the end of the pencil

i've had a busy day today taking down my work that has been on show for the last month in shifnal. just wanted to say a massive thank you to all who came to see the exhibition, for all the lovely comments and feedback, and an extra special thank you to those who bought some of our originals and prints - i have spend this afternoon wrapping and packing said works to be delivered to their new owners! exciting ♥

here'e a little glimpse at a new illustration in progress (taken using my blackberry so sorry for the bad picture quality!) as an apology you get to see georgia snoozing in the background. lucky you!

a yarn good weekend

for those of you who couldn't make it this weekend to yarn fest 2011 here are a couple of pics of my contribution as part of the illustrationarium on sunday evening. representing soupa i collaborated with luke waller to illustrate (live!) a story written and read aloud by katy darby.

i have to say i was rather nervous before the event, mainly for the fact i couldn't use my trusty pencil, instead we were drawing with pens on acetate for the over head projector ... all with the added difficulty of drawing upside down - which resulted in slightly wonkey faces hehe! but once we got started it was actually very fun! 

katy's story was a slightly disturbing tale about a man who becomes possessed by the spirit of a murderous victorian artist! *hence the slashed throat!

the first two days of yarn fest were held down stairs in a very beautiful venue called 'the book club' in shoreditch (check out that ceiling - i want to have this in my house!) lots of fun things happened over the festival including zine workshops held by soupa, quizzes by acorn press, and a hilarious improv performance by the scat pack. the festival continued at the queen of hoxton where the wonderful jamie littler took part in a live illustration battle to create a cover for buddha of suburbia ... he totally should have won! for more photos of the various events as part of yarn fest visit the links below

photos courtesy of ok jo, luke and gemma from yarnfest

tell me a story

well well well, hasn't it been a busy month already!

i mentioned in a previous post about some exciting illustrationey plans that were being conjured up between soupa and yarn fest, and yesterday i was sent the details to share with the world ...

yarn are teaming up with soupa and cure studio for this years yarn fest :
celebrating story and storytelling - showcasing film, theatre, music, illustration and literature and providing a platform for mixing them all up! yarn fest 2011 will be running from 19 to 23 February

for full details visit the website

i will be there helping out over the weekend AND you can see me looking all scared doing some live drawing on sunday evening between 6 and 8, where a bunch of illustrators will be drawing stories as they are read aloud by the authors, live. LIVE! eak!

basically it's going to be a totally ace weekend full of fun creative events so make sure you come along for some super fun times!

speaking of soupa i made this month's banner for the blog using one of my new illustrations (there's also loads of info about yarn fest on the soupa blog too) if you want to get involved in soupa you can design your very own blog banner, we're always looking for contributors!  click on the 'blog banners' link under the blog banner for all the details you need! ... have i said blog banner enough?! blogbannerblogbannerblogbanner

in other news:
i've recently posted a few new items up in my etsy shop, you should totally go check them out if you get a moment.

i've been working on some more new drawings recently (as always) so am planning on updating my portfolio page at the end of the month for your viewing pleasure.

also i've spent a few days this week in a local primary school working with all the little kiddies to create a mural for their entrance corridor. the children were all given some acetate and pens to make some wonderful drawings, and it was my job to paint them on the wall! somewhat different to what i usually do, but it was all good fun! going in again on friday to finish it all off so will post a pic of the finished project then!

♥day

happy kissy huggy day to you all!

as a gift, here is a drawing for you.
the original is currently being displayed in 'the pencil' exhibition here this little illustration is inspired by a poem that i like a lot and is rather fitting for today called 'when the heart' by michael leunig

...

when the heart

is cut or cracked or broken

do not clutch it

let the wound lie open

let the wind

from the good old sea blow in

to bathe the wound with salt

and let it sting

let a stray dog lick it

let a bird lean in the hole and sing

a simple song like a tiny bell

and let it ring

...

i took part in a little project to spread the love called shhhhhhhh ... secret valentine! where a whole bunch of lovely creative people sent little packages of joy to each other in a secret santa type way. it was all dreamt up by the lovely alicia rose, who you can follow on twitter @iamaliciarose
alicia is composing a giant blog post revealing what everyone sent/received, i'll be sure to let you know when she has it all ready for your viewing pleasure

much lovey and dovey stuff to you! ♥

much ♥ and many thanking yous

just wanted to do a quick post to say a big thank you to all who came to the opening night of our exhibition 'the pencil' last night. we had some great responses about the work on show and made a few sales, which is always nice ♥ unfortunately we were having such a good time playing host and hostess we forgot the get our camera out till towards the end of the night, so didn't get chance to take as many snaps as we'd have liked, but here are some that we did manage to take before everyone left! 

(photos courtesy of luke)

the work will be on show for the whole of february, so do feel free to pop into the wheatsheaf anytime to have a look. if you do go, do let me know what you think 

i'll be uploading a load of new work to my website portfolio at the end of the month, including the pieces i created for this exhibition, so if you don't get chance to see it in person you don't have to wait that long