So as you can probably tell I have been a busy bee creating some inky artwork for the Festival which so far includes the Chilli Fiesta banner and a bright and breezy poster featuring my interpretation of the festival along with an array of performers and you guessed it lots and lots of chilli peppers.  Anyway I hope you enjoy the artwork and if you would like to take part in some chilli madness you can purchase tickets for the festival here.

 You can also check out my other work for the ‘House of Chilli here.

If you haven’t already seen the preview of my new print, this is it all finished and ready to go.

This ‘Seahorse’ print is a special release as it was ‘Seahorses Art Studio, which is a local art group, run by Boris who asked me if I could create a Seahorse which he could use on their website and social networking pages.  Seahorses encourage creativity and has a particular interest in art as therapy and art as a way not just to develop technical aspects of art but also social skills and confidence building.

Seahorses is also part of the Lantern Retreat (Registered Charity Number: 1075845 ) which offers supported living and care to adults with learning disabilities.

You can find out more about Seahorses Art Group here.

This print is now for sale in my online shop for £42.00 and a framed version will available from the Green Buoy Arts Gallery in Cowes- by the 23rd April 2013.

Competition Time

To celebrate the release of my new print I am running a little competition and giving one print away to one lucky winner.  All you have to do is think of a name for my new print.  I am not feeling very imaginative with a title today so need some help!  So leave a comment on my blog and my favourite wins.  Its as easy as that!  Be quick though the competition closes at 5.00 Friday the 12th April 2013.  I can’t wait to see what you come up with…

You may remember that Hoodles is a children’s playbarn up near my hometown in Aberdeenshire.  Last year I redesigned their logo and some of their stationery for their awesome little cafe where their cupcakes are the stars of the show-  I have taste tested them and they are yummy! (See my previous blog on Hoodles here!)

Since my design work for Hoodles there have been a few changes in the cafe which I was able to see when I went to visit them.  It was wonderful to see my illustrations dotted around their cafe and they fitted in perfectly- all the staff made me feel so welcome I can see why the children’s and their parents love to come here!

Hoodles Coffee Shop, image © Hoodles

My Leaflets on Display in the Coffee Shop

Hoodles Cupcakes- these ones for me and my Mum for later and they were delicious!

Hoodles have also set up a little online cake shop and I love that they have reflected my designs in the layout and used the new logo and illustrations I did for them.

Also added to my initial designs is a Children’s Party Invite (see below for the redesign of the invitation).  It  now matches the rest of the stationery.

Last but not least I have just restocked Hoodles with a selection of my limited edition prints and cards.  So pop by sometime, if you are in the area, with the kids and don’t forget to purchase some cupcakes!

Find out more about Hoodles at www.hoodles.co.uk.

My latest commission with a fairytale ending.

Last year I met a lovely lady, Pamela, through Open Studios and we hit it off when I discovered she was from Scotland, we got chatting and I found out she was from a place not so far from where I used to live.  Anyway to cut a long story short she asked me if I would create an illustration for her husband Tom, for their upcoming wedding anniversary.  She really wanted an image of herself being rescued from Scotland (hence Edinburgh Castle in the background) by her knight in shining armour.  Although she did tell me the white charger was more of a white transit van than the big white horse, but we liked the romantic image and she knew Tom would too!  Pam also has the most beautiful thick red hair so I wanted to make a feature of this by having her hair flowing around and framing the illustration.

Also did I mentioned I met Pam at Open Studios and she is an artist herself.  So if you have a minute check out her beautiful animal portraits over at www.raspberrydoodles.co.uk.  Well worth a browse!

Last of all a big Happy Anniversary Tom and Pam.  Much love to you both. Xx

The last week or so you may have seen me getting a little overexcited at the release of this March/April issue of Style of Wight Magazine.

At the beginning of the year the editor of the magazine, Christian, got in touch with me and asked if I would be interested in a feature about my illustration work in the magazine.  Of course I was delighted and, with a big smiley face, accepted immediately!  So after a relaxed chat/interview over a cuppa with the writer, Roz Whistance, I just had to wait as patiently as I could to see the interview in print and here it is:-

Also within the magazine is a couple of my illustrations which they used for their ‘Afternoon Tea’ feature and I also spotted one of my  illustrations in an advert for the ‘House of Chilli’ too- I think I have been a little spoiled this month!

So thanks Style of Wight for the lovely feature and hopefully we can work together again very soon.  And, if you would like to find out more about ‘Style of Wight magazine’ you can find out more here:-

www.styleofwight.co.uk

or

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Style-of-Wight-Magazine

One of my very latest commissions I have to tell you about was a character illustration for a lovely lady, Carol, to give one of her very good friends for her 70th birthday.

The challenge was to convey her friend Carolyn in such a way as to depict her theatrical and vivacious personality as well as elements of her working life and interests.  I was a little tentative at first and then I decided to really go for it and pack the illustration with what I hope were as many  elements of Carolyn’s personality and her life as I could.

Carolyn was born and brought up in India hence the many references such as the Taj Mahal, elephant and wall map etc.  Another important element to include was the fact Carolyn used to work at the BBC as a drama producer and Carol and Carolyn worked together on several Dr Who’s- the massive geek in me loved this- and I just had to get a Dalek in the picture somewhere.  So along with the BBC tv camera and piles of scripts there are also lots of other elements included to portray her personality but I will leave you to ponder those and have a good search for all the little details and fun elements I have included.

To really make my day I received a lovely phonecall, quite out of the blue, from Carolyn just this morning thanking me for the work I did on her picture.  It was lovely to chat to her and find out if I really managed to get her personality across and I was delighted to hear that she really loved the illustration.

So Carolyn if you are reading this a belated very Happy Birthday and one to you to Carol as I know it was your birthday recently too.

Best wishes to you both and keep in touch.  Xx

It has been a busy couple of months for me so let me tell you about another great project I have been working on which I am now able to share with you.  First of all let me tell you a little about the House of Chilli who I am currently doing a little illustration work for:-

The ‘House of Chilli’ is literally a House full of ‘Chilli Madness’ on the Isle of Wight.  You can find it at Godshill Organics on the Island.  Not only does the House of Chilli have a very ‘hot’ little shop where you can buy an immense range of chilli goodies and sample some of their chilli delicacies or as they would say ‘feel the burn’!  They also run the on site chilli farm and currently have pop-up shops appearing all over the island too.  They have already had one in Newport and now one has popped up in Ryde.  You can find out more about the House of Chilli via there website www.houseofchilli.com.

So how did it all start?  Well, I bumped into Lisa from the House of Chilli at a local Art and Craft Fair and she immediately asked me if I might be interested in doing some illustration work for them to advertise the House of Chilli.  She was looking for something a little bit quirky and different to compliment their ideals and vision.  She had me at ‘quirky and different’ so off I popped to visit them at their shop and have a ‘chilli’ chat.  The result, a poster that you will hopefully see popping up around the island over the next little while.  In particular is a little poster campaign shortly to appear on the Wight Link ferries!  So if you are not on the island and fancy a visit look out for the posters and then go and visit the House of Chilli.  They would love to have you and will make you feel very welcome!

I was also delighted when I saw that the House of Chilli has also used my illustration on their facebook page and when I saw my poster in the window of their Ryde shop it made be smile!

You can also follow the House of Chilli on facebook and on twitter!

Fun Fact about the poster!
Just in case you thought the moon is back to front it actually represent a ‘new moon’.  People generally wait for a new moon to start new works.  So I guess it marks the start of a new phase or for me a new business relationship!

Lots more from the House of Chilli coming soon…

This week a rather exciting little package landed on my doorstep.  As I eagerly tore open the envelope I could instantly see it was from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) who had set me my very first project for this year.  In fact it was a fantastic project to get me into gear and kickstart my 2013!  The SCO had asked me to illustrate their Chamber Orchestra in a way that would appeal to children.  The illustration was to feature in their latest concert programme alongside a few games and fun facts to help the kids learn a bit more about the SCO and all the players.

So without further ado and 1 Timpani, 2 Trumpets, 2 French Horns, 2 Bassoons, 2 Clarinets, 2 Oboes, 2 Flutes, 2 Double Bass, 4 Cellos, 4 Violas & 14 Violins later- thats 37 musicians, oh and don’t forgot the conductor- here is the result:-

Find out more about the SCO at www.sco.org.uk and look out for their famiy concert programmes.  Oh and if you are interested and haven’t seen any of my other work for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra check out the posters below:-

So one of my New Year’s resolutions was to make a plan of attack for my garden.  So in a proper artist fashion I decided to make a little ‘garden plan’.  Last year I attended an RHS group at the Island’s ‘Ventnor Botanic Garden‘ where I met a group of passionate and very knowledgable gardeners.  I gleaned lots of tips and enjoyed a short crash course in garden design which was fun and right up my street.  I am determined to get my greenfingers in shape!

As for my garden it has been well loved in the past but has become somewhat neglected and overgrown.  So myself and my partner, Charlie, have slowly been pruning and digging out the weeds in our 100 feet of garden.  It has been a pretty mammoth task but we are slowly getting there in the hopes of being able to start planting in the spring (and putting our own stamp in the garden).

Everything is there and all it needs is a little TLC and perhaps a little fence to keep the dog out of the veggie patch.  Wilson the Lab loves eating my precious peashoots and last year in particular took a liking to anything red- so that was all my strawberries and my tomatoes (and don’t forget Apples- thanks John for that one, you know who you are)!  I love Wilson to bits but he is the biggest pest in my garden, never mind the slugs!

So I hope you like my little design and feel inspired!

So what is new for 2013…

1.  Recovery

Hence the slight delay in getting back to work.
Took a couple of extra weeks after burning myself out over the festive season with fairs and work and yet more fairs.

Sometimes you just need to take some time out and have some fun.

So took some inspiration time and a trip to Paris.

…And I went to Harry Potter World!  Talk about wizardstruck… It was the best day out ever, and I really mean EVER!

2.   Organisation

So this week is all about organising myself and my work and catching you all up on my blog.

Procrastinating less and drawing more.
* When I say procrastinating I mean less time on Twitter, Facebook and generally using my time much better!

Making lists (I actually can’t cope without my daily to do lists).

3. Artistry

So along with my regular commissions and inkyeverafter- my stationery company
I have an exciting new working relationship with a local island business
as well as a few personal projects planned for this year.

**1.  Writing and illustrating my own Children’s Book
2.  Some new and original fairytale themed artwork
3.  Wood engraving and letterpress
4.  Some garden design and planning
5. Setting aside one afternoon a week to try something new at my local art studios

4. Balance

***Finding more of that elusive work/life balance #My greatest challenge

*My Three New Years Resolutions.  I’ll let you know how successfully I manage to stick to them!