Harry Potter Illustration

My illustration for baby Mairi's bedroom.  Finished today and at Ann's getting framed.

Recent creations...

Since around Feb/March I've had lots of commissions and presents to make for friends and relatives.  Here are some pics of them to prove that I've not been skiving but have in fact been working away.

Okay, so I was on holiday last week up north (with gorgeous weather!) but am now ready to get back to my studio, and after I finish my current present-project (for beautiful baby Mairi) I'll get stuck into making work for the McNaughtan's bookshop exhibition in November.  

Possible subjects include dance, spirituality, ancestry, and I'm still not finished with my vet school drawings!  So that lot should keep me out of mischief for a while anyway.

Baby Memory Book for Graham and Lily

Baby Memory Book for Graham and Lily, it's a concertina with pockets and envelopes for them to collect things for their new baby

Detail of baby book.  I like the idea that something as mundane as a bus ticket or shopping receipt will be interesting in 20/30/40 years time.  Or is it only me who would like to see how much a loaf of bread cost on the day they were born?!

Copy of Jill Barklem's illustration: 'Bramley Hedge, Spring story', for baby Mairi's nursery

Paula and Donna's honeymoon memory book

Honeymoon memory book detail

Afternoon tea! I was very proud of this particular creation

 

Sketchbook pages

I'm still working with the images and information I gathered from the vet school, I want to make some finished pieces and have so many ideas.  It's a case of deciding which to follow! 

At the Artist Book Group last time, Linda made an interesting point; when she was working as an architect it was easier because you were given a problem and you solved it.  As an artist you have to make up your own problems, which is much harder.  She also pointed out that I had lots of problems!  It's the selection and realisation process I find challenging.

Here are some pics from my sketchbook.

specimens; charcoal and pastel

ribcage; graphite, charcoal

horse skull; graphite, acrylic

Old lecture theatre; oil bar

ink, oil bar, graphite

Calf in dissection room; collage, graphite, watercolour, thread

I'm wanting to push my drawing as far as possible by using different materials and finding ways of freeing up my lines without losing detail or precision.  Maybe some of these pages would look good blown up really big, if I can retain the sharpness and fineness of the lines?

I'm also exploring drawing over old veterinary textbooks that my dad gave me.

The dark side of ballet....

Saw Black Swan with Natalie Portman on Friday; an intense few hours but well worth watching!   I found the themes fascinating especially around control and perfection, which is true for dance, visual art, writing, poetry; any art form.  Perfect technique only takes you so far.  At some point I think you have to let go and that's when the magic happens.  Easier said than done, but its that tension between control and spontaneity that makes a piece of work stand out.

The dark side of any art is often hidden from view.  Nina's toes are swollen and bloody and her psychological well being coming apart, yet on stage she appears graceful, sparkling and powerful.  

New work for 2011

I haven't been getting as much work done as I would like, and feel suitably guilty about it.  Christmas shopping, parties and mulled wine have all contributed to lack of time spent in my studio.  I can't even pretend that it's too cold in there; it's actually pretty cosy

However, come January I have new work to make, first for Visual Arts Scotland who are showing artist books at their open exhibition 5th Feb -3rd March at the mound. Then I want to put work in to the Society of Scotland Artists open exhibition which I didn't get into last year.  Fingers crossed for this year, it would do my confidence the world of good.

book with envelope pockets for Andrew

drawings from the zoo

The Artist Book Group that I'm part of put in an exhibition proposal to Patriothall Gallery at WASPS in Stockbridge that was accepted for late next year, dates still to be confirmed.







My drawing class at the Dick Vet School (below) finished last week, I want to realise one of my (hundreds) of ideas for the SSA open exhibition. 

Histology room, beautiful cabinets filled with microscope slides.

The Dick Vet School

Watch this space...and in the meantime have an enjoyable Christmas x

Art and Veterinary Science-Sketchbook

Today is week 6 of Art and Vet Science at the Vet School.  We have been experimenting with different approaches to drawing using quick sketches, monoprinting and layering.  Here are some collages from my sketchbook.

Hidden Door Festival

On the 22nd-24th October Fiona, Susie and I collaborated with two poets for Impossible Journeys at the Hidden Door Festival. 

It was so much fun and so much hard work, lots of late nights and early mornings which I'm definitely not good at!   We only really had about two weeks to get organised, but in a way it worked well as there was no time for procrastination. 

We were given two poems to respond to, Rob MacKenzie's The Organist and Kona McPhee's Prodigal.  Both were full of fantastic imagery and we weren't short of ideas for how we could illustrate them.  Our space in the Roxy was the basement bar, for which we made hanging flower-like book structures, (I'm still dreaming of cutting paper circles...) collages for lightboxes and the wall, and altered books. 

Susie hard at work

Me working on my altered book

Fiona on installation night

hanging books and lightboxes

Prodigal collage

'Altared Books'

'Feel'

The Hidden Door was inspirational and demonstrated what can be achieved with a small budget and a hell of a lot of hard work.