Octopus Ink Illustration Collaborative
ILLUSTRATORS
Address: Suite 1 451 Hunter Street, Newcastle NSW 2300
Hours: By appointment
Property Donor: GPT/Urban Growth Group
Launched: 4 August 2015
Closed: 31 January 2017
Contact:
Dom de Carvalho
m: 0413 009 174
e: [email protected]
Who are you?
Octopus Ink Illustration Collaborative consists of five University of Newcastle alumni (and almost-alumni). We are all working on our own personal and commercial projects at the moment. These include: dimensional sculptures of fantasy creatures and anatomically accurate dinosaurs, digital pamphlet and poster design, children’s book, book cover and botanical illustrations.
What inspired you to get involved in Renew Newcastle?
We have friends we have seen benefitting from Renew Newcastle studio spaces and we recognised the potential for a collaborative studio space through the program. Prior to our involvement with Renew Newcastle we were all working out of our individual homes. For some of us this was particularly isolating and in limited spaces that required us to pack away our work at the end of each day. By pooling our creative and physical resources in a Renew space we not only have a dedicated studio where we can “go to work”, we have daily interaction with each other, allowing us to bounce ideas, to inspire and be inspired by the projects the others in the collective are working on. Being located where we are in Newcastle has also provided us with opportunities to network with other creatives and businesses that we would not otherwise interact with.
Tell us about the space – what was its previous use? Anything unique about it? Your response to the space?
We are currently situated in Market Square. The space we occupy apparently used to be a tanning salon – there are some *massive* power outlets on the walls. Our space has apparently been used by Renew Newcastle on and off over the last two years, though apart from a few colourful buttons on the carpet there is no lingering signs of past use. We get a good amount of natural daylight through the back windows, making it a perfect space for traditional illustration work while the larger main room allows us plenty of space to each spread out and work on our individual projects. We are currently planning a mural for one of the walls to further personalise the space. It will involve at least one octopus (no surprises there).
