Lilla Rogers' Global Talent Search 2015 competition

What a surprise! I entered the Lilla Rogers' GTS and made the top 50. Really!? I'm still trying to get my head around it. I am really so thrilled to have made it so far and have just had so much fun doing these 2 assignments. Although I can't lie… it was a lot of work and swallowed up half of September's weekends. But I think it has been worth it. Definitely! As always the benefit of a deadline is amazing and Lilla's briefs are fantastic.

The first assignment was to illustrate and create a pair of trainers for a young woman called Antoinette. I decided to focus on Antoinette's love of all things horticultural and her location (Brooklyn, NY). This was my submission:

The second round of the competition was to illustrate a tin for Antoinette's shop… once again there was a very detailed brief and I ended up focusing on the unusual, vintage imagery that was mentioned. Somehow my 'brainstorm' ended up at an old fashioned magic show. I thought yes… that's what I use tins for: somewhere to store all those small, odd things that magically appear and disappear around me all the time.  Here was my submission:

So that's that! If you like what you see here please go and vote for me… there is a people's choice award but you have to be super quick because the voting closes at 5pm (UK time), Monday 21 September. All you have to do is click on this link and once on the page enter your e-mail address. Easy-peasy. And thank you!!

New work

It's been ages (years?) since I last posted anything on this completely neglected blog. But I have been rather busy (what's new). Without any further excuses here goes: I have been doing another Lilla Rogers Bootcamp for Make Art That Sells and have done 3 out of the 4 assignments so far. Here are 2 that I was really happy with. Between all this I also did an Adobe illustrator course and I have to say it's great to feel a bit more comfortable in that program now. Here is the poster I did for The Global Art Gathering. I really loved doing the hand lettering. The colour palette (given by Lilla) was also beautful. Very easy to work with and enjoy.

 

This one was for a plate design where we were asked to create a colour pattern and then overlay a dark silouette of a crustacean. I confess I got very attached to my pattern and couldn't bring myself to put anything over it. My husband suggests I just tell everyone it's on the other side of the plate :)

Blooming tea

This was my last assignment for MATS bootcamp (I will have to write another post about the experience… it was that amazing). We had to choose our favourite beverage and do a personal piece that could work as wall art. Everything about this was hard… first choosing just one drink (turns out I have hundreds) and then doing something that only I would like (really… just me?) – not easy!! In the end my calming chamomile, rooibos and honeybush tea is what gets me to the land of nod every night so I went with that. And one thing lead to another… before I knew it there was fynbos, wild flowers and honeybees all around. I love bright colours so that part was easy. I've tweaked the version I uploaded… the saucer now has some detail and I overlapped some of the flowers. To see the one I submitted and heaps of genuinely extraordinary illustration work please do check out the official gallery here…

Oh – and I still can't decide… yellow or grey stripes? It's the kind of thing that could keep me awake at night. Thank goodness for my calming chamomile…

Nautical dreams

My latest (and second last assignment) for MATS bootcamp. The theme was nautical and the end product was wall art. I ended up doing something for a child's room. Here is my dreamy airship in a bottle…

How to meditate…

Just made the deadline to upload for this months assignment – an editorial illustration for a magazine on the benefits of meditation. I really got going with this later than I should have but it's been that kind of month. Eventually (after my mom came to the rescue and took the boys to the spur for a couple of hours!) i did it…

 The MATS gallery will be up on Tuesday so you can see all the submissions there too.

Faces

A really quick little post just to show you my latest 'mini' project for MATS. I do love drawing faces – from reference or from my head. It's like people watching!

Cushion design

Been messing around with mocking up my jelly mould designs onto some cushion covers… think my favourite is the second one down. Next up – an apron (with the white version) and some notebooks (with the grey)…

Piece of cake…

Here is something I illustrated for the latest issue of Fresh Living Magazine… an article on acing your tax return. I'm happy with this… stylistically it feels like I'm going in a direction that I feel comfortable with at least :)

Bolt fabric – jelly moulds

MATS bootcamp is turning out to be one of the best things I've done in a very long time. The standard in the class is unbelievably high… most of the time – completely intimidating. But through gentle encouragment and positive motivation from Lilla I just keep telling myself to carry on with my baby steps and to 'go for it'! Here is what I decided upon for the submission for project number two.

Here are larger versions of the above smaller thumbnails…

Think this one needs something else 'extra'… perhaps some strawberries and some organic leaves in between to soften the pattern. Otherwise it makes me kinda happy. Must be all that pink!

The most interesting thing I've learned so far: creativity and its solutions are endlesss. In a class of around 500 people there aren't 2 single results to this project that are the same. The entire class gallery for March can be viewed here. Some wonderful work – please check it out.

MATS Project 2

Been having lots of fun (and learning) with jelly moulds – assignment number 2 in the MATS bootcamp and I'm about two thirds of the way with the project. I started with plain black line (always my favourite) and then started with clour and abstracting the patterns. The designs are destined for bolt fabric… but i think they could work on anything really. This is where I'm at…

Back to school

I am so excited… I can hardly breath. Let alone draw. I have signed up for the Make Art That Sells Bootcamp e-course with Lilla Rogers. Oh my! Just writing this is exciting. Taking deep breaths, and very teeny weeny baby steps… here goes.

First assignment: cuckoo clocks. I wasn't sure where to start with this and then one morning I was very amused to see one of our new chickens perched right on top of their coop. And thank goodness with that came some inspiration. Here is my doodle for my Chicken Coo-Coop clock!

As much as I loved this prelim sketch… when it came to translating it onto a cell phone case (part 2 of project one) it just didn't work. So I went back to the beginning (read: husband, wine, Saturday night out and a Dias Tavern napkin) and I had another go.

It's a process…

On Tuesday (the 25th of Feb) when the class gallery goes live I will post what I submitted… watch this space.

So lush!

I just love everything about these prints from Lush Designs. I'm so enthralled, I can't think of anything to say! So… basically (as it says on their website): Marie Rodgers and Maria Livings studied painting and printmaking at Maidstone Art College and evolved their business while working in the theatre and community arts after moving to South East London.Their love of colour and characteristic quirky prints has been applied to a range of home wares. Brilliant…

Phone cases

How about these gorgeous phone cases from, um, Phone Cases! So far, my black sequined one has died and my new polka-dot one could do with a friend. You can choose from a selection of patterns or upload your own image. Best of all this is a local set up and they are on the look out for new designs. Lovely.

Olaf Hajek – Strange Flowers

A few weeks ago I went to see Olaf Hajek's solo exhibition at the Whatiftheworld gallery titled 'Strange Flowers'. A long-time fan… it was wonderful to see his work in real life.

Of course the first thing I wanted to do at the exhibition was buy one of his paintings and pop it in the back of my car… but alas all the works were a touch above budget (at around R90 000). Not one to give up I've found that Olaf sells prints of a few of his works. The last 3 here are my favourites. You never know… someday, someone, somewhere may need a gift idea for me!

Kikka

What's not to love about Kikka in Paarl… any excuse to go there and before you can say 'pot of tea' I'm sitting in a sunny window spot feeling generally soothed and calmed by the surrounding soft green and pink walls. It's a bit of a girl cave really… Throw in some banana bread (with preserved fig, sour cream and pecan nuts) and a large bunch of proteas to take home and you have the perfect little outing.

Happy mothers day!

To all the mammas out there… here's to sleepless nights, grey hairs, wrinkles, endless questions, ruined furniture and oh-so early morning wake-up calls. Here's to precious moments, truthful insights, gappy smiles and upside down phrases that make perfect sense. To the best feeling in the world. Happy mothers day to you all.

Marimekko print inspired by an urban garden.

Sarah Walsh illustration

So it's been about 6 million years since my last blog post. And I have to start with something… so what better way to dust off the old cobwebs than by posting these gorgeous illustrations by Sarah Walsh. You can read more about her work here and why she is the newest artist to be represented by Lilla Rogers Studio.

V&A Pattern: The Fifties

So excited… they've arrived! A few weeks ago I ordered two books from the V&A Pattern series. They're filled with the most brilliant wallpaper and fabric designs by (amongst others) Lucienne Day, Joan Miro and Frank Lloyd Wright. There is a CD at the back of each book which contains all the images printed inside. Here are a few of my favourites from The Fifties…

Snap-happy Friday!

Since I have a new i-phone (we are still on honeymoon) and have discovered Instagram and Hipstamatic I thought it would be nice to post some pics from the week that was. So I'm committing to something regular here (yikes!) – Snap-happy Friday! Here are some snaps from around our neighbourhood and from a school rugby game that we went to. Hope you enjoy them and have a super weekend.

London

A wave of misery has come over our household since the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday night. London is abuzz and we are, well, simply, not there. Sniff. In order to cheer things up a bit – I've found these charming illustrations by Blanca Gómez. Although she is an illustrator and designer based in Madrid these images really capture something of that London feeling for me.