Pure Shores is Arthouse world creation
Hi there, we are Sebastian & Mavis and run this small but fine studio. Pure Shores is an atelier based in northern Germany and also operated from Thailand, France and Hongkong where we live parts of the year. We are committed to the creation of high quality immersive worlds, mostly for RPG, TTRPG and Tabletop Wargaming. At the moment, here we structure our work into three different main categories, each released under a subbrand:
Sounds simple and casual. No, it’s not – Let us explain.
Many tabletop game and RPG creators out there would describe themselves as just creators, content creators or game designers for tabletop games and RPG. You won’t believe how long we have thought about what we are actually doing here and how we should „classify“ that. We were not able to find our style among those descriptions for years, especially as our creative and artistic approach goes far beyond tabletop and/or RPG gaming and we were not able to find our values and interests reflected in any of those „drawers“. But we somewhat found them in arthouse. In arthouse, philosophy, artistic reflection of experiences and atmosphere are everything. Arthouse is celebrating a theme and/or discussing a deeper thought. It can also be colorful, provocative, ironic or even sarcastic at times. Its not about just finishing and releasing a commercial art-like „product“. This is the way we are working as well. And if there is anything in our creation which does not look this way, then it is at least part of a bigger idea or world which reflects that background. Additionally, one of the most meaningful parts for us in our work is to create scenes and worlds that look and feel like they are really going to soak you in.
We take a bow – Welcome to Pure Shores, welcome to the show, welcome to ArtHouse worlds!
We are ArtHouse original- and composition artists. But what does art mean for us? – Soaking in experiences. Exploring the world. Following political, social and environmental topics and developments and discussing and transforming related impressions into something new. Telling a story and trying to make people think and reflect. Be colorful, strong, with a sense of black humor. Well, here is a thing to keep in mind:
As long as there are people like us, you’ll know there’s something to discuss
To give our art form, we design and compose. Our mediums are mostly tabletop and rp games and we are working on them in quite a cinematic approach. But thats actually noit everything. Who knows us also knows: We tend to create worlds and shape things even around ourselves – living environments and styles are a good example.
Who are we?
Sebastian
I´m in touch with RPG-, board- and computer games since early childhood and always loved to create new worlds, characters and stories. But I guess my first big love was LEGO, where I could construct, play and tell stories with. Much later I started to get deeply into the acts of drawing, painting and digital modeling, to be able to express my own visions.
After finishing my studies in economics and following a classic academic career for 6 years, I felt that everything was quite stable, but there was something in the back of my mind that told me „This can’t be it, this is not how I want to live my life“. But I needed a kick to give up that convenient, easy and somewhat safe lifestyle. This kick came in terms of a very serious sickness in my early thirties. While mastering it, I had what I would call my personal awakening and I began to ask questions and to act differently. I understood that time is limited, we never know how much we would have and I would regret not having gone „my way“ later on. I did not want to go on living my life this way, not doing what I love every day, sitting in a golden cage just because it was the easiest approach and comfortable for me. And safety? This sickness told me that real and full safety actually does not exist at all. So, instead I wanted to be free and self-determined, no matter what. I quit my former job as a university assistant professor and enthusiastically began to do professionally what I’m living for – finally founding my first studio Awake Arts, which later became Pharaoh’s Workshop. I felt like Pharaoh’s workshop is actually just one of the mediums I’m working in with 3d printable terrain. Then other media popped up – Secrets of Alexandria about books and rulesets, Necropolis of Sakkara about characters. I realized that these are actually different media, different brands, not the workshop itself. What I was doing here in general was art in a studio. Pure Shores, wherever we work, there is water. With every piece I do in whatever medium, I’m coming closer to my pure self, my „beach“ how a song described it once quite fitting.
You can imagine, in the beginning this was a very difficult and rocky road to walk with a lot of sleepless and worryful nights. But it was worth undertaking this trek. Ever since my head is almost exploding with ideas and wishes about what I still want to do and create and now I’m at a point where stability is back and I feel finally free. After being married in Hongkong and integrated into Cantonese culture, this characteristic formed my Cantonese first name literally meaning „Freely traveling bus full of wishes and ideas“, chosen and given by my wife and Hongkong friends. It became my signature, also visible in the logo, appearing in turquoise color.
Today, depending on season, we live and work mostly in Germany, Hongkong and Thailand. Sometimes also in France, where I used to live for a while during childhood. And sometimes adventure calls – Then we have episodes of digital nomadism, working from lots of really really weird places around the world. You can imagine where our topics and ideas have their origin.
Being a culture and landscape, as well as history and fairy-tale lover, my art approach is highly influenced by frequently made travel and backpacking experiences and of course other authors, film makers/directors and artists – Hironobu Sakaguchi (Japan), J.R.R. Tolkien (* South Africa), Peter Jackson (New Zealand), John Carpenter (USA), George R.R. Martin (USA) Rola Chang (Taiwan), Yoshitaka Amano (Japan), H.R. Giger (Switzerland), Ridley Scott (UK), James Gurney (USA), William Gibson (USA), Quentin Tarantino (USA), Robert Rodriguez (USA), Steven Spielberg (USA) and Masamune Shirow (Japan), just to name a few. Great inspiration also comes through music, e.g. Dream Theater, Naked and the Famous, Perturbator, Carpenter Brut, Iron Maiden, Rammstein and many others are my choice these days. Specific work pieces are inspired by and/or discuss topics which are also very important to us, such as politics or climate change.
Mavis
I’m a media artist and design consultant, originally from Hong Kong. At the same time I’m also pursuing to add alternative digital media therapy (mostly coding in music) to my profile. 10 years ago I came to study my Master abroad in Germany and never left again.
My work has been exhibited and performed mostly in Bremen, London and Hong Kong. It attempts to reveal a delicate sense of „introversive“ emotion which reflects the situation of the personal identities being confronted by an immersive ideological ecology carried by contemporary trans-human interaction. Sounds complex – yes, it is :). You can read out while Sebastian is more macroscopic in his art approach and very interested in environments, scenery and nature, I’m very interested in characters, personalities and my studies background, which easily explains my role at Pure Shores.
I mainly care about everything that is photography and video, as well as the whole design and development work behind the Necropolis of Sakkara. But I’m also involved in how our artworks and work pieces throughout the whole portfolio should feel like and in which way they discuss the topics they are about.