Playing with my drawings

I played with some of my drawings in photoshop. I really like how they turned out. They would work beautifully as big prints, on t-shirts or as covers for notebooks. Hope you like them too. :)

Beautiful Ink

Rob bought me some beautiful chinese ink from our local chinese shop Ming Ming's and I have made some cool drawings with it. Inspired by its pitch blackness and smooth coverage. It was really cheap considering how awesome it it.

Im really inspired by shamanic folk art, ancient depictions of human beings and anthropomorphic images of animals. I bought a pair of crazy earrings from a charity shop a couple of weeks ago which were tiny Peruvian (I'm guessing from the style) leather painted discs with highly decorated faces on them. I guess I should have taken a photo of them so I then I wouldnt need to explain...Anyway, they really inspired me to draw the faces on my last post. Here I have expanded on them a little.

Shaman Spirits: This one is bigger than what I usually do at 30x30cms. Its also painted on wood, the base is acrylic and the image itself is painted in that fab ink.

Mini Shaman Faces; painted with acrylic on a mini 10x10cm linen canvas.

Ink Goddess; She is odd. Im not sure where I am going with her, but I like her style.

Ink Shaman: Small drawing, similar to the painting but more flowing.

More shaman faces.

Mini painted shaman faces; on another 10x10cm linen canvas. Painted with acrylic and that fab ink.

Ink Spirits; while doodling with leftover ink I came up with these little guys. I like 'em. They are the spirits of left-over ink, ink blots and the bits of ink that splatter of your skin.

Another owl. I know, Im a broken record. But I like them 

Handmade and Timeless

This weekend I sat with my very talented friend Bethan Myfanwy Jones while she ran her stall at the Handmade and Timeless fair in Ipswich Town Hall.

I was really inspired by a lot of the work there and had a really lovely little chat with Elizabeth Pawle, who is an awesome artist-maker. I bought a really cute bear brooch from her, it looks great on my new cardigan. I also bought a couple of postcards from Truly Boo of beautifully draw ladies. I also had a brief chat with Mister Millerchip and was a bit of a fan-girl at him. Poor love.

 Anyway, anyway, I was really inspired so I came home and did some drawing. I really think my little doodle images are much better than the work I make when Im really concentrating and thinking about 'concepts'. Maybe I am just an intuitive maker. Maybe thats what works for me.

I really enjoy these images and want to sell the originals and make prints/postcards/objects with the images.

Hoot

Mooli Spirit

Radish Spirit

Shaman

Faces of the Shaman

Spirit faces (they make me think of tree spirits)

Sunshine spirit (probably drawn in the desperate hope we might get some sun soon!)

Twit Twoo to You (I just like owls)

Twit Twoo

Hoot - played with in photoshop to make an image suitable for a card/postcard

Radish Spirit - again, played with in photoshop to create an image that could be used as a card/postcard, or print for a bag?

Mooli Spirit - He is an odd one, but I got rid of the little drawing next to him and made him black and white. I think it looks good.

Twit twoo - Again, nice postcard image.

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Another Vessel

 

The 2nd vessel. I think this one looks a bit like earthenware. It has a green base and varying browns for its upper parts. Its kind of hobbit-y.

 

 

This ones even more sturdy than the 1st one as it has a high wool content, as opposed to acrylic/acrylic-wool mix. It was mostly made from my Grandmas stash of harsh thick wools. It has made a wonderful object.

 

 

I love the texture. It reminds me of the patterning on Anglo Saxon clay pots.

The whole thing looks very ancient and East Anglian to me, which is pretty cool.

 

 

Watch this space for more experimenting.

3d textile experiment

 

Im playing with textiles again. Right now I am making vessels with wool and thread. This one is made from bits of wool nobody wanted anymore and so it is a medley of crazy colours.

 

 

They are really fun to make and I have ideas for taking it further. My lovely Dad reckons they would make good soup bowl cozies, or using this method, make some hats. My lovely friend Anthony reckons that they would make good boob cozies.

 

 

I really enjoy the texture and solidity of these vessels. Im working on another right now that looks like earthen-ware. Its fun.

Decembers Offerings so far.....

Hamsa Hand, pen and ink, based on beautiful henna designs

Aztec Queen, Pen and Ink, based on a sculpture on view at the British Museum

Bird Woman, pen and ink, based on an ancient Persian clay sculpture on view at the British Museum

Kokopelli, pen and ink, based on the Native American God figure of the same name

Lotus Sutra, pen and ink, based on Nichiren Buddhist chanting

Tiki God, pen and ink, based on Tiki God carvings

I have been making some new work for the first time since Art on the Prom. Its been hard to get my hands used to drawing again but I think its gone pretty well.

Im working on some new images to put onto cards and possibly other bits and pieces like t-shirts and tote bags. For a change I have done some God figures not just my beloved Goddess figures. I dont feel as comfortable drawing Gods, as I feel little connection to them, but a couple of people convinced me to give it a go. I think however that I prefer my Goddesses and they will always be predominant in my work. I am ok with this.

Ganesh, pen and ink, based on the elephant headed Hindu God

Im planning on setting up my etsy shop again (and hopefully a folksy shop too) this winter to sell artwork, cards, etc and hope this will bring me a bit of extra income eventually.

Rowan, the Forest Spirit, pen and ink, actually inspired by an ancient Chinese shamanic statue I saw in the British Museum. But I made my figure female. I can see her running through the forest and hiding behind trees on scorching hot days.

I really like 'Rowan', I think she is my interpretation of a set of shamanic ideas and practices rather than being a somewhat more direct homage to the Goddess/God images I usually draw from.

Finally, I give to you my Yule drawing:

Shh... She's Asleep, pen and ink, based on the Pagan festival of Yule and how I feel about the Earth at this point in the cycle.

Hope you enjoy my new work!

Art on the Prom 2012

Here is me, looking windswept and chilly. With my little stall, with prints, originals and cards.

My partner Rob and some of my artwork on the fence.

 

My artwork became slightly wonky in the wind.

A close up of my cute art.

I had my stall at Art on the Prom yesterday. I was very nervous about it but it turned out to be less scary than I had imagined. I am starting to figure out who my audience is and how I want to continue with my work.
I met some really fab and sweet people. I got a lot of praise and interest in my work. So I got what I wanted from the day.
I am planning on creating a shop online for my work and would like to do more events in the future. I may try and apply for the St Peters St. market in November. Eeek. Now that would be scary. :)

x