#BADGIRLCRUSH
This week we had the chance to interview the gorgeous minx Johanna Öst from Vallentuna, Sweden. Johanna is an artist, illustrator, blogger and maker of things who loves the glamorous, mysterious and exciting!
Q: Johanna, thank you being our #badgirlcrush of the week, I know we have featured you before, but it's so killer that we get to find out a bit more about you, your style and artwork.
How long have you been an artist for? Did you study/ teach yourself? Do you work full time as an artist or also have another career?
A: Thank you so much for talking to me! I've always been drawing, painting and making things, but I started selling some art when I was about 16 (I’m 31 now) and did my first illustration job a few years later. I’m pretty much self taught. At the moment I’m trying to make a living as a full time artist, but it’s very hard! I’m still trying to come up with that thing that people will actually want to buy fairly regularly.
Q: Tell us about your art making process, we see you’ve started to design artworks for T’s which we love! They are very uniquely you!
A: Thank you! I’m really excited about the t-shirts. I hope they take off so I get to make more.
(hand painted tops, all made from recycled fabric)
The things I make the most are watercolour paintings and the occasional pen drawing. I absolutely love sculpting though and wish I had the money and space to do it more often.
I’ve started making some wearable things lately, like the resin brooches and hand painted tops, and my biggest and most exciting project yet, a limited line of resin figures inspired by pulp illustrations and 80s toys.
- We hope the T's take off for you, they are essentially one of a kind considering you hand paint each one!
- We hope the T's take off for you, they are essentially one of a kind considering you hand paint each one!
Q: Are you inspired or drawn to any particular era, what essentially inspires you, music, film, art, space...
A: I’m inspired by aspects of a bunch of different eras, but the main ones are probably the 1940s-1960s and the 1980s, and the parts I love are the over top glamorous and unusual ones. Jayne Mansfield rather than Grace Kelly!
I have a special love for late 70s and 80s interpretations of the 50s and 60s. I love movies like Grease, Cry Baby and Shag, and the way 50s and 60s home decor and clothes were used by young people in the late 70s and 80s.
I love mid century science fiction, horror and B movies, and so many of my favourite things are from the 1980s including movies, music, television and fashion. I’m hugely into movies in general and watch new (or rather old) ones every week.
Art wise I’m mostly into pulp and fairy tale illustrations and surrealist and symbolist art.
I’m always inspired by movies, illustrations and other things from those eras.
I’m always inspired by movies, illustrations and other things from those eras.
Q: Who are some of your favourite women from the 40s and 50s and why, who would be your ULTIMATE Bad Girl?
A: Boring answer but Marilyn Monroe is my favourite of all time. I’ve been a fan since I was a child and she’s the most charming and most beautiful woman ever to me. Some other major favourites are Elizabeth Taylor, Jayne Mansfield, Joan Collins, Jane Russell and Vampira.
As for the ultimate bad girl it has to be Tura Satana. She was a true bad girl on and off the screen and had the perfect look to match.
- We definitely agree with you there, she's one bad ass babe!
- We definitely agree with you there, she's one bad ass babe!
Q: Who are you inspired by? Do they influence your art work?
A: Style wise I tend to be inspired by cinema glamour girls, the pin up models, showgirls and strippers of my favourite decades, and last but not least horror movie characters. I’m also very inspired by female vintage comic book characters like Miss Fury and the women in pulp illustrations.
They definitely influence my art work as well. The majority of my work features some glamorous woman in a mysterious or adventurous situation.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your personal style and some of your favourite vintage pieces?
A: I guess I’d say my personal style is a mix of all the glamorous, unusual, over the top, spooky, sub cultural and somewhat kitschy bits of the 20th century with an emphasis on the mid century and the 80s.
I have many favourite vintage pieces since my wardrobe is about 90% second hand, but at the moment I absolutely love this huge ornate belt I got for Christmas. It’s amazing and goes with everything.
- I think thats what we love about you, you are very glamorous yet you show no boundaries, you have edge when you mix eras and your style is very eclectic yet complimentary!
- I think thats what we love about you, you are very glamorous yet you show no boundaries, you have edge when you mix eras and your style is very eclectic yet complimentary!
Q: What’s some of your go to beauty products? We love the shape of your brows and the lush colour of your lips!
A: Thank you! The lipsticks I’ve been using the most lately are Maybelline’s Superstay 24 Color in “Red Passion” and one of those new types of lipsticks that dry all velvety from a UK high street brand called Sleek. The colour is called “Rioja Red”. The velvety one is super bright, almost orangy, and completely matte and the Maybelline one is a perfect bright and shiny candy apple red.
I usually never wear glossy lipsticks because I hate the sticky feel, but this one is completely dry and you wear clear gloss on top. I love it!
I got some Sugarpill eyeshadows for Christmas, Acidberry and Poison Plum, and have been wearing them pretty much every day since. Just recently I got the Cold Chemistry palette as well and I love it.
I just use any dark brownish eyebrow pencil for my brows with a bit of black eyeshadow on top. My eyebrows have almost no pigmentation by nature so I can pretty much draw them in however I want. However it also means I look like an alien if I don’t…
*Johanna wears our Ava Pull over style top
Q: Can you share with us some of your favourite musicians and film makers
A: My all time top three musicians/bands are Alice Cooper, Kate Bush and The Damned, not necessarily in that order, but I’m a huge music lover and listen to lots of different things.
Some other favourites I’ve been listening a lot to lately are Kirsty MacColl, The Cramps, Motörhead, The Shangri-Las, The Animals, Eddie Cochran, Link Wray, The Shadows, Screaming Lord Sutch and Alaska Y Los Pegamoides. I could go on! I love lots of punk, goth, 50s and 60s rock ’n roll, 80s new wave music and the odd bit of metal.
- We love The Cramps and you've shared some new ones we'll be sure to check out!
- We love The Cramps and you've shared some new ones we'll be sure to check out!
Q: What does 2015 hold for you?
A: I have already launched two of my biggest projects ever, the resin figures and my line of tops and pins, and I hope to keep working on them through the year! I have a few more art projects lined up when and if I can afford them, and I hope to finish another horror comic.
Q: And lastly, what do you love about The Original Bad Girl label?
A: It’s just perfect. I came across your Instagram before the line was launched and waited with great anticipation, and it did not disappoint! It has all of my favourite things: animal prints, lurex, jumpsuits and skintight designs.
How can we support you and where can our followers find you:
LINKS:
#powerglidemagazine #theoriginalbadgirl #ladyweird
