Artist Spotlight: Freya Nates from Issue Three

Freya is an eighteen-year-old and the person behind Art by Freya! Having always been quite creative, taking Art as a subject up until A-level, she is now in her first year studying English Literature at the University of Edinburgh.

Freya started painting clothes around 2 years ago when she went shopping for tie-dye and ending up buying a set of fabric paints instead. At first, only her friends placed orders but during lockdown she decided to take her small business to the next level. With a grandpa who works in the clothing industry, she was generously gifted around 100 t-shirts which really made a huge difference. Then, she bought her first five tote bags and was off! Without that extreme amount of time in lockdown to focus on Art by Freya, her small business would definitely not be where it is today.

Initially recreating well-known paintings, as time went on, the action of copying these paintings developed her skills and boosted her confidence to try out her own designs. Usually, painting whatever she's feeling like at the moment, whether it’s a gay froggy marriage proposal on a tote, nudes on a tee or dinosaurs on a pair of jeans. The vast variety in her projects is what makes her clothes unique as each piece is truly one of a kind and will likely not be painted again.

Still trying to find her ‘style’, one thing her designs all have in common is that they showcase her love of colour and are happy clothes. So far, she has twice run a stall at Portobello Green Market in London which gave her the chance and delight to overhear people stopping to take a look at her clothes.

Another thing that Freya believes has developed her skills is custom orders! They are seldom designs that she would come up with and so they really push her away from her comfort zone. The most special commission was painting someone’s best friend’s wedding flowers on a sweatshirt where she combined a few photographs of flowers from the wedding, such as table centrepieces and her bouquet and turned them into a simple line drawing.

Her two favourite designs are frogs and dinosaurs. She wears her own pair of dinosaur jeans all the time and they always put her in an unstoppable mood (shown below).

All her clothes are all machine washable and come with washing instructions. She mixes a fabric medium into paint and heat sets each piece so they won’t crack or fade in the wash.

Fashion For a Cause: Brands That Stand with Palestine and the history of fashion as a form of Activism

by Oana-Maria Moldovan For over two months, there has been an ongoing genocide war in Gaza. To simplify a long and horrific issue, the situation that started, on a larger scale, around one hundred years ago, and has only become amplified since October 7th 2023. Taking place around the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Israel–Lebanon border, the armed conflict is between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups. The problem is about “stolen” land. Said land is seen as an important holy part of both religions involved. But really, how holy can we consider a land to be, if people kill other people for it? It’s important to remember that this genocide is about three things: forced occupation, zionism, and religion. It’s also important to remember what ethnic erasure is. This terrible expresion, also known as cultural or ethnic assimilation, refers to the process by which the distinct cultural or ethnic identity of a particular group is gradually diminished or erased, often due to...

Now What? The Aftermath of the 'Manic Pixie Dream Girl'

by Susan Moore Here is a bit about me: I am an open, excitable, creative AFAB who is also moderately attractive. I have a unique sense of personal style and a personality that on the surface can only be described as “bubbly” and “quirky”. For this reason, dating is a nightmare. To be sure, I do not have a hard time finding dates or potential suitors. The problems arise when said dates spend some time with me and decide that I am a rare specimen, and the connection they feel with me is “unlike anything they have felt before”. Then, things go one of two ways. Either a) they decide I am too high maintenance and no longer palatable, or b) they choose to never look further than the surface and are content to date the idea of me rather than the real me. There is something rather interesting, perhaps funny, about my situation. It is in no way unique. I have met so many people who constantly dealt with the same problem. Even funnier still, is the fact that there is a trope that simu...

‘Make Tattooing Safe Again’: Sheffield Based Tattoo Artist Exposed for Indecent Behaviour

by Emily Fletcher TW: SA, Animal Abuse, Transphobia Photo Credit: @ meiko_akiz uki Recently, an Instagram account has been created to provide a ‘space to safely give a voice to those who want to speak out about the behaviour of one, Sheffield based tattoo artist’. A total of 40+ posts have been made by the above social media account regarding one of Sheffield's most popular tattoo artists . Thankfully, all posts are prefaced with a Content Warning prior to sharing screenshots of the messages that have been sent anonymously to the page. The majority of Content Warnings refer to sexual behaviour, abuse, and sexual assault. It is clear that there is a reoccurring theme within each submission, as many clients appear to have had the same experiences with the tattoo artist. Women, mostly, are being made to feel uncomfortable while being tattooed. One of the most vulnerable positions anyone can be in, tattoo artists should make their clients feel ...

Darling Magazine

Search This Blog