Printsource 2014

My agents Lilla Rogers Studio will be at Printsource in New York next week showing the studio artists work to fabric buyers. I had a lot of fun in November and December producing new work to be shown.

Moyo Directory

A few weeks ago I got the opportunity to add a portfolio to the newly launched Moyo Directory.
I haven't updated my website for a very long time (I can feel myself cowering with shame as I type this!!!) so it was really refreshing to see all my recent work together. And it's motivated me to make plans to update my own site.

A little bit about MOYO from their website - 
"The MOYO directory was founded by internationally acclaimed surface pattern designer Rachael Taylor and award-winning entrepreneur Beth Kempton to connect designers worldwide with job opportunities, and provide a place to showcase their work in the company of other designers. Rachael and Beth are also co-founders of MOYO, the world's first online magazine dedicated to surface pattern design and the wildly popular design school 'The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design'."

Moo Business Cards

I ordered some new business cards recently from Moo.com. Before they existed, with the option of getting many images printed at once, my cards were always homemade as I could never choose just one image to represent me on a professionally printed business card. I remember from my postcard produced on leaving art college that by the time I'd given out a handful of the 200 my style have changed! (Although I still have some of that fox card from 1990 and I think my style has sort of looped back around in the twenty three years. If only I could have reassured my brother then that Photoshop was on its way and I wouldn't always have to draw directly on top of our grandfather's notebooks!)

My 1990 Promotional Postcard 

When I was laying out the Moo cards to photograph it reminded me of rainy days as a nanny spent on the floor playing Pairs with the children....thinking it might be fun to make some sets of the game.

One minute Promo Video for Surtex

This was made for Surtex - the surface design and stationery fair in New York that my agents, Lilla Rogers Studio, attend in May. Surtex were asking us to make up to one minute films promoting our work/brand to show on a screen at the fair.

Dennis offered to make a little film for me so I gave him some jpegs of my surface design work and left him to it. Well, mostly left him to it... I went in his office a few times and started being a bit "can you do this can you do that ish" but luckily I had a commission to complete by the end of the day so managed not to be too interfering!

I think just as it is sometimes easier for someone else to put your portfolio together this feels like it captures what I do much better than if I'd tried myself.

2010 USA postcard

Last week I received my this year's Lilla Rogers Studio promotional card in the post.

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.

Buttons / Badges

I got these produced by the Vancouver based company www.sixcentpress.com last month for my US agent (www.lillarogers.com) to handout at Surtex - a trade fair in New York. It meant I had them all sent directly to Lilla and I haven't yet seen them in the real. So lovely surprise when I found this photo of them on Six Cent Press website - thank you.

I'd never heard of the word "button" for these until last year. Growing up in the North of Scotland it was "badges" people pinned to their school bags. Buttons were to be found in this jar (I now use it for jam) and on rainy days my mum would let me sort through and admire them.




I still get great pleasure from looking at my own collection of buttons - rainy day or not. :-)

New Portfolios

I created these books a couple of months ago using the site www.blurb.com. It was my US agent's (www.lillarogers.com) idea that all her artists showing at the New York trade fair Surtex produce these books as a fresh alternative to traditional portfolios.

I think it is always hard creating your own portfolio - it's so much easier editing work you haven't produced! But I really enjoyed putting the books together and I was impressed with the print quality and wrap around cover.

If you click on the link below you can see a preview of the first 15 pages of each book. I'm also going to post above some of the work featured on the other pages.

My Main Illustration Style Book

Trina DALZIEL

Main Illustration ...

By Trina Dalziel

Book Preview

My Painting Book

PAINTINGS Trin...

REVISED

By Trina Dalziel

Book Preview