MATS : tealeaves

I keep forgetting to share these on my blog! But - here is a design I made for MATS - to design a journal cover based on reading tealeaves. This was the first design that I created on my iPad Pro - I've printed a batch and have made them into handmade notebooks which I will be selling at the Hull Print Fair tomorrow! 

Mary Lee

A painting of Mary Lee, an Irish- Austrailian suffragette for the Make Art That Sells Bootcamp, editorial brief. 

MATS - BOOTCAMP 2018

Back at the start of the year I set myself a few creative challenges. To kick start, in January I did a painting a day which you can read and see here. I also challenged myself to make an individual new make every week - so I should have at least 52 new items or illustrations by the end of the year - which I'll showcase then. Usually, I say to myself - make a zine a month or make a new collection based on a theme, but I have come to realise that I like and respond well to a variety - a variety of work, a variety of projects on the go and having a big variety in my life. When I would set myself one thing to do I would usually not stick to it and instead of saying that I've failed at sticking to it, I think it's much better to realise why I haven't achieved it, what does it say about how I work and what I respond to. Since working that out, I have found it so much more achievable (dare I say easy?!) to make something new every week - from a new zine, to a product, a screen-print to an illustration or a character design to be printed on to fabric. Touch wood I will be able to keep it up! It's always a worry when you say something out loud and aren't quietly working on it that it comes unravelled, but I'm finding working in this way super motivating and I've been really productive in making lots of new (I think cool!) items!

Also I have been taking the MATS Bootcamp 2018 assignments, as they help me to think about subjects out of my own mind and experience and push me to create something different. They also count towards a new make a week too! I thought I would show them off as one downside to my self set creative challenge is that I was planning on sharing everything at the end of the year - but - then I realised that I am neglecting my blog! oops. This assignment was based on an inspirational women, which we had to make a book cover for. We had to research an allocated person. Mine was Maira Kalman. WHO IS AMAZING. If you don't know her, treat yourself to watching a TED talk or reading an interview. I found her to be a feisty, funny, inspirational lady, super creative with a fabulous outlook on life. 

We had to imagine what she would have in her bag and design a cover based on this. Here is my response:

I painted envelopes of moss (which she says she likes to collect from all over the world), a mug of coffee, with an 'M' for Maria, painted in the Bodoni type face (which she loves and has named her daughter after), ink and brush, a Russian doll (her Mother is Russian), a block of Cheddar (she says good Cheddar is good for ideas) and lots of photographs of dogs - which she says she takes and keeps. They are my favourite part of the illustration, you know me, I love making characters:     

MATS: Wall Art

The latest Make Art That Sells assignment that I completed was called 'Wall Art' and, to be honest, I found it really challenging! We were assigned two colours - mine being red and purple which we were only allowed to use (alongside neutrals - so black, while, greys) in our work. I embraced this part of the assignment because I feel that I do need to restrict myself more with colour palettes. I think I am definitely better at using colour than when I was a student - often overwhelmed by every variation of every shade and tint available on photoshop - which I think is common when you are starting out. I also LOVE colour and have in the past, just not known when to stop, wanting to use all the combinations I can - at the same time. Even when I dress myself, I have always gone for the boldest brightest and often, most unfashionable colours that may not compliment. As I'm typing this, I'm reliving a lime green dress that I thought was amazing back when I was an early teen and wore it to every school-hall disco and ice staking night out I could, much to my friends (very vocal) horror. 

What I'm trying to say is, that I am aware that I need to keep working on my use of colour - keep refining, keep playing. But that's like anything - everything - isn't it? I suppose it's also about feeling confident in your own choices, when with lots of conflicting opinion it can be hard to be sure that something is working. Maybe I actually need to channel the spirit of young and brave teenage Jenna in the lime green dress, who really didn't care if anyone else thought she looked cool or not... 

Back to the assignment...  The first task was to create or collect as many items, patterns, papers, objects with the colours on. I spent a day painting, printing and drawing lines, shapes, textures and patterns. Which I scanned in to my computer. 

Then the second part was to combine this into a piece of wall art, with a quote and florals that could be sold at Anthropologique. So like a dream brief really... this was the challenging part for me, I started to think about what is for sale at Anthropologique at the moment - which I absolutely love anyway and began to feel a bit overwhelmed - how can I work honestly but try and fit the audience of Anthropologique? So I stumbled and overthought for a while really focused on the floral requirement of the brief, which derailed me... but then I reflected on what I am good at illustrating, what do I enjoy illustrating? Lila Rogers always says that people relate to your joy and if you are creating what gives you joy, it will shine through in your work and people will connect with it.

I think that I am good at making endearing characters with funny but charming personalities and I love creating them! They make me smile the most... so I thought I would add some critters and characters in my piece, which started to make me feel more comfortable....but what kind of creatures? Why would they be there? The piece needed to have a quote, so what kind of quote would hold it all together? 

I thought about what I believe in - things like 'turn off the TV', 'go on an adventure', 'being brave', 'just go for it' that 'making makes ideas'.... I looked through some old note books where I often record overheard conversations, inspirational quotes from films - or even sometimes scrawled on the back of toilet doors in clubs and pubs. One stood out which, I think, I wrote down when watching a film about graffiti artists called 'Beautiful Losers'. Someone on the film had said something about how we all have the right to be us, and I loved it. 'You have the right to be you undiluted and true' fitted well with strange little characters too. I thought about just making up random characters from my own imagination but I wanted it to be more meaningful than that, so I looked through a hefty illustrated animal encyclopedia and sketched animals that aren't familiar to me - or here in the UK at least - such as okapis, lion tamarin monkeys (which later became other objects and characters you can check them out here),  some unusual rats and deers too.

Then I added them all together, using the hand-painted samples I had made right at the beginning added them to the piece and lots of handmade textures. The final is a mixture of hand painted, handmade patterns and textures, hand-drawn and digitally coloured. The brief was to make the image a square size. Overall, even though it took a long time to get to where I wanted it to be - I really enjoyed the process and the final outcome. I would have never of made something like this, but I still feel that it is true to my own voice and hand. I have recently had some printed at 41cm x 41cm they are available as prints in my etsy shop!

MATS 3 : The White Cat

So, I finally finished the front cover for 'The White Cat', which was the third assignment for Make Art That Sells. The White Cat is an American fairytale - it's got a prince, a quest, a princess cat and the usual dark undertones of a fairytale. For a strange reason, I found this one challenging, which is strange because I thought that the children's book assignment would be the easiest one for me to complete. It was also about cats - so I thought hey, I will complete nail this! But it took me ages to get started, to contextualise the story into a page... but here we are. I tried to use a complete different colour palette that I would normally use and draw cats in a different way. I am pleased with it, would love to know what you think! :)

New Tings! Digital Fabric Prints.

 

Recently I got some of my work digitally printed on to poplin cotton. The cats, pictured above, is the pattern which I entered and got shortlisted in the Make Art That Sells Uppercase magazine competition earlier this year. The cacti/succulents print was made from a series of mono-prints which have become repeat patterns on notebooks and prints, available through my etsy shop. I thought that these would be interesting to bring alive on to fabric and open the opportunities of where the illustrations and prints could be found.... and this is what I made:

With the cat material I made these fun hexagonal cushions, using plain material to match the colour palette in the pattern.

 

I also made one plain one, patterned all over - the other side of the cushions with the plain triangles are plain on the back.  

The buttons in the middle have been covered with a cat face - which made me laugh when I made them - they look pretty cheeky! Especially when they are looking at the other cat characters on the pattern!



Close up of one of the characters. 

From cats to cacti... the cacti material was transformed to pencil cases - well, pretty big cases that can be used for anything - not just art supplies! Anything you'd like to carry around. They are lined with green spotty or gingham material too to compliment the colour palette. 

 All are available in my etsy shop right now. So have a peek if you fancy them! It's opened up so many possibilities. I love screen printing on to fabric, but digital print allows for a wider range of colours and different textures, and more complex designs... so here's to making more very soon!

Papier Mâché

 

I've been experimenting with making papier mâché masks recently, using the Staffordshire Pottery sketches in my sketchbook which you can see here.

I took them into my studio today and asked Richard Storrow to photograph them for me. Check out his website here. There's some ace stuff on that!

The papier mâché masks were super fun to make, just using leftover cardboard packaging I had laying about, a whole stack of free papers I picked up at a local supermarket, PVA glue, masking tape and bright acrylic paint. Really fun to see the characters come alive as I painted their expressions on!

Adding to the Staffordshire Pottery collection.

I'm back from a gorgeous holiday in Jamaica! Not missing the sun too much though, as are having a lovely little heatwave here in England, which is rare, so I'm trying to enjoy as much as I can! In the next few weeks I will be working at the Leeds College of Art 'Young Creative' summer school, creating printed work with loads of children aged 7 - 18 celebrating the Rio Olympics! I'll share as much as I can when the summer school is over in mid-Aug. In the meantime, I've still been creating and making. I've had an influx of exciting commissions, so will share when I'm able to and when they are signed off. I wanted to let you know that my website is up and running again! I took it off-line when completing my PGDIPE (teaching qualification) but it's back! I'd love it if you'd have a look and I'd love to know what you think. Have a peek here.

I've also been printing some new patterns and creations myself - still inspired by Staffordshire Pottery, I took some characters from my sketchbook which I created during the MATS assignment (which you can read more about here) and cut them out of lino: 

Which I printed: 

 Then, I made a pattern out of the prints: 

Exposed them on to a silk screen:

Dyed and printed some fabric:

And then whipped up a new cushion range to add to my Staffordshire collection! 

Hopefully, I will be re-opening my etsy shop this next week, so if you like these keep your eyes peeled!