Some new work

Quote from one of my favourite films- Little Miss Sunshine

Just a round up of some of my latest illustrations. Been having lots of fun on these recently.

A new year resolution done

Old stencils pinned up on the wall of the studio

 The tattoo has begun

2 months old and all healed

Straight after tattoo number two

2 weeks later

I had wanted a tattoo for quite a few years, but as I'm so indecisive and an over thinker I hadn't done anything about it, except look at lots of pictures, pin them like mad and change my mind about what I wanted. My husband had his first one a few years ago, and last year I had planned to get my first, but the appointment fell through, so I ended up getting one the first few days into January.

I got tattooed by a very talented guy, Darren McDonald, we were on the same course at University, and since leaving I had seen his awesome tattoos on Facebook, he has a very distinctive style, and a great sense of colour. Finding out he was only based about 40 minutes away, I decided I wanted him to be the one to do it, and I finally decided what I would have, a bird based on the work of the amazing illustrator Charley Harper who is one of my favourite illustrators of all time. Before hand I was extremely excited, but very nervous. Obviously I knew it would hurt, and the main thing I was worried about was if I twitched while he was doing it, or what if I couldn't cope with the pain, and I couldn't let him finish it (as I said I'm an over thinker!) 

The stencil was placed several times, until we were both happy then the buzzing of the tattoo gun started, and as it hovered above my skin, I held my breath waiting for the needle to make contact. There was pain, a stinging, scratching sensation, similar to what I had expected to be honest, and a relief really, as I thought, "OK, it hurts, but I can deal with this"

I watched the whole thing, and was fascinated. The needle moves so fast, you can't see it going in and out, it just looks like your being drawn on. I watched as the image built up, and got really excited as the colour went in, as any one that knows me, knows I love colour. As Darren finished the bird, he suggested a few circles might look awesome, I didn't really want any more pain, but agreed with him that they would look good, and I'm really glad I let him go with it, as I think they work really well, and make the whole think come to life. 

I was a little alarmed to find that I'm a bleeder when it comes to being tattooed, some people hardly bleed at all, but I'm not one of them!

When I went in to get my bird I really believed it would be the only tattoo I would ever get, but now I understand what people mean when they say it's addictive! Less than 2 months later I was back to get a squirrel on my thigh, based on the artwork of Andrew Pavitt. Once you have one, it's so much easier thinking of others you want, and the excitement of seeing a piece of artwork on your body is something you want to feel again. 

Again, as my second one was happening, I was lying there thinking, "two will be enough, it's a nice amount, I don't really want to go through this again", but the day after, my mind was firing away, thinking about what I could have next! Oh dear! 

A massive thanks to Darren for doing such an awesome job! Find his work on Instagram as @magicmutant 

Autumn Inspiration

I have always loved the colours of Autumn, maybe partly due to being an Autumnal baby. As the temperature begins to drop the colours get so warm. It's like nature is giving us that last intense burst of colour before it goes into hibernation. The sunshine is also at it's most gorgeous, casting an amazing glow across things. I always find this time of year so inspiring, so here are a few photos I have been taking and some illustrations I have created, I hope you enjoy them.

Three Bridges Gallery

 

I was involved in a really cool exhibition a few weekends ago. It was great because the artwork was shown under bridges along a stretch of canal on Barton. It was devised by a local designer Dan Poyner.   He came up with the idea several years ago while walking Rosie the dog, along the canal tow path. He found himself standing under one of the canal bridges, looking at the great expanse of concrete, and a little light bulb went off, and he thought, why not use these spaces to show art work?

He liked the idea that it created an ambient space to show art work, as you would get canal barges going past, cyclists, dog walkers and more. It sounded like a great idea to me, and I was really pleased to be asked to be involved.

With the weather being so lovely, I decided to show some nice sunny pieces!

A local High School- John Taylor- were asked to get involved. The top image, shows a close up of a piece created by year 6 students, in response to seeing images of the waterways.
The image above this shows a piece created by Eleanor Douglas, a year 13 student. It is a textile collage, reflecting her experiences of travelling. There was also some beautiful work by some year 12 students.

Burton based photographer, Philip Grocott, was also involved. His subjects range from portraits to landscape work. They form a great document of life in the Midlands.

It took a lot of hard work on Dan's behalf to get this project completed, I hope he can build on it in the future. It would be lovely to see art take over a bigger stretch of the canal.

Shrink Art- It's magic!

Over the past few months I have noticed loads of cool pieces of jewellery about, that have been made using shrink plastic. For a while I have wanted to have a go at making my own jewellery and this seemed like a great way of having a go. I bought some Shrinkle shrink plastic off ebay and got stuck in. Here's some photos of my first attempts.

This one was done using permanent fine liner and pencil crayon. It was really exciting watching it curl and shrink in the oven ( it just needs a few mins at gas mark 3) Me and my husband were riveted! Though it was a little nerve wracking, as it curls and twist a lot, before it settles back down again!

 However, it went a bit wrong when we sprayed some lacquer on it, as it made the ink run. :( hmmm probably should have checked that first!

Above is the second attempt! Again done using pencil crayon and permanent marker. I used a sharpie marker, but found this bleed very slightly on the roughened surface of the plastic, though this wasn't really noticeable once it had shrunk. This time I used a different varnish on it, and yay, no bleeding!

 Sketch time, there was always going to be a squirrel! :D

Painted with a thin layer of acrylic paint

This was the last one I made, and I am really happy with this. This one was done using acrylic paint You can see how concentrated the colour gets after shrinking. So remember less is best when adding the colour!

You will definitely be seeing more of this guys! :)

Drawings and paintings :)

Just a couple of pictures of artwork I have done this week

This one I just did for myself, it was an image that had been going around in my head for a while, and I needed to get it into paper. It's just pencil on cartridge paper.

This chap, if you haven't already guesses, is Boris the miniature Schnauzer! Someone on instagram saw my painting of a sausage dog called Percy, and wanted one of their pooch. This was a nice fun one to do. It is done in watercolour and fine liners on watercolour paper.

Recent work

A commission completed for someone's wife for their anniversary, based on a few of her favourite things.

A painting for a first birthday and christening

A cross stitch portrait for someone's Birthday

I took my work into the camper van, so I had a nice little outdoor studio.

Winston came to keep me company! :)

Goodies from Lichfield

You may, or may not, have read my blog post the other day about a little outing we took to Lichfield. While we were there I managed to pick up a few pretties! 

We spent a while in a second hand book shop, and to be honest with you, if I had not restrained myself, I could have bought arms full of beautiful tomes! However, I picked carefully, allowing myself to get one; 'The Boy's Own Book of Ships' I just love all the illustrations, with their limited colour palette, which was probably done to save money on printing costs, but looks great. I think the images would look great on a terrific framed, though I wouldn't have the heart to actually take any out of the book; maybe I'll scan some of them in.

In another book shop I also found the England By Rail 2013 calendar, which I had had an eye on before, but it was too pricey. However, now we are well into 2013, it was £1 :) 12 beautiful reproductions of vintage England By Rail posters. I have put up a few pictures of my favourites.

Lastly I picked up a vintage silk scarf from a charity shop. It is a gorgeous teal colour, and will be adorning my neck or head on many occasions I'm sure.