Lauren Fowler

WORDS: Remy Raitt | PHOTOS: Lauren Fowler

South Africans are catching on to the European trend of decorating walls with quirky prints, illustrations and craft work. Enter Cape Town creative Lauren Fowler.

If you’re in Cape Town and have taken a stroll down Kloof Street lately, you might have noticed the young designer hard at work in the window of The Fringe Arts on Kloof store. Taking up an “artist-in-residency” programme until 15 September, Lauren hopes that curious bypassers will pop in to take a look at her work and revel in the beauty on show in the store.

We caught up with the lady behind the cheeky cross-stitch hoops, illustrations, feather earrings and gift cards.

You graduated with a BA in Visual Communications at AAA. How did that result in your current work?

It gave me the skills to hone in on what good design is and how to make the eye understand form as well as text. A lot of the graphic design briefs we were given were heavily based on concept. If there was no concept, there was no idea. I feel this has given me an edge as an illustrator, as it is now natural for me to think this way before every job.

How did you get into each of your respective creative fields?

I took up craft to pass the time while working in a boutique shop, and illustration was a part of my graphic design work at college. I started with knitting and making little felt brooches. Over time, they were featured in a couple of magazines and I stocked a few shops.

There used to be a shop in Kalk Bay called Blossom (owned by Sandy Mitchell) and every couple of months they would have a themed exhibition of their suppliers’ work. Every theme was totally different from the next and I feel this challenged me to create a new product and concept every time. This pushed my illustration as well as craft.

What are your favourite motifs and colours to work with?

I’ve always been fond of patterns and the repeated use of them. At the moment I’m very fond of arrows, triangles, tribal patterns, anything echoing the old world, nature and man’s connection to it.

I like desaturated tones – mustard, black and white as well as white on brown.

Favourite medium?

Black pen – the thinner, the better.

Who and what inspires your work?

People, human situations, being in love, heartbreak, nature, my cats and Gene Kierman.

What inspires your quirky illustrations? Have you always drawn?

Watching people’s faces and embarrassing situations have always been an inspiration to me. I like to exaggerate my characters expressions and actions. I thought I couldn’t draw all the way up until college.

Cross-stitch is often seen as a forgotten art. Why did you pick up the needle?

The Blossom shop in Kalk Bay had an exhibition called “hoop” and although I didn’t do cross-stitch for that exhibition, I had all my hoops left over from the exhibition. So, I thought I’d try my hand at cross-stitch. I bought some canvas, got some pointers from my local haberdashery shop and learnt the craft. I was addicted and I still am!

How do you keep your cross-stitch pieces contemporary? Do you come up with all the sayings?

Yes, I’ve tried to use some sweet “tried and tested” ones, such as “home is where the heart is”. Then I also do the “Home Sweet F***en Home”, which has been very popular. But most of the time I just write “RAD”.

Your graphic-design freelance work seems endless. What are your favourite projects to tackle?

I do enjoy a logo and full branding. It’s always a challenge to put what people do into an image or into a font. It’s harder than it looks. I always enjoy the organic process I go through with my clients, we cut things from different parts of what I’ve done and merge them with new ideas and we just Frankenstein the whole thing, or we strip it down to the simplest heart of it. I also love doing band posters and sale flyers.

What have you been making at The Fringe Arts on Kloof?

I’ve been cross-stitching, “making pretty” in the window, as well as doing a new illustration on the window every day with a white marker.

More information: www.laurenfowler.co.za, http://lostisaplacetoo.blogspot.com, hello@laurenfowler.co.za and The Fringe Arts at 99B Kloof Street and http://www.facebook.com/thefringearts