What does TIPTOE look like through the eyes of an artist?
Constantly in search of inspiration, we gave artists carte blanche to appropriate our pieces in their own universe. It’s a way of mixing two creative fields and discovering TIPTOE from a different angle. Meet the illustrator and graphic designer, Emilie Capato.
Can you introduce yourself?
My name is Emilie Capato, founder of l’atelier mio. I’m a freelance illustrator and graphic designer based in Lyon, specializing in the culinary arts. My work is inspired by everyday objects and moments, tables laid with old-fashioned crockery, flowers from the market, seasonal fruit and vegetables. But also by the still lifes of my favorite painters Pierre Boncompain, Henri Matisse and Pierre Bonnard. The table, a recurring theme in my illustrations, is an everyday one. It’s a Sunday breakfast table, a winter snack or a holiday dinner. The interpretation of convivial, gourmet and colorful moments. I use different mediums for my illustrations: embroidery, engraving or digital, but everything always starts with the drawing, the composition and finally the color.
How do you describe your creative world?
Colorful and comforting, that’s what I try to bring through my illustrations.
Where do you get your daily inspiration?
In all everyday objects, first of all in my own home, and then a lot in other people’s too. When I have in mind an idea for a table or a scene to represent, before I start drawing I do a scan of the objects I could install in this image. Pinterest and Instagram are obviously a good source of inspiration. I also like to get ideas from design object publishers such as Alessi, TIPTOE and Vitra. And when I’m out at a café, bar or restaurant, I get into the habit of photographing or drawing the elements of the table that appeal to me: a glass, a carafe of water, a pretty plate. And of course in paintings, museums and films.
How important is your home to you? What does it say about you?
I place a lot of importance on my interior, especially since I’ve been working more and more from home over the last few years. I need to feel good in it, and decoration is a big part of that. I need to have lots of books within sight, pictures of my favorite illustrators on the wall, plants, natural light and color.
Why did you choose the TIPTOE DUKE bench ?
For years, I’ve been lugging around chairs I’d bought for next to nothing at a secondhand shop. And some of them are very worn, I wanted to replace them and I wanted a convivial seat. I love large tables with very eclectic seating. I thought a bit big with the DUKE bench, but the table in the living room looks very small. I’ll have to wait until I have more space to realize my dreams of large tables!
What did you like about integrating our products into your creative world?
Stepping out of my comfort zone by working on a plan wider than the strict tabletop, leaving the table to go into the kitchen register with the TIPTOE wall shelves that I loved designing. And finally, leaving the kitchen to go into the living room, which was the illustration I had the most difficulty with. But it’s always good to get out of your comfort zone, and that was the challenge I set myself with this collaboration!
Do you have a recent creative discovery to share with us?
Rather, it’s a re-discovery. The work of Nathalie Du Pasquier. I was familiar with her work as a designer and graphic artist for the Memphis Movement, and with her recent paintings based on the composition of colorful geometric shapes. But I recently discovered her figurative paintings created in the early 2000s and up to 2008. Compositions of everyday objects – glasses, carafes, saucepans and books – always very geometric, stacked, playing with shadows and transparencies with little depth of field.
A cool address to share with all visitors to Lyon?
Tandem for a coffee, a selection of groceries and objects by local designers. Okara for a coffee, a matcha latte and their breakfast formula. MADO bakery for their natural sourdough breads, vegetable focaccia and panettone. Café Arsène or Grive for fine dining and a terrace in spring and summer! For a digestive stroll, the Jardins du Rosaire under Fourvière, in spring to enjoy the wisteria in bloom, the view is breathtaking and the park is very planted.
