Doe Deere Blogazine

Photo: Liselotte Eriksson

Every little girl dreams of being a princess; this girl grew up to become one. Meet the modern-day Marie Antoinette of Sweden: Johanna Öst, 24, a fantasy artist & illustrator from Stockholm. Her illustration credits include books such as The Cat’s Whiskers by Stefan Freedman & Adjö då pappa by Desirée Kemi-Wikzén, as well as a myriad of magazines and album covers.

Like most artists with a truly unique vision, Johanna seems to be entirely oblivious to what would be considered ‘normal’. She lives in her own intricate world full of powdered wigs, pin-ups, sharp-toothed mermaids and scaled dragons. She does what she knows best and does it with a passion, without caring (or knowing) how to be any other way. And this, my darlings, cannot be taken away.

DD: Johanna, would you describe your family as artistic?

JÖ: My dad is a civil engineer and works with working environments and work related health and my mother has done various things but at the moment she works at Systembolaget, the place you buy alcoholic beverages in Sweden. My mother is very creative and used to draw when she was younger. She went to some kind of shop decorating school and she’s wonderful at home decorating and all kinds of creative things.

DD: Who did you want to be as a child?

JÖ: A long while ago I was sure I was going to be a dinosaur researcher, some kind of archeologist. It’s what I wrote on the blackboard when I started school and I continued to want that until I grew up a bit and realized it would be very hard and not something I wanted to put all of my energy in. I was extremely interested in dinosaurs as a kid. I still am but I don’t keep up as much with dinosaur news and read quite as much about dinosaurs anymore. I did take a university course on dinosaurs though. I also had a period in middle school when I wanted to be a makeup artist and read a bunch of books about makeup and put makeup on myself and the girls in my school. I remember being proud when I girl in my class said something like “wow, I’ve never had makeup done so professionally!” ;D I never really thought of artist being a profession and I guess I wasn’t really aware of illustration.

DD: Is there an artist that influenced your delightful illustration style? (So I can find them and kiss them!)

JÖ: I’m influenced by lots of things, both artists, random pictures and just things I see. One artist that has had a big impact on my drawing style is John Bauer, and also another Swedish illustrator called Tord Nygren. I’m sure there are many more but it’s hard to think of anyone specific.

DD: You have a fantastic technique. Did you go to an art school?

JÖ: I went to an art course some years ago but my social phobia was really bad at the time so I didn’t attend many classes and was forced to quit before the second year. I usually say I don’t have any formal art training when I don’t want to go into details because I’m not sure the few lessons I attended count.

DD: So, what’s the deal with being afraid of people?

JÖ: I’ve heard social phobia being described as feeling that you’re constantly watched and reviewed and feeling like you’re making a fool of yourself. You feel like everyone is concentrating on just you and watching everything you do, even though that’s completely irrational. I’m also just a very asocial person in general. I’ve gotten much better with social situations lately though.

DD: A lot of your gorgeous art is fairy-tale themed. What was your favorite fairy tale growing up and how did it affect you?

JÖ: I loved The Little Mermaid by HC Andersen and it’s still my favourite, and I mean the original HC Andersen story even though I’m also a big big fan of the Disney movie in an entirely different way :) I’m not sure if it has affected me in any way but it has certainly inspired me in my art. The copy of the book I read growing up also had beautiful illustrations that has inspired me a lot through the years. I’m in general very interested in and inspired by fairy tales and folk tales.

DD: I know you’re an avid collector. What kind of stuff do you collect and what are some of your most prized possessions?

JÖ: I don’t really like to call myself a collector since I don’t want to complete some kind of collection or collect things for their value or anything like that, but I’m extremely fond of certain things and try to get my hands on them whenever I can. It’s mostly toys, especially dolls and especially vintage ones. I’m mostly into Barbie even though my so called collection is very small by Barbie collecting standards. It would be so hard to choose a favourite among my Barbies because they’re all so great in different ways. I also love many other vintage fashion dolls similar to Barbie such as Tressy. I have a huge collection of my little ponies (though I’m guessing even this collection is small by pony collecting standards :P) and I collect any random toys I happen to like. I also have a lot of other vintage things like clothes, magazines and home decorating stuff. I just really love beautiful objects.

DD: Do you believe in God or the supernatural?

JÖ: I don’t have a religion or anything and I can’t say I really believe in the supernatural, but I do find supernatural things very interesting and fun to read about.

DD: Let’s delve into the fantasy realm then. Someone gives you a highly coveted time-travel device for your birthday. Where do you go? If you were allowed to bring something back, what would it be?

JÖ: I would go to the 1780s to see how things actually looked, it’s so annoying that photography was invented just a little while later than the the 18th century. If I got to bring something I guess it would be some kind of clothing, but I’d be happy with anything. [DD: I think someone already went and brought Johanna back! :D]

DD: You are invited to a masked costume ball by a secret admirer at midnight. What do you wear?

JÖ: I guess I would like to wear an 18th century outfit since I’m very into that and I think the ultimate masquerades are 18th century ones.

DD: Which animal would you like to speak to, if you could, and what would you ask them?

JÖ: My cats, so I could ask them if there’s anything more they want me to do for them or if they need any help. I’d mostly like to do that when they’re sick so they could say how they feel and what hurts.

DD: How big is your closet and how many pairs of shoes do you own?

JÖ: It’s pretty big but not extremely so. I got rid of a lot of clothes I didn’t use during my move last year. I can count to 23 pairs of shoes here but I know I have a few left at my parents house.

DD: Do you wish the world had more color and people dressed in a more individualistic way? Or do you sort of like it the way it is because it gives an artist something to rebel against and question?

JÖ: I just wish all people wore exactly what they felt like, no matter how other people, including me of course, feel about it.

DD: Last, but very important question: do you have word magnets on your fridge? If so, what do they spell out?

JÖ: “Biet stinker!” which means “the bee stinks!” :)

Thanks for the awesome answers, Johanna! :D

All images in this post are courtesy of Johanna Ost, unless otherwise noted. Visit her website to buy her art and prints (both very reasonable!) and enjoy more lovely pictures of Johanna at: www.johannaost.com