If you think looking at art whilst getting your nails done is an impossibility, then you are wrong. Vice lead me to discovering two treasures, one being WAH-Nails: a nail salon in Dalston

and two being Jessica Penfold, the awesome illustrator who held her first solo show there. I had a look through her portfolio and she has done work for people like Ben Rayner and Vice Magazine. I got to asking Jessica some questions about her work, it’s nice to be able to have the chance to ask someone how they work. It turns out we shared many similar views on things. Having studied Graphic Design at Camberwell, she learned she much rather not rely on the usage of a computer and  would prefer to pick up a pen and draw. I admire anyone who can have a simple conversation with someone and visualise an image to the point of being able to recreate it on canvas, or paper in this case. I just can’t work like that. Jessica draws everything freehand and uses the computer for things like layering her text.  This exhibition was for the graphic story Snow Day. The work was based on the events of the February 2, 2009 snow storm that shut down most of London.

I loved the work and I loved the atmosphere at the opening. Usually when I got out on Vice events everyone is beyond the point of intimate conversation. Having your nails done at the same time gave perfect opportunity to get to speak to some very interesting people. There’s a certain aura that surrounds WAH-Nails. It stirred up some excitement. Probably because of their insane amount of success that surrounds the whole shop. The Nails are awesome and the place is adorable.

Have a read through the owner’s blog and you can read about about how the adventure started. Although the main site is under construction you can still have a look through all the cool nails they do here. ALso you can have a look through WAH-Magazine. It has a lot of interesting stuff to browse through.

Best of luck to both Jessica and the people of WAH-Nails.