Illustration Friday - Phobia

Claustrophobia

Paper collage digitally enhanced.

Drawing Grid

Over at the Drawing Club they've been having a go a drawing grids, so as my plan to get drawing more the other month flew out the window for one reason or another, I thought this might be a fairly easy but fun way to do some quick sketching from the comfort of my living room. Apart from the dodgy pic of my boy and my 18 month old bouncing up and down on the sofa next to me I was quite pleased with the results as I deliberately used my pen straight off with no pencil first. It was hard at first to resist my inner voice that was telling me the squares were too small and the drawings were, er, rubbish and kept with it. Turned out to be a lot of fun, and now I've seen how great the other group members (here, here, here and here) turned out I think I might do this more regularly.

Back to Business!

Yeah my computer problems are sorted (bought a new one), so things are finally getting back to normal. Above is my latest collage and if you want to see how I did it visit my new blog Art Tutorial. Off to go and reinstall all my software and see what this baby can do!

Present for Kamal

Kamal received this wonderful handmade bracelet from Toby who is the creative force behind Natural Atrill. This young man has real talent, you must go and see his stunning jewellery! Thanks Toby, Kamal loves it :0) You can see Kamal's post about it on his blog too.

Illustration Friday - Change

Untitled - acrylic, collage and ink on canvas

This is a little ambiguous I'm afraid but that's exactly how I'm feeling right now. I said in a previous post (or two) that things were changing and so they are. I can't say how exactly because apart from being flung into a technological no-man's land by my computer (at least the internet is still working!) nothing in a physical sense has changed. It's all in my head. After years of working and striving to make a living as a commercial artist I find myself in a position where I want to produce more of my own art and make a living from that instead, the commercial side of my career doesn't thrill me anymore. I've worked my behind off trying to update my design site but the nearer I get to completing it the more I want to run away from it. Now here's the problem - I've got a massive list of contacts and opportunities to persue were I to have a number of artworks I thought were worthy. But I am not there yet, nearly but not quite. I've got the techniques down but the paintings get lost half way through, I either leave them unfinished or force myself to finish them and take them where I don't want to go like the one picture above. Fear of discovering that really I have been a fraud along and I would be better off stacking shelves somewhere could be at the heart of it but I know I have to press forward and find out the truth one way or other. And at least I have my commercial work to fall back on. I want to change and I am changing, I'm just not sure how or where.

Moving home

Oh if only, but friends of mine have just moved so here is a card I whipped up for them. (Sorry about the quality of the pics over the next few days, I've no scanner and the computer will only do so much to adjust the photos. 10 more days and counting 'til we are back to normal, fingers and toes crossed)

Escape to the country

Well I said there was change in the air, but what I wasn't expecting was for the computer to pack up! I was in an absolute spin last Thursday but we decided to run away from everything and take a long weekend in gloucestershire. The photo here was taken on top of the Malvern Hills and really doesn't do it justice. It was nice to be as far away from technology as you can be, feel the wind through your hair and realise that there is a world out there. I rely on this damn machine far too much, but it is a necessary evil whilst I continue to make a living from it. Having said that in the few days I've not had it switched on I'm amazed at just how much I've got done as I'm not constantly checking emails or blogs to see if there is anything new. I think I've acquired a rather unhealthy addiction that needs breaking and this just might be the time to do it!

On a more positive note it looks like I will be helping with a craft group that a local village is setting up for the kids, once a month over the winter. It's voluntary but it sounds like a lot of fun (especially the christmas one) and good for the old C.V. I've got a couple of other things in the pipeline but nothing confirmed as yet so best keep quiet for now. I've also joined the Art and Craft Co-operative blog (come and join, it's a great site but still needs a few more members) and I've a pile of artwork waiting to be finished so lots to keep me busy until the computer is back to full health.

Out with the old...

...and in with the new. After a lot of deliberation nearly all of the designs on my wedding site (the old version that is) are being either being scrapped or refurbished for the new one and lots of new and exciting creations are being mocked up as we speak, including the wedding cake one here. Talk about making work for myself because the old designs were very popular but it's feels like putting on an old tatty pair of shoes that are just not me anymore. So in the bin they go!

Change is in the air

Well Kamal is back at school, year 3 no less. Watching all the little ones starting nursery class brought home just how grown up our lot look plus it's only another 18 months to go before Anya will be doing the same! Wish things would slow down a little. But hey, there's no time to be maudlin, I've got work to do.

With summer officially over (in our house anyway) I've got no choice but to start planning for the next 12 months. I'm starting next years list now rather than at the new year to get a head start on myself, especially as I made such a bad job of finishing the last one. My other half bought me a gorgeous leather bound A4 filofax last year in the hope it might turn me into a super-organised-business-woman type. Not worked so far but I'm going to try harder this time. Top of my new list is the last thing on my old one, yes you guessed it, the wedding/card website. I've done all the techie stuff so now it's just a case of putting all the stock back on it. Trouble is I've changed so much in the last 12 months I'm looking at my old designs and thinking 'yuk'. Time to do some new ones. Can it be done before October? We shall see.

Other things on my list? Filling out the application form to a teaching agency to be a visiting artist at local colleges. Looking into starting workshops (a dream of mine) - found a suitable, affordable location, just not got as far as doing anything about it. Sending illustration work off to publishers. Sending articles off to magazines. Joining a local art and craft fair. To name but a few. Deep breath...

Be Back Soon

Time is flying! Kamal goes back to school next week (sob) so we've been busy making the most of what is left of the summer hols and in the evenings I've been finishing the wedding/card website (yeah!). So not much doing art-wise but will be back to normal very soon....

More Whispers

Had to take a break from boring old computer code and get the paints out. This one is called Hidden. Find this and others for sale at Etsy. Oh and don't forget to join me at my whispers group!

Finger painting

As I've spent the last couple of days at the computer trying to finish my card website once and for all I've not done much to show anyone or talk about. So here are a couple of wonderful creations from the youngest of my artsy clan - after she got over the sheer delight of sticking her fingers in the bright gloopy paint and drowning the paper she produced the masterpiece underneath. Her random scribbles are slowly turning into carefully determined circles which are occasionally accompianed by a shout of 'car' or 'birdie'. Which is which we couldn't tell but you can spot dad's fingerprints at the top, he just has to get in on the act somehow! Sometimes it's hard to tell who the kids really are!

Inspire Me Thursday - Open Challenge

This weeks challenge -

What’s your favorite source for inspiration? Do you feel you need to shake things up in your art? Are you in the mood to try a new technique, a new color palette, a new medium? What is your passion? What are your fears? What is your favorite thing about creating? Your least favorite? Why do you create? Why are you an artist? How do you describe your art? What are your goals? Your dreams?

Colour is my biggest inspiration. It is tuned to my emotions and instincts and defines each piece of work. I don't start with a blank canvas, I start with a beautiful colour and see where it takes me. As those of you who have been reading my posts for a few weeks will know I am in the process of shaking things up a little. Actually that's not quite true. Things have been floating around in my head for so long now I am trying to piece them together into a coherent whole. Shaking it all up again is the last thing I need! The challenge is to see if I get there or not. My passion is to create, my fear is failure. I create because I have to, I have absolutely no choice about it. My favourite thing about creating and my least favourite is the process of creating. I don't truly enjoy a creating a piece until I finish it. I am an artist because I say I am. I don't describe my art, you do. My goal is to live my dream and I am just about doing that. Could do with a bigger house maybe but we can't have everything can we?!

Illustration Friday - Play

Inspire Me Thursday - Black and White

Digital collage

Illustration Friday - Capture

As I mentioned yesterday we went out for cake and lemonade and a visiting wasp very kindly dropped inside my drink long enough for me to take a photo, becoming the perfect subject for this weeks IF theme. (It also flew back out so no harm done!) I tried to keep the drawing loose by not using a pencil to start with, went straight in with the ink pen. Then added colour but I haven't figured out how to do grass quickly. The bottle was fine, the table looks like a table but the grass looks flat. Feel very liberated though, even contemplated trying it with a collaged acrylic background instead of gouache but that might have been a step too far for now, one step at a time...

Sketchbook - Day Out

I took my two little monkeys out of the house early this morning. We usually go to the park but decided to walk down to the next village for cake and lemonade. On the way we have to cross a river and were surprised to see it absolutely smothered in nasty old duck weed that wasn't there the other day. It was an amazing sight though, like something out of the Twilight Zone!

Look how well behaved they are when promised cake!

They even let me do a quick sketch of the next table which was under an apple tree. I can see mistakes everywhere but I have to ignore the voice in my head and tell myself well done for not giving in and re-drawing it back home from the photo I took!! I've also got an idea for Illustration Friday which will be done from a photo taken at the same time but I am going to try and keep it in this loose style, so watch this space!

Stamps with history

I ventured into our dusty little stamp shop for the first time (it's amazing how these places stay open!) and found paper bags stuffed full of world stamps, many of them still attached to their envelope. I duly bought one and on closer inspection noticed that the little bits of addresses still visible were to 'The Bank Manager', Lloyds Bank, etc.etc. And one was dated as far back as 1943, the newest I could find was 1946. What a collection! Someone at this bank, the manager, or a secretary perhaps, had been taking these wonderful exotic stamps of envelopes for years and years and keeping them. I left at least six bags of these in the shop. I bought them to put into my artwork as am running low but I am reluctant to touch them now. Perfect candidates for my Whispers group though. If you have any treasures like this and would love to share come and join the group or blog about it and tell me about it in my comments!

This Drawing Business

Since May I have been trying to loosen up my drawing style as I am keen to get into children's illustration and also add another dimension to my college work (see previous post). Well my first attempts to start a sketchbook were scuppered by my 15 month old daughter who found my book (she likes rooting through my bag) and took it as her own. It is now full of doodles which is wonderful but not quite what I had in mind. And the few drawings I had done in there weren't much to look at anyway so maybe she was doing me a favour. Thank goodness she hadn't found my new rotring!

I'd attempted this piece below a couple of months ago with my new box of gouache which I was happy with until I got to the lollipops, ahem, trees. So I added leaves over the top in pencil which although looks interesting didn't really solve the problem. Actually this is the second attempt, the first one I binned it was so awful (god it's like college all over again). Then I attempted to add the shadow under the tree but forgot that gouache isn't always like watercolour and instead of adding a wash I washed the previous layer out - disaster!

So armed with my second new sketchbook and my other half who was home last week and could watch the kids I decided the best place to start is with trees

and I must say I'm quite pleased with it. Not perfect but it does look like a tree and using a pen rather than pencil forced me to draw quickly and not worry that I hadn't drawn every single leaf. (Please ignore the bin behind the bench, it's twice the size it ought to be but I'm leaving it there. Ouch.)

Illustration Friday - Clean

'What after all is a halo? It's only one more thing to keep clean.'

Christopher Fry

My little angel doing what she loves most - rooting around in the mud looking for 'treasure'. Trouble is on this occasion not only had it been raining she was wearing the whitest dress she owns. And guess who had to clean it!?

Inspire Me Thursday - Music

I was happy in my harbour

When you cut me loose

Floating on an ocean

And confused

Winds are whipping waves up

Like skyscrapers

And the harder they hit me

The less I seem to bruise

Oh when I

Find the controls

I'll go where I like

I'll know where I want to be

But maybe for now

I'll stay right here

On silent sea

KT Tunstall

Beautiful Beechwoods

We try to take the kids out for a walk or to the park most evenings when we can, helps get rid of any excess energy and a good time to get the camera out. The light in the evenings at the moment has been stunning.

If, like me, you love trees you can see more here

Family Portraits

Anahata Katkin is starting an altered album project for imaginary family portraits based on her wonderful collages and invited others to do the same. As geneology is an ongoing interest for me I thought this was an interesting idea but I'm not quite sure how I'm going to tackle it. I have found a pretty little victorian album (only about 4 x 5 inches) but I'm not a fan of altering books of any description, seems almost sacreligious, but the mounts inside are crying out to be filled. It also has an inscription on the inside cover, most of which is illegible but it has a couple of names and is dated September 19 - 1866. I will never have the original photos so it will be interesting to use this as a starting point to create a new family. Once I figure out how I am going to approach this I shall post pics on Whispers.

School Hols

As any of you with young children will know, trying to get anything constructive or creative done is pretty difficult in the holidays. I am, however, taking my camera with me wherever we go as well as my sketchbook (a little optimistic but you never know!) just in case. The first day of the school hols we took Kamal down to the British Motor Show. I love driving and obviously appreciate good design and had a good day regardless but there are limits, so if you want to see pretty car photographs Kamal has a few of them (him and his dad took hundreds) on his blog. The highlights for me were this formula one car that had been dismantled and each little piece hung by fishing line from the ceiling like an art installation, pretty amazing...

and I managed to grab the camera long enough to take these pics of windows to add to my growing collection. In retrospect these might be just as boring as a show full of motor cars but at least I can do something with these!

Bad Mum!

I'm ashamed to say that poor Kamal has been waiting and waiting for me to scan his increasingly large pile of drawings to put on his blog and all I keep saying is 'I'll do it later'. It's been about 2 months later now so I have spent the whole of today and most of this evening making up for it. And I'm not even half way through. Serves me right!! But I have noticed just how his drawing has developed even in that small space of time, he's already got his own definate style appearing, and although it is still cartoony I've noticed quite a mature line. I even asked him if he had done a couple of them himself to which he just tutted as if I had said something really stupid - well, who else would have done them Mum? Dad? The baby? Ok, point taken. Need to pay a bit more attention me thinks!

Illustration Friday - Sacrifice

Another oldie from my darker college days! It was inspired by a musical piece by John Tavener and although the title escaped my poor old brain a long time ago I do remember it had something to do with religious sacrifice so I've added the quote from Yeats.

Looking at it now it has occured to me that in the last month I seem to have come full circle in my art work especially with the Whispers set, although the subject matter has changed (I'm not quite so gloomy now!) and the techniques has improved somewhat - if gel medium and photoshop existed when I was at college things could have been very different! I've also found old sketch books from back then with ideas, poetry and doodles that go somewhere to explain my obssession with windows amongst other things and the artistic muddle that I've been living in is finally beginning to unravel. There is one glaring large problem though. Although I am enjoying rediscovering image transfers and being nostalgic about where I come from blah blah blah it is not going to get me very far in the long run. The missing link? Drawing.

I turned to collage because my drawing style wasn't fashionable back in the early 90's. I loved pre-raphaelite and art nouveau and my art at the time reflected that but to my St Martin's trained illustration tutors at college it was naff and cliche (and they were probably right) and I struggled trying to fit into their idea of illustration. So I put down my coloured pencils and picked up the glue stick instead. Now however, I'm finding that collage doesn't always do the job and I need to get drawing again. But I'm still stuck with the same problem, I don't have a style, so it's my mission to find it. I've got a new sketchbook/journal and a new pen and I'm going to stop worrying about how awful everything is (which is the scaryiest bit for a controlling perfectionist like me) and see where it ends. I sacrificed my drawing for someone elses idea of style, now I'm going to get it back!

Inspire Me Thursday - Numeral Art

Part of the Whispers series, more here...
More Numeral Art here...

NEW - Whispers Flickr Group

I've set up new Flickr group based around my Whispers project about hidden or secret messages - if you have a Flickr account please come and join in!

Latest Commission - nursery painting

Acrylic on canvas, 15.5 x 15.5 inches ready to hang. I will at some point put more of these on the website but if you want to commission one in the meantime - choose your own colours and motifs - just send me an email. This size shown is £50, or smaller 12 x 12 inches is £30.

Inspire Me Thursday - Image Transfers

Well this is timely, I've spent the last few days doing nothing else! You can see them all here and here. And if you want to have a go try the Inspire Me Thursday site for instructions and to see everyone else's wonderful creations.

Latest work

I've got another demo on the 15th July at the Gallery, this time it will be my own work and anyone can have a go so I am busy preparing. It's nice to have a whole 2 weeks to prepare (although the 1st week is nearly over already) instead of the usual last minute panic. I was excited to discover a jar of acrylic medium in the back of my cupboard so I've been experimenting with transfering vintage images onto paper already prepared with acrylic paint and the results are looking good! I've even managed a couple of pieces for the whispers series as the collaged ones just weren't working. Check the whispers blog for more.

Children's Art Day

Here are some of the photos from Saturday's demo and apart from having lots of fun we saw some really talented kids! Well done everyone and thanks to everyone who came!


Jill's printmaking demo...

Where do you live?...

Art dolls (fairies of course!)...

Create your own Matisse... Or Picasso...