“Once upon a time…” Wait, doesn’t almost every tale you’ve heard begin like that? This one almost did as well. Only, it doesn’t. There are three independent artists that would like to tell you their version of the story, they want to share their Baltic Tale! It is a tale told in pictures which invites everyone on a journey through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Ulla Saar (EE), Elīna Brasliņa (LV) and Lina Itagaki (LT) are children’s book illustrators, who have a similar style of illustrating. They represent modern illustration art from the Baltic states, where besides humorous pictures, it’s the message that counts.
Ulla Saar: “Pencils and I have a long history together that may contain blood, sweat, and tears, but we’ve come a long way and we know each other through and through. By now, we get along swimmingly. When I work on a book, I try to proceed from the text and catch the tone of it in my drawings; to support and elevate it rather than compete with it.”
Elīna Brasliņa: “I try to find out something new about myself in every project, no matter how big or small. It’s easy to stick to just one style you feel comfortable with, but it’s more rewarding to challenge yourself and enter into unknown territory. Once it stops being fun, there’s no more point in doing it.”
Lina Itagaki: “When I draw, usually I never make sketches. I try to finish every drawing, adjust it till I like it. And when I start, usually I have a very vague idea or no idea what I will draw, so when I finish it is always a surprise for myself. I really like colouring with simple felt tip pens, pencils, ProMarkers, mixing them, putting many layers of them and, in the end, I do not know myself how I made it. I do not like to plan, I love to improvise!”
The exhibition is open until Friday, 28th April.
