taurus

Here's a bull in a china shop, my final illustration for Red Magazine. It's been fun, I wish there were more!

Happy birthday to all Taureans!

happy easter

a chilly ram

For a very brief moment we thought spring was on it's way, we were fooled, freezing temperatures are back and yes, it is snowing outside. Good job this chap is wearing a chunky jumper. This months illustration for Red Magazine. Happy birthday to all you Aries!

wise words

I am full of admiration for a married couple that can work together (frankly, I am full of admiration for a couple that can even live together - but now is not the time or place!) These two, Alice and Martin Provensen are my current favourite illustrator pair, working together from the 1950's, they were also creators of breakfast hero Tony the Tiger. My sister and I are slightly competitively hunting down their portfolio of beautifully illustrated children's books and I know she will be coveting this one. Aesops Fables retold by Louis Untermeyer with the loveliest illustrations packed full of funny little details and busy characters.

pisces

I was definitely feeling bit mean when I submitted my Pisces illustration for Red Magazine, those poor little fish. I was also keen on the sardine tin option but the cat got its way in the end!
Happy birthday to all you Pisces people!

cats everywhere

I spent some time over Christmas researching cats for my Pisces illustration for Red Magazine (I think I was feeling a bit mean at the time, those poor little fish) A great source of inspiration was my small collection of Cat story books from the 1960's written by Joan Cass with stunning illustrations by William Stobbs. And favourite ceramics from around the house a cat bank by Briglin pottery and cream jug by Arabia Finland.

aquarius

Here are a couple of my illustrations for this months Red Magazine. I rather liked the gardening girl with her high heeled wellies, but in the end the water carrying girl got the job. Today I will be drawing sheep, I am up to Aries in the calender. Happy birthday all you Aquarians.

climb every mountain

Apologies for lack of festive blog posting, it's been more than a bit challenging here lately not made any easier by dropping my phone this week and hearing the splash of doom as it disappeared down a drain. Imagine my language and double, no triple it.

Here's a goat to cheer things up, my Capricorn illustration for Red Magazines January issue. In the words of Julie Andrews 'climb every mountain'.

So, happy birthday to any Capricorns out there. That includes my sister, author and all round creative person Clare Youngs who has finally got herself online, take a look around her website and blog for hand made inspiration.

sagittarius

This months illustration for Red Magazine - a festive, nordic, man, archer, horse, snow-dome combo.
Happy birthday to all you Sagittarians!

A to Z

 

This was my weekend find, an A to Z of London with delightful linocut illustrations by one of my favourite British artists Edward Bawden. It is very entertaining and packed full of information about London in 1953 including D for debutantes, S for spiv and where to purchase the correct bowler hat (Locks of St James's). The list of restaurants ran to five pages and when my dad looked through it he had happy memories of many, some involving dancing!

Edward Bawden taught at the Royal College of Art in the '60s where he mentored and inspired Christopher Brown. His influence is clearly evident in Christopher Brown's Alphabet of London where he brings the A to Z up to date with his quirky linocut illustrations of contemporary London life.

goat love

I have been researching goats, and heres a fabulous one from American illustrator Abner Grabof. He illustrated a huge portfolio of amazing childrens books in the '50s and '60s, fantastic colour, design and humour, love it.

More about him here on the very entertaining and informative Fishink blog.

scorpio

Wednesday has to be illustration day this week. I'm working on January's capricorn illustration for Red Magazine so looking at goats all day.

And here is Novembers scorpio illustration. It was quite difficult to make a scorpion look appealing I can tell you. But when I found out that they carry their babies on their back I saw them in a whole new light. My twins are both Scorpio (obviously! and there is a big birthday coming up) so I tried to fit two babies on her back but it just didn't work.

Happy birthday scorpios!

libra

This months illustration for Red magazine - yes, these are my kitchen shelves. Happy birthday libras!

leo

My August illustration for Red Magazine, happy birthday to all you leos out there! that includes me and him. We are a household of two leos and two scorpios, I don't follow horoscopes but that sounds like trouble to me. And if you have a copy of the magazine, thats me! hanging around the front pages with this months contributors.

Sale ends today at 12.00 noon! in my etsy and online shops. 25% off the price of everything (not including postage) just use this code SEVENDAYSALE when you purchase.

****!

Isn't it annoying when you spend a lot of money on a new computer and within a month you can't use the fancy new wireless keyboard and mouse because the bluetooth stops working grr...

(The picture from The Story of William Tell with illustrations by Aliki published in 1960)

flag waving

London is festooned with bunting and union jacks for the Jubilee weekend, awash with rain too, as we would expect for an English bank holiday.

Here's a flag waving crab, this months horoscope illustration for Red Magazine, thought I would go a bit topical with this one. Happy birthday to all cancers, hip hip hooray!

We will be having crab sandwiches and Victoria sponge this weekend, looking forward to lion steaks next month!

happy lion

I am up to leo in my horoscope illustrations for Red Magazine so looking for lions everywhere. The lion that I grew up with and my favourite (alongside Parsley) is the Happy Lion by Louise Fatio with lovely illustrations by Roger Duviosin. There were a series of Happy Lion story books first published between the fifties and seventies and I have three of them, picked up over the years in charity and second hand book shops. I think they have been reissued now, but the new versions are never the same so I am always on the look out for the originals. Plenty of copies new and old available online.

gemini

Red Magazine asked me to illustrate their horoscope page this year which is a lovely job and comes round every month! Starting with Gemini for the June issue, at quite short notice so a pair of dancing ladies stepped in for this one. The next will be Cancer which was quite a challenge, crabs are not easy!

wild raspberries

Fashionable food seems to take itself very seriously these days, there's a lot of scandinavian foraging and arranging and fiddling. Here's a book that lifts the spirits! I found it in a charity shop for £1.50, Wild Raspberries by Andy Warhol and Suzy Frankfurt. It was first published in 1959 as a limited edition. (This one is a facsimile obviously or I would be retiring to the seaside and living on nothing but piglet and omelet greta garbo for the rest of my life) It is very funny and camp with charming advice and eccentric hand written recipes garnished with fabulous Andy Warhol illustrations.