The First Cut Exhibition

In a time when paper is becoming a less dominate medium, with the introduction of the Kindle, and The Guardian discussing the end of it's printed paper, it's nice to see the beauty of paper being celebrated in the current exhibition, 'The First Cut' at Manchester Art Gallery.

This is the best exhibition I have seen this year, and also at Manchester Art Gallery, ever.  The exhibition showcases 31 international artists who work with paper to create beautifully complex and thought provoking pieces.

Sarah Bridgland

Justine Smith

Peter Callesen

Chris Kennedy

Future Everything 2012

I wish I had more money and more space to indulge in my love of zines. Yesterday I got an eye-full of ziney loveliness at a zine convention at Victoria Baths, which made me especially gutted that my bank balance prevented me from buying all the papery goodness that the zines had to offer. The event was part of the Future Everything festival, which also included digital crafts.

MMU Degree Show 2011

Alyson Exall



Some of the work at MMU's degree show 2011.

Matthew Lyons

The Snide of a Scoundrel Man, a photo by Matthew∙Lyons on Flickr.

I'm really excited to discover a new favourite Illustrator Matthew Lyons. I love the textures, colours, and angler shapes he uses. The style of his characters have a sixties feel to them with some pretty cool outfits and furniture.

Pick Me Up 2011

I went to Pick Me Up art fair this week and it was amazing. It really inspired and excited me to see such diverse and high quality illustration work. I especially liked Paul Blow, Puck Collective and Victo Ngai's work. The fair is on until 27th March so if you are in London I would recommend you check it out!

More pictures here.

Elena Hormiga

I wish I had made this illustration...



Elena Hormiga is a super talented Spanish illustrator. She has a blog written in her native language, which unfortunately I can't read, but thank god for google translate! Her style is very unique with lots of textures. I just love everything about it, I can't even explain how much! You can visit her flickr or website to see more work.

Diamonds Are Forever

Guardian Scrapbook

To take my mind off a frustrating illustration I have been cutting and pasting into my new scrap book, which I bought yesterday. I have a folder bulging with bits and pieces of reference and inspiration that needed a better home so I've been putting it all together in one book, which is easier to look through. I did notice that I had a lot of work by Gillian Blease taken from The Guardian. Her work is so clever and simple at the same time. Here is a picture of my book and Blease's work.




You can also buy this print from Blease website.

Stamps

I discovered these the other day, long forgotten and hidden away. When I was about 9 or 10 I decided to take up stamp collecting, my Dad took me to the Manchester Corn Exchange to buy a stamp collectors book and a big bag of assorted stamps. With many of my childhood ventures this one lasted for about two weeks before I moved onto something else, most likely collecting PG Tips cards or Pogs.

Luke Best is My Hero

The other day I went rooting under my bed for a box of books & found some old zines. I hate having them hidden away but I don't have a bookcase at the moment (visit to Ikea on my to do list). I love my collection and was excited to see the London Zine Symposium dates have been released (April 17th). One of my favorite zines is by DR. ME, showcasing work by Luke Best.

Edinburgh Adventures

I could so easily move to Edinburgh and be quite happy. It is one of the most beautiful cities.

Highlands...

I have an exciting new toy! A DSLR camera, which I will be taking with me to Edinburgh this weekend. It's been over a year since I last went to Scotland so I am looking forward to visiting again and returning with some nice photos hopefully.

New Year

A new year and a new start. I have added 'blogging more' to my list of goals for 2011. I must also refresh my portfolio with some brand new illustrations over the next few months. I'm looking forward to the coming year and to be honest I am glad to say goodbye to 2010, which for me has been a very hard and emotional journey. 2011 symbolises change and hopefully lots of success!

Illustrators that have inspired me in 2010:



i. Isabelle Arseault



ii. Meg Hunt



iii. Michael Kirkham

Paper Girl Manchester

It was nice to be apart of something so great.



Papergirl Manchester and I Bike MCR Critical Mass on film.
Filmed by Tahra O’Regan.

Autumn

Autumn is here.

I've recently bought a sewing machine and a craft book and have abandoned illustrating for a while to make clutch bags made out of vintage fabric, embroidered jewellery and baby shoes for my niece. I plan to make the majority of my Christmas presents, but it's taking me a while to perfect my technique.

This Christmas I'm going to ask Santa for a digital SLR camera...I promise to be good!

Bat For Lashes Visuals

Amazingly beautiful animation from Robin Bushell and Julia Potts on Vimeo.

London Town

I'm back from LND where I visited the V&A and saw the 'Illustration Awards' exhibition. Loved Sarah Carrs' work, which won the illustrated book award. I also took some photographs of houses in Isleworth where I was staying. I'm a bit obsessed with houses at the moment; illustrated houses, photos of houses, little ceramic house...etc

Tonight I'm going to 'The Toy Shop' exhibition in Manchester where lots of amazing Illustrators will be exhibiting. Including Daniel Frost, Sarah Abbott, Jack Hudson and Gemma Correll.

I also start my volunteer position at 'AND' Festival tomorrow. Busy, busy busy!

Free For Arts Festival

Taking part in the 'Free for Arts Festival,' as part of Papergirl Manchester this October. Visit and see my work on display at the Papergirl Manchester exhibition at Soup Kitchen, Spear Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester, from 1st – 21st October 2010!

'Papergirl is an art project from Berlin, making its UK début in Manchester this Autumn. In the style of American paper-boys, rolled art pieces will be distributed by bicycle in the streets of Manchester to random passers-by. The Papergirl Manchester exhibition will be held at Soup Kitchen from 1st October to 21st October in association with Manchester Free for Arts Festival 2010.' (Papergirl Manchester website)

I'm going back to London next week for a few days, yay!

AND

The next festival I'm volunteering on is AND (Abandon Normal Devices). The third arts festival I have worked on this summer!

Exploring Illustrated London

I recently came back from a 5 day trip to London, where I visited my niece Olivia. While I was there I hopped on the tube to Shoreditch and went to see the new Nobrow gallery/shop and also the East Gallery on Brick lane, which is showing an illustration exhibition entitled 'Play'. I loved both, especially Sarah Abbott's work at East Gallery. I remember seeing her work at last years mmu degree show and it was amazing.
A highlight of my trip was visiting the YCN shop & library down Rivington St. Recommend a visit if you are in the area. I bought one of their quarterly magazines, 'Ideas Illustrated,' which I enjoyed reading on the train back to Manchester.