Su Blackwell

Anyone who knows me knows I am a big lover of all things to do with nature. I love birdspotting and collecting books on birds eggs and british mammals, so when I came across Su Blackwell's work I was immediately struck by her papercut nature guides. Her work is stunning. How on earth does she create such delicate and intricate work?

Glum and Glummer

Link

I don't count myself as an artist as such (have you ever seen my drawings - they are more like cave art!) but i think many creative people would understand this list well. I do probably 6 to 7 out of 10 of those things of the list above and it is ridiculous it makes for a grumpy and not very creative person. Making things and working with my hands makes me happy but once I have finished, the analysing of the finished product that goes on in my head is far less productive. Must.stop.doing.that!

Roadside Projects

I came across these lovely papercut designs today by Jayme of Roadside Projects and wanted to share them with you, in case you haven't seen this wonderful work before. If you fancy some of these lovely artworks to adorn your walls, then pop over to the Roadside Projects etsy store.

I really admire artists who create work that has its own unique style. Its something I've found hard to do, i think I spend so much time looking at the lovely work of other people that when I sit down to design or make something, it often seems to sub-consciously become a watered down (much less successful) version of other people's style. I think I need to spend more time creating and less time on the computer, maybe then I would develop my own unique style over time... that might be pretty tough - I love looking at the work of so many talented people on the 'net. Maybe, a late new years resolution.

David Fullarton - What I Do at Work When I'm Supposed to be Working

I found David Fullarton's work via ffffound and I love it!  Reminds me of some of the desk jobs I've had! Was anyone lucky enough to see his exhibition in Houston this summer? 

Illustrations - Meomi

OK, last post today as Im dashing off for a weekend at Grandma's - lots of tea and cake - woohoo!  befre I go though, here are some wonderful illustrations by Meomi, aka Vicky Wong and Michael Murphy who are based in Vancouver and create these lovely illustrations and also Vicky is the author and designer behind the great series of Octonauts books!

Cardboard Cities

I can't remember where I found out about Cardboard Cities and I don't know anything about the artist except that she is based in the UK and you can see more of her work here, but I just love the colors and style.

Jo Hamilton - Crocheter extraordinaire

I was having my daily dose of Storque this evening when I came across these incredible crocheted portraits by Jo Hamilton, who originally trained at the Glasgow School of Art and is now exhibiting her work in the US.  If you are lucky enough to live in Portland, US, then you can see these masterpieces in the flesh (or yarn!) at Stumpdown Downtown.

Mimi Love Forever

Budge03 

Originally uploaded by mimilove forever

I found these lovely cheery,watercolor and embellished budgies on Flickr a while back and when I checked out Mimi Love Forever's flickr page it was a feast of color. She creates wonderful watercolour images of birds and animals and embellishes them with bright beads, buttons etc sometimes on fabric and sometimes on canvas. check out more of her work here.

Pop Ink

I came across a site today called Pop Ink via Lucy Gough.  I just love the style of illustrations, which are applied to stationery, prints on birch veneer (pictured), soaps (pictured), melaminware and more.  I only just realised I have one of their books too which is really great, it features bright, colorful kitschy animal designs on old 70's wrapping paper stationery, wallpaper etc, I must go and dig it out again!

Alston Art Apartments

This is a plug for my parent's new venture.  They have recently restored some old barn buildings in Alston in Cumbria, the village where I grew up, and turned them into lovely holiday cottages, called the Alston Art Apartments, in a cozy but contemporary style.  Even writing this post and looking for pictures of Alston is making me homesick, the landscape in and around Alston is just spectacular, there are so many images of Alston I could easily have filled a whole blog page with beautiful images. Alston is in the North Pennines, close to the Lake District and is in what is called an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has also become a UNESCO Geopark.  It is the perfect place to come to unwind and forget the pressures of life.  Leave your mobile and laptop at home and come here to get away from it all and just enjoy being somewhere very special.

Thomas Doyle

I found these amazing and unique creations by Thomas Doyle on the Craftzine blog.  I love the settings and the compositions of these pieces -very dream-like, and kind of voyeuristic.  Thomas Doyle lives and works in Brooklyn, New York and has exhibited these wonderful small scale pieces at many exhibitions over the last few years.