"Pet Dragon" by Genie DeWit

Hello and welcome back to the blog! If you’re here for the first time, that’s great news and welcome! As I promised yesterday, today’s Friends of Tulip Tree series travels to the south pacific ocean to beautiful New Zealand, high on my wish list of places to visit in my lifetime. When thinking of New Zealand, those of us who have never been there would probably reflexively think of lush forests, beaches, volcanoes, kiwi birds, and the Maori culture to name a few. But there is also another gem on the island, and that is the lovely Genie Dewit, who along with her husband, Kelvin, make up the artist collective known as Budafist.

I first met Genie through the design forum I have mentioned before, and have gotten to know her over the past several years. Genie is, to put it in one word a foodloving-bunnyloving-extremelyintelligentandverywittyandcute-overlytalentedtothepointofinsanity-creative-fineartistgraphicdesigning-foodlover(yesIsaidthattwice). I am a huge fan of her artwork, and she has easily become one of my favorite contemporary artists (I’m proud to be able to say that one of her stickers adorns my bass guitar case, and another illustration that she created for a fund raising calendar sits on my shelf of goodies on my desk!).

Did I mention she loves food? Literally the first conversation I ever had with her revolved around, not art or design, but food. Perfecto! I’m really excited to be able to showcase some of her artwork today, as well as present a conversation (no shortage of food discussions there) that will allow you to get to know a little bit more about the Buda in Budafist! So, pour yourself a cuppa whatever and enjoy!

Questions! (and answers) with Genie DeWit

“World Animal Day” by Genie DeWit 

Where do you get your inspiration from?
Cute and whimsical things. Our rabbit Tofu. Well designed things. Chinese/Oriental/New Zealand culture.

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Killinchy Gold – Chocolate Fudge Brownie or Zest – Honey and fig. Both gourmet and made in New Zealand.

What was the last thing you ate?
Rice porridge for breakfast

In what hypothetical situation can you see yourself heroically saving humanity with your unique super power of mixing drinks with your feet?
Well clearly it would be when faced with an alcoholic villain that has bound my hands and about to turn the world’s population into blubbering fools. Once he tastes my footmade mojito, he will be putty in my han…feet.

Also, with what food item could you most easily defeat the bad guys with?
I’ll knock em dead with my explode-on-impact wontons.

How many keys are on your key ring?
Just the key for our front door (plus a tiny plastic kokeshi doll keyring that my friend gave me)

“It’s Friday evening and these are my party clothes” by Genie De Wit

What is your favourite font?
Right now, it’s good old Helvetica.

How often do you draw?
I go through spurts of drawing. If I really push myself, I will draw 1 page in my book a day. But if I don’t push, then I might only draw once a week (or less).

Are you a morning or night person?
A bit of both. I’m not completely useless in the morning like some people are. I don’t need a coffee to wake up.

Which do you prefer, sweet or salty foods?
I’m a savoury girl.

Ninjas or pirates?
Ninjas for their cool. Pirates for all the stuff they get.

What’s your favorite color?
Bourgenvilla red. It’s delicious. I have a lot of red accessories.

What’s your favorite animal?
Bunny!

Ever been addicted to a video/computer game? Which one(s)?
I’ve been addicted to Mafia Wars for just over a year. Not sure when I’m going to curb it. I’ll have to find something else to be addicted to I think.

Any tattoos or piercings?
No tats just a few ear piercing. Would love something inked up but haven’t agreed on anything yet.

You’re about to walk the green mile, what do you have as your last meal?
Oh soooo hard. I guess it depends on my head space. If you’re going to die, do you want comfort or do you want to try something new as a final stab to “live”? Maybe Chinese Roast duck on rice. Or wonton noodle soup. Definitely something Chinese though.

What do you spend all your money on?
Food!

Do you buy art?
Yes, we bought some local art at an art sale last year. I adore the artwork of an artist called Flox so when I saw a huge owl painting of hers for a bargain, I snapped it up. We also bought a painting by her partner Trustme. I’ve also bought a few paintings by my sister. Though I haven’t actually handed over the money yet. Does that count?

What would be your dream job?
Art director for a food magazine whilst being a published children’s book illustrator on the side.

Do you work on several pieces at once or work on one piece until finished?
I like to work on 1 painting until it is finished. If I didn’t, I would have a house filled with unfinished paintings. As it stands, I only have 1 unfinished painting. I think I started it about 2 years ago. Eek!

What is your most common process?
Draw in pen into my book. They all start off as doodles. Then I scan into Photshop, get the contract looking good. Finally I Livetrace and colour in Illustrator.

Thanks Genie, and thanks for letting me showcase some of your artwork, as well! For those interested, definitely check the Budafist webpage for more information about their work, and for more great samples of Genie’s lovely artwork!

I had also wanted to touch a bit about Genie’s participation in an Oxfam walk with her group the Walk O Saurs, if I get more information on that I will add it to this post later, or perhaps use it in a future post. I’ve been eyeing the Oxfam walks and would love to do one eventually, so I’m interested in hearing more about her experience.

Chutealute! dear readers, Song of the Day coming shortly!

Food Poster (combining food and design!) by Genie DeWit