Claudia's elegant blue & white drawings have already caught many interested eyes since they first joined our collection at KIN on Kloof in March. We love their quiet frivolity, Claudia's unusual play with composition, and the fact that these are all one-off original pieces. We thought we'd share a little more on this captivating new artist here on the blog:
Why did I start making my product?
Sketching/drawing/illustrating is something I’ve always done. It’s my way of escaping or dealing with whatever I am going through. It’s also just fun to create characters that make no sense but complete sense at the same time. And then over the last year and a half, when I became more confident and started to show people my work, I enjoyed seeing the different reactions that people had when they saw my illustrations.
How are my products made?
My ‘product’ is a joined effort from the people that chop down trees and then turn them into paper, the people in Japan that make the magical 0.38 Muji Pens and then my brain, right hand, fingers and the wonderful or awful people and environments I surround myself with/in.
How did I learn to make what I do?
My overall concept of thin blue lines on white backgrounds started in my second last year of Design in high school. We got an assignment where we had to take inspiration from any one of Garth Walkers iJusi Magazines. I was immediately drawn to his ball point issue and started creating my own designs based on that. At this point I was still very lost as to what my style was, but this helped me find it very quickly.
What is my favourite part of the process?
This would be the moment when whatever is going on in my head, or what my vision of how the illustration should be turns out exactly how I wanted it, or sometimes even better. Another favourite part would be when I am sitting somewhere and I witness something that immediately inspires a drawing.
What materials are my products made from?
A very exciting and elaborate combination of white paper and blue ink.
Do I source my raw materials from SA, if not, where in the world do they come from?
I buy the paper in South Africa yes, but I have wonderful friends that travel overseas and come back with blue Muji pens for me. If I run out I try and find the next best pen in stationary shops around Cape Town (it can take me up to a half an hour to find the right pen).
Which part of the country, and which city do I make my products?
In Cape Town, which is in the Western Cape.
Are there special care/cleaning methods you can suggest to customers?
Please handle the illustrations with loads of love and care, like you would a baby, but unlike a baby please oh please don’t try clean them, because they will get ruined.
Do I have an interesting tidbit for you guys?
Tidbit is such a fun word. Tidbit.
Uhm I have a childhood story that kind of explains how my mind works that tends to make people smile (or worry about me).
You know when you’re lying with your ear on your pillow and you can hear your heartbeat in your ear? Well when I was little I did not know that it was my heartbeat so I used to think that there were tiny little soldiers in my pillow that were marching up and down. I would lie there hoping that they would march over to my older brother and attack him in his sleep with their tiny little spears.
I don’t think that there is one specific thing that has inspired me. It’s an accumulation of inspirations throughout my short 18 years of life.
Claudia's work can be found at
KIN on Kloof.
Follow Claudia on Instagram here
