New Purchase

I was very excited to receive delivery of this painting this week.  It's by the very talented artist Louise Rawlings.  It's mixed media (mainly acrylic and gouache) on a boxed canvas and 395x295mm, so quite small considering all the detail.  I really like the inclusion of her English Setter, Alfie.

Louise also works freelance for Phoenix Trading, as well as other publishers.  You can see more of her work on her facebook page.

Springtime

I've been busy this month working on a couple of advent calendar designs.  They are taking ages and won't be published until August, so watch this space later in the year to see how Springtime for me is full of festive imagery.

New Cards

Here are two of my new designs published by Phoenix Trading in March.  They were designed for the difficult market of men/boys.  One is based on a circuit board, hopefully appealing to all computer mad blokes (or girls) and the other is a die-cut design featuring a football that looks like it's been 'signed'.

Hockney Exhibition

I'm really hoping to be able to make it to the David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy before it closes on 9th April.  I love this oil painting called 'Winter Tunnel with Snow, March, 2006'.  Photo credit: Richard Schmidt.

I love to draw trees in winter so it would be great to see paintings on such a large scale as well as the ones he's produced on an ipad.

Happy Valentine's Day

While searching for some interesting facts about Valentine's Day, I came across this piece of trivia: Traditionally, young girls in the U.S. and the U.K. believed they could tell what type of man they would marry depending on the type of bird they saw first on Valentine’s Day. If they saw a blackbird, they would marry a clergyman, a robin indicated a sailor, and a goldfinch indicated a rich man. A sparrow meant they would marry a farmer, a blue bird indicated a happy man, and a crossbill meant an argumentative man. If they saw a dove, they would marry a good man, but seeing a woodpecker meant they would not marry at all.

If you are not already married, have you seen any birds today?  

Stone Circle

I've decided this will be the image to represent my work in this years Cambridge Open Studio Guide.  It's always really difficult to select an image that I hope will draw people to my studio in July.  It's a paper drypoint measuring about 28cm square.

Wild Flowers Card

This is a new card design published by Phoenix Trading that is out this month.  It is printed on matt textured board and has added iridescent flitter.  It's based on one of my prints of my favourite plant, Cow Parsley.