Flower Wish List

Writing about bluebells reminded me about this drawing I did a few years ago for my boyfriend...not long before Valentine's Day - it makes me wonder just how control freaky I might actually be!

Bluebell Time

When it comes to flowers I know I'm fickle...in June my "all time favourite" will be floppy pink peonies and a couple of months ago my most loved flower was blue hycinths...but for May it's always bluebells.

A couple of years ago we had a picnic in this bluebell wood. Although there are many at the moment growing in clumps in the parks and gardens of London, I'm hoping we'll make it to the countryside in time to see a forest full!

Featured on Workbook.com

I'm currently on the online front page of the Illustration section of The Workbook. I'm delighted to have been chosen as one of the featured illustrators this month.

As so often when you sign up for illustration directories and online portfolios it can feel like you are just one little fish swimming around hoping to be fished out from amongst hundreds and thousands of other fish. When I'm teaching professional practice to Illustration students I always say it's worth giving these ways of promoting yourself a go - but for me at least, most of my work seems to comes instead from individual, well targeted promotion. It's usually easier to go fishing than wait to be fished out!

Surtex, PrintPattern and Gone to Earth

This weekend my agents and several of the other artists they represent will be at Surtex in New York - the big surface design fair.

Last month I was busy designing a Blurb book as my 2010 portfolio and printing out repeat patterns to send to Lilla for the show. One of my oldest and loveliest friends came to stay for a couple of days and helped me print out repeats and make choices for the book.

One of the things I love about being an illustrator is the autonomy/self sufficency and the sense of achieving stuff on your own - but sometimes when you get support from someone else you realise just how nice (and sometimes needed) that is too! The other great thing about having Katie to stay is we always line up a little film show for her. This time we watched one of my most favourite films "Gone to Earth" - beautiful, magical Powell and Pressburger film about a girl and her fox. I've just discovered it was an inspiration to Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love" (but don't watch the youtube montage to the end if you plan to watch the film!)

I also have some work on the always fantastic Print Pattern Blog earlier this week.

Real Simple Wedding Book

I've worked on the annual edition of this book for three years now. The first year involved creating these tiny little line drawing icons which are used as chapter and column headings.



Then in 2008 I produced flower drawings as a guide for brides when choosing their bouquets.



In autumn 2009 I drew these wedding dresses and necklines. It was fun to do - it's a long time since I've drawn such romantic dresses. And it brought back memories of being eight years old and driven out in to the Scottish countryside to paint on a Sunday afternoon. Too cold to venture from the car my dad sat in the front painting the rural landscape before him with watercolours whilst my Mum read and my brother in the back with me drew an imaginary urban landscape with a ruler and I drew a sheet full of Victorian girls in wide skirts with nipped in waists and lacing up boots and muffs. I think my dad possibly wondered why he'd taken us!

Illustration on diabetes during pregnancy

A recent illustration for an article on diabetes in pregnancy.

I think when "dressing" the centre woman I must have been subconsciously influenced by all the peach and flesh colours around in fashion at the moment!