test: Mel Kadel from a tree house

"What you see from a tree"

This week has been immensely successful to me, as I came across some really fine artists, among who there are some of my favourite kind - illustrators. Today I present works of a girl from Los Angeles for you to gaze upon, which have fascinated me straightaway. I hope you will like them,too.

"While saving yourself"

This girl of Pennsylvanian decent used to live in her own world, didn't like school and used to skip classes very often. For some time M. Kadel wandered among various art schools, after studying for a semester she usually fearlessly give up studies. Finally settled down at Moore College of Art.

At the moment 33 year old illustrator is living in a very odd, but rich in history place, called Echo Park. Before the First World War, all the film industry of the USA was located there - that means until it had moved to Hollywood. During the 60s and 70s, Echo Park gained a reputation as a bohemian haven, attracting a myriad of young musicians and artists, including J.D Souther and Glenn Frey from Eagles, Tom Waits, Jackson Browne, also Frank Zappa. Even Charles Bukowski would visit Echo Park.

So M. Kadel together with her boyfriend, who is also a great artist, has settled down in dwelling, resembling a tree house. That is where she is successfully generating remarkable works.

"A little time alone"

Almost all the author‘s works are drawn on “filthy“ paper, which means that it is either yellow due to its age or deliberately decorated with coffee or stains from a cup. Since there is not so much of old paper, especially in large format, M.Kadel glues various shreds together into a kind of canvas, which provides the works with rough warmth.

M.Kadel does not claim to be a great artist, her works will probably never hang in, let‘s say, MoMa halls (although who knows?), but after having started sharing the works in cafes, now the illustrator exhibits them in more than one gallery, among which Richard Heller Gallery can be mentioned.

"Desperate future" (made together with Brian Canning)

The author admits that the idea comes first, and then she tries to come up with its illustration. It‘s interesting, how opposing sometimes are the thoughts of equally talented illustrators. For some the idea is born first, others begin with abstract drawings on paper, which later lead to an idea.

Anyhow, it is always pleasant get an eyeful of good results. Let‘s hope that Mel Kadel will never experience a shortage of yellow paper.