the trees in my garden, the colours of the rainbow – everything. Moleskine sketchbooks inspire me too as they are just the most perfect books to draw in!

CM: Were you formally trained in art or self taught? Do you think it has helped you or hindered you?
NP: I was formally trained as I followed the route of High School, A-Level College, Art Foundation, and then to study a BA Honours Degree in Illustration and Graphic Design. However, I am also equally, if not more self taught as I have always insisted on doing everything possible myself, and teaching myself as many skills as possible. The only thing I need now is four more pairs of hands on my body so I can do lots of different things at the same time, and also another head so one can sleep whilst the other works and then I never need to stop working and doing things.
I think formal training definitely helped me as I am very happy with the teachers I had at school, college and University. Some were my biggest inspirations in life so far and I took on board a lot of what they taught me about how to think, and view the world, as well as how to experiment and be creative. I would also say though that I’ve often wondered what kind of a person I’d be if I’d not had formal art training, and also what my work would be like and if I would even be making art. I think I would be, but when i was younger I really wanted to be a mechanical engineer for a couple of years, I think because both my dad and granddad are and were amazing engineers and great draughtsmen. I was once told that my granddad contributed to the designing of Jodrell Bank which I’m very proud of, but I’m not sure what he did exactly.

CM: What mediums do you work in the most? Do you have a particular brand that you love working with? Why do you use them?
NP: I really don’t have a defined medium that I work in as I love to experiment with pretty much anything I think I can incorporate into my work in some way. However, I would say that I love to work with paper, so I guess that’s the medium of my choice with regards to collaging and making things from it. I love to work with black fineliners and dipping pens and Indian Ink too. I use them because they are materials I enjoy working with and they allow me to achieve to visual appearance I’m hoping to achieve with each piece of artwork I create.


CM: At what point did you realize that creating was going to be a large part of your life?
NP: I’ve always known deep down that creating was going to be a large part of my life, ever since I could first pick up a pen and make shapes out of plasticine. It’s just always been the one thing in life that I’ve felt really comfortable and confident about doing, and people have always responded well to my artwork. Even at school when I was trying hard to understand the complexities of maths and science (which I do find fascinating), I would spend most the lesson drawing in the backs of my exercise books without really realising I wasn’t concentrating on the lesson at all, but just drawing charactures of people in the class. Then I’d get sent out the room and get detention as apparently history teachers don’t appreciate you drawing pictures of them with punk rocker hair and doing hand stands on trees.

CM: If there was one style of art that you could take up, what would it be?
NP: I would never want to adopt a style or re-create something which already exists. However, I do love to take inspiration from many styles, eras and movements, and some of my favourite work was created as part of the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements of the late 19th Century. I also adore many styles created within the Art Deco period and take a lot of inspiration from all creative areas from these three categories of the arts.

CM: How do you deal with creator’s (or writer’s) block?
NP: I fortunately never get ‘creator’s block’ as, if anything, I have too many thoughts and ideas running through my mind. The only thing I struggle with at times is making perfect sense of my ideas and forming the exact clear vision of what I want to convey through the particular piece of artwork. I deal with this by always writing down my ideas and thoughts, sketching and drawing all the time, and recording pretty much all idea and observations I have on a daily basis. This allows me to look back over my notes and put together an exact answer to my brief or problem I’m trying to resolve in my mind.

CM: How do you prepare for art shows where your work will be shown?
NP: Previously preparing for shows has pretty much consisted of working like mad and hardly sleep for about two weeks before to make sure I have enough work ready to display. But now I’m getting more frequent and exciting offers of work and exhibition venues I’m hoping to change that by building up a stock of work so I can concentrate a little more time on promoting the exhibitions and creating bits and pieces of collectible merchandise for the show private view nights. It’s just tricky at the moment still as I have a very limited budget work with so every area of exhibiting is difficult from affording to get my work printed and buy frames, to actually delivering the work and collecting it afterwards as sometimes I have to travel as far as London to deliver the work. However, I do think that the difficulties I experience make the rewards even more satisfying and I wouldn’t feel happy if I didn’t feel I had worked hard to get there. Also, the difficult challenges always teach you either a new skill such as how to mount your own work to save money, or a new lesson of how to go about something the next time.

CM: How do you define you style? Does it represent an inner you or something completely different?
NP: In simple terms, I would define my style as ‘me’ and my own style as everything I create comes from my heart and it is an honest representation of how I feel and view the world I live in. So yes it definitely represents the inner me as whatever the project I am working on, whether a personal piece, collaboration or a commissioned piece, I always inject some of my own experiences, opinions and feelings into the finished artwork. I wouldn’t know how to create in any other way as for me art and being creative is all about expressing yourself and how you feel about something. I also take a lot of inspiration from visual sources such as watching films, music videos, and generally reading as much as I can when I can to absorb as much information as possible.

CM: What kind of environment do you need to create in?
NP: My favourite place to create is alone in my studio with just a cup of tea and lots of great music playing. If I need a boost of inspiration I sometimes work out doors in parks if it’s a nice day, or where ever I am at the time if I feel the urge to draw or write. I also love to draw in cafes and whilst on the train as I find it really stimulating, and I usually end up having an interesting memorable conversation with a curious stranger asking questions about what I’m working on.

CM: What does your workspace look like?
NP: Messy, messyer, so messy I can’t see the floor, kind of tidy and things in piles, then starts to get messy again. Productive mess and I do have filing cabinets for my paper work and drawings etc. I have pictures, photos, bits and pieces I’ve collected and people have given to me stuck all over my walls in every possible place I could put something. I’ve got a lot of books so I’ve several bookshelves. I just love to be surrounded by lots of images, colours and little narratives so I am always thinking everywhere I look. I also love to have bits and pieces everywhere so when I’m creating something I can just reach out and find something unexpected quickly. If my studio was tidy.. it would mean I was ill and couldn’t work, so mess is the way forward I think.

CM: What was your worst experience with art? And the best?
NP: Worst experience.. well I really don’t like to ever dwell on the past or bad experiences as I like to look at them as learning curves and lessons for the future, but one of my worst experiences was having an exhibition and despite me stating clearly in a written inventory (they requested) not to sell the beautiful unique dark oak 19th century antique frames my work was displayed in (as they were intended as investments for my future exhibitions and I put a LOT of work, time and effort into restoring and making them suitable for exhibitions), the organisers of the exhibition just gave the frames away with the work inside. So as a result I lost them forever as they didn’t even take the contact details from the buyer or call me up before taking the work off the wall and giving them away to check that I wanted to give the frames away with the work inside. It was the most upsetting thing I’d ever experienced throughout my career so far and it ruined the happy feeling I’d had after selling pretty much all the work during the exhibition and it being a huge success. But, as usual I thought about how I can avoid this in the future and put the experience behind me. The worst thing about it was being told it was apparently ‘my’ fault they had gone and not being given any form of apology or explanation by the owner of the venue. He wouldn’t even answer my phone call and got someone else to phone me to tell me that it was my problem and not theirs. But like I said, I’m not dwelling on it as the future is what matters.
The best experiences I’ve had with art so far are almost limitless as I’ve had so many, but I would say that one of my best so far was having a couple of friendly and fun meetings in London with some friends/colleagues about exciting new projects we were starting work on, then being treated to dinner with lots of interesting people, then spending the night drinking beer and playing drums and guitar in a recording studio with the musicians and one of the singers – Alessi singing to me as I played her song on the guitar. It was a fun and unexpected day and I love lots of the simple spontaneous things which happen to you in life and that was a great memory.


CM: What movies, books, music, etc get your creative juices flowing the most?
NP: It’s impossible to list them all so I’ll list a couple of my current and all time favourite inspirations:
Movies: Pans Labyrinth, Edward Scissorhands, Amelie, Donnie Darko, The Elephant Man, Labyrinth, Me and you and everyone we know, Beetlejuice, and anything by Hitchcock.
Books: Where The Wild Things Are, The Book Of Nonsense, The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy, Alice In Wonderland, The Hungry Caterpillar, and all books by and Edward Gorey.
Music: The Cure, Danny Elfman, Yann Tiersen, Nine Inch Nails, Deftones, Amanda Palmer, the Dresden Dolls, Marilyn Manson, Nirvana, Goldfrapp, and Ed Harcourt,

CM: Do you think the internet, technology, media, etcetera are helping or destroying the art world?
NP: I think that it’s up to each and every individual to make use of resources and tools in ways which don’t harm others and the environment we live in. I think that all three can be both damaging and helpful depending on the intentions of the person concerned. There are some great website resources for artists to promote their work on and talk to other artists, but there is also a lot of bogus made up information on the internet too. I guess you just have to keep aware and don’t trust everything you read. I think overall there are probably more benefits than drawbacks. It’s just up to the artist how they utilise each resource. I think too though that’s important we keep reading books and don’t forget about the traditional crafts and ways of creating art. For me there’s nothing more exciting than holding something in your hands which has been made completely with love by an artist.

CM: Aside from art what do you do with your time? Is there anything else that drives you or that you’re passionate about?
NP: I love photography and take a camera pretty much everywhere with me as I always want to capture things I see. I absolutely love music and playing the guitar so I go to gigs whenever I can and play guitar as much as possible. I find it really relaxing and satisfying even when I’m just strumming and making up little tunes as it’s one of the only things which allows me to take a mental break away from my work. I also love outdoor sports such as walking in the mountains, rock climbing, abseiling and do that when I can both indoor and outdoor as I’m lucky that my dad’s a qualified climbing instructor and mountain leader. I do quite a lot of running too as it really helps me to clear my head and think through ideas.

CM: Do you have any upcoming shows, events, releases, etc. you would like our readers to know about?
NP: I currently have a solo exhibition in Odd Bar in the Northern quarter of Manchester, and I’m working on ideas for several other exhibitions for the near future, some of which I will hopefully be sharing the space with other artists for group shows. I’m working on several big projects currently, but unfortunately much of which I still can’t discuss or post pictures of so I should be releasing lots of new great work around spring 2009. I can mention though that I’m currently also working on a lot of new handmade products for various clients, galleries and shops and they will be going on sale very soon. Some of the clients I’m creating them for are: Amanda Palmer (of the Dresden Dolls) for the Post War Trade handmade merchandise company she recently set up, Magma Bookshops (in London and Manchester), the Urbis Exhibition Centre (in Manchester), The Old Sweet Shop (in Sheffield), Luna and Curious (on Brick Lane in London), and many others which I will post all details about on my artwork blog as I finish them.

For more information on Nikki Pinder and her work check out these links:
Artwork Blogs:
Nikki Pinder on Blogspot
Nikki Pinder on Myspace
Nikki Pinder Illustration on Blogspot
Illustration Websites:
Nikki Pinder Official Site
Nikki Pinder on Final Crit
Illustration Facebook Fan Page:
Nikki Pinder Illustrations on Facebook
Illustration Facebook Group:
Nikki Pinder Illustrations Facebook Group
Creature Magazine Cover Artwork:
Creature Mag
Music Video:
Video on You Tube
Video on Facebook
My Mystical Garden Story:
Amelia’s Magazine
Illustration Myspace Page:
Nikki Pinder on Myspace
Flickr:
Nikki Pinder
Nightowl Magazine Facebook Group:
Nightowl Magazine on Facebook
Nightowl Myspace Page:
Nightowl Magazine on Myspace