We illustrate to say goodbye...

So today is the last day :( and after cleaning the house we have a last session drawing on the front terrace. When saying goodbye, there's no better way than representing it by line so whilst everyone sat here:

I drew them!

We said adiós to the village

Then relaxed on the beach, before we head home

And that was my trip! 

A roller coaster of mark, line and colour - I'm really glad I booked on to it! It's given me a sense of place within my work this coming year that I just don't think I would have got by staying at home. The sketchbook has been a place for me to think, explore and dream and bookending the long summer with drawing trips has been the best. Now it's back to reality, and the grindstone of uni, third year, life! Let's see what the next 9 months might bring....

Hasta la vista Cutar, hasta próxima vez

Lovely Lustre (2012)

It's that time of year again, the annual Lustre event at Lakeside. I went with a keener and more inquisitive eye this year, looking at the display and quality of finish to the products on show. I was quite taken by the affordability of the wares and made a few purchases too!

I enjoyed talking with Christine Gray about her process of making these beautiful porcelain bowls:

The cast glass sculptures of Louisa Finch:

More glass sculptures by Samantha Donaldson:

Katie Gilliland's taxidermy inspired jewellery:

The attention to detail in Malin Winberg's work:

The simple yet effective designs of Jane Blease:

The technicalities and consideration applied to the work of Anna Wales:

The scaffold inspired brilliance in the jewellery of Helen Sutherland:

The illustrative delights in the textiles of Teresa Cole:

And the exciting ceramic drawings-cum-sculptures of Nicola Laidstone!

Nicola has an open studio event at the Shed 2 studios on 30th November -
I'm definitley going along to have a peek!

My purchases of the day were: 

these three bear embroideries by Natalia Kukiel...I wonder where they will go?

and a mug by Carly Dodsley - which I'm enjoying as I blog!

So all in all, it was another lovely Lustre and a pleasant addition to the work that I saw there last year. I'm keen to make it a annual visit and continue to support the new, local and inspiring makers that it attracts. Maybe I will be there one day? who knows....

Working through the mountain..

..of postcards, leaflets, flyers, and business cards! I've junked a whole bin's worth already and am slowly working my way through the next! Having collected an awful lot this past year through visits to Collect, New Designers, NTU Degree Shows and the MA Expo, I've not spent anytime evaluating what I wanted to keep!? So here I am with a few days to go before starting back and considering my own work again! As I work through, here are my favourite finds:

Continuing my Journey by Lexi Mac

Isobel Thackray

Janet Wooton: eco resin, black bamboo and jute

Christina Barnard Illustration

Kyle Hands, Painting No.56

Canadian artist Martin Messier brings this unusual orchestra in which all the sounds are made by sewing machines made in the 1940s, amplified and processed by computers. A complex network of strange rhythmic patterns which create all sorts of mental associations among the audience, thanks to the evocative power of these small industrial marvels.

Urban Sketchers and the Art of Drawing

I have just spent a week in Lisbon visiting in the musical festival Optimus Alive. Whilst there, I thought about my recent visit to Spain and continued to draw at every opportunity. One day, quite aptly, I found this book: 

It is one of the best books I have bought in a while and a great souvenir for what has been the most exciting discovery that I have made on my journey of creativity so far - how useful, exhilirating, challenging and relaxing drawing can be! Full of beautiful and inspiring words and images, the book has been put together by the contributors of urbansketchers.org. It documents workshops, essays, stories and sketchbook images, of those that took part in the 2nd International  Symposium of Urban Sketchers in Lisbon last July. The words ring lyrical and true, filling me with so much enthusiasm for more drawing! There is something really nice about looking at and sharing in sketchbook work, and as one of the contributors Matthew Brehm puts it:

Drawing itself is best approached as a learning process. A few suggestions for continuing this are: 

1. Draw regularly - every day if possible - and study the drawings of others.2. Practice by copying sketches from books and other sources. This is an excellent way to learn new techniques and build your repertoire of sketching skills.3. Carry images of sketches you would like to learn from. Keep a few of these in your sketchbook and refer to them when you're actually out there sketching.4. Draw small, using thumbnail sketches to explore composition and value. More frequent, shorter duration sketches are generally better practice than larger, longer, less frequent drawings.5. Invite constructive criticism of your drawings, and avoid the tendency to be protective or shy about your work. Share your sketches online and offer your own criticism of your work, which will let others know that you wont take offense if they make helpful suggestions.6. Try using media that you haven't used before, or haven't used in sometime. If you are 'comfortable' with a particular medium, perhaps it's time to try something else for a while.

This notion of sharing and looking reminds me of the brilliant website In the Make and this article on the interest in studio culture. Full of interviews and images of American artists and makers, In the Make has introduced me to the work of Fran Sigel and Wendy McNaughton who create very different but interesting work.

Fran Siegel

Wendy McNaughton

I will be keeping my eye on urbansketchers.org and uploading some of my own work on there for feedback too! The Urban Sketchers em Lisboa - Desenhando a Cidade has introduced me to a lot of exciting illustrators/sketchers/bloggers and drawers whom I will no doubt be researching and posting about in the coming weeks so watch this space!

Phil Wrigglesworth

Whilst researching some images on Penguin Book covers I stumbled across the work of Phil Wrigglesworth. I rather like the humour and the drawing is lovely too!

Craving for the New Extraordinary

I've been lent the book Illustration: Play 2 Craving For The New Extraordinary and as it suggests, it hosts some incredible contemporary illustrator-makers!

Craving for the New Extraordinary. A totally unique collection of works that focuses on a return to experimental and individual techniques, such as paper cutting, stitching, knitting, needlework, origami, patchwork and more. From pure and simple to hugely complex these artworks offer enormous diversity both in the skills brought to each project and the originality evident in each piece. Interviews with the artists take the viewer into the studios in which the works were created and reveal where these great talents find their inspiration. Artists featured are from all over the globe and represent many different cultures.

Here are some of my favourites from its pages:

Dan-ah Kim creating magical tales in gouche, ink and thread...

 Jennifer Khoshbin using books to manipulate, illustrate and transform...

 

Alli Coate making lovely illustrative textile/collage...

 Ana Ventura using wonderful papers to make her lovely and amazing dolls!

Gregory Euclide creating imaginative landscapes, I really love his capture series!

Serverija Incirauskaite Kriauneviciene is inventive with embroidery...

 Ron van der Ende is drawing * enormous * sculptures with scrap bits of wood!

Whilst Walton Creel is drawing with bullets!

All in all some really imaginative work - well worth the investment - or a quick peek!