Etsy shop now open for biz

Apologies for lack of posts over the last year...I've been beavering away designing some pretty new prints (among other things) which can now be purchased through my Etsy shop.  You see these and more in the shop which I've just updated, ideal for home and nursery wall art.  Hope you like them!!

Flashback: Helen Musselwhite

I first found Helen Musselwhite's work back in 2010, and wrote about her intricate paper cut creations on this blog.  I have recently seen her creations cropping up on Pinterest a lot lately and wanted to show her current work to you all again, in case you missed it first time round.

Helen lives just south of Manchester and takes a lot of her inspiration from the countryside round there which is obvious from her work which feature lots of British flora and fauna.  Helen has been busy since I last featured her and her work has been used on many magazine covers and advertising campaigns, including Audi, Cadbury and Nokia and also window designs for Stella McCartney and Smythson.  

I love to read about people making a living from something they LOVE doing, which is sadly a bit of a rarity in this day and age.  You can see how much care and attention goes into her work and its lovely to read on her website that ..'I think it’s simply that I love doing this so much I can get totally lost in what I’m doing and the time passes by without me noticing. I’m at my happiest when I’ve nearly finished a piece that I’ve been really caught up in – sometimes I feel quite bereft when I’ve finished them!..'

Mister Finch - Maker Spotlight No.2

There is an absolute wealth of talented artists and craftspeople based in my home county of Yorkshire and Mr Finch, who creates fairytale-like fabric taxidermy is one of those.  Most of you have probably come across his incredible textile sculptures before, but for any of you unlucky enough to have missed it until now, here is a little sneaky peek at this man's fascinating creations.  

In the words of Mr Finch 'Velvet curtains from an old hotel, a threadbare wedding dress and a vintage apron become birds and beasts' he loves to hunt for objects to include in his work.  He plays with scale in a lot of his work too. Moths and bumble bees would usually be things that would fill me with abject horror, especially giant ones, as someone who is pretty terrified of moths and insects in general but Mr Finch's work is so beautiful, I find myself drawn to it, like a moth to a bright light.  A lot of his inspiration comes from nature and British folklore. Mr Finch says 'Humanizing animals with shoes and clothes is something I've always done and I imagine them to come alive at night. Getting dressed and helping an elderly shoemaker or the tired housewife.'  

If you get the chance, do go and look at his facebook page too, full of images of his work and links to odd stories he has found, like a video of the last glass eye maker in Britain.  

Children's Illustrators - Marc Boutavant

Inspired by some of the fantastic work of French children's illustrators I saw when I was in Paris I thought I might dedicate this week, or what is left of it, to looking at some of my favorite children's illustrators - first up is Marc Boutavant, an eye-poppingly talented illustrator who Im sure you will have heard of before and who doesnt need any introduction as these pictures speak for themselves (via Book by its Cover)  If you want to see more of his work, check out this website Boutavantheque by a lady who collects his books or his agency's site here.

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.

Naori Priestly

I came across these amazing pin cushions via Amelias Magazine.  They are made by Naori Priestly, a graduate of the RCA, and are just fantastic - Sit one of these lovely animals next to your sewing machine and you will probably get no work done as you will just be staring at your wonderful new pin cushion instead!