One of my favorite blogs of late is Decade Diary, where fashion and art collide in the form of stark and minimalist mixed media fashion illustrations by artist Bernadette Pascua, who also gives us readers a peek behind the creative process by posting up the images that inspire her, whether it's the photography of Paolo Roversi or the latest lace-up ankle boots by Chloé. And now, she has kindly agreed to answer a few of my questions - read on!
Your drawings are beautiful. Did you study Art or are you a self-taught illustrator?Thank you! I've been drawing since I was little. When I was seventeen, I came to the city to study Fashion Illustration for 2 years before moving into my BFA for Textiles and Fabric Styling.
What did you like to draw when you were a child? Do you notice any similarities with what you like to draw now?
I love this question, it's always such a trip to look through that box of what I used to draw. I went through stages of what I'd like to create - little half fold books full of faces, animals or trees, crayon rubbings with my little interchangeable fashion plate kit, watercolor experiments, verbatim pencil and pen copies of floor plans from architecture digests to my teenage punk tendencies of creating xerox fanzines (the old fashioned way of blogging) full of black and white ink drawings. I think all of this lumped together forms the one common thread between then and now, though it's not so much in my drawings but with what I have always been naturally drawn to since I was little.
Are there any particular sources of inspiration that you keep coming back to?
I love watching old movies or flipping through vintage magazines/books to find instant inspiration.
You've also worked as a stylist. How did you get involved in that?My fiancé works as a photo assistant to a lot of fashion photographers in the industry so he passed on my name to some stylists looking for assistants. It was something I was curious about trying and had a good learning experience doing so. At the moment, I am not actively pursuing being a stylist, but from time to time I help out my fiancé with his own personal body of work and I put together outfits for his own shoots.
What item of clothing are you coveting for your wardrobe at the moment?It's always shoes! Right now, the item I'm coveting is actually very practical and that's how I'm justifying my lust: it's a pair of Ann Demeulemeester lace up boots for Fall. The color choice between black or brown has not been decided, it's going to be a close call...
Are there any designers or brands that you'd love to collaborate with?
For this question I could automatically do a roll call of my favorite designers. But I would really love to collaborate with a children's brand or do some sort of children's book. I think making crazy whimsical drawings, patterns or stories with no association of being cool, no real rhyme or reason, would be amazing.
What is your favorite thing about living in New York City?That I feel completely at home. I've gotten to know the quietest corners to navigating busy avenues like second nature. Everything bizarre is normal to me, I've gotten so used to being surrounded by people plus noise and there's always something going on, something to do. I find it all strangely comforting.
Finally, do you have any advice for aspiring artists/creative types?I am still an aspiring artist/creative type myself, so I need as much advice as I can get too!! I think the best advice I ever got from someone who I really respected was to keep moving and that it's okay to take your time. She told me that even if you think you've reached what you wanted, to keep bringing yourself to other levels, "lock it in a trunk if you have to" were her exact words. I took a long break from illustrating to try out other things, like textiles. It was great because textiles can involve a lot of research for inspiration and ideas so I developed an eye for what I really like, honed down my true aesthetic. Then I started drawing again and now I'm happy with the way I'm moving into my own style. But I know that as soon as I level out I'm going to have to push it to something even better.
Thanks Bernadette! If you love her work as much as I do, make sure you bookmark the blog and her Flickr set.
Photo credits: http://decadediary.typepad.com/
