Spring is here!

...Longer daylight hours, flowers in bloom, daffodils everywhere, green, warmer days, blossom, days spent outside, afternoon walks and drinks in the sunshine x

My Paris sketchbook...

Inspired by... Colour, in Paris

 

Yaacov Agam, Amenagement de l'antichambre des appartements prives du Palais de l'Elysee pour le president Georges Pompidou

Frida Kahlo, The Frame, Pompidou

Yves Klein, portrait en relief de martial raysse Musee De'Art Moderne

Yves Klein Grande anthropophagie bleue, Hommage à Tennessee Williams, Pompidou

Some of the artwork I saw on my Paris trip. Top: Yaacov Agam an Israeli sculptor and experimental artist exhibited an installation in the Pompidou analysing colour and form. I like the connection between the installation and the viewer, this piece was very energetic. 

Middle: the Pompidou was running a programme and workshop for children and families to explore the life and work of Frida Kahlo. I love her work and learning about her inspirational life and journey to overcome her physical suffering through her art. "I paint myself because I am so often alone, and I am the subject I know best,' and 'I paint my reality. I know only one thing: painting is a real need for me.'

Below: Yves Klein. Excited to see this piece (bottom) in the flesh and make out all the little human details from Klein's 'body' brushes (He covers female models in paint turning them into human paint brushes to create his artwork on canvas.) This piece references the artists' fascination with cannibalism parallel with nuclear threat. 

Instax snapshots from Paris

Last night we got back from our Paris trip. It was so inspiring and we managed to fit so much in including a lot of walking! The weather was amazing so it was a great opportunity to experience everything on foot. (There was also a high level of pollution so the metro was free for the weekend which was handy for tired feet breaks.) We visited the Pompidou, Notre Dame (my favourite building in Paris,) Arc de Triomphe, Lourve, Jardin de Tuileries, Eiffel Tower, Musee D'Orsay, Musee d'Art Moderne, Musee de Montmarte, Invalides, saw a show at The Moulin Rouge - which I loved! and took a boat cruise down the river Seine on our last day. The trip was filled with art, culture, macaroons and coffee, it was so good. I'm feeling inspired to purchase a National Art Pass  after the trip to make the most of the museums in London, it offers 50% off many major exhibitions and I think it will be a good incentive to encourage me to go to more exhibitions and shows. I'm going to share another post with my favourite bits from our Paris museum visits, there were lots but here's some snapshots from my instax camera. I love this camera - it was really sunny while we were there so a few of the photo's were a bit too overexposed but I love the little collection of pics that did come out, hope you enjoy.

Paris sketchbook trip

I'm off to Paris later today for a week long sketchbook break. I'm looking forward to lots of drawing, visiting the museums and sights, drinking coffee and eating croissants! Hope you have a good week too and I'll be back to share bits from my trip next week.

Books on my Wishlist

Here's a few of the books on my current wish list... 

Kerry Lemon's 'Fearless Drawing,' 'Illustrated adventures for overcoming artistic adversity.' I follow Kerry's blog and her work is so beautiful. She has a really energetic attitude towards what she does for a living and her enthusiasm is contagious so her book is bound to be equally inspiring. It's a great concept for a book, I can't wait to pick up a copy in June!

This book by art blogger at The Jealous Curator Danielle Krysa, looks like it could be a really good reference and go-to book in times of need! Everyone gets creative block at some point and this book contains tips and advice from 50 artists about how they personally overcome it. The artists give their insights on how to conquer self doubt, stay motivated, and get ideas to flow with each artist offering up a tried and tested exercise to kick start the creative process. 

'A Beautiful Mess, Happy Handmade Home,' by Elsie Larson & Emma Chapman. This is the second book by this creative duo who together run the A Beautiful Mess blog which is packed full of daily inspiration in the form of d.i.y's, recipes, crafts, photography, fashion, decor and lots more! I'm obsessed with their blog and really enjoyed their first book which was a photo idea book. I'm currently saving to buy my first home so I think this book will be really helpful and fun to look through to get ideas.

I love reading the sort of books where you don't have to go through each and every page but can pick up when you want to and use as reference books to inspire and inform when the mood takes you. What's currently on your book wish list? I'd love to hear your recommendations! 

Illustrations for '365 Reasons to be proud to be Irish.'

Last year I worked with Anova books to illustrate one of their new Portico titles '365 Reasons to be Proud to be Irish,' by Richard Happer. The book is part of their popular culture and humour section and their 365 series. The book takes a look at Ireland's rich history, heritage, traditions, landmarks, culture and more.

I enjoyed working on this project and I really liked the fact I was restricted to using only black and white, it was a fun challenge! This was the first book I illustrated (now I'm on my fourth) and I absolutely love working on book projects and in the publishing sector - it's nice to have projects with a lengthier timeframe and I love seeing the final product!

Icons used throughout the book

I hope you like the final artwork, there were 18 illustrations in total so here are some of my favourite images from the book. Please feel free to get in touch if you would like to see more. 

Waitrose Kitchen March 14.'

This months feel-good food illustrations were all about sweetcorn, lime, flat leaf parsley, cauliflower, puy lentils and sweet potatoes. I can't wait to try out the recipe for sweetcorn fritters with avocado and cherry tomato salsa, sounds and looks delicious.