Stationery Illustrations

Wow, it has been a little while since i have posted! ~My apologies!  I have been hiding away in my studio working on a new range of stationery illustrations , here's a taster of what I have been up to... more to follow!

I developed the clown design taking inspiration from my childhood birthday parties and adopting a modern sketchy ink style which makes the design appealing to various ages.

Scarves

These are a snapshot of some of the scarves I have made.  I have hand dyed them usig acid dyes (therefore the colours have set)  combining hand and machine embroidery.  


The orange scarf / sarong adopts more of an abstract paintery style which I designed after being inspired by exotic fruits in particular Dragon Fruit, this scarf / sarong uses a combination of techniques : dye, embellisher machine, and macnine embroidery on a variety of silks.  The other scarfs are silk satin and wool.

Fashion Illustration Doodles

This evening I have beeing doodling with floral illustrations which I had done inspired by exotic flowers which I had bought and photographed.

Birds

This evening I have been developing the drawing I did last night of the bird, using different colours and repeat pattern... 

Drawing.... flying free!

This evening I have been drawing, with the thought of creating a new collection of scarves and sarongs influenced by colour and the beauty of the natural world. S xx

From the waterside

Just a quick post tonight, really wanted to share this illustration which I have done this week.  I was inspired by the beautiful fuschia's over hanging the waterside at the bottom of my family garden down south.

Papped like a celeb!

A couple of weeks ago I went to the launch night for the new Calvin Klein store on The Avenue, Spinningfields Manchester..... Check out the photo!

http://www.drapersonline.com/ck-store-launch-party-in-manchester/5026686.blog

Capturing Emotion

Whilst I was at the V&A I went to the 'Figures & Fictions' Contemporary South African Photography Exhibition.   http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/figures-fictions/about/

 

I felt really engaged with the work of these photographers as in my work I have a fascination with capturing the ambience of places or 'moments' and this is what these photogrpahers were doing on social and political levels in Africa.

I particuarly liked the work by the following photographers in the exhibition: Pieter Hugo, Guy Tillim, Nonsikelelo Veleko and Graeme Williams.  Check out this link to discover more http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/figures-fictions/photographers/  

Fashion In Motion at the V&A - Yohji Yamamoto

On Friday I went to the the V&A to see Yohji Yamamoto live catwalk featuring Spring / Summer 2011 collections.


I have previously been to Fashion In Motion catwalks of Christian Lacriox, Manish Arora and Gareth Pugh which were very dramatic, and theatrical.  Yamamoto's was very different to these, the garments were modelled by real life couples who generated an ambience which was very casual and almost arrogant combined with sense of humor.  


The show was really fast and the models hardly stopped to pose..! I did like the unusual approach of the the models coming down the runway laughing and talking to eachother, it 'finished' the garments off. I particularly loved last garment in the show the limey yellow pleated skirt,  I like the way a 'non conventional' choice of fabric has been manipulated into something wearable.

 I was inspired by this hairstyle; how the pleats start at the top of the head and fall so delicately down the crown and then are contrasted directly with the shaven hair.

New York, New York

I have taken part in 'The Sketchbook Project 2011', earlier this year I submitted a sletchbook which would be part of a tour around the USA, after touring my book will remain as part of a permanent collection in New York Art Library.

My book has been digitalised and you are able to view it online, please take a look...

http://www.arthousecoop.com/library/2822#page-slide_17

Inspired on 'The Avenue' Manchester

As I walked past the Mulberry shop on 'The Avenue' Spinningfields Manchester, this window display by Mulberry made me smile.  I was captivated by the scale and playful approach of the oversized illustrations.  They remind me of simple art & craft techniques of making puppets at school which brought back memories of my childhood.

I love the impact which a simplistic idea has when produced on a large scale.