brighton & hove's artist open houses

I haven't posted much lately - I've been so busy getting prepared for Brighton & Hove's Artists Open Houses next month. Designer Martha Mitchell and milliner Lizzie Lock very kindly asked me to exhibit at their Albert Mews studio along with some other exciting artists & designers including ceramics by Anna Collette Hunt, lighting by Curiosa & Curiosa and knitwear by Gabrielle Vary.

It all kicks off with a preview night this Friday and then the studio is open to the public for the next 3 weekends. I'm very excited to be showing my work like this for the first time. I'll be selling Christmas cards, wrapping paper, tote bags, notebooks and an A-Z poster of gangsters. Here's a sneak preview of Jesse James and The Krays ...

haunted houses

These haunted houses are part of a series by Spanish artist Valero Doval.  He makes use of vintage imagery to make his collages. I particularly like his addition of hand drawn lines & colour - especially the geometric sprirograph shapes in the Zeppelin series.

mr racoon

I came across James Ward's illustrated plates and cups a while back and I've started to see them around and about in shops and magazines.  My favourite was the Sandwich Defender until I spotted Mr Racoon the other day - he's the absolute best! While I hate to mention the 'C' word before Halloween is over, Mr Racoon will definitely be on my Christmas wish list!

melissa castrillon

The latest issue of my absolute favourite magazine, Oh Comely, features a little interview with illustrator Melissa Castrillon and some examples of pages from her sketch book. Her work is fun and quirky and full of lovely textures. I checked out her website and here are some lovely things I found...

newt in a suit

A little character I drew this week.

Depeapa

I was leafing through a copy of Australian magazine Frankie while I waited for a haircut and this lovely beardy fellow caught my eye. He's by Depeapa (aka Veronica de Arriba) a Spanish artist from Granada. So, not only does she make lovely illustrations but she lives in a beautiful city in my favourite country...no I'm not jealous! Here are some more of her delightful drawings .... she makes awesome jewellery too!

day after day in NOD

Some months back I donated $5 to Andy J Miller's Kickstarter project. Every week day for a year Andy posted a picture of his latest NOD inhabitant - a brilliant and colourful array of creatures to inhabit his imaginary land. My $5 dollars got me a lovely screen printed thank you postcard but I really wish I'd put in more so I could get my hands on a screen print of a NOD creature. It's hard to pick just one or two favourites - check out the rest of the little guys here.

Shop

I've opened up an online shop on Etsy. I'm currently selling greetings cards and hand-illustrated notebooks but I'll be adding more over the coming weeks and months. Check it out!

fifi lapin

I came across fifi lapin's superfun blog the other day. These great illustrations show 'fifi' dressed up in catwalk fashion. I love it!

feral at free range

The last of this season's graduate shows that I have attended - Feral was the exhibition put on by Arts University College Bournemouth illustration graduates as part of Free Range at The Truman Brewery in East London. My top pick from this show was Jack Molyneux. I picked up this postcard - just love the shadows...especially the figure in the middle.

The image is a poster design he did for his publication Agent Zigzag, based on the life of English pre-war criminal and wartime spy Eddie Chapman. You can view the publication here.

show RCA 2012

I popped into the RCA's graduate show at the weekend. I don't know much about architecture but my eye was caught by one or two of the more artistic pieces from the architecture students, which were sitting alongside some very technical looking diagrams of complex buildings. I especially like this image by Ninnie Yeo called Mountain of Memory.

al murphy

Al Murphy's work is fun and he's a funny guy too. I went to see his show at Ink_d in Brighton and then saw him giving a very entertaining talk last week at Glug, Brighton's creative networking event.

hannah clare

I love rabbits and I love this photo by Hannah Clare.  Here are some other nice photos/ collages from her website.

up and beyond

This week I went to Up and Beyond - Brighton University's graduate show. The first thing to catch my eye was Helena Beer's work in the foyer. I'm a sucker for monochrome so her beautifully intricate pieces were right up my street. On the other hand I love it when artists have a great eye for colour and Zoe Landry's display of cardboard houses and prints presented on tree trunks was one of the most delightful of the show.

   

My other favourite work in the show was from fine art painter Hannah Wilkinson whose collection of graphite, charcoal and watercolour works on paper were mysterious and mesmerising.

And a couple of other things that caught my eye were Emma Brant's narrative jewellery inspired by her grandmother's memoirs....

 
            





































...and this fantastic photograph by Alex Catt

new website, new blog

I've been busy doing lots of drawing recently and I've neglected my blogging activity. As I now have a website where you can see my work I've decided on a new approach to the blog. I'll be posting about other artists/ blogs/ websites that I like, along with news about what I'm up to and occasionally some of my 'work in progress' ... and maybe some other random stuff along the way. I hope you enjoy it.