Free as a butterfly

This is my contribution to the annual Christmas coaster promotion run by my US agent.
This year's theme is 'Art Speaks Louder Than Words' and is in support of gay rights in Russia.

"There is a lot of controversy regarding the next Olympic Winter Games, due to take place in Sochi, Russia, especially with Russian laws regarding homosexuality.
At Anna Goodson Illustration Agency, we believe that Art Speaks Louder Than Words and we wanted to make a statement and show the world that our agency and illustrators don’t support discrimination or violence of any kind, regardless of religion, race or sexual orientation."

All the artists were asked to create an image as a protest against this discrimination and I chose to illustrate a butterfly as a symbol to show that in love, everyone is equal. 
You can see the rest of the artists images here

Beware of the green-eyed monster!

This illustration has just been published in US Magazine Thriving Family.  The article dealt with jealousy between stepparents and children and I wanted to show the woman's speech bubble as a green-eyed monster as she jealously looks at her partner and his daughter who is the 'apple of his eye'.

Illustration Friday - Travel

This is a recent illustration just out in the latest Woman & Home which I thought was a good fit for this week's IF topic.  A few tips on packing for your holidays; using straws to keep jewellery safe and packing baby powder as a sand remover...I'm not jetting off anywhere exotic, with this lovely weather we are having in the U.K why go anywhere else!! Today
( my birthday) has been a scorcher so we enjoyed a relaxing picnic in the sun with friends, playing frisbee and chasing after Jimmy, great fun!

How does your garden grow?

Here are my latest illustrations for Woman & Home just out in the July edition, it's time to pick your peas and tend to your roses...I've been trying to get back on track with my garden a bit this year but can't say I've been organised enough to plant any peas or anything else edible for that matter.  I hear that dandelion leaves are rather tasty though and we do have a bumper crop of those!!

Illustration Friday - Eye Glasses

I haven't submitted anything for I.F in ages, but as a glasses wearer myself I was inspired by this weeks topic.  I enjoyed playing around with type on this quote by Dorothy Parker which makes me smile. Fortunately wearing glasses isn't as uncool these days as it was back then!

Mail Me Art 3

Howdy! Here's my entry for Mail Me Art 3. This little cowboy character came from a doodle in my sketchbook, it was nice to create something 'real' as although all my drawing is done by hand with pencil and paper, it only really exists as 'art' once it's scanned into the computer and coloured.
This years submissions had to be drawn directly onto an envelope as no digitally produced work was allowed and my entry is partly inspired by my rediscovery of my rubber stamping materials, it was fun to get inky fingers again!  I took part in a previous Mail Me Art project 3 years ago, which you can see here

Here he is setting off on his journey, it will be interesting to see if he arrives unscathed although he is not travelling too far at all, just up the road really to Leicestershire! I hope Royal Mail will handle him with care!
Royal Mail aren't very popular at the moment with the price rises and size restrictions coming into effect next month which will affect independent sellers on etsy and folksy.  Please take a look at Flora's blog post which makes very interesting reading and please do sign the e petition...

Stamp it out!

I recently rediscovered my old tins of carved rubber stamps that I made over 10 years ago ( yikes that long!) It was nice to find them again and I had forgotten just how many I had made! They were great fun to do and it was always quite a challenge to come up with a design that would work in such a small space: 3cm x 4.5cm. I even made myself a special tool for the job, basically a needle in a wooden handle so I could get all the fine details in. 

Here's a selection of some of my favourites all with a slightly surreal feel.
I spent ages searching for the perfect rubber to carve and I've still got a little stash of them waiting to be cut. I used to sell little groups of framed prints at my exhibitions and the prints do make nice cards too, perhaps I should find the time to make some new ones for my shop...

Bloomin' Spring!

I took a few photos around the house this week to join in with Lou's Nature in the Home feature on her blog. We have had some lovely Spring sunshine this week but it's still so cold!
These are my Mother's Day flowers, and a very good choice too, thanks Jimmy! Gerberas are my favourite flowers and I love the zingy colours which fit in very well with our colour scheme. I'm fond of chrysanthemums too which always remind me of my dear Grandma who always had dried ones in her house when I was little.

I was excited to see that one of my many cacti also decided to flower on Mother's Day.  I have loved cacti and succulents since I was a teenager, I find them strangely beautiful and a bit creepy, especially when they flower.

This is a photo from last year, this cactus always put on an amazing display, but so fleeting as each bloom only lasts a day!

World Book Day!

In honour of World Book Day I thought I'd post a few pics of some books I recently added to my groaning bookshelves.  Last year on an art college reunion visit back to Maidstone, we also visited the lovely town of Rochester and stumbled upon a great old bookshop. It was full to the rafters with books and I made a beeline for the children's section and couldn't resist these. I was really pleased to find 'Jimmy wins a prize' with beautiful illustrations from 1946.  The Owl and the Pussy-Cat dates from 1969 how cool is that psychedelic cat!

Hello Spring!

Well the sun is shining here, it's a gorgeous spring day! Just thought I'd post these new illustrations for Woman and Home, showing tips for cleaning silver with toothpaste and cleaning egg from pans with cold water ( I never knew that!)

I must try and be a better blogger but time just runs away with me these days as I chase after Jimmy, who is enjoying his new found freedom now he can walk and run! Here he is on his first visit to the shoe shop, already eyeing up his next pair...Well the silver ones do look far more exciting!

Competition News!

 

I recently entered this design: 'Paisley Parade' into a mug design competition organized by Buttercup China.  I am pleased to say that I am one of 10 finalists and the winner will be announced this week at Spring Fair International...I'll be keeping my fingers crossed! You can see the other selected entries HERE.  

On the subject of competitions, todryfor are holding their annual tea towel design competition this month, and you can find all the information you need to enter HERE.  I was super chuffed to win it last year and it's been great to see my design for sale in shops up and down the country, including Debenhams!

Happy New(ish) Year!

Happy New Year everyone:)
Here's a little spot illustration just published in Woman & Home.   It's that time of year when we all join the queue at the customer service desk to return our unwanted Christmas gifts! Mad eh?  Well I must say if I had received that jumper I would have kept it!  Hope you were all happy with your Christmas presents.. I had lots of lovely things and we now have an even bigger toy mountain in the living room!