Artist Profile: Blair Lambert aka Bestiary and Bestiary Ink

Tell me a bit about yourself name, location, affiliations, the personal stuff.
My name is Blair Lambert. I'm originally from rural Pennsylvania but have been bumming around NYC for the past several years. I earned my undergraduate degrees in Museum Education and Fine Art at Penn State. Currently, I'm living in Fort Greene, Brooklyn and I adore it. I'm a graduate student at The Pratt Institute studying Art and Design Education.

Apart from creating, what do you do?

When I'm not sewing, drawing and painting, I'm teaching art to children at a studio right here in Brooklyn.

What first made you want to become an artist?
I don't feel like I had much choice in the matter... I'm not talented in much else. It's a similar to the urge to scratch an itch: I have to use my hands and create.

Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.
I create in bursts. I'll have a few days of massive productivity and then I'll be completely uninspired for a while. My bedroom is my studio. I have my sewing machine, supplies, inventory and work table around my bed, it makes for a great commute to work in the mornings. My handbags are inspired by the fabrics I use. Each is made of a piece of recycled upholstery scrap. I love pairing patterns and colors and it's those combinations that inspire the applique design. My drawings and paintings are all done with Micron pens (which I covet!) and watercolors.

What artists have influenced you and inspire you to create?
My grandmother had the most amazing collection of sewing supplies and notions, her hording and good taste inspired me most. I love classic children's book illustrators like Arthur Rackham and Beatrix Potter.

Where else can we find your work and connect with you online?
My shops for stationary and fine art are Bestiary Ink and Bestiary for handbags and totes. Any inquires can be sent directly to me via email here.

Images copyright Bestiary Ink and Bestiary, 2009.

tina's whimsy revisited

I have always been an artist. Before I fell in love with photography, I tried a bit of many mediums. Drawing, watercolor, rubber stamp art, decoupage, assemblage, jewelry design, and my eventual favorite, collage.


t 2 b:
Dream a Little Dream, 2.5" x 3.5" - ACEO Collage, Open Edition
Love Many Things, 4" x 10" - Original Collage on Canvas Board

Techniques of collage, were first used at the time of the invention of paper in China around 200 BC. The use of collage, however, remained very limited until the 10th century in Japan, when calligraphers began to apply glued paper, using texts on surfaces, when writing their poems.



t 2 b:
The Wild Joys of Living, 8" x 10" - Original Collage on Canvas Board
Inspire, 2.5" x 3.5" - ACEO Collage, Open Edition

The technique of collage appeared in medieval Europe during the 13th century. Gold leaf panels started to be applied in Gothic cathedrals around the 15th and 16th centuries. Gemstones and other precious metals were applied to religious images, icons, and also, to coats of arms.


t 2 b:
Retro Green Girl - 11 x 14 collage on canvas board
Life Requires Beauty - 2.5 x 3.5 ACEO Collage, Open Edition

In the 19th century, collage methods also were used among hobbyists for memorabilia (i.e. applied to photo albums) and books (i.e. Hans Christian Andersen, Carl Spitzweg).

The term collage derives from the French "coller" meaning "glue". This term was coined by both Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso in the beginning of the 20th century when collage became a distinctive part of modern art.[1]



t 2 b:
Ladies Bingo Night - 4 x 5 collage on canvas board
We Can Claim Ruffles all for Ourselves, 10" x 10" - Original Collage on canvas

I used to offer my collage work in an Etsy shop, known as tina's whimsy. I sold a handful of my items in the two years that the shop was alive online but then I discovered I was spending far more time trying to sell and less and less on the process of creation. And so I stopped altogether--the selling and the creating.

The pieces displayed in this post are a handful of my collage works from 2004-2007. I plan to begin some new work in 2009, and would love your comments on these. Let me know if you'd like to see more and I will include them in a future post...thanks!


[1] Wikipedia 2008.

collages displayed are all copyright tina's whimsy 2004-2007.