I was unaware that I was given a plug until I received 2 very sweet messages from complete strangers saying they had found me via this most respected of design blogs. My web stats rocketed immediately and a few etsy sales have come about because of it, so thanks to Holly at Decor8 HQ!
Hurrah! at last my long lusted-after Gocco printer arrived, all the way from Japan. The seller, printaddictjapan - as found on Etsy, actually dispatched the item very promptly. It arrived in the UK almost 24hrs later but there were hold ups once it was in the hands of ParcelForce over here. Luckily that was all resolved pretty quickly and today it landed.
I’ve unpacked everything and read and re-read the instructions so I think I know what to do but am scared I’ll break the thing - it’s all plastic but you need to use quite a bit of force down onto it when printing. These things are becoming pretty scarce too so it wouldn’t be so easy to repair or replace. The fools at Riso, who manufactured these, stopped production last year so I’m now stocking up on all the consumables that are needed. One search on google for Gocco shows you there is a lot of demand for these simple home printing kits but I guess it didn’t make enough money for Riso and they will eventually die out altogether.
I hope to soon get started on new prints with this little beauty and will update you with my progress!
I’ve just had a few prints accepted by 2 wonderful gallery/shops. First there’s Elphick’s gallery - a cool little place near Brick Lane and Spitalfields in East London.
Located at 160 Columbia Road, London E2, Elphick’s acts as a studio during the week and a gallery/shop on a Sunday to coincide with the famous flower market.
Gallery owner and artist Sharon Elphick shares my love of nature as an art theme - her own work is lovely - I particularly like these art deco-ish flowers. I’m really digging the art deco style at the moment, I’m working on a few patterns with this influence and will share with you soon.
Elphick’s is also the first and only official UK retailer of Charley Harper’s prints.
Hus & Hem is another great shop in Ledbury, Herefordshire who also kindly took in my prints. Although I haven’t visited in the flesh, friends of mine have and it sounds like heaven for all Scandinavian design lovers so I certainly intend to check it out as soon as I can. I have just signed up to their mailing list to be notified when their online shop is launched. Go check them out!
A bit late in the day with this but in a mere 4 days I shall be taking part at the wonderful Brighton Art Fair. I shall be under the wing of Boxbird gallery where the ever enthusiastic Alice will be happy to sell you a selection of my prints. You will also find a fantastic array of affordable artwork throughout this show. Boxbird will be found at Stand 16
Only on for a few days so here’s a great excuse for a weekend in Brighton. Friday October 2nd - 4th.
And here are a few of my prints that will be available from the Boxbird stand:
Mid Summer Spectacle - silkscreen
Good Morning and In Full Bloom - both silkscreens
Red Leaves:Noon - silkscreen
This time for Notebook Magazine - a publication aimed at the ladies of Australia. This was for a feature about teenage abortion - a heavier subject matter than usual but it made a refreshing change. I can incorporate trees and leaves into any commission!
It’s been a little while since the last post - sorry about that! I’ve been busy with a few illustration jobs which aren’t published yet so I don’t think I’m allowed to reveal the full image but I’m sure it’s ok to give you a little sneak preview.
I always enjoy foody subjects and a job from OUP has given the opportunity for just that…..
Tesco magazine asked for some festive decoration, once it’s published I’ll be able to share the whole spread with you, for now here are a few cropped details. A really enjoyable commission.
Some of my earliest memories are of the picture books I was absorbed in as a small child. On my latest visit to my family home I rummaged around in the loft and found a few of these books. It was a bit like being reunited with an old familiar face as I poured over the same pictures that fired my young imagination and then featured in some trippy dreams back then. Being a child of the 70s, alot of the illustrations are in pretty vivid colour schemes and looking at them now, with an adult/ illustrators perspective, I see the quality of drawing wasn’t always that great.
There is an exception though and I wanted to share a few of the gorgeous illustrations with you here. The Bowerbirds isn’t one I remember for it’s story - though it is really charming. I loved the elegant watercolour/ pen and ink images by Margery Gill. A little bit of research reveals she died quite recently at the age of 83 and though successful, maybe didn’t receive the recognition she deserved during her career.
Enjoy my scans - in doing these I’ve broken the yellowing tape of a repair job from years ago. The images following them are from various vintage kids books sites. I may well track down a few copies for myself, purely for the illustrations!
If you check out Dessert Girl’s quirky blog today you’ll see a recipe and images by yours truly. This blog is for those with a sugar craving and provides scrumptious recipes for you to try at home. She also invites creative folk to submit their favourite recipes so when I was kindly invited to join in I also added some images.
Puddings and illustration - a sensory overload!
As well as being a fan of all things 1950s, I also have quite a fascination of 19th Century/Victorian design - architecture in particular. We are lucky to have plenty of elegant Victorian buildings here in Hove, and following a tour of one of them - Palmeira Mansions, I took up the invitation to help with some much needed restoration of this opulent building.
Here is a brief history of the building as found on the site of the English Language Centre who have owned this place since 1962.
“Number 33 Palmeira Mansions was purchased in 1889 by Arthur William Mason at the age of twenty-nine. A widower after the tragic death of his first wife, he moved into the house with a young daughter Christina.
In the early years of living at the house Mr Mason used the family fortune to refurbish the interior in a lavish eclectic mix of fixtures (the best that money could buy)”
It is one of these lavish rooms that I am currently restoring; carefully cleaning the ceiling of it’s tobacco stains and general dirt. Here are a few shots of the process. It’s a long but very satisfying task but we need a load more help to get it completely back to its former glory. You are welcome to get in touch with me if you fancy lending us a hand - no experience necessary, just a fairly good head for heights that would be useful to clamber up the scaffolding to the ceiling!
Being a fan of art from the 1950 sand 60s, I had seen some of these incredible images before but I hadn’t made a note of the name until now. The vivid designs David Klein produced for TWA posters really represents the visual language of this era and perfectly captures the thrill and novelty of jet air travel at this time. You can read a full biography and many more examples to drool over here. For now I’d like to share just a few of my favourites with you.
I have decided that all proceeds from my etsy sales will now have to go towards purchasing one of these! I think they are all simply beautiful.
