Home is where the art is

 In case you've been wondering what I'm up to (always suspicious when artists are quiet), I moved house just over a week ago to the lovely Whitby on the North Yorkshire coast.

 There were several reasons for this but the main benefit from a creative point of view is the amazing location - lots of places to go walking and a great atmosphere.

The setup in this flat is different - I'm now working in a corner of our lounge so I've taken over one of our computer desks to make best use of the space, with halogen lights to compensate for the lower lighting.

It must be doing me good too - I'm already working on a new piece, the next in my series of spice sketches. This one is a dried lime cut in half - fiddly but with some fantastic lines and intense contrast. Like the others, when completed it will be framed in a 6" oak frame and put up for sale in my Etsy shop.

High society

Well, we've been busy. Recent changes to Etsy have meant we are now able to use print on demand services to create all kinds of fun things using our artwork and photographs.

We joined Society6 and now have our own shop over there which is serving as a gallery shop featuring all our works under one roof ! It has other benefits too - we're in the UK but most of our work goes to customers in the USA. Fine for originals which are worth the shipping costs but not so handy when someone is looking for a birthday card or a small print to fill a space in their wall. 

It has been so easy to use and frankly a lot of fun watching our designs turn into everything from cushions to mugs, it's got my partner Rich drawing again - in fact our first sale over there has been a t-shirt featuring his giant horde print on the clock above :)

Remember our puppets ? Well, funny bunnies are taking over as well, we're hoping to get some more photos done this week. They are so expressive and a joy to photograph so we had to include them too !

It's also meant that artwork which has been sold is now available as prints too which is very satisfying :)

Nutmeg

 This weeks post is another from the series of small spice drawings I've done for my Etsy shop.

 This drawing was done in charcoal pencil on Fabriano Artistico watercolour paper. I love its smooth, bright surface- perfect for such detailed work.

 Rich very kindly polished up a nutmeg for me to bring out the grain and took some photos for me to work from. This was an interesting object to draw- such strong lines yet the rounded shape required subtle blending too.

 I'm actually very happy with the final piece and looking forward to the next one- a cut dried lime :)

Scarecrow puppet

We'd like you to meet a friend of ours :) 

As most of you probably know by now I work with my partner Rich on all sorts of nonsense projects but this time I think we've rather outdone ourselves with our first scarecrow puppet.

Hand made with a wooden frame powered by a simple pull cord, he's made from carefully chosen scraps of fabric and felt all delicately hand stitched together.  We are only making these little guys to order so if you'd like one too, head over to our puppet shop

Though he stands just 16 inches high, we managed to pack in lots of amusing details, from his fingerless gloves to patches in his coat and a pocket full of hay...

We also made a short video of him in action :)

K'wi

Remember K'wi ? He used to be in my art shop gracing greeting cards.  He's a funny little object, with his soft body and curved beak and like most of my monsters, has become a permanent part of the family.

So much so in fact that Rich has made one :) He started with a wire frame covered with plaster bandage then papier mache painted in acrylic with a clear layer on top. His beak and claws are black enamel and his bristles black plastic.

 He's amazingly detailed, from the wrinkles in his skin to the texture of his claws.

 We also had an awful lot of fun setting up his very own photo shoot showing K'wi in his natural habitat, complete with ferns and a pool...

 K'wi is now available to buy along with other friends over on our other Etsy shop here.

Original and affordable

Just a quick post today because I wanted to share something you might like :) I've just signed up to a fantastic site that showcases original art from UK artists - and everything is under £100.00 !

For the artists out there - you get a free months trial with up to 12 images in your gallery, after that it's just £20.00 a year. No commission - it's basically an online exhibition with simple links to contact the artists or visit their website to buy.

I decided this would be the perfect place to advertise my new series of small studies- I do a lot of these when larger pieces are not cooperating. From a buyers point of view, the site is crisp, easy to navigate and gives just enough information about a piece without being full of unnecessary waffle. Brilliant :)

You can check out my page here

Little shop of hoppers

 This week we're proud to announce the opening of a new shop ! For some time I've been working with my partner Rich on ideas for puppets but things kept getting in the way. As tends to be the case, it was something largely unrelated that actually got the ball rolling. It may not come as much of a surprise to those of you who follow this blog that I sometimes have trouble sleeping. We bought in some hops to make a sleep pillow for me which in turn inspired us to have a bit of a play with some scraps of fabric to make little night-time companions.

 

 We've made up a few using rose petals and lavender as well as the hops to get the shop started. This being us, there's a nod to primitive folk art dolls which are both fascinating and a little disturbing :) We've deliberately made them a little rough and ready so they have character.

 Of course, once we had the toy box out we couldn't just stop there....Rich has discovered he has quite a talent for soft sculpture so we've just listed the rather kindly Old Man Burlap, complete with beard and staff.

In fact we've had so much fun we have had to rearrange the flat to give us and our new friends some room :) We hope to bring you working puppets in the new year so watch this space !