Culture? introducing Sandra Dieckmann...

..Today I feature the great Sandra Dieckmann. Her work is this colorfull, playfull rapsody of animals. The "fury animals"-series looks just great, and the fact that Sandra has been so kind to answer some questions about her work, only makes it better. I am proud to say that todays shot of art is from Sandra Dieckmann, enjoy!:

..Winter wolf..

..Treetops..

..Orangutan..

..Red panda..

..Polar bear..

..Furry faces line..

..Crowned crane..

-Can you tell the readers a little bit about yourself, name, what country you live in, age etc?

My name is Sandra I live in London in the UK and I'm 27. Those are the stats. My measurements are confidential.I was born in a country town in Germany and came over when I was 19. Now I'm completely at home in East London and live in a little flat with my boycat Little Crumb, my friend and fellow artist Liz Clough and singer Katie Harkin of Sky Larkin. That rhymes!

-What inspired you to start drawing?

Nothing and everything. I didn't really start I have just always done it.
Sketching, painting, making things, observing and having fun with imagery.
I have always been a visual person. Even as a child I could never remember numbers or names but faces and the colour of peoples eyes and what they had been wearing, how the walked and talked. It left an imprint in my mind.
My dad always tells me the story of me being only 4 or so and him trying to teach me to draw a train in perspective. I couldn't and stubbornly carried on for hours until I cried.

-Is drawing youre fulltime job, and if not, what else do you do?

I work 12 days a month as a manager for the animal charity RSPCA the rest of the month I work as an illustrator.
I love both of my jobs. Drawing and helping animals is my life at the moment.
I'm really happy that way and it gives me a very varied experience. Sitting on your desk too much can be difficult even though I love doing it. In the charity job I get to meet all types of people in East London and it's nice to be in the centre of the community here.

-Have you gone to art school, if yes where did you go and what did you study?I started early on with a baccalaureta in art in Germany and then moved onto a pre foundation in fine art. After that I studied textiles and fashion at college then a BA(Hons) Fashion Design at Westminster University in London but broke that off as I realized it wasn't the right direction. I finally completed my Ba(Hons) in Graphic Information design and Illustration with a first class honours and distinction last year. It's been a long time in art education. Looking back it must have been nearly ten years with little gaps of course!

-Where do you find inspiration?

Everything around me. The green trees, the streets, peoples faces, the sky and London life. Rubbish on the floor and stains on the asphalt, things that no one else has time to look at any more. Then there is my love and my cat Little Crumb and my friends and other creatives that I’m connected to. And anything by David Attenborough. Nature books, touching and watching and talking to animals. The natural world and the lack of it. Often inspiration here comes from simple watching people and conversations that I have with strangers and friends. It's nice to playfully explain ideas and joke about things and sometimes the best ideas grow out of that. Drawing is my escape.

Do you have a favorite artist and if so who and why?

Not really. I tend to look at life rather than other artists work.
The point of creating something is that you are channeling your observations through your own mind and skills in my view.
Of course that doesn't mean that I don't admire other peoples skills. My favourites change a lot and often.
At the moment I love looking at Hundertwasser, Paul Klee, Gustav Klimpt and Frieda Karlo.

-Where can my readers see you`re work?

You can see my work on my website www.sandradieckmann.com. On my blog http://sandradieckmann.blogspot.com/ on flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandradieckmann/ and on Society6 http://www.society6.com/sandradieckmann amongst many other sites online. You can also purchase my book 'The Bumble Bear and the Grizzly Bee' on blurb http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/680680 and my prints and cards in my Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/SandraDieckmann .