I have been unbelievably hopeless at keeping up my blog in recent months! However, I am still here and working away on various projects. Below is a very small taster of a few pictures I have painted over the summer months.
Luxurious bed linen
A while ago I painted the design for some very luxy bed linen for children. Natalia Rawley showed me a scrap of material from a 1950s tea cosy and asked me to incorporate the pattern into a design to be printed on 100% linen destined for cot-bed and single duvets and pillowcases. Reviewed by the Saturday Telegraph, Angels & Urchins and House & Garden, they are now on sale at www.hollyhockuk.com. I wouldn't normally bother with linen for children but in fact it is totally blissful.
Work on second Imagination picture
I have been working on the second of two imagination pictures for a girl and boy for Christmas. The first featured 'Toothless' from How to Train Your Dragon! The second centres around a unicorn...
I love Advent Calendars...
...almost more than Christmas itself! It can be tricky to find good ones. I HATE brash, Disney-themed, chocolate calendars and spend much time sourcing the proper traditional types with wintery scenes and glitter. The Germans do it best. One year I imported, at great expense, a selection of Richard Sellmer Verlag calendars, some of which are so charming. The other Aladdin's cave of calendars is the Medici shop in South Kensington. Every year I send card-sized ones to godchildren and no doubt get more pleasure out of the ritual than they do!
This year's selection for godchildren
My current favourite - reprinted from 1946, it was the first advent calendar available in America after the second world war, and was given to Eisenhower's family.
Update on current project
Nearly finished the picture of dragons, fairies, pirates etc...
Scottish art
My sister-in-law's solo exhibition is about to open in Edinburgh. Her drawings of birds and animals indigenous to Scotland are exquisite. Take a look at her website www.carolinehepburne-scott.co.uk or better still visit the gallery if you are nearby.
A father's imagination
I have just started on the first of two pictures about imagination. A father I know who tells wonderful made up stories to his children about dragons and fairies and pirates and treasure chests and dramatic rescues from the jaws of Cyclops by his children on unicorns, has asked me to incorporate all of this and more in a picture for each of them for Christmas. Specific requests so far have included 'Toothless' from How to Train your Dragon, a magic door, a field of daffodils and a pirate ship based on the decking in their garden, to name a few....and good dragons must have pink wings underneath...
Treat Tricking...
...as my 3 year old son described it. Spurred on by the children's enthusiasm for making their costumes, we embarked on a session of 'trick or treat'. No tricks thankfully, but plenty of crazy halloween door decorations around Shepherds Bush to terrify our 9 year old! Somehow seems wrong to just ring on a doorbell and receive sweets...next year I think they must perform something...but their homemade hats sufficed this year. One lady even donated £3 to their basket as she walked down the street.
Not sure the Converse All Stars are quite in keeping...