Aberdeen, Stonehaven... Milan!

My Blessings print continues its global conquest, this time heading off to Milan (London, Paris and New York next perhaps???). As this sale came from my collection of cards and prints available over on cloth nappy specialists The Nappy Laundry Company, owner Nicole insisted on an 'artist signing the print' picture - can you tell she had a previous life in PR?!

Incidentally, a little PR of my own: mini business cards, each featuring one of my illustrations. They're very cute!

In other news this week, a spectacularly failed attempt to see King Creosote at the 'From Aberdeen with Love' screening - tickets on the door turning out to be a myth, unlike that of the arts scene in Aberdeen being a parochial clique. Feeling like you're trying to gate crash a private party rather than attempting to access a public event is not exactly the most uplifting cultural experience I've ever had! (Although I did get to see Kenny Anderson up close and exceptionally beardy, before opting for tapas outside at cafe 52 instead! Less cultural and hairy, but more delicious!).

in the frame

Something I've been meaning to post for a while: my Blessings illustration print which went to Brisbane, Australia in 2013, framed and ready to give to its intended recipient (a doula teacher). It was so kind of Emma to send me the pic, and I absolutely love her choice of mount!

I've also teamed up with The Nappy Laundry Company, who are now selling Blessings prints and cards in their online shop. If you have a wee one, check out their amazingly cute cloth nappy range!

serendipitous

Mainly because serendipitous is a fabulous word, but also because I seem to have found a niche with my Juno illustrations - they're proving popular for prints and cards amongst doulas, with more prints and cards just ordered and another image soon to be appearing on the website of a doula organisation in Bangkok. My illustrations are better travelled than me...

And in a happy nappy accident (yuck, sounds mucky!) I happen to have a good friend who runs a cloth nappy laundry, so we're planning an exciting collaboration. More details soon.

small is beautiful

I've had a few requests for cards over the years, but up until now the minimum order required made them prohibitively expensive to print. However, after the last request I sourced a print house in Bristol (which is a lovely place!) that will run quantities starting from just one card if I want. A whole new world of print possibilities... As I already had an enquiry for 10 of the Blessings image, I had them print a few extra. I also have an outlet locally, so I'm planning to print a few more images this way too. I think it's a cool way to buy an image if you can't quite stretch to the price of a print (and they look great framed too). If you want more info you can contact me here

nice surprises

The world of full time work has left little time for blogging recently and anyway, unless you want the lowdown on what a drawing of an oil rig sea deck looks like, there's been nothing much to report. Until today that is.

As a contrast to the computer rendering I've been doing all day, I'm getting the paints out to try my hand at some botanical illustration, partly because it's something I've been toying with the idea of for ages but I figure it'll be super useful for the Growing Boy too. It'll be therapeutic to take my time and focus purely on composition and the painting process for a bit instead of always rushing to an end result (usually to meet a deadline I've left until the last minute). This time there's no deadline, give or take the risk of shrivelling... The bad boys above are chilling in my fridge (for freshness!) as I type.

But what are the surprises? You may remember some of my work has been at the Hung gallery in Inverness for a while now. I hadn't, it's been so long in fact I'd forgotten it was there. But yesterday I got a surprise email from owner Kevin to tell me he's sold a Highland Cow print and the original Black Dog illustration "Both of which went to customers who instantly fell in love with them and have been given pride of place in their homes" Which is very cool.

But even cooler still is my new shiny sunshiny yellow FrancisFrancis! coffee machine - a fabulous [birthday] surprise which I'll be using to make my coffeecoffee! of a morning.

shutting shop

You might notice the link to my prints for sale takes you to a closed shop - I just have too many other things to focus on right now, so have decided to take a wee break from Etsy selling. I still have giclees and a few linocuts available, anyone interested in my work can get in touch directly and I'll be happy to help!

catching up

My week in a day... There really are lots of things I should be doing instead right now but, as I've been neglecting this blog lately, first here's a quick catch up. The old chairs I picked up in the charity shop are finally re-covered, one in red, one in green. The red one is pleasingly throne-like I think!

 And, in the post today, the booklet using my first linocut as its cover...

I have been moving furniture around and have found a place for my precious owls. These belonged to my Nana (who always referred to herself as a 'wise old owl' - usually when giving me advice on some hair-brained scheme I was planning!) and I have started adding to the collection I inherited (the lovely little red glass owl is one new addition). This was also the inspiration behind my wise old owl postcard - and if you look closely you might spot the actual owl he's based on...

and testing a hairy cow

The first print of McNair

Testing my latest linocut - a Highland coo I've christened McNair. I've been experimenting with my new baren but to be honest I'm quite taken with the results (above) I got using a good old wooden spoon. With both of my fox linocuts now sold, hairy McNair will be making his debut over on Etsy very soon...

in pictures

 A combination of work, holidays and glorious sunshine have kept me away from blogworld recently. It's very easy to take where you live granted and I guess I'm guilty of forgetting I have this fabulous landscape on my doorstep. With the Highland cow lino block finished and ready to print, for the second time in recent weeks I headed for the cliffs and this time took my camera, partly in search of inspiration for my next linocut (I found lots).

 

inking foxes

I've been working late, late at night on my nocturnal padding fox, getting to grips with the process and experimenting with different papers.

The incredibly delicate Japanese Hosho paper wins hands down for crisp, clean prints (and ease of printing too) but I'm quite taken too with the mottled 'happy accident' effect of the watercolour paper. There will only be four Japanese paper fox prints in total - two are winging their way to a gallery in Inverness, two will be coming to my Etsy shop v soon... Just to see how it would look, I plan to hand tint the watercolour version. I'll post it here when I'm done.

Meanwhile, people never cease to amaze me; check out the picturesque wall spotted on my recent travels to the Scottish Borders... nothing mars picturesque quite like lethally lovely six inch shards of embedded glass glinting in the sun.

I guess there's not liking cats and there's really not liking cats, although there's always the hideous alternative that it's aimed at wayward kids rather than furry intruders. BIG pff (and I'm sure it can't be legal).

[Edit: apparently it is. Go figure.]

slow black fox

I should really be working on my next illustration commission but instead (feeling inspired by the linocuts of Ian Phillips and the fact it's so addictive) I'm sneaking in this linocut based on my quick brown fox just for the fun of it. 

I reversed my original fox sketch (so that he prints the right way round) and drew him out roughly on the lino block, then added highlights in white pastel pencil to help me see which areas need to be cut away and which stay (the bits that will be inked up).

For various reasons I'm quite taken with foxes these days - but not least is because the fox appears in numerous folk tales in countless cultures and is such an ambiguous character. I guess that's why I can't decide if this one is going to be paddy or prowly...

Anyway, I want to try printing a few in black ink only on Japanese hosho paper and some more on heavyweight watercolour paper which, depending on how the printing goes, I may or may not hand tint with colour washes... 

printing prints

It's totally rough, and not entirely sensitive to the method or the medium, but it's my first attempt and I have to say I'm hooked...

today's lesson...

...is that food photography is much harder than it looks! Luckily, it's more about the lovely, lovely bowl than my lunch (which, incidentally, is the same lunch 5 year old J. is having by special request - complete with dusting of hot smoked paprika - for his packed lunch today at school. It looked so tasty when I made it for him this morning, I had to have some myself).

And my 2011 calendar arrived today (yup, I know it's March but I only just got round to buying one!). Fingers crossed, it looks like it has brought spring with it too. It's printed on my newest favourite thing, banana paper, totally fueling my obsession with everything handmade and recycled and, even better, crammed with cool, quirky images. It's from Ana's lovely shop, Merry Blues Art, over on Etsy.

Plus... stay tuned, because today I start my linocut illustration...

size isn't everything

I'm trialing some new mini prints over at my Etsy shop - I think it's a cool way to collect favourite images, (especially as some of the larger limited edition prints can be quite pricey) and they'd look fabulous framed as a group for a kid's room. I've also found some amazing brown flecked recycled envelopes to go with them. I've got a real thing for all things handmade and recycled at the moment, and am obsessing about uncoated papers just now for some reason. Partly down to Etsy and partly because of my linocutting obsession I think - more to come on that shortly...

with an owl

The names are out of the hat...

Get in touch with your snail mail and I will send your owlies!

For everyone else there is this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_a1wxqloEs

work should not be this much fun. part I

As well as making a general mess, I am making potato prints of russian matryoshka dolls for my next illustration project. These are how they looked earlier today (um, you have to use your imagination a little bit), will post more soon. But... it is just too much fun, it's like being 5 again.

 I have also unlocked a secret and moved up a level in the art of curry making....

...and been getting a feel for foxes in preparation for my very first attempt at a linocut (everything has arrived and, incidentally, I thoroughly recommend GreatArt if you're looking for art supplies - super fast, totally efficient and phone person Diane is lovely).

Right, am off to sign an owl with an owl.

country file[s]

More photographs for Etsy, but tomorrow I will definitely draw...

a wise, wise owlie giveaway!

To celebrate my 50+ followers (wow, now 60 :)), the return of the pet portraits, my first Etsy sale, my feature in the current Juno mag AND the fact it's almost spring, I'm having a wise, wise owlie giveaway!

The prize:
The very first artist's proof print of the wise old owl. He's a pen and ink owl sitting on a 'branch' bearing the super wise words "the more he saw the less he spoke, the less he spoke the more he heard". The print is A4 (around 8" x 12") on gorgeous 167gsm Epson archival matte paper and I'll sign it with a teensy owl pencil doodle. The winner will also get an owlie bookmark.

Three runner up prizes:
I'm also giving away three mini prints of the same wise owl on Light Me Metallic smooth 250gsm paper - one each of silver, copper and gold. The mini prints measure 4" x 6" and are wonderfully shimmery. Frame it and hang it, stick it on a mirror, pin it on a bulletin board, prop it on a windowsill or bookcase, you could even stick a stamp on the back and send it as a postcard.

And finally:

I also have three of the owlie bookmarks to giveaway. This graphic mini print on a bookmark measures just under 2" x 8" and comes on a plain white or blue background on claywhite 250gsm Impressions recycled paper.

(Gosh, can you tell from the above I have a total paper fetish thang going on?). Anyway....

Want to enter?
Post a comment with your name, telling me what's your favourite item in my Etsy shop.

Want some extra credit?

You can do either of the following, just make sure you leave me another comment for each one.
1) Follow my blog.
2) Blog, tweet or FB about this giveaway, and leave a link to my blog.

Oh, and you heard it here first - until the end of March there will be a free owlie bookmark with any larger print purchase from my shop (8"x12" and 11"x16" prints) AND if you add the code WISEOWL at checkout, you'll also get 10% off!

All comments go in the hat for a draw at midnight on 05 March 2011! Good luck!

new direction [or back to my graphic roots]

I have been messing around with this pesky owl for the last few days now and I think, after a shaky start, me and him have finally reached a tentative understanding.

Right now he's a pen and ink illustration with a smidge of digital chucked in, but I reckon he'd be much, much happier as a linocut. Then again perhaps that's me projecting... I have been having a creative crisis of sorts lately. After much soul searching and angst (mostly involving the poignant midnight munching of mucho Mini Cheddars) I've come to the conclusion I'm in a rut and in dire need of a new and exciting way of working, and printmaking is something I've always had a hankering for. Unfortunately as time, responsibilites and funds don't allow for a 5-day workshop in the Italian hills darn it, I'm thinking some linocutting tools might be the very thing. Watch this space.

But this is by way of preamble, because my little feathered friend is about to become the subject of my fabulous, incredible, spectacular (and wise) 50+ followers owl giveaway, so watch this space x2.

shelve it

I'm plotting another giveaway as I have fifty fabulous followers (ooh, now fifty-one!) and I said I would, and I have something new and owlie I'm working on so I think I will combine... details soon...

Meantime, check this out. All the fabulous picture books I buy for Jack (ahem, ok, and me), this is so obvious howcome I didn't think of it before? So much better than sticking them in the bookshelf and hiding all those wonderful covers. It's artwork and books combined, what could be better? (I found it and lots of other good stuff over here).