musetouch_issue_7

musetouch 

Visual Arts Magazine 

February 2011 

Kyla Shackelford 

Mystery 

An Exclusive Interview 

Steve Richard 

Pamela Dzaet Hill 

Julie de Waroquier 

Briggit Huttemann Holz 

Svetlana Bobrova 

Jean Marc Janiaczyk 

Carola Oncamo 

George Underwood 

Imagination 

is the Key 

Allison Diaz 

Haunted Mirrors 

An Exclusive Interview 

musetouch.org

Dear readers, 

Tomorrow is February 14 th, Saint Valentines day, a celebration of love. 

Believers will be ecstatic and delighted, atheists ironic, some will say 

that it is a commercial holiday...but, in spite of all that, I respect it because 

it is reminding us of the powerful force in the Universe, pure and 

unconditional, the ultimate sense of life, beyond our reason and control. 

I am taking a bow to love, but without underestimating the less noble...as 

some would say, and I would not agree, but equally powerful 

strength...passion. Passion is my leader, my motive and unlimited impulse. 

Without it, art would be impossible, life also, Musetouch would 

not exist... 

I would like to thank people who are always with me, my dear friends 

Ljiljana Bursac, Jelena Grujic, Nini Baseema, Ian Furniss and two 

great artists, beautiful human beings always there to share the passion 

for art with me, Gines Serran and Mark Sadan. 

I proudly present to you the seventh edition of Musetouch Visual Arts 

Magazine. Read it with passion :) 

Maia Sylba

“THE ROAD TO PEACE” 

By Gines Serran 

Miami, Los Angeles, London, 

Rome, Hong Kong, Moscow, Tokyo, 

New Delhi, Río de Janeiro, 

Sydney, El Cairo, Jerusalem 

www.serran-paganart.com 

KIYO MURAKAMI 

photography 

www.kiyomurakami.com

Layer Studios is offering beautiful web sites, online galleries and 

presentations, blogs and FB fan page designs, at affordable 

prices, uniquely designed by Maia Sylba 

contact: maiasylba@gmail.com 

skype: maiasylba 

www.layerstudios.com

MUSETOUCH MAGAZINE February 2011 

Editor 

Maia Sylba 

Graphic designer 

Dejan Silbaski 

Contributors 

Nini Baseema 

Ian Furniss 

Cover 

Kiyo Murakami 

MUSETOUCH is a magazine about visual arts. It has been created by Maia Sylba out of a love and passion 

for art with the hope that people will be able to use the publication and website as a platform to showcase 

their skills and gain recognition. 

Facebook 

facebook.com/musetouchvisualartsmagazine 

Twitter 

Linkedin 

Mail 

twitter.com/musetouchmag 

linkedin.com/in/maiasylba 

maiasylba@gmail.com 

Submission Guideline 

If you want to contribute to the next edition, you can send us an email with your data and a PDF file that 

shows your works, also a link of your website if you have any. 

We would love to see your art so don’t hesitate to contact us and welcome. 

All artwork in this magazine is copyright protected under the MUSETOUCH Magazine brand or remains 

property of the individual artists who have kindly granted us permission to use their work. 

musetouch 6

Steve Richard 

Obsession 

Allison Diaz 

Haunted Mirrors 

Kyla Shackelford 

Mystery 

008 

Julie de Waroquier 

Out of this World 

102 

032 

George Underwood 

Imagination is the Key 

116 

Briggit Huttemann Holz 

Silent Memories 

Carola Onkamo 

Outside the Box 

042 

136 

Jean Marc Janiaczyk 

Wander and Dream 


Absolute Freedom 

060 

158 


My Place in the Universe 

076 

182 


Steve Richard 

Steve Richard has been plying his trade in the mysterious photographic arts for well over a 

quarter of a century. Steve is both a stills photographer and a cinematographer, thus bringing 

an unerring sense of style and composition to all of his work. Steve’s visuals capture the 

imagination, challenge preconceptions, and merge a classical ethos with urban grit and 21st 

Century techno-savvy. 

Born and raised in a small town in Eastern Canada, Steven took his first photograph at the 

age of 12, over 37 years ago. Much of the early years were spent developing his craft while 

working in the various commercial facets of the photography trade. During this time he 

developed a significant love hate relationship with photography, and actually gave up shooting 

a number of times. During these down times he has worked as full time musician touring 

across Canada, a recording studio engineer, a fiber optic network designer, a teacher at 

Dalhousie University, a cinematographer , and has developed the necessary skills to produce 

a fine bowl of Tom Ka Guy soup. His passion for photography developed into a full obsession 

about two decades ago when he decided to only shoot the subjects that would interpret his 

view of the world. For the most part this meant a combination of humor and beauty mixed 

with the dark side of life. He now spends most of his fine art focus on dance and bodies in 

motion. 

Steve has just released his book Cloud Busting ( which is available on his site and through 

the normal online bookstores such as www.amazon.com/Cloud-Busting-Steve-Richard/ 

dp/1934491276) and he is currently working on a new dance series called the Dark Ballet, 

targeting a book release early 2012. 

musetouch 8 

steverichard.com

Obsession 
























Kyla Shackelfo 

Kyla Shackelford was raised in Austin, TX where she took an early interest in art and began 

her studies. After high school, she immediately moved to Italy and spent 3 years learning classical 

drawing and painting at the Florence Academy of Art. From there, Kyla moved to New 

York City to complete her studies at the renowned Art Student’s League. She paints dramatic 

and evocative figurative works, with an emphasis on mystery and playfulness. Her works have 

been widely collected, and she is currently represented by Jack Meier Gallery in Houston, TX. 

She belongs to the California Art Club and Oil Painters of America. Kyla currently lives in 

Los Angeles, CA. 

When did you discover an artist inside of you? 

From the time I was very little, I loved creating art and always knew I would become an artist. 

What could be more fun? However, as a child I was not quite ready to share my art with 

others. I remember making a finger painting in first grade for a school fundraiser. I made my 


d Mystery 


parents promise to be there in order to buy my precious painting back for me. It was a bitter 

disappointment when we arrived and found that it had been the first painting sold. 

Did Italy has an influence on you as an artist? 

Italy was an incredibly inspiring place for me to begin my art education. Upon setting foot in 

Florence, I was immediately immersed in art. Awe-inspiring statues, frescos, and architecture 

abound. It did not shock me to learn of something called Stendhal Syndrome, a hysteric spell 

brought on by the overwhelming amount of particularly beautiful art in a single place! 

Would you describe your education at the Florence Academy of Art as very academic? 

The FAA is strictly academic in its approach to drawing and painting. Using the sight-size 

method, students painstakingly render out drawings from casts and models in charcoal for 

over a year before being allowed to touch a paintbrush. It’s a “love it or leave it” school, and I 

left after 2 years. 

Have you had a difficult time developing your own style? 

Style has never been a concern of mine. Much more important has been my attempts to describe 

the world as it appears in my mind. 

How did your early work differ from what you’re doing now? 

Coming out of the FAA, my work was itself academic. The subject matter was very correctly 

rendered out. As I grew away from those methods, I began using paint and brushstrokes more 

liberally for a more painterly and direct quality. This allows me to paint more conceptually, 

focusing on ideas to paint, rather than things to paint. 



I would like to know about mystery in your art...is it mystery your main inspiration? What 

attracts you to it? 

For me, painting MUST have an element of mystery to it. Otherwise, nothing is left to the imagination 

(of the viewer AND artist!). While mostly this is handled in the carrying out of the 

painting itself, I use subject matter to intensify the mystery! 

In most of your paintings we can see scenes from past times...do you belong to the 21 Century 

or you see yourself in some other time...maybe even a place? 

I like to paint the world unseen. These scenes could describe today, a bygone era, or a time yet 

to come. The viewer answers that question for him/herself. 

How many works do you currently average in a year? 

Including the commission portrait work I do, I average about 20. 

What do you wish for yourself in the future? 

The fulfillment of pursuing my life and art to its fullest! 

MS 


kylashackelford.com






George Under 

George Underwood was born in 1947. George joined Beckenham Art School in 1963. 

At art school George Underwood became more and more interested in music. As a result he 

pursued a career in the music world. Along with life long friend David Bowie he made one 

record (The King Bees ) and also a solo record under the name Calvin James. 

After deciding that the music business was not for him, George returned to art studies and 

then worked in design studios as an illustrator. Initially he specialised in fantasy, horror and 

science fiction book covers. Many of George Underwood’s colleagues in the music business 

asked him to do various art works for them. This led to George becoming a freelance artist. 

Art work for the first T Rex album and later David Bowie’s Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust 

album covers established him as a leading and creative art illustrator. 

Over this period George produced literally hundreds of book covers, LP and CD covers, 

advertisements, portraits and drawings. At the start of the 1970’s George Underwood started 

painting in oils. His paintings were influenced at first by the Viennese School of Fantastic 

Realism –artists which included Ernst Fuchs, Rudolph Hausner and Eric Brauer. George regarded 

them as contemporary visionaries like Bruegel and Bosch. He was fascinated by their 

imaginative visions. Imagination is the key word in George’s paintings. He rarely uses live 

models nowadays, prefering to invent people who inhabit their own personal world. 

George Underwood paintings are held in many private art collections 

“George has, over the years, refined his work to the point where I would put him among the 

top figurative painters coming out of the UK right now. There’s a sublime isolation surrounding 

his subjects that really touches the viewer, the figures being both heroic and vulnerable 

simultaneously. There’s a timeless element in the choice of subject matter that overlaps with 

the mythical world of Odd Nerdrum, say. Now that a huge shift to painting is taking place, I 

would expect to see George’s name pushed further and further to the front” 

David Bowie 


georgeunderwood.com

wood Imagination is the Key 


















Carola Onkam 

“My interest for pictures started by looking at photos on the web, and in the autumn of 2002 

when I bought my first camera and found an enormous interest in photography. 

I love to experiment with light, shapes, and color. My PhotoArt photos are created working 

with different liquids and colors. It is great fun! I try to think “outside the box” and use my 

creativity to discover new ways to create and catch abstract shapes, forms, and patterns. 

I’m always looking for interesting details both when I’m outside in nature, as well as indoors, 

that can be explored and used in my photography.” 

Carola Onkamo 


carola.1x.com

o Outside the Box 
















Svetlana Bobro 

Svetlana Bobrova lives and works in Moscow. She graduated from St. Petersburg University. 

PhD, art critic. Svetlana is a member of the Moscow Union of Artists of the International 

Arts Foundation. She is a winner of the 1919 Trierenberg Super Circuit 2010 – Digital Images 

Experimental Gold Medal. 

“Digital art allows me to rapidly create the most incredible and fantastic images. It is an 

art of absolute freedom due to the nature of its language - photo manipulation. This special 

language helps to express emotions, and subtle shades of mood. Of particular interest to me 

is the ability to create new characters. They form abstract images - a kind of formula of my 

psychological state, a passing mood. Therefore, like a self-portrait, my own image is at the 

heart of all my images.” 



bsw-art.com/paintings-and-graphics-svetlana-bobrova

va Absolute Freedom 


























Allison Diaz Hau 

I totally love you’re collages and I am desperate to hear a bit more about how you created 

them - in particular the Haunted MIrror series. How did you come up with the idea and 

how was it done? Are the photos used in the series photos you shot yourself or did you take 

pictures from inspiring other artists (if so which ones do you usually like)? 

A couple of months ago, I heard a story on National Public Radio about Prosopagnosia, or 

“face blindness.” It’s a psychological disorder that, for the man in the story, made it impossible 

for him to recognize even his girlfriend. The story ended with them breaking up, and 

while the girlfriend would sometimes walk by the cafe he worked at and see him, he never 

realized it was her. After that, I wanted to play with the brain’s perception of faces. The first 

piece I made was a combination of a male and female face. The original portraits came from 

a cigarette ad in a 70s Life Magazine. They were both perfect, both respectively very masculine 

and feminine. I wanted to confuse perception by creating a face that was both at the 

same time. After that, I started playing with more recognizable faces. By rearranging vintage 

celebrity portraits (I find them in used books, mostly) I made them unrecognizable and essentially 

synthesized “face blindness.” The pieces are all scrambled to varying degrees- some 

are completely rearranged and combined, with an eye from one person, a nose from another, 

and so forth. Some are slightly shifted. The result across all of the work so far has been the 

same though. The celebrities turn into strangers. I used the diamond shapes do imitate looking 

through a kaleidoscope. I prefer to use images from the 60s and 70s, because to me their 

looks are classic and just fit with the sort of “psychedelic” theme. 

Please, tell us a bit more about who Allison Diaz is: Where do you come from, what are 

you’re doing when you’re not an artist, what kind of style is very typical for you and why? 

I was born in Hawaii but grew up in California. I’ve been studying Spanish Literature at 

California State University, Sacramento for the last four years but finally graduated this year. 

I’m really excited because this will really be the first time I can spend some serious time and 

energy on my art, which has always taken a back seat to my studies. During school I was 

heavily influenced by Magical Realism, which is a Latin American literary movement that was 


nted Mirrors 


characterized by realistic stories invaded by strange and otherworldly elements. They’re not 

fantasy or science fiction, they don’t take place on other planets or far in the future, but right 

here and now. They’re incredible stories on a completely feasible, normal back drop. I love 

that idea because it kind of mirrors the ways our brains can go haywire and create unrealities 

in the human mind. In particular I love Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Jorge Luis Borges- their 

stories are the kind that you never really get to the bottom of. If you’ve ever been really pummeled 

by a huge wave at the beach, tumbled end over end and couldn’t figure out which way 

was up- reading Borges is like that. I’m always looking for that sensation, in everyday life, in 

literature and art, and in my own work. Right now I’m working nonstop to finish this series 

for my first gallery show in January and making my living as a bartender. In my free time I’ve 

been watching a lot of X-Files and David Lynch, and planning future travel. 

I discovered your art via your lovely Tumblr (URL:http://astrallove.tumblr.com/) where 

you have some amazing stuff collected. Not only from yourself but also other artists. What’s 

your opinion about the modern way of “sharing” art in blogs and social media networks? 

I love art and the internet! I live in a smallish city, and the art scene is small as well. I really 

love Sacramento because it’s very nurturing for artists, and the community is very close knit 

and supportive. On the other hand, it sometimes lacks diversity and motivation. Things like 

Tumblr and Flickr give small artists the opportunity to show their work to a larger audience. 

I’ve found so many artists that I wouldn’t have known otherwise, and of course I would never 

be doing this interview if someone hadn’t found my Flickr page and blogged about it! 

If you could meet one famous artist and hang out with them for a night (regardless if they 

are still alive or not) who would it be and why? 

They would all be writers! Aside from Marquez and Borges, who I already mentioned, I 

would probably go with Haruki Murakami, a contemporary Japanese writer. His books are 

pure dreams. I’m sure he would have plenty of magic stories to tell me. 

NB 


astrallove.tumblr.com












Julie de Waroq 

“I am a 21 years old french photographer, also student in philosophy. Three years ago, I got 

in photography quite randomly, but now it has become a true passion. My pictures are a 

mixture of fantasizing, surrealism and conceptualism; I try to create pictures which remind 

fairy tales and dreams, which look out of this world. Indeed, I enjoy the contradiction of the 

art of photography: this is firstly a technique which copies reality, while art is all creation 

and invention. Photography thus becomes fascinating: how can one create, re-create reality 

and what is seen, with an art which precisely duplicates theworld as it is ? This is the reason 

why I try to make reality look surreal in my pictures. I prefer showing the world as it could 

be rather than as it is. I do not want silent pictures: I want to let dreamlike images and symbols 

speak, I want to show how meaningful a picture can be. 

I am mainly inspired by myths, tales, and by artists and writers such as Freud, Perrault, 

Magritte, la Comtesse de Ségur and Tim Walker. 

During the past year, I’ve been achieving several projects such as collective and personal 

exhibitions, book and CD covers, and other collaborations with artists.” 

Julie de Waroguier 


juliedewaroquier.com

uier Out of this World 




















Briggit Huttem 

In the studio of her uncle Werner Holz, an outstanding German artist, Birgit Hüttemann- 

Holz was exposed to Imaginary Realism/Phantastische Malerei from an early age. Intrigued 

by the contradictions of the human psyche, she first started to write poetry. Whilst working 

as a Physical Therapist, she studied Literature, Philosophy, Education and Media Science at 

the Philipps-University, Marburg, Germany. A sudden change in her life, a move to the USA, 

triggered a stop to her writings, and a universal language was needed, taking visual form. 

Birgit Hüttemann-Holz’s work is exhibited nationwide and internationally, she lives and 

works as an artist in the Greater Detroit Area. 


brightstroke.com

ann HolzSilent Memories 


“I understand my paintings as modern icons of the feminine. 

Although the primary role of the icon is to bring the viewer into relationship with the depicted 

saint rather than tell stories about him or her, I aim to achieve both in the form of 

opening a dialogue. 

In my female portraits “Inscapes” I look for imagery that derives symbols from mythology, 

nature and spirituality. As an artist I neither accept myth or religion as a historical 

fact, nor reject it as useless. I move between those two extreme poles to mine history and 

its trends, trying to understand and communicate its meanings for today. Therefore, these 

Inscapes aim to make a political, religious and cultural statement. 

My landscape paintings are acting more as a sanctuary, a retreat; it gives you time to breath 

and to reflect. They also pose as a metaphor for society’s need of refuge. 

As every artist visits his or her places of childhood, I too am very influenced by my European 

roots, earliest memories and experiences with art and nature. I paint with hot liquid 

beeswax, pigments and fire. My process of painting begins with composing paint from pigment 

and wax, giving me the joy to truly create the “right” consistency of paint in terms of 

hues and transparency. 

This ancient raw painting technique constantly copes with loss and restoration, reflecting 

the themes of my imagery. For me the beauty of an encaustic paintings lies in its uniquely 

transparent layers that are catching the light. The painting comes to life from within, giving 

way to luminous and lush colors that are sealed in a jade-like surface.” 

Birgit Huttemann Holz 





















Jean Marc Jan 

“I paint in oil with palette knives. I seek to represent the light and heat of summer, I invite 

everyone to wander and dream in these landscapes, I paint freely, with color and contrast.” 

Jean-Marc Janiaczyk 

jean-marc.janiaczyk.pagesperso-orange.fr 


iaczyk Wander and Dream 
























Pamela Dzaet 

“I am an artist... a term that I never thought that I would use for myself. Why? Life happens. 

I didnt pick up a paintbrush until February of 2007, when I thought that I would “test 

the waters” and see what I was capable of. Within the first month of painting, my work took 

on a very interesting aspect, in that it began to show the first signs of personal memories, 

anguish, unresolved feelings. I used the art to vent past hurts, pains, rejections... 

My earlier work was raw with emotion, using symbolism to convey the hidden messages. I 

drew all of my inspiration from my life experiences, thus creating a “canvas journal”. 

I use the symbolic, neo-surreal style, exclusively in oils. My work now has evolved into a 

more spiritual nature. Each and every painting has a message for the viewer, and my hope 

would be that the paintings will aid the viewer in self-discovery. My work is born from deep 

within, a spiritual place, resulting in my complete inability to paint if not led by this inner 

voice. 

I paint under the name of dzaet, which simply means 808 in Armenian. I was born at 8:08 

and I know that a complete rebirth took place when I picked up the brush 4 years ago. My 

life has taken an entirely new direction, old hurts are resolved, and new messages of hope 

are born daily, finding their way eventually to the canvas. Without painting, I simply would 

not know my place in the universe, I feel as though I would die. 

As you look at my art, my thought would simply be “I hope you will see something you 

would like to hear”.” 



dzaet.com

Hill My Place in the Universe

musetouch_issue_7

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?