From witty still lifes to wacky illustrations, we introduce three talents at JSR

London-based creative management agency JSR represents artists in the fields of photography, illustration, CGI and moving image. Launched in 2005 by Jamie Stephen the agency now represents more than 40 artists, comprising a mix of established and emerging talent. It’s Nice That has selected three of the represented creatives for you to check out.

Andy Rudak

Still life photographer Andy Rudak, a graduate from the acclaimed photography course at Blackpool University, began his career as an assistant to Mike Parsons where he worked on campaigns for Guinness, Virgin Trains, Heineken and Volkswagen.

His still life images are witty, clever and tongue-in-cheek — from DIY botox kits, to teddy bears held hostage, to cows being abducted by aliens, his images never takes themselves too seriously. Except, that is, when it comes to their technicality; behind a playful approach is serious talent, in-camera artistry, careful composition and beautiful lighting. Often experimenting with scale — Lilliputian toy soldiers attacking mountain-sized pieces of ginger for instance, or toy diggers, cranes and trucks constructing a full English breakfast — along with sculpting objects out of other, often incongruous, materials — aeroplanes out of dollar bills, fish out of grains of rice, bowling pins out of juice cartons — Andy is extremely creative. This, combined with the work of brilliant set designers on similar wavelengths, has won him clients such as British Airways, Coca-Cola, Microsoft and McDonald’s.

Neil Stevens

Based in St Albans, creative illustrator and graphic artist Neil Stevens makes work that spans sectors including music, sport, technology, art, finance, nature and the environment.

Bustling, nostalgic, and brightly coloured without ever being garish, his work is comforting in its depiction of everyday life and of the world ticking along, just so. People are seen reading on the sofa, taking cash out from ATMs, riding their bikes and painting pictures, making him the perfect choice for commissions from broadsheet daily newspapers such as The Observer, The Guardian and The Telegraph, as well as Time Out magazine. Commercial commissions are frequent too — including British Airways, Amazon, TfL and Blue Moon.

Along with traditional every day tasks and hobbies, Neil is particularly skilled at cityscapes and busy scenes of hustle and bustle, without ever seeming chaotic or stressful. Instead, the detail-filled university campuses of Bath and Bristol are extremely satisfying, every corner crammed with activity, animals and architecture. The streets of London, too, are invigorating, filled as they are with recognisable high street chains, cheerful shoppers and bright red buses. Whatever their subject matter, Neil’s illustrations are filled with life.

Kim Sielbeck

Kim Sielbeck is an illustrator, painter and surface designer. Her unusual upbringing — she was born in Alaska but moved all around the US in a Coast Guard family — comes through in her colourful, adventurous work in buckets, especially her time spent in Hawaii. So much so, in fact, that after over a decade spent in New York, she recently decided to relocate to the Aloha State.

Animals, food, palm trees and sunshine are regular motifs in Kim’s work, all injected with a large dose of good vibes — a tiger wearing pink sunglasses, slurping happily on a fruity cocktail from a pineapple, for instance, or a four-eyed cat in outer space. Her colour schemes are just as wacky, bright greens, pinks and purples mingle regularly across landscapes and she’s never restrained by boring things like realism (have you ever seen a blue and orange spotted cactus?) or accurate scale. The happy women of all shapes and sizes featured all have one thing in common — a smile on their faces, and there’ll be one on yours too. The regular (and adorable) appearances of dogs in her work for clients such as Pepsi, Propercorn and Vans, mean it should come as no surprise that Kim also plays surf guitar in a band called Puppies.