Meet the Maker - Hana Imamura

Tuesday, August 06, 2013
Today's Meet the Maker interview comes from the colourful world of Hana Imamura.  Hana's beautiful work is most definitely brightening the walls of Paper Scissors Stone, here is more about her...

Please can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work?
My name is Hana and I live in St Pauls, Bristol. I moved to Bristol from London aged 20 to do my degree at UWE, fell in love with the place and am still here 13 years later! I haven’t done any art training, I just enjoy doodling, drawing and painting and recently started making some of pictures into cards. 

Apart from creating things what else do you enjoy doing? 
Oh, the usual! Food, drink, friends, holidays, festivals, partying (occasionally) and camping in my van. I also excel at lazing around and doing nothing much. 


Where does your inspiration come from? 
Some of my pictures are inspired by silly things that my friends say and do. Sometimes I just get the urge to draw a bison (for instance), or Michael Fish in the 70s. I enjoy drawing celebrities because I’m no portrait artist so the results are often quite funny or disturbing. Sometimes you can still capture some of the essence of a face or personality without it being technically accurate though, which is quite satisfying. People in general are inspiring. I like cowboys at the moment, and old ladies are always fantastic. I also love animals so they feature a lot. 


Describe your studio or workspace? 
Well I live in a very small one bedroom flat with my boyfriend so my workspace is also my kitchen table! My materials are packed up in boxes and bags and shoved behind into nooks and crannies when I’m not using them. It’s not ideal but we’re moving to a bigger place soon and I’m hoping to have a dedicated desk as a workspace there! 


What is a typical work day for you? 
I’m a teacher and mentor at City of Bristol College so I’ve got  a ‘real’ job I teach ESOL to teenagers - it’s hard work but the students are fun. So if I have any energy left in the evening I spend some time then doing art. It’s a good way to relax but I don’t spend as much time as I would like to doing it. 


What do you love most about what you do? 
I like creating a character or a moment in time which never really happened. I like it when pictures take on a life of their own, and I love it when a picture I’ve done makes someone smile or laugh. 


If you could peek inside the studio of any artist, designer or craftsman (dead or alive), who would it be?
Team Macho. In fact, can I move in with them please?


Which local artist/maker do you most admire? 
It has to be my talented friend Daddison.


 Tell us your current loves: 
* Shop: Paper Scissors Stone of course! 
* Restaurant / Café: My friend Leon’s new pop up restaurant Dolores and Church - very tasty! 
* Blog: directorschair.es This is for my teaching life... great ideas and inspiration from my friend Caroline. 
* Magazine: Big Issue? 
* Book: At the moment I’m reading The Final Testament by James Frey and it is pretty righteous. 
* Designer / maker / artist: Super Future Kid 


If you were stranded in the wilds somewhere, what item would you need with you the most? 
Bananas!

Thank you Hana, such colourful and interesting illustrations.  We love them. You can find Hana's work in our Summer Paper Scissors Stone shop.

Paper Scissors Stone
Quakers Friars
Cabot Circus
Bristol

Opens Daily:
Mon - Sat:  10am - 6pm
Sun:   11am - 5pm

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