THE BEAUTIFUL FEMININE CHARACTERS OF MISS LED
Miss Led is an winning painter and illustrator Miss Led creates beautiful feminine characters with incredible detail. With a string of live painting, editorial and illustration projects under her belt Miss Led is one of the hottest names around
When did you first discover your creative talents?
From picking up a pencil or brush, I drew every day. I was really encouraged to draw and paint by my parents and excelled through school, so I think it’s really impossible to define when and if there was a discovery, it was just a constant stream of my continually creating art works and drawings.
What inspires you to keep going and how do you keep yourself motivated?
Life. When I’m happy and present I see inspiration everywhere, it’s pretty awesome. If i’m struggling, shutting off can help. Watching a film or listening to music, or perhaps taking a walk or train somewhere. I know I can put a lot of pressure on myself for finding something new and exciting. But a lot of the time I just have to let that materialise naturally.
How will you describe your style?
My fashion illustration can be very line heavy with mixed textures and abstracted colour. There is a lot of focus on details such as hair and pattern. Whereas my large scale wall work I seek a more psychedelic, playful, imagery with more block and bold palettes.
Who and what are your main influences?
When I was returning to paint in 2006 street art, especially through visits to Barcelona around that time, were a huge inspiration significantly letterforms and female character imagery in bold colours and strong lines. Plantlife and patternwork is becoming something of a big deal for me, so my next large scale wall piece for EyeCandy Festival will be very much inspired by this.
Also wallpaper and design archives, surface design and photography. I’m trying to engage with more and more. It’s really easy to just work, and create in isolation without gaining more and varied inspiration. So I’m making more efforts to get out and gorge on much more.
What soundtrack do you like to work to?
I love scenic music. Instrumental music that holds a narrative. Soundtracks are high up on my Spotify listing. Especially from late 60’s and 70’s films. When I’m painting and drawing I love to listen to audiobooks, Murakami being my favourite. Anything read by Richard Degas I’d highly recommended.
What’s your favourite art work?
Something that makes me readjust my thinking, or perception.
Is the artistic life lonely? What do you do to counteract it?
I think it has a predominantly solitary sentence to it. A lot of art is created in that confinement. I’m luckily working in a studio – of three years now – which is filled with many different artists, painters, musicians, actors, sound artists, product and set designers… So there is always a real social element to my day to day environment, where a number of us often cook and eat together. My studio offers the space to be alone, so I have the best of both worlds.
What do you dislike about the art world?
That so many people dislike things about the art world
What artist or artists inspire you?
As a teenager I was pretty obsessed with Jamie Hewlett and Tank Girl, also Edward Burne Jones and John William Waterhouse. I’m really excited by artists that created something out of the ordinary, and build a fantasy world that invites you to share. James Jean, Vania, Egone Scheile, film directors Luc Besson and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, photographers Ellen Von Unwerth and Ellen Rogers.
