Portraits....landscapes....life drawing....and more.....

Little Mr J turned two last week, and I received a surprise birthday card featuring a portrait of him that my dad had painted.  The watercolour portrait is only small being on a birthday card, but it captures him (and his best friend, the Jolly cat) perfectly.

 

I've never really painted portraits, so I'm always in awe of people who can do this as I think it has to be one of the hardest things to paint.        

 

My dad has been updating his blog with recent paintings from his home in Ireland, work from a few years ago whilst living in Southern France and prior to that England, as well as sketches and paintings from his sketchbook.  The two paintings below are recent oils depicting moody skies and iridescent landscapes in Ireland.       

The scene below is a watercolour landscape of Ireland, and lastly a painting of Norfolk taken from his sketchbook. 

Recently my dad has also started some still life classes, painting nudes.  You can see more of his figure studies here and here.     

I have recently had the opportunity to paint the female figure for only the third time since leaving art-college, more years ago than I prefer to remember. Painting the human figure presents unique challanges very differnt to landscape or still life. It is, I believe, all in the drawing, getting the balance, form and proportions right. There are no straight lines, no definite angles or corners to take measurments from, coordination of eye and hand are paramount.

 And lastly here is a video featuring some of his current work.  Enjoy!   

 

 

Post holiday blues

I've been suffering a little bit with post holiday blues, after a beautiful week spent in Queensland. It was fabulous to get away for a few days for a change of scene, and to escape the chilly winter days here in Kyneton.

Mr J had a great time hanging out at the beach, making sand-castles and running into the surf for a paddle. As a child I loved going to the beach for summer holidays, and growing up in England nearly all of my childhood beach trips were in the UK or Scotland (if anyone watches the British TV series 'Doc Martin', this is filmed at Port Isaac in Cornwall - one of the beautiful beaches where I used to go on holiday) It didn't matter about the weather, it was all about being outside all day, discovering and exploring new places, playing on the beach, collecting shells and poking in rock pools - and yes it did involve swimming in the very cold waters surrounding our small island!  

It was wonderfully refreshing for us to have a break from work, and to be without computers, emails, train timetables and house chores for a week. Back to reality now with frosty mornings and still un-read emails in the in-box! 

Of course I made it a priority to check out a few local op-shops and second-hand places, and my Queensland holiday was complete when I found this rather gorgeous vintage English teacup and saucer featuring an art deco style pattern in tones of greens.

Vintage children's chalk-board & lettering set

Several months ago, I bought this rather cute vintage children's chalk-board and lettering set. The reason I bought it is that it is exactly the same one I had as a child, and it bought back all-sorts of memories when I saw it!

It's a rather nifty little set - the top of the case is a chalkboard that also doubles as a magnetic board, and on opening the case you find two trays of magnetic lower & uppercase letters and numbers, chalk, a chalk-board rubber and a set of descriptive cards. All housed in its own carry case with handle. Tres chic!

The assorted descriptive cards fit onto the chalkboard, and you can either trace around them with the chalk, or pop the magnetic letters into the blank spaces. You can also just put the letters directly onto the magnetised board and create your own words and sentences - or you can simply draw on the chalkboard with chalk.

It all seems very simple and naive compared to the sophisticated toys and video games available on ipads and iphones for children these days, but I think it's much more inventive and imaginative....although sadly it's not as light, and it doesn't fit in a handbag!

Charley Harper

The fabulous graphic-style illustrations of Charley Harper

I'm a big fan of the work of American illustrator Charley Harper, and some time ago I received this fabulous book Charley Harper an Illustrated Life, compiled by Todd Oldham, to add to my book collection. 

Charley Harper was a prolific American artist - born in the 1920's he started producing commercial work in the 1950's, and continued to produce commercial art, illustrations, posters, book illustrations, mosaics and silk screens throught his life.  With an instantly recognisable style, he was renowned for his highly stylised wildlife interpretations and modernist style. 

I love Charley Harper's very graphic and simplified style, with flat (almost computer-like) shapes and use of geometric patterning to convery texture and depth - instead of any shading.  He also has a fabulous quirky take on his subject matter - just look at his representation of the Australian Koala and the back scratching baboons.  

I'm totally in awe of his pared-back style, and find it amazing that his illustrations were hand-painted and not created on a computer!  His simplified and stylised artwork translates perfectly to silkscreen prints, particularly his bird series which culminated in his 'Birds & Words' book in 1974.

Above is a very tiny snippet of the very fabulous artworks in the book.  You can find more information about Charley Harper and his work here

And I quote......

And that's just how I'm feeling!

Vintage sewing tin

When I was at Inglewood several months ago, I bought this rather lovely vintage biscuit tin.  I was really taken by the oblong shape of the tin with its decorative geometric border, the sweet colour palette and the fairytale style triptych on the lid. 

The tin which originally housed Nestle's 'High Class "Miniature" Chocolate Assortment', has just been sitting on a shelf looking pretty for a while, but over the weekend I decided it would be perfect as a sewing tin!  So, I decanted all my sewing bits and pieces into the tin, and it's great I've found a use for it at last. 

Kitchen Table Memoirs - Illustrations

Pencil sketches and watercolour artworks for the Kitchen Table Memoirs book illustrations

 

A few weeks ago I blogged about a new book called Kitchen Table Memoirs, where I had the fantastic opportunity to illustrate the front and back cover for the book.  I thought I'd include some of the illustrations I produced for the book, and how I approached the project.

After being briefed by the publishing company and given a list of suggested objects for the cover, I initially produced some preliminary pencil sketches to show my interpretation of the objects and the vintage-esque feel.

Once the initial sketches were approved, I moved onto painting them using Watercolours and Arches Watercolour paper in a Medium finish, 300 gsm weight.  This is my preferred paper to paint onto - I like having a slight 'tooth' to the paper, and the Medium finish is perfect for being not too smooth nor not too rough.  I stretched the sheets of paper onto board so they wouldn't buckle, and sketched out the objects lightly in pencil before painting them.

The finished painted artworks were scanned into Photoshop at a high resolution, where I could tweak the odd colour and clean up the images.  Each individual painted object was then placed into Illustrator, allowing me to create and assemble different layout options for the front and back cover.

This was a great commissioned project to work on, and it was very exciting to see the finished illustrations on the front cover of a book :)

The colour of Autumn



It's been stunning around Kyneton and the Macedon Ranges over the last few weeks, with Autumn turning green leaves into claret and golden hues.  It's been lovely to get out for walks in the Botanic Gardens and make the most of the last rays of warm sunshine.  Already in the short space of time since I took these photographs, the leaves are falling off the tree's revealing bare branches in preparation for winter and the colder months ahead.    

 

Mr J loves helping to rake up the fallen leaves and put them into his wheelbarrow - or better still to just jump and play in them!   

Market day

This Saturday was market day in Kyneton.  It's one of my favourite days and a lovely way to kick-start the weekend, with a coffee (OK and a muffin) from a local cafe, followed by a stroll around the market.

The farmers market is held once a month and is full of lots of beautiful local produce, with a great selection of fruit, vegetables, olive oils, home-made dips, preserves, jams, freshly baked breads, farm eggs, beer, wine, chooks and plants.  The sellers at the market vary depending what is in season, but you always know it's locally made and produced.

The market has also spread further along Piper Street and into the local church, to incorporate the Makers Market.  Hand-made products and local arts and crafts are on offer, including stationary, gift cards, children's clothing, hats, knitted items, wooden toys, clothing and plants.

The fruit and veg looked particularly colourful against the Autumn leaf backdrop, and with my basket of goodies I've made a vegetable curry and a delicious vegetable and barley soup - yum!

Hand-made DIY indoor tent

It's been a while since I last had my sewing machine out, but a few weeks ago I came across some instructions for making a DIY A-frame tent.  It looked easy enough, and with winter just around the corner I thought it would be fun for Mr J to have a little indoor tent to play and hide in.

I found some second-hand fabric on Etsy (I bought a children's double bed sheet) and set about turning it into the tent.  There are some very glamorous kids indoor tents in the market place, but I thought a hand-made one would be just as fun - and little Mr J won't mind if it's not 100% perfect.

It's really easy to change and update the fabric as it isn't permanently attached to the wooden supports, and it also folds up flat for storage - handy!  I've updated the tent since I took these pictures, by punching eyelets into the fabric and adding ribbon to tie the ends of the fabric to the wooden supports - cute! 

The super-easy DIY tent instructions are found here on Cakies blog and there are also some rather cute play tents and teepee's for inspiration here on Etsy.

A lovely Autumn weekend

'Run the Rock' at Hanging Rock - with the local Kangaroos and a

hot chocolate being the star attraction

The Teddy Bears Picnic at the Kyneton Botanic Gardens

 

We had a lovely weekend last weekend with such perfect weather for Autumn.  The weekend kicked off on Saturday morning with Mr B doing a 10km fun run at Hanging Rock, raising money for Cancer Council Victoria.  The star attractions (other than the super-fit runners.....of which I certainly wasn't one of them!) was one of the local kangaroos clearly wanting to take part in the event, and best of all a hot chocolate to take away the early morning chill.

 

Then on Sunday we had the Teddy Bears Picnic, held amongst the trees and fallen leaves in the Kyneton Botanic Gardens.  It was great fun seeing all the children running around with their favourite teddy bears, dancing to the band, throwing leaves and taking part in games.  It was a beautiful setting in the botanic gardens, surrounded by the statuesque trees with their glorious coloured Autumnal leaves.   

Mixies

 'Mixies' card game from the mid 1950's

 

     Mixies colourful characters in thier 'correct' bodies (above) or a little mixed up (below)

I've been collecting a few second-hand and vintage children's bits and pieces recently, and one of my recent purchases is this fantastic set of 'Mixies' playing cards.  The cards are from about 1956 and is a puzzle-style card game where you can 'mix colourful heads, bodies and legs to make thousands of the zaniest, funniest circus figures!'

I'm loving the crazy circus theme, and of course the fabulous 1950's graphic-style stylised illustrations.  The cards are reminiscent of a non-digital era - pre-computer games, i-pads, Nintendo's, Wii and Angry Birds!      

Kitchen Table Memoirs

        'Kitchen Table Memoirs' book featuring my watercolour vintage-esque illustrations

I've been very excited about a project I've been working on over the last few months, and I can finally reveal what I've been working on...... my first commission for a book illustration!

The book is called 'Kitchen Table Memoirs' and features my vintage-style kitchenalia illustrations on the front and back cover. The book, published by HarperCollins, features stories and shared personal memories by various Australian writers and foodies, including Helen Garner, Valli Little, Stefano De Pieri and Denise Scott.

'Whether it is oak, pine, Laminex, varnished, recycled or modernist glass - in the domestic geography of our daily lives, the kitchen table is a constant. A silent witness to sustenance and solace, deliberation and argument, consolation and celebration. What other piece of furniture has witnessed so much and revealed so little?'

It's been a real treat for me to work on a book illustration, and of course the kitchen-themed subject matter was right up my alley! I loved creating and painting all the vintage style motifs for the book jacket, and working with HarperCollins to create the design for the final cover.

Kitchen Table Memoirs also supports a great charity, with a percentage of royalties from each book being donated to Foodbank - Australia's largest food relief agency. So, with Mother's Day coming up this book is an ideal gift, whilst also helping to put food on other people's tables.

Vintage teacup trio's

 

I'm loving this Autumn weather we're having, cool mornings and evenings but with beautiful warm sunny days. The tree's and shrubbery here in Kyneton is changing and every evening the garden is full of fallen crunchy leaves.  All around the town green leaves are changing daily into golden yellows and firey reds.

The change of seasons reminded me of these vintage teacup trio's I picked up a while ago from our local Salvo's.  They have an Autumnal air to them with decorative red roses, deep teal leaves, and bronzed leaf patterns.  Perfect for drinking endless cups of earl-grey tea.