Tilteed

Artist Interview: Recycledwax

Curator’s Statement:

It’s that time of year again… time to don the purple, sparkly tiara and get bedecked for the best day of the year next to Christmas. Yep, it’s my birthday! It’s my second year around these parts, and let me tell you, this year… well, I deserve the royal treatment. Hoist up the colors, pour the champagne and break out the fine china! We’re going to dance all night, wear the finest clothes and have the best bash of them all. Doubt me? Just check out who I invited: five great emperors! Sure they’re a little short, especially Napoleon, they can’t fly… and they’re on a tee, but come on! It’s the best way we can treat you like ‘royaltee’ on my birthday. So pick one up and share in the festivities.

We’re so excited to see you back here, RecycledWax! What have you been up to this winter?

Trying to stay warm while working! We had a really cold winter in Montreal. But seriously it was a quiet winter for me, so I had time to work on some personal illustration.

You always seem to have something up your sleeve when it comes to creative themed collages. What’s been your favorite collage piece you’ve created?

It’s hard to say. One of my all-time favourites is called “life” because it’s with that illustration that I said “that’s my style” and it was one of the first montage/collage of characters that seems to be working for me. And I love the colour of it!

Did I see correctly? Is there an educational book series out with your creations as the main characters? How did you land a cool gig like that?

Yeah! That’s the craziest thing that’s happened to me! Last May, we launched my first children’s series book called “Les Dragouilles”. It’s so awesome! It’s taking all my time, but it’s worth it. Next month, the fifth and sixth books of the series will be out. I can’t wait! The craziest thing is to meet the young fans at book fairs! The coolest thing is to see my characters come to life through their eyes. I’m used to working alone in my office, so now, going to book fairs and meeting kids is so great and motivating! So far, the books are in French and only available in Quebec, Canada. We are planing on exporting them soon to Europe! You can see more about them here (it’s in French) -> www.lesdragouilles.com

Tees. Books. Animated commercials. What’s next, Toys? Hmmm… Which of your creations would you like to see turned into a plush toy?

I’m currently working on an animated book for a publisher in France, so I have to renew with Flash. It’s gonna be the first time I’m going to animate my characters. So for sure, I’d like to do a short animation with my characters, but I know it’s hard work. My next step is to write another comic book but this time in English. I have an idea, but haven’t got the time to do it yet. So you might see another of my books published in the future, but this time in English.

And now for something completely different : Which would you rather ride, an emu or a giraffe?

Giraffes look cooler, but Emu means that I would be in Australia for that, and that’s my dream to go there. So definitively emu!

Do you have any portfolio links or store pages you’d like to tell others to check out?

My portfolio is www.themaxwax.com and I just opened a shop at society6 for fun!

Any final words? We’re all ears!

If any publishers out there are reading this, I’m looking for more children books to work on .