Archetoy caught up with Marie-Claire from Poonky's Fine Art Toys, and chatted about her work, life and experiences. This is the first interview in our series, so we hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did asking the questions.

Marie is a French-born illustrator/artist whose creations are curious mix between the bizarre, and ultra-cute. Marie uses different mediums to express her design, which results in instantly loveable creations.

Artist: Marie-Claire Robert
Location: Paris, France
Website:http://poonky.canalblog.com/
User page: Poonky

Archetoy: Hi Marie, firstly, what’s with the name “Poonky”?, I love it!

Marie: Hi! This nickname was from ages ago! When I was in high school, I had red hair (or almost!) and also freckles... so I was a mix between a punk and Punky Brewster of course! I keep this name - some people didn't know my real name and called me Poonky, so it's like a part of me... another me, a bit like Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde!! Just a bit! :)

Archetoy: In your own words, please describe yourself, and your style

Marie: I'm a quiet person, I like to observe what happens around me: people, the street, our visual world... and I use some of the stuff I see to create my own world. I live in Paris where a lot of things happen for music and art - and I love it! I like to go out to concerts and see my friends, but I also need some calm moments outside this town that seems to be in constant movement, and have a break to concentrate on things I like, and in this way create my own world. I don't know if you understand this, not too easy to explain! :)

My style is a mix between weird and funny. I like the strange side of things - like we can see on Emily the Strange or Lenore - but also add a cute side to make something more naive, to create sweet characters.

Archetoy: Have you always been artistic, and where did you study?

Marie: I've always liked drawing since I was a child. And I was naturally attracted to art because it's something I had in myself for a long time.
So I went to an art school because I wanted to do something in my life that required drawing and creativity. I went to a school in Angoulème (France!) for 3 years to have my BAC (important degree in France) and continued in 2 others schools to finish in Bordeaux.

Archetoy: Your p’tit monstre’s are fantastic, did you ever get introuble as a child from practicing on fabric from curtains or sofas?

Marie: Ah ah! In fact my grand-mother gave me some of her fabric to make clothes for my dolls. They produced some bizarre results! So I think I still keep some part of the style from this time in my life! And I say thank you to my grand-mother of course!

Archetoy: Which artists do you take inspiration from?

Marie: There is two styles important for me: The first is the artoys world, with artists (French or not) like Rolito, Bunka, Julie West, Tokyo plastic, 123 klan... The other one is the child universe - this naive style, with happy people, friendly creatures, etc... It could be translated into puppets, illustrations or toys. In France there is a publishing house called 'Editions du Rouergue', I like it very much.

Archetoy: Are there any other influences that affect your creations?

Marie: I also take inspiration from books and comics in every part of our visual world!

Archetoy: Are there any collaboration projects that you have, are or willbe involved in? What is the French art/design scene like right now?

Marie: I'm currently working on a collective project with two friends, to make a website to show our work.
The name of these two guys are Mistaweteva (www.mistawateva.com - website is coming soon!) and Sm3ck (www.team-111.com).

In Paris there is a shop specialising in artoys; there are a lot exhibitions of French artists like Rolito, Bunka and also some European artists. It's a great place - www.artoyz.com - have a look!

Archetoy: What advice can you give to others who want to get into art and design?

Marie: Perhaps to stay sharp about what is going on in the street because this scene come from there!

Archetoy: So what does the future hold for Poonky's fine art toys?

Marie: Hum... I don't know yet! For the moment I'm leaving my creativity do what it wants and wait to see what happens!!

Archetoy: Thanks for your time Marie, and best wishes with Poonky’s fineart toys!

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Make sure you go and check out Marie's creations at Poonky's Fine Art Toys, or download a desktop. Stay tuned, as we have some more amazing interviews coming up soon!