watercolour drawings on paper

 

Over the course of the last week I found myself reaching for my paint and paper more than usual. I think the excessive writing and academia has taken up so much of my time that I haven't had the opportunity to relax and be creative. The illustrations that came out of this challenging period are very amusing. I find myself reaching back to my childhood for inspiration, and looking up old Hungarian folk tales and traditional designs. I can't wait to have some time in the summer once uni is all over!

new skinnies

(photo of the three new moleskines. bottom solo shot of "Zorro ain't got nothin' on me" soon to be available in my little shop)

Yippiee! Mother Earth has finally obliged and warmed up our frosted continent Down Under! I am very excited by this and have been spending a lot of time outdoors, in the garden and climbing out bush. In a sudden rush of creativity I sketched up three new moleskines in one sitting and am contemplating names and colours for them now. I am not sure if I should keep the middle one, pictured above. She is a cute little milkmaid, but I am wondering if she's a little too big? What do you think?

A feathered kind of love

(details of the newest 3 Moleskine journals; Big Mama, Owl Love You and Please Be Mine.
You can visit them here)

Judging by the end results, I was in a rather romantic mood yesterday.. I produced three new Moleskine journals to celebrate L O V E and happiness, and to tweak my shop before its big Art Showcase debut on Etsy on the 14th of September. My little shop will be featured on the main Art page all day on the fourteenth so check back to this page in two days time! Yay!

I am also in hot discussion with a couple of gallery spaces here in Adelaide about possible exhibitions in the coming months, between november and march. I struggle to decide whether say a two month period is enough for me to produce a large body of work with all that is going on in my life right now. I am looking to go on a sculptural tangent for the next couple of shows, which is exciting yet also perilous as it is uncharted territory for me. Does peachpatrol have the time to experiment with new materials such as porcelain and plaster and get her hands real dirty all in time to produce something truly amazing? .. I suppose we shall all have to see, with me included.. Have a great sunday and leave me some love! x x

shiny new things

(new and lovely bits and bobs in my little shoppe)

Over the last couple of days I have been adding lots of new things to my little etsy shop and working on photographing them in a way that shows each product true to life, but also leaves something for the imagination. So after much editing and deliberating, I am almost happy with what is currently on show.

Healthwise I am almost cured, besides my sniffly nose and scratchy throat. A great mountain of used tissues is sitting besides me. It is my shrine and tribute to the trials of the week gone.

With tomorrow being monday, I have decided to start afresh. A new week with new tasks and goals! I will be starting a new body of ceramic work specifically made to sell on etsy and at Urban Cow. Even during my travels I was concocting new and delicious crafty things, and now, due to popular demand I am encouraged to make another bit of ceramic excitement. So stay tuned for sketches and the starting of a new casting project! Have a good week!

x x

busy bee

Wow! Has this past week been busy or what? With the making of many many badges, the handing in of the first few assignments of the semester and the start and end of my big 3 Day Studio Sale I have officially exhausted myself. And am paying the price too, this weekend as I have gotten a little bit sick. But not to worry, I plan on having the fever and the sore throat kicked by tomorrow!

I am currently super excited about my new find, 'We Swap' blog. It is a place without pricetags where etsy artists swap their goods among each other. Its really lovely and I check for new items about five times a day. I would love to put something up, but I am not yet sure which creation to choose. You can check the blog out at we-swap.blogspot.com. Which of the above new badges is your favourite? To see more, visit me on etsy :)

an op and shop

This is the most updated prototype of the pendant series I'm doing with polarity, an amazing american artist I found through etsy. i can't wait to have this in my hot little hand!

oh, and it turns out my idea isn't so original. I found a competition by the Moleskine company, who are looking at illustrators to work on their covers. there were some pretty amazing entries. I shall prevail anyhow.



I'm also collecting some good advice from friends and friends of friends on what to see in Sydney. My beloved boyfriend is coming to join me for about a month, which is VERY Exciting as he lives far far away, and as a birthday present from my parents we get to go to sydney for about 4 days. which should be pretty awesome! So far I have a few great places to go such as the Chinese Laundry, MCA, the Art Gallery of NSW, Newtown (as a suburb) and a bunch of others. I'm wondering if there are any other cool places I've missed that are off the beaten track. And we've been to Paddington markets already.. so yeah. anyone have anything for me there?

moleskine

Yesterday saw necessity become priority as I finally took some exhibition posters to some of my favourite shops in Adelaide and stocked up on some much needed art supplies. I'm somehow not surprised by the fact that all the painting i've done for the show so far, (and many other works) have all been done with the one little paintbrush and set of watercolour discs. Way to ration. hmm :)

So after seeing a pack of 3 little moleskine journals in the Mary martin bookshop on Rundle street, and thinking about illustration on them and putting them up for sale at the opening, I found them again during my quick shopping spree at the art shop and purchased a set. I ended up doing all three last night and today and I think they turned out quite nicely.


Eanie Meanie [left] and Hope [right]


Mushies

oh and I thought I'd share my custom made stamp from the US by the lovely craftpudding! :)
I made up my own inkpad, so its a little dodgy but still, I achieved the desired effect!


.. and here is the official poster:

Philosophy is Sexy

The more I look the more I like... Admittedly, majority of ancient philosophers and politicians are butt-ugly, but some of the empowering, brutal, egoistic things they've said would definitely have earned them a go in any young maiden's pants I reckon.



KARL MARX
“Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workingmen of all countries, unite!”



SIGMUND FREUD“The great question that has never been answered, and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, is ''What does a woman want?''



MARTIN HEIDEGGER "Man acts as though he were the shaper and master of language, while in fact language remains the master of man."

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On a less philosophical note, I sold my first illustration print today in my etsy shop today. The funny thing is, I didn't really like this piece and was contemplating taking it off when it sold. Interesting. I actually really like the story that went along with it. Take a look.


"This is Maisie, daughter of the forest and plains. She was brought up by the creatures of the forest, and though she is accepted as a member of the great family, she can't help feeling a little different at times. She ponders this often, studying those around her, observing silently.

"Some are blessed with wings," she'd think, craning her neck to see her bony shoulderblades, "and others with big paws", glancing at her pale fingers. So why not I?

Her surrogate mother, the great tawny owl surprised Maisie with a costume for her birthday, so she can feel as free as her feathered friends."

I have since added 2 new prints which are scanned versions of my 2 most recent wood panel illustrations. The snowy scene received very positive feedback on facebook, and I think I might use it for the show invite? .. come to think of it, I still have no idea what i want to name the show. I would like it to be either short and snappy or longer and more contemplative along the lines of a 'dark innocence' kindof a contradiction of sorts. hmm. anyhow. Here is Suzie in the Snow with Peter the Owl and their story.


"There are few things in the world that Suzie enjoys more than watching the first snow fall over her little village. She shares the secret hideaway with her trusty companion Peter the Owl, and the ancient fig tree from which the name of her hometown was named, Fig Hill. Though this tree has bore no fruit for many decades, it has provided a shelter for countless bird families, housing generations of baby chickadees. On this fine moonlit evening, in the stillness of the night, all appears well in the world."





and a portrait I attempted last night. Her name is Lily.

"If you were to ask Lily a question, nine times out of ten she will reply with a dreamy "hmmm?", due to the fact that she likes to spend her time daydreaming, and fantasizing her time away. Not that she doesn't have her feet firmly on the ground, its more that she prefers to have her head in the clouds. Its much prettier."

ILLUSTRATION MANIA!!

Shaun Tan would have to be one of my most favourite artists/illustrators of all time, fitting right in with the likes of Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt, Audrey Kawasaki, Stella im Hultberg and Frieda Kahlo. His imagination never ceases to astound and amaze me, as I find myself holding my breath to see what the next page will hold. Unlike most other books, I find myself relishing going back and re-reading his books because I discover new things, clues and arrows all the time, leading to the home of the Lost Thing or similar. Whether its the great buffalo pointing the way to an unknown surprise, or the mysterious appearance of a dugong-like creature on one's front lawn, Shaun's work can always make me smile, laugh out loud or be on the brink of tears due simply to his astounding connection to the viewer and his understanding and manipulation of each and every brush stroke, and word.

I'm currently working on my own website (for my art/artistic profile) which has been a lot of fun. I'm thinking of doing a "journal/sketches" section, where I will scan in a bunch of doodles and spontaneous scribbles from the past few years and my Eurotrip journal of 07/08 aswell. There was a lot of good times to be had as I spent a bit of time on trains and planes and in classes in countries where I didn't really understand the language, therefore retreated to my lovely little journal to the amusement of the students sitting near me.

This old habit is kicking back again of course with the start of a new semester, as I have almost equal amounts of sketching to match the writing. Take this snippet here for example:


In other news, I picked up a pencil for the first time in (no kidding) 2 years, mostly due to necessity not pleasure when I just could NOT fall asleep last night and felt the need to just get out the pent up energy in a creative rush, where I switched the lights back on, rubbed my eyes, grabbed the first thing that had a plain and empty surface, sketched then painted. WITH A PENCIL! I don't think I can explain how surreal the whole experience was. And how different it is to work with graphite. Insane. Anyhow, this is the first illustration besides a badge I made to illustrate a little story I've been working on called "The Tenant" which tells the tale of a shy girl who one day discovers a lonely little bird nesting in her big buffy hair. This little bird is very reluctant to leave and the little girl is also reluctant to send it away, so a strange bond evolves between the two of them, as the little girl finds herself growing stronger and more self assured in her whimsical weirdness as she begins to accept herself, and the little bird finds its first home and feeling of security and love. Thats basically it. Here is the 20 minute 3 am sketch/painting which is very different to the original prototype and created on unprimed weird wood which I am fairly certain is not made, and certainly not ideal for painting.


I think that is all for tonight, and stay tuned because next time I will be introducing you to my new beloved eco-friendly fair trade independent Indian artist made bag in all its glory!
Goodnight and goodluck.

an illustrated life

Just a quick update from within the paint-splattered realm of mind!
Its been paint ! paint! Paint! lately, which, believe me I have no complaints about, however it does leave my desk in a rather unruly state.
Besides that I have made good money out of my art in recent weeks and I am quite pleased about that. I also 'unleashed' a new range of mini illustration cards/works. Lookey below!

This is

Suzie in the Snow;

This is Suzie doing what she loves best - watching the first snow of the year through her bedroom window. She knows the time has come before the first snowflake even drifts into view. Suzie's heart beats wildly every time she watches the fluffy flakes drift and dance into view, finally touching the ground, waiting to be moulded into something beautiful.

And these are

Pippy and Steve - A Love Story;

This is a portrait of Pippy and Steve, who symbolize all the lucky people that have love in their lives. Steve loves Pippy even though she burns his breakfast toast every morning and sings in the shower very loudly, and Pippy loves Steve back even though he snores like nothing else and never eats the breakfast she prepares for him. They float in their happy white love-bubble and dream of a big house and a puppy.

And finally (for now) its;

James in a Haunted Forest with Arnold the Owl

This is James, and above him, perched on a twindly branch is Arnold the Owl. He finds something really peaceful about the quiet of a Haunted Forest. The way the leaves rustle with an occasional gust of wind, the way a murder of crows sometimes circle over him, as though deciding his fate. Most of all he likes his companion Arnold, who is mostly silent besides the occasional hoot.

This one is probably my favourite so far, but don't tell the others! :) And they look ever so cute in a set on my Paris print.

These babies and more can be viewed at my etsy store here:
www.peachpatrol.etsy.com

Splendid.