STRANGEco: Here's what we know about you. You're an Australian illustrator, 29 years old, vegetarian, based in Melbourne where you live with your wife, two kids and pesky imaginary friend Andrew. You have a background in editorial illustration, and you're now turning your attentions to vinyl figures, the first of which is "Scary Girl", released through Flying Cat, with whom you seem to have a rosy relationship. Also, a childhood incident involving a wild horse seems to have been heavy for you, even formative. Anything you'd like to add or edit, right off the bat?

Nathan: I recently turned 30. It was like any other day except that the concrete outside was friendlier than usual (don't ask). The vegetarian thing is quite hard to consistently maintain with a highly carnivorous wife. The horse incident was very life changing but I forget why sometimes.

Flying Cat seem to be promoting Scary girl in a big way this year, and has even taken one of your illustrated characters for its company logo. How did you hook up with Alan Chow of Flying Cat?

It was all very fast and blurry. Alan phoned me late one night last year and asked if I'd like to work with him. I can't quite remember what I said but I know 'yes' was in there somewhere.

Did he approach you about using your Flying Cat design for the company name? How did this come about?

Alan's concept with renaming PWF to Flying Cat was to create a new image that represented an international design team. I'm not sure what came first the name or image, but Alan was inspired by a little animation I did called 'Cat' about a flying cat that takes the nose of a man and then plays a musical foot (um, it doesn't sound very wholesome does it?).

Had you been considering designing toys before you got together with Alan?

Yes, for a long time.

Are you a toy collector? If so, what are some of your favorite toy lines?

Having two kids automatically makes you a toy buyer and by default a collector/cleaner and maintenance man of toys. My favourite things for the kids would have to be all the remodeled old stuff like Mr. Potato Head and Barrel of Monkeys. As a young guy I was really into Lego, Masters of the Universe, 6 Million Dollar Man and of course Star Wars. Lately I've been lucky to have a bunch of Flying Cat figures sent to me (designed by Koji, Takumi and Push). I'm also really impressed by the KAWS figures (I have the Kubrick bus stop set) and the Sony Time Capsule series.

Tell us a little about your creative process. Looking at your work, one really has to wonder where your ideas come from. Bus rides on the sketchy side of town maybe? Undigested food bits manifesting themselves in your dreams? Does your imaginary friend Andrew play the role of muse, perhaps?

I've done a lot of world traveling in the last 5 years to some pretty seedy places. All of them very inspiring and scary. Andrew comes up with all the ideas and puts them in a small grey journal for me to look at when I have time. He's super intelligent and extremely useful when illustration deadlines are looming. Sometimes he will answer emails for me and act as a liaison with clients. I even got Andrew to do some finished art recently...unfortunately he can't draw that well.

Do you have favorite artists in any field that have influenced your style and ideas along the way?

I'm a big Miro and Jim Flora fan.

Americans might find it strange that there are no wombats or koala bears, or g'daying crocks guzzling beer from re-enforced metal oil drums in your work. We think "is this guy really Australian or is he just fronting?" Any reason for the shortage of (stereo)typically Aussie themes in your stuff?

Being brought up in a non-stereotypical Australian family probably explains the absence of Aussie themes. That being said I'm torn between 2 sides. My mother's family is about as Aussie as you can get. They are the sort of people that decorate the shelves with stuffed cane toads holding beer cans and have very tidy front lawns strewn with tires painted white and cut into animal shapes. On the other side of the coin you have my father's family, who are all very arty and ethnic and speak crazy dialects. I've taken the middle ground and thrown in a mix of both without being obvious. If anything, the influence Asia has on Australia has inspired the themes of my work.

I see a lot of Christmas spirit in your work: snow globes, headless snowmen, big fat Santas and what not. Where does this come from?

If you've ever been to Australia, you'll realize that it doesn't snow in the majority of the country. I first saw snow when I was 14 years old so it fascinates me. The idea that Santa is dressed that way for a reason freaks me out!

Can you tell us a little about the Scary Girl back story? I know the comic is appearing in Playground Magazine.

Scarygirl is this cute but slightly deformed little girl who was abandoned late one night and is later found and brought up by a friendly octopus. Scarygirl has many friends that live near her, including a mystic rabbit who helps her find her origins. The story eventually takes Scarygirl and her posse into the big city on a quest to find her mother/father and anyone else who had a part in her creation. www.scarygirl.com

I also heard that you're working on crossovers with Toy2R and CI Boys. Can you tell us a little about what to expect?

Toy2R has made a really nice four-piece QEE set of Scarygirl, Blister, Bunniguru and Toycat. The CI boys have also done something similar and we're placing three of the designs in the latest Toy King Magazine. The fourth design will come with our latest figure as a bonus.

Anything else coming down the pipe soon?

Blister and his sidekick Birdee will be available late April. We also have another figure (my favourite), which will be out May sometime called Bunniguru (and egg sidekick). We also have another Scarygirl figure in the works called Dr Maybee, a mini series of little creatures that live in the Scarygirl tree house and also another crossover with Roblock.

What about this imaginary Andrew guy? I'm dying to know about him. Is he a meat-eater? Does he ever sneak in and scare you while you're in the bathroom? Does he behave himself with your wife? Any chance he has a hot single sister?

Andrew is the brains behind the outfit. He's also tall, handsome and a real hit with the ladies (though my wife hasn't fallen for his charms). He doesn't eat meat, in fact he's a cheesearian and will only eat products that are yellow, waxy and resemble large erasers. He has 2 hot sisters (twins) who are acrobats for a local traveling circus. I can hook you up if you'd likeÉ

Whoa, gee, I mean, I'll have to get back to you on that one. I'm a little too excited right now. But thanks Nathan, and good luck.

Please visit Scarygirl's website www.scarygirl.com.