Creative Café #14 ★

it's been a while since i last posted a feature so today i thought... what the hell! let's have a Creative Café post!!!

ok readers you know the drill, take a moment to dash off and grab a nice cup of tea/cofee/juice, grab a biscuit or if you're feeling particularly sinful get a slice of cake or some chocolate!!!

settle down and prepare to be dazzled by a mass of colourful loveliness!

settled? comfy? got your tea?

smashing, let's get on with it then...

today's feature focuses on the work of an artist, illustrator and designer that i've been a fan of for almost four years.

prepare yourself because i think this is the most colourful and picture laden Creative Café feature i've attempted so far, your Sunday is about to go multicoloured!!!

because today it's all about the wonderful, the incredibly talented, the supremely awesome... Mary Winkler aka Acrylicana

Mary is an American illustrator and designer, her work is a whimsical mix of childlike themes and colourful kawaii pop art style characters and designs. she creates her work using both digital and traditional methods and materials.

 i first discovered Mary's work during my first year at college, back when i coloured everything with felt tip pens and thought that photoshop was just for photographers... 

i remember looking through her deviantART page at all the amazing designs and asking my graphics teacher Rob how Mary had achieved such flawless shapes and lines. he explained vectors to me and told me about the magical software known as 'illustrator'. i was fascinated from the off and so he also offered to teach me the basics for using the software...

almost four years later i work on almost everything do using Illustrator and Photoshop and although i'm still not overly skilled in either i like to think that it's thanks to Mary's work that i ever became interested in digital illustration in the first place!

her work is a tour de force, each piece bursting with a cacophony of colour and vibrancy that you don't always see in contemporary graphics, it's this mix of colour and wonderfully drawn characters that first appealed to me and it's what makes me still love following her current work since she always creates the most fantastical scenes and characters

Mary is extremely multi talented in the sense that not only does she produce incredible digital pieces, she also paints gorgeous canvases, she designs t-shirts, clothing, accessories and shoes, she creates amazing acrylic jewellery pieces and charms, hand paints tiny necklace charms, hand paints shoes turning them into works of art for your feet AND she runs her own business empire stocking all manner of amazing 'Acrylicana' items!!!

i really don't know how she does it but she is a creative force to be reckoned with and a very inspiring lady!!! 

i just love everything she does! her designs are so pretty and i'm so in awe of the wonderful brand she's built up for her work, she's definitely one of my design idols! probably because her work inspired me to ever attempt any digital illustration of my own in the first place!

ok i'm going to let you look through some of her work by yourselves now but i have to warn you... there are a LOT of pictures here, it was an almost impossible task to pick out my favourites so lets just say i couldn't really cut the content of this post down too much... 

seriously there are a LOT of images so you might want to get another cup of tea or something!

but i know you'll enjoy it and at the end of the day that's really all that matters...

i believe the word you're looking for is 'WOW' :)

but like i said, it's not all about prints, paintings and stickers, she also created awesome merchandise featuring her super designs. i actually own a little 'Acrylicana' acrylic necklace that i like to wear on days when i'm feeling a bit down since the bright colours in it ALWAYS cheer me up! here's my 'OoOoOoh Girl' necklace that i got in Summer 2010

here's some of the gorrrgous items she sells via her etsy and Apparel Dynasty© shops online (i'm a particular fan of the platform high heels... so pretty!)

PHEW so much gorgeous in one place, i can hardly take it!!!

i told you it would be colourful though!

this may sound daft to some, but i'm pretty sure that Mary's work has inspired me more over the past few years than any other contemporary illustrators or designers! yes... really! i only hope that one day i can be as successful as her albeit maybe not nearly as talented or skilled :)

ok it's links time now...

for more multicoloured kawaii gorgeousness, head on over to the official website here - Acrylicana

to treat yourself to a pretty pair of shoes, a bag or maybe even some scented shoe laces, be sure to visit the official online store here - Apparel Dynasty

or if you fancy a nice little print or a cute acrylic necklace/bracelet/ring, check out her etsy shop + there's currently a very special '50% off' offer running in the shop! (just use coupon code HALFOFF for 50% off your order!) - etsy

and you can also 'Like' Mary's work via the facebook fan page - Acrylicana

or follow her on twitter for updates about her projects and new shop items - @acrylicana

and if you're on tumblr you can also follow her there - Acrylicana

if you're curious about her work process you can also watch amazing videos of her painting and designing here - livestream

all that's left for me to do now is say a massive MASSIVE thanks to the very VERY lovely Mary for saying yes and letting me run this little feature, i am such a HUGE fan of her work i knew it was only a matter of time until i just HAD to do a post about it here!

thanks Mary :) x

All images featured in this post belong to Mary Winkler © do not claim, use, distribute, reproduce or trace ANY of her work without her express written consent. All Rights Reserved.

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wow what a post! and so much fun to do!

ok i'm heading off for the night now, off to college again tomorrow + keep an eye out for a blog post tomorrow evening since i'll be posting a few new candy characters i've been working on lately

so until then, that's all folks... ◕‿◕ ★ xX