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blake helped me hang my work this morning for the final show. it is looking good. after a few hitches i think we got it to look pretty nice.

antonia (who is over from home at the moment) and i did some eco-printing and dyeing last night. we used onion skins that i had collected and leaves from a red leaved tree. (i can't remember the name), rose leaves, some yellow flowers etc. the finished results are amazing. deep golden oranges and purple with subtle yellows and greens. i think i will use them to make some new embroidery work, but now i can feel myself getting precious about them and i don't want to cut them up. i can always make more though!

now i will update my website... at least try to!

more book covers

after a bit of time i have made some more book covers. this is one of my favorites. it combines the sewing and simple drawn line well. i wanted this cover to be quite open because a lot of the covers that already exist for this book are quite over descriptive... in my opinion. this feels a bit more like a book cover design though rather than an illustration, but i like that in a way. what do you think?

M A s h o w

it is getting close... the ma show that we've all been working towards. aine and i designed this flyer. i really like the idea that these could be the 'tools of an illustrator'. lets hope it tempts people to come.

marco polo is painted

i have been finishing things for the show. i want to put marco polo in the cabinet. i have painted his face and since made him a hat. he looks dashing, but you will have to come to the show to see him in all his glory!...

b o o k c o v e r s

it's been a busy day in the studio today. i have been writing a reflective essay for the masters and then as a bit of light relief, some book covers. here is my favorite one of the three that i made today. it is so great having a stock of images and layers to draw upon to create these covers. i could just make them all day for all my favorite books! any suggestions for books is kindly welcomed...

p r o g r e s s

so it's been a big week and although things look calm on the outside, i am feeling a little freaked out on the inside. i just wrote a list of all the things i have to do and my heart has dropped. so much to do and so little time. it will get done... somehow. i have three days coming up of uninterrupted work time so i have shut myself away from the world except a little coffee here and there to keep me sane and catch up with friends who visit from back home.

i have been working on the printed book of illustrations 'in search of invisible cities'. here are some pictures of aine helping me cut the large printed sheet down to long strips which i then folded for the book. i then decided to make individual covers for the books to make them like an artwork and also to make them original and special. i think special things are very important and i want to take the time to make the work more special.

and a little shot of my studio table with beautiful flowers that only cost 99p and make my studio days so much brighter!

travelling along the seas of something

a bit more re working of the book and i think i am almost there. thank goodness for photoshop! such a brilliant and versatile tool. so i think the book is getting closer to the end.

you can see the progression of the right side of this section from my last post to now. it was just too heavy before and especially when it was printed... no good. what do you think of this section now?