Vector me

Being able to vector art is such a handy skill to have, so I have been busily practising my illustrator skills, I think I am starting to get the hang of it . . . 

Elephants

A couple of elephant inspired card designs I have been working on. They would also work well on wrapping paper and stationery.

Maps!

As my grandfather's work can be found all over the country we thought it would be nice to create two maps - one of England, and one of Oxfordshire - to show the general distribution of his furniture in churches, colleges and schools. I just love maps, and it gave me a chance to practice my skills on Illustrator!

St George's Church

As I wrote a coupe of months ago, I have been compiling a coffee-table book documenting my grandfather's profession as a cabinet-maker. The book 'Richard Fyson - Cabinet Maker, Legacy of a Master Craftsman', is full of photographs of his work. It includes items made for churches, schools, universities, colleges and domestic use, as well as antique restoration. My grandfather made the beautiful altar below for Kencot Church in Oxfordshire. The grapes are inlaid in ebony and the leaves in boxwood. My Granny wrote a poem about Kencot Church and I have used the grapes and leaves depicted on the altar to create a decorative border for the poem. The book will be going to print tomorrow which is very exciting!

Greeting cards

A few more greeting card designs . . . .

Happy Mother's Day!

Since doing the previous poem, I was commissioned to illustrate a second mother's day poem, this one written by Rebecca Taylor. It was a gift from a little girl to her mum - the two people in the poem.

One more step along the world I go . . .

A few weeks ago I was commissioned to illustrate a mother's day poem for Rebecca Taylor. She will soon be launching a new company - The One and only Story People - writing and illustrating personalised children's books. I will be involved with illustrating the stories which is all very exciting! Here is the poem . . . 

Mothers Day Cards

I am so ashamed that I have not posted anything on my blog for nearly three months, I can only blame having a hectic life with too much going on for my laziness! I have been busily creating new designs, so over the next few days I will start posting them up. Here are a couple of Mothers Day designs I have made recently.

New christmas card design

So my dad asked me to design him a christmas card based on the theme nine ladies dancing . . . this is what I came up with. First I drew the ladies by hand, painted them separately with watercolour and added this on using photoshop, I added the red border to make it more christmassy!

Book update!

I thought it was time for an update on how the book and digital archive of my grandpa's work is coming along. All four photo albums are now scanned, and in total there are over 600 photos! I am now going through the process of resizing, rotating and retouching them on Photoshop before adding them to the spreadsheet I made. The spreadsheet includes descriptions of the pieces, the date they were made/restored, any extra information on the work and photographs of the items. Below are screen shots of the spreadsheet so you can see how I am doing it. I have completed the first two Albums and am half way through the third, this album has nearly 300 photos so it is taking a while! Once it is done I will have made a full and comprehensive digital archive of his work. Then it's just the book!

Ragamala: Painting's from India

Whilst we were in Brighton we came across an exhibition on Ragamalas, which are miniature Indian paintings dating back to 1605. Commissioned under royal patronage, they tell stories of love and devotion, longing and loss, anguish and separation. The exhibition is based on the collection of Claudio Moscatelli, and is accompanied by Indian miniature paintings from Brighton Museum's own collection.

The paintings are minute, incorporating figures, animals, buildings, mythical creatures and Gods. It is amazing how the artists painted them as some of the brushwork is so tiny and detailed you need a magnifying glass to see it. This unique exhibition is definitely worth a visit; it is on at the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery until the 8th January 2012.

Brighton

This weekend John and I spent the Saturday in Brighton (as I had never been) and we realised it is only 45 minutes from us! No excuse for not going sooner really. We walked up the pier, had fish and chips, walked along the sea front and found some cute little shops and art galleries. The top left picture is Brighton pavilion, and next to it is a great arty shop we found on the sea front. It sells loads of prints (including Rob Ryan's!) as well as funky wrapping paper, gorgeous cards and an array of other goodies, including artist prints on tea towels, notepads, decorative plates, mugs and bags. This shop is an artist's dream! Right next to the shop is a fab little art gallery called Two Kats and a Cow (bottom right). The gallery is really open plan, airy and very inviting with some great art on the walls. The very bottom right picture is a painting by Katty McMurray called 'Boat Trip', Oil on canvas. To see more of her work visit www.kattymcmurray.com

Update - Witney in Pink

So, Witney In Pink was a huge success with lots of shops raising money for breast cancer. I am really pleased to say that Sue and Maggie at St Andrew's bookshop sold loads of my homemade products and I made £65 which is great! Well done to them and a big thank you to everyone who bought my goods :-)

Autumn-ness!

Check out my latest work, inspired by all things autumnal! I've used leaves, acorns, flowers and vegetables together with warm autumn colours; reds, browns and oranges to create some repeated patterns. I thought they might look nice as stationary designs, possibly on notecards, gift wrap and gift tags etc.

Witney in Pink - All set up

Last weekend I went back to lovely Oxfordshire to set up my window display full of all my homemade products! Sue from St Andrew's Bookshop in Witney was very kind and offered me her window for two weeks whilst 'Witney in Pink' is running. Every year all the shops in Witney put on a pink window display in aid of breast cancer awareness. 10% of everything I sell will go to Cancer Research UK.

I had a great time arranging all my goods with my sister's help. I think it looks great, and I am super excited to know that I have already sold some things.

Products I am selling include: Greeting Cards, Framed prints of Witney, Sketchpads, Notepads, Jewellery, Candles, Gift Tags, Bookmarks, Trinket boxes, Recipe cards, Activity Packs, Owl Magazines, Picture Frames, Memo Boards, Pink Sugar, Colouring posters and Coloured Pencils.

Witney in Pink

In a couple of weeks I am putting on a window display at St. Andrews Bookshop in Witney for 'Witney in Pink'. Every year all the shops in Witney put on a pink window display to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. This year, Sue from St. Andrew's Bookshop has kindly offered me her window for two weeks to sell my homemade wares :) And 10% of everything I sell will go to charity. I am super excited about this so I have spent the last few weeks busily crafting away. Some of the goods I will be selling include bookmarks, gift tags, candles, recipe cards, greetings cards, activity sheets, my Owl Magazines and trinket boxes as well as a few other bits. 

These are some illustrations of Witney I have recently done which I am going to put on Greeting Cards and also sell as prints.

On The Rocks

Check out my work in On The Rocks, a new bar that has opened in Bournemouth. I think it looks great on the walls of the bar, and I am even more pleased that I sold one last night :) Thanks On The Rocks!

Cake Days

These are my latest cake creations that I have had had great fun baking and decorating! I recently posted flyers through all the local flats offering my baking services and then I was commissioned to make the Arsenal cake for someone's birthday. I had so much fun doing it I decided to make a chocolate cake for us at the same time! 

In August we went to the Bournemouth air festival for my boyfriend's birthday so I thought it was only fitting to make an aeroplane cake, hence the Spitfire. The sponge was red velvet and the clouds were lemon meringue cupcakes. Unfortunately it was too windy to light the candles! But the cake went down well :)