Busy, Busy!

Last weekend at The Midland Arts Centre in Cannon Hill Park went really well. It was so good to see so many of  my favourite Birmingham makers altogether. I'll be there again on Sunday.

The day before on Saturday 27th, I'll be at the Handmade market- just behind the Bullring and adjacent to the Birmingham Rag Market. I'll be a little larger than usual, as I plan to be wearing all of my clothes plus a good layer of hot water bottles! It's going to be proper chilly!

Then, from December 3rd-5th, I'll be off to South Wales for the 'Made By Hand' show. This is a new Craft event, organised by the same people responsible for the Summer show in Bovey Tracey. It should be a great show, with lots of exciting work to see!

Goodbye Stig

A sad day. We said our farewells to Stig the dog. He's been our buddy since April 1997, and will very sorely missed. This is my favourite picture of him, leaping around like a loon on the beach in Aberystwyth.

Autumn Bliss

A late afternoon session down at the allotment last week. It's nice to get out in the fresh air and get a bit of exercise, there's plenty of digging to be done. The Autumn raspberries are still going strong despite a couple of frosts.

I also dug a few remaining spuds, and brought in the pumpkins. The big fella was put to good use with a candle on Hallowe'en, the rest of him ended up in a delicious curry!

Some More from Manchester

Here's some photos that we took during the set up at The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair the other day. Mr. Fox kindly came along to help, despite fighting a horrid virus.  He is very handy with a spirit level.

The first one going up on the wall. This is the new large print that I blogged about a while back. It was touch and go whether it would be ready, but I finished it on the Monday before the show! Phew! The pre planning worked after all.

 I'm a little teeny bit concerned about the bloke hopping around on the canvas roof.

Nearly done..

And relax...Job's a good 'un. We rewarded ourselves with some top flight Japanese nosh at a place round the corner. Takoyaki is my favourite!

It Takes Allsorts.

I'll be at the Solihull Arts Complex on Saturday, with a selection of prints, cards and notelets. Come and say hello if you fancy! It's free.

The Great Northern

Last weekend I had a stand at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in Manchester. It was a brilliant show, with a varied selection of makers. 'H is for Home' were kind enough to take a few shots of my stand, and cover the show on their blog.

This week I'm busy with lots of gallery orders. I've printed a vast amount of Christmas cards today for 'Not on the High St' orders. I've got a few more pics to share, but the camera is being 'difficult'. More later...

Cyril in stereo

This is my desk, taken over by the new edition of Cyril the Squirrel.

New Prints at Landmark

I'm busy getting ready for the Landmark Art Fair in Teddington this weekend. I've been a regular at this event for a good few years now. This show always has a good mix of art and jewellery (which means potential swapping- hurray!)

You can print out this voucher for 2 for 1 entry and bring it along if you fancy a visit over the weekend.

I'll be taking along six new screenprints, which are available on the website from today. here's a couple of them..

That's Magic!

The marvellous Karoline Rerrie has done it again! She has brought together a collection of female illustrators for the newest 'Girls Who Draw' postcard book. It's an absolute gem, with work by Karoline, Anke Weckmann, Gemma Correll, Mary Kilvert, Beth Morrison, Alys Paterson, Yee Ting Kuit, Sarah Ray, Currentstate, Kate Hindley and me!

Here's my contribution, a magic mushroom and a magic brew...

and a few examples of the others..

The books are available from my Not on the High Street page at £7 each.

Rough Edges

I don't usually bother with preliminary sketches for a print. I make the drawing, then the screen, and away I go. I like this, because it makes life dangerous/chaotic/fun- but also sometimes it wastes time and materials when things go wrong that could have been ironed out with a quick sketch.

So, here I am making a plan for a new giant scale print. Time is short, as I would ideally like to have this on the wall at The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in a few weeks time. Let's see if a bit of pre-planning will work.

Mouth Watering!

Oh my goodness me! Just look at these lovely new designs by Sanna Annuka for Marks and Spencer. And they have biscuits in as well. Can you really ask for anything else?

Handmade in Birmingham

There's been quite flurry of activity on the hand made scene in Birmingham recently. I'm very proud to have been part of the new market which takes place next to the rag market every Saturday and Sunday. I'll be there again this coming Sunday from 11-5pm. Come and say hello if you are in town.

http://handmadebirmingham.com/

I can't stress how much it matters to have good local venues for designers, makers and artists to show the public what they can produce. Well done 'Handmade'!

Stickers Are Here!

Look what arrived through my letterbox this week! I love getting parcels, and I love stickers. So, not a bad day for me.
They are available from Not on The High Street as of now.

New Notecards

I'm very pleased to announce that my new pack of notecards has arrived! These have been published by TeNeues- who have put them together in a lovely box with a highly addictive magnetic fastening!

There are 4 different designs in the pack.

They are available from my 'Not on The High St' page.

Frankness

The last of the sticker designs, inspired by an adorable little chap called Frank. Everything has gone to print and now I'm waiting excitedly for the postie to bring my new goodies!! Watch this space.

Nice One, Cyril

And here's another one- he's called Cyril.

Stick Around

This week I'm working on some new sticker designs. The peacock is a re-working of the 'Pretty Boy' print that sold out a while back. I should have a few more ready soon.

It's Not The Winning..

Last Sunday saw a rare opportunity for me to take part in the Wheelers Lane Annual Allotment Show. Generally we are off doing something else on the August Bank Holiday, so it's been a few years since I took part.

Now, I know that I haven't had a lot of spare time to lavish on my veg this year, but I was secretly hoping that I might scoop a couple of prizes.. My veg were HOPELESS! Not a single placing. Oh well, I'll just have to do better next year. However, I was consoled by a not-too-shabby second place for my plum jam.

Holiday Monday turned out to be a corker of a day, with a group visit to the Malvern Flea Market. I found some choice items, and had a grand old time. Kings Heath should put a coach trip on next time, there were loads of B14ers wandering around!

Playing Shop

Oh! I've had a good time at The Fountain Gallery! I'm currently sharing a show with Jennie Ing, Catherine Ball and Dana Leigh, and we are taking it in turns to do a stint in the gallery. I was there on Saturday, chatting to customers, crocheting and listening to some good tunes. What a fun day!

I had a nice evening with Jennie and her pals, then we had a 'meet the makers' event on Sunday. Lots of folks came along. Dana's husband Gavin made us some delicious food, and brought wine for our guests.

The show continues until Sunday August 15th. You can find the gallery at 26 Bridge Rd, Hampton Court, East Molesey, Surrey KT8 9HA. Telephone 020 8941 5865 

Urban Art Fair This Weekend.

Here's the info about the Urban Art Fair in Brixton,  I'll be exhibiting there this weekend.

Summer is here and now is the time to enjoy art in the open air at London's largest annual alfresco Art Fair. For the ninth year running the residents of Josephine Avenue will be transforming their sleepy, tree lined street into a bustling exhibition space. With a hundred and fifty photographers, printers and painters exhibiting this is our biggest event yet. Entry is FREE and with prices ranging from under a tenner to over a thousand pounds this makes it a truly affordable event for all art lovers, whatever your budget.

As well as a seeing a wealth of art, you can also taste a mouth watering selection at our various foods stalls which will include Mexican, Carribean and Indian, plus our Saturday 'Tea & Cakes' stand. Live Art will be provided by graffiti artists Soulful Gallery and JPart who will both be creating stunning new works on our Urban Art Walls. On the Saturday you can treat your ears at our SOUND STAGE which will feature an eclectic mix of music from local musicians (for more info click here).

You can also help us raise money for good causes on our Charity Sunday.This is when 10% from all sales will be donated to our two charity partners The British Home and Trinity Hospice.

Urban Art 2010 is a unique London event not be missed. Not only is it the perfect setting to view new and original artworks, it is also a great way to meet and talk to artists face to face. All this plus live graffiti being created in front of your very eyes, delicious food to taste, some great music to listen to, plus the opportunity of raising money for some very worthy causes...what more could you ask?

So make a note in your diary and set a date to experience art in the open air... it's what Summer days were made for.

17th & 18th July, 10am-6pm. Josephine Avenue, London SW2 

I'll be introducing a couple of new prints, which are versions of the illustrations in the book project I'm working on. This one is called 'The Allotment', and the one below is 'Dawn Chorus'. Hope to see you there!

More From Sweden

Here's some more pictures from my trip to Sweden in April. Emma and I went on a little jaunt into Gothenburg, where I was very taken with the Marimekko ceramics range.

I also had to be dragged away from this supercool Moomin poster!

Back at Emma's, I had a sneaky rifle through her fabric chest. She has made some good finds recently!

I'm terribly envious of the dress that she made from this beautiful cotton. There was also this, which is really rather smashing!