The Collage Swap Project!

Sara Barnes of BrwnPaperBag started up a swap of collage scraps and because I love collaging I thought I'd give it a go.

I was partnered with Max-O-Matic and we sent each other the paper scraps that we work with.

I got quite a shock when I received mine as they were black and white photos of Royalty, Politicians and Religious people along with Spanish writing. As a none Spanish speaker and someone who works with A LOT of colour - this was quite a challenge! One that I really enjoyed!

Here is a link to Sara's blog mention of my collages :) http://www.brwnpaperbag.com/2011/11/24/thanksgiving-and-the-collage-scrap-exchange/

Lady Umbrella OLE!

I always love the designs from the Lady Umbrella duo. With their designs, fun illustrations are always on the menu! So I was very excited to see the news designs and tee styles too.

This is the tee shirt I bought last time:

I am a big fan of the slouchy style at the moment because they are so easy to wear and incredibly versatile too! Mixed with everyone's favourite signature lady, what more could I ask for??!

To get your hands on your very own shirt and to check out the new jeans range and the lovely accessories, get yourself to www.ladyumbrella.com and you can follow them on twitter @ladyumbrellaltd

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Michael Van Der Ham at London Fashion Week

Here are my two illustrations from Michael Van Der Ham's London Fashion Week collection for Amelia's Magazine.

You can read Georgia Takacs' review here London Fashion Week S/S 2012 Catwalk Review: Michael Van Der Ham 


Enjoy! :)


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London Fashion Week Illustrations.

So London Fashion Week came and conquered and yet again excited all us fashion illustrators with a fantastic array of colours, textures and designs.

I was sent some amazing images of John Rocha's collection by Georgia Takacs (@heyprettydivine) and Fashion Shenzhen/ Deng Hao by June Chanpoomidole (@Junesees) for their Amelia's Magazine articles.

First up, the John Rocha collection. I loved the simple colour palette, the weird wire headdresses, the massive shoes and most of all illustrating my favourite pieces.

I really wish I'd been at this particular show. Check out Georgia's review of the show at London Fashion Week S/S 2012 Catwalk Review: John Rocha


Then there were the gorgeous patterns of Fashion Shenzhen and Deng Hao.

The see June's reviews go to London Fashion Week S/S 2012 Catwalk Review: Fashion Shenzhen Deng Hao and London Fashion Week S/S 2012 Exhibition Review: Fashion Shenzhen.

Thank you girls, I had so much fun illustrating these images. :) 

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Illustration Rally - Typography!

I love Illustration Rally and I've taken part in some of their fantastic rallies before, but I can't tell you how I excited I was to see they were having a TYPOGRAPHY one! :)

These are the pieces I entered:

This is a piece from an old University project on bullying.

Red, Yellow AND Blue Make Black.

My pieces are HERE and you can see the other hand drawn entries along with the digital typography pieces on the Illustration Rally blog HERE!

Follow Illustration Rally on twitter to find out about future rallies at twitter.com/Illustration_R

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Nunnington Hall.

These are some photographs I took of the gorgeous Manor House in North Yorkshire. (see last blog post!)

Kid Acne and Jane Pinkney.

On Friday I went into Sheffield with a friend to see Kid Acne's exhibition, Kill Your Darlings at the Millennium Galleries. This is his first exhibition in his home town and boy does it make an impact. From brightly coloured walls and canvasses, two cabinets full of his sketchbooks, massive floating ghosts and even a hanging copy of books and zines with his work in. I am a huge fan of graffiti, zines and art and this more than meets my expectations. I left feeling so inspired! The exhibition is there until the end of October and is really worth checking out!

Kid Acne's Blog.
Millenium Galleries - Exhibitions.


On Saturday I went to Nunnington Hall in North Yorkshire to see an exhibition of Jane Pinkney's illustrations. She creates gorgeous little mice characters in very different scenarios. The exhibition spans two upstairs rooms and a corridor in this amazing manor house. You know when everyone says 'don't use to lots of colour and don't overcrowd your image?' That's exactly what Jane does but it works so well and you can see just how much everyone loves these mice from their smiles. 'Awww's' can be heard all around too. There are pictures of mice cleaning and eating and some are lost and some are roaming the bedrooms of the hall itself!

I bought 'The Mice of Nibbling Village' featuring Jane's work and with verses from Margaret Greaves. There are little poems to describe the daily lives of mice and Jane's illustrations accompany each one so well.

 

You can find out a bit more about the exhibition HERE and find out more about the minuture house collection there too :)

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Roche Abbey and Gainsborough Old Hall.

So yesterday I went out exploring with my best friend, camera and sketchbook. First we visited the Medieval Manor House, Gainsborough Old Hall. It is 'over 500 years old and is one of the best preserved timber framed manor houses in the UK.'

 

Roche Abbey is one of my favourite places. Sadly it wasn't open to explore. It's all been fenced off since I was last there :( 

'Beautifully set in a valley landscaped by ‘Capability’ Brown in the 18th Century. Roche Abbey has one of the most complete ground plans of any English Cistercian monastery, laid out as excavated foundations.The soaring early Gothic transepts of this Cistercian monastery still survive to their original height and are ranked in importance with the finest early Gothic architecture in Britain.'

A quick sketch of the ruins entrance.

The Lake District and some pretty ribbon.

A few weeks ago I went to the Lake District. It was really strange as it was the first holiday without my younger sister. But never mind, she's sunning herself in New Jersey so we're even :)

We stayed in a tiny and beautiful village called Grasmere. We had a lovely week and I left feeling so inspired and full of ideas! It's no wonder that Beatrix Potter, William Wordsworth and Alfred Wainwright fell in love with the Lakes.

Here be a few of my favourite places...

 Bassenthwaite Lake.

Easedale Tarn

Boat Sheds on Lake Windermere

Lake Windermere

A waterfall at Elterwater.

My parents took me to a lovely garden centre full of lots of quirky things. My favourite was a bright red tea pot with white polka dots. Sadly I don't drink tea, so I couldn't justify buying it! I did however buy a couple of rolls of ribbon.

 

Enjoy! :) 

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there is always HOPE.

Here's my latest typographic piece. The most time consuming I've ever done. Also, the most rewarding.