Here at Slowdown Studio we love collaborating with emerging and established artists from across the globe. We recently had the opportunity to chat with Micke Lindebergh, the artist behind the new Petal Pop Mini Blanket and much-loved Alessi Throw. Micke is a Swedish illustrator and printmaker living in Sydney, Australia. Armed with Posca pens, bright acrylics and riso inks, he's created a signature style with his abstract and playful interpretation of flowers and other shapes.
1. Do you have any routines or rituals that get you in the mood for painting?
No I literally just drink coffee, make a smoothie, go for a run and then I just go to the studio! Sometimes I'll stop at A.P bakery on the way there. 
2. What do you like about the city you live in?
I live and work in Surry Hills, Sydney. What I like about Surry Hills is that it's really close to get everywhere. I love being close to Haymarket and China Town, there's so much good food there. Also so many great cafe's and bakeries. It's also kind of cute, there's a lot of trees and things and on my walk to the studio there's a nice little park. Crown st also has so many great shops, groceries, wine shops, everything I need.
I used to live in London and one thing I love about Sydney is that it's always warm. For a Scandinavian person, the winter here is so easy. Also the sunshine is amazing - the colour of the sky is different. The blue here is really incredible. And when I moved here I used to have this big rooftop in my apartment and I used to just go up there and drink coffee and look at this beautiful blue. Super nice. 
Petal Pop Mini Blanket designed by Micke Lindebergh for Slowdown Studio
3. How does living in your city influence your work? Is there anything about your city that has defined how or what you create?
I moved from London to Sydney and I found it to be quite a big contrast. Living here, I think the life is slower here. London is super hectic so living here, I find I have more time and space so I think that really helps my work and my practice to experiment more, take more time to draw and paint. 
4. What do you think you're most known for in terms of your art practice/style?
A lot of my work has really bright colors, bold shapes, flowers and I just like it to be fun. I never really have a plan, I just go on gut feeling and intuition when I work. 
Alessi Throw blanket designed by Micke Lindebergh for Slowdown Studio
5. What advice would you give to a younger version of yourself when you were starting out in art?
If I could tell my younger self some advice I think it would be to share my work more and get over being shy about sharing.
6. What are you listening to in your studio at the moment?
At the moment I'm actually listening to 90s Japanese pop that I used to listen to when I was maybe 19 or something like that. Pizzicato Five - very good. 
7. How has your practice developed over the years?
Something I've learnt in my practice is to trust the process, go with the flow, make so many different variations of the same motif - cropping in, zooming out, trying different colors and things like that. It's a huge part of my practice that I've learnt to just try loads and loads of different things and then I get feedback and it comes to an end result. That's how we got the Petal Pop to its end result.
Instagram: @micke_lindebergh
Website: https://mickelindebergh.com
