Caution, Partygirl!

Hello,
Here is my Illustration Friday post this week, the word is Caution. The piece is titled Caution, Partygirl! and is a collaborative effort between myself and Imogen, one of the wee girls I take care of during the week.That's actually a birthday cake in the center, exploding. We painted it inbetween games of Memory, played with handmade cards by the two of us. We have made a winter stack and summer stack and I'll try and post pictures of those too before I leave Edinburgh.
I am only one month away now, a little less. Haven't started packing but will soon and am excited and in a daze at the same time. "Busy Lizzy" never ryhmed so well!
More soon, I promise and intend to keep it.
xx

Hot and Hollow

This first one is my long-postponed Illustration Friday submission, to the word Hollow. I am enjoying a very proper holiday in Palma in a part of the island called St. Augustine. All the houses keep three guard dogs and most of them are hairy German Shepherd or yellow Labradors, which seems funny when it's so incredibly hot. I have been swimming every day in the sea and spending all my time with my auntie, wee cousin and grandmother (who all live here these days.) Luckily.
I sleep with the windows open to catch any breeze and then must admit spend a good three hours laying in the house reading during Siesta time... though one day I do plan to brave the sun's harsh rays for the warm sand and lovely cool ocean. The beach's charms, though perhaps embarrassingly celebrated, are undeniable. There is nothing like a swim over clear waters and black as night sea-urchins.
As I said, the first drawing is my IF post for the week, following the word Hollow and I suppose you could say the rest of the word Hot. They are all of Majorca and in good collaboration with my cousin Raphael. For record's sake, he is six years old and very good at both swimming and drawing.
xx More soon.

the assumed impossibility of perfection

It has been some time since I've posted. Still, this evening I am beat and will write more on the weekend. I also hope to post some photos and drawings from a short trip to Berlin to visit my twin.
Quickly, this is both my IF submission for the week regarding the word, impossibility and a personal piece in three stanzas.
I look forward to getting back to more regular posts.
xx

Poised for spring

Hello all!
Well it's gloriously sunny and mild outside today and it's also my last day of work before Spring holidays. I made the decision last minute and booked tickets to visit my darling twin sister in Berlin. I haven't seen her properly in ages and much longer since it's been just the two of us, so naturally I'm bursting with excitement!
Because it's cheaper and quicker, I am taking the train to Glasgow Airport early tomorrow morning, which means an especially early night tonight. It will be fun to leave the house around 5, probably just as the sun is thinking about coming up, and my dear friend is taking me all the way there too. I truly can't wait! The girls I take care of are also going on holiday and everytime you mention the aeroplane they look fit to explode... while my enthusiasm is considerably slighter for the aeroplane itself, I feel nearly as joyous about the holiday away.
I know I haven't written in over a week and realise now that I haven't mentioned some very exciting news! I found out recently that I have been accepted into the MA Authorial Illustration course at University College Falmouth! So that means that I'll be moving down to tiny and lovely Falmouth come September. It's another big change but I am certainly looking forward to it. I've not been to Falmouth before, but I have spent a summer farming in Cornwall and it was the sweetest summer I've ever had. I've been fanatically looking at maps of the area and reading about it. The course is really exciting too and I'm so happy to be in the position again to be making plans, arranging possibilities. Hurray!
Needless to say, I anticipate actually leaving Edinburgh will be bittersweet, but I'll be cultivating the sweet until then.
Anyway, here is my Illustration Friday submission, the word this week is Poise.
It's also a little salute to my twin, in the excitement of my imminent arrival. Tomorrow!
xx

The Tale of Big Foot Bess

I have been waking up this week truly bright, early and ready for very full days. The sun has been decisively out and though the hills are hazy, the meadows remain crisp, clear and already sprouting with sun-bathers. It is a precarious position in Scotland to have your moods dependant on the weather but even though I do feel I'm getting better with that I must admit I've been in a pretty ridiculous state of mind. Cheerful, productive, romantic... Spring-time really makes me gush like a disney movie.
Yesterday I volunteered with a friend at the nursery school here. We dug out worms from the compost and rescued slugs for the children to play with. It was sweet them putting their tiny hands out to cradle these huge,green slugs! And of course, it was the perfect type of day to help in a garden.
This week's Illustration Friday is for the word Legendary. So above is my tall-tale poster, written and of course illustrated by yours truly. I hope you can read it okay (click the image to view large on page). It's a story of a little baby with mighty, strong feet who's temper tantrum creates a mountain range.
On the topic, my friend said something this week: He said, " I really think that legends came as answers to children's questions."
Lovely.
Let's hope these clear days last. x

Intricately One

Yesterday was great! The day went sweetly, had a really fun yoga class, got off work early and ran errands with my darling. And in the end, it was crisp and clear despite a rainy night and morning. Edinburgh is lovely in the fog and rain but there's really something special and regal when the sun finally comes out. Some weekends are better than others and I'm really excited about this one. I'm feeling productive and bright, relaxed, responsible. I finished the illustration for Hungry,Hungry Ghost's digital release E.P. and I'll put it up on my site when it's released.
Randan Discotheque is playing at the Wee Red Bar (ECA) tonight and I'll certainly be there. I really like watching them play and the songs are great, especially the heartbreak ones. Heartbreak ones are always my favourites.
Above is my Illustration Friday for this week, right on time. The word is Intricate.

Eye-Eye Captain!

This is a bit late but was my IF Submission for last week, which I believe was Breezy. Pretty simple.
I've had another crazy week, full of sick days and long hours with the children. But I left many of them with a conquering feeling. There is a rich satisfaction in taking care of someone and keeping your calm too. It's like letting go of yourself and becoming a sort of servant, but subtle. Though I must admit that it wasn't quite so dramatic for the most part- a week of long hours watching cartoons and making toast isn't any cause for alarm. And as always, my job as a nanny remains a treat. I didn't expect my job apart from Illustration being so satisfying- a sort of double calling.
The day is done now and I can hear that soothing sound of cars on a wet road. It was a grey, heavy day which, inconveneintly, usually put me in a super drowsy, stuffed-up mood. So the dark outside and the comfort of the lamplight in my tiny, granny flat is doing me real good.
I've been productive tonight and may have finished up an illustration for Hungry,Hungry Ghost's new E.P. titled, Cycloptic Myopia. I won't give the final work away but below is a picture of some of the prep-work. I spent my whole Saturday morning drawing eyes, over and over and over. I will, ofcourse, post the result as soon as it's released.
Splendid! x

Baby Instinct

It's been a full and hectic past couple weeks and I'm happy to have the day to sit down and take care of my to-dos. It's been sick-days plus school holidays so as a nanny, I've been working over-time. It's incredible the changes these kids go through on a daily basis. Emotional levels always adjusting and bouncing of their sisters, for better or for worse. It'd funny how much I can relate to the little one's tantrums. That's why this week I used the above drawing for Instinct on Illustration Friday. It's all about emotional instincts, out-of-body temper tantrums and needs beyond reason. Of course then with serious patience and support, the back lash is sweetness itself!
I am starting work on cover illustrations for an upcoming EP by Hungry, Hungry Ghost (do have a look and listen!) I'm really excited about the project and mostly making myself sit down to work. This weekend should lend lots of time for that, with many laps at the pool and my sunday yoga class in between. So yes, health and progress all the way this weekend! I think that's my serious backlash for a weekend spent whiling aways the hours for a good friends birthday.
While this winter has certainly not been my darkest, it really churned up my heart to see early spring buds popping up everywhere. And while I still had on a coat, I only had a tee-shirt under that... I wait with baited breath for summer, I really do!

Climbing

Well this first image is my IF submission for the week of course. This week's theme is Climbing. And here is the little one I'm in charge of climbing up the monkey puzzle tree. See, every day we pass the neighbors monkey puzzle tree and talk about the different monkeys in it and what they are doing. She's got the most monkeys, as they have new babies almost every week, usually pink or purple. Mine is white with reddish brown stripes.
Anyway, this week was sweet and full. On Monday, my friend and I went to Glasgow to see Of Montreal. I'll post a video on my youtube page and a link on here soon, but it wouldn't load fast enough just now.
I'll write more this weekend, I'm heading out for a bit soon as today is technically my Friday.
x

Cower and Pale

So I had a lovely evening over at my friend and collaborator, Sandra DeMatos' flat. She lives in a really great shared boarding with a roman statue to greet you at the door and great big Edinburgh ceilings. An ninety year old man lives under neath and a busy family up the spiraling staircase... you can hear the girl singing loudly as she comes home through the front door. Very weird, a treasure! We drew some and started planning the logistics and feel of our upcoming project. The idea is a cross-section of a house with all the rooms occupied by different aspects of fear and thinking/feeling. The above is just a little sketch called Cower and Pale... which doubles as my IF Submission- the word this week is Pale.
My eager plans for the next years are slowly inching their way together and I feel, these past few days, a real growing state of excitement mixed with contentment. A sort of confidence, I suppose, or hope.
I'll post more soon, I reckon. Truly look forward to this weekend.
xx

What words contain

I have had a very busy week, full of early mornings and a bit of good news. I am staying in Edinburgh, with full-british permission and have a lot of planning to do from here. But fortunately planning is something I go crazy for and relish in the things when they are made. The winter here has been exactly what the warning said, wetter by the year and pretty much mild and chilly throughout. The snow has never stuck and I don't expect it to. So, though it's missing some of it's whit-winter mystique this season has been surprisingly easy to bear. I'm in this funny mood where I could almost swear that even if the summer never came I wouldn't be hurt. Come back to me in March and perhaps I'll say differently. Here is my IF submission for this week. The word is Contained.

heavy winter grey

The heavy sky and winter rain today is taking considerable energy out of me. Despite it, I walked Archie through our daily wooded path which was especially muddy and slippery and emerged unscathed and happy to have done it. The rest of my day is to be relatively relaxed, my nanny duties to be carried out til 6 or so and then to the Cameo tonight with a friend. Yes, we're seeing Twilight. Recently too I watched Let The Right One In, a Swedish teen-vampire movie which I expect is a very different note from the blockbuster with the same premise. I recommend that one though.
Here is my IF entry for this week, the word being Resolve. Something I feel familiar with, and the kids do too.
x

Sweet New Year

Though I still have the weekend before heading back to work I certainly feel I am at the last end of my winter holiday. My dear dad heads back to Germany tomorrow early and we are spending tonight as we have the rest of the week: warm by the electric fire, reading, watching films and just spending time. Last night, New Year's Eve, was spent the same way and I loved it like that. Edinburgh's Hogmanay must be shrinking as I only heard about three fireworks the whole night and the whole town seemed fresh and clean today.
I am happy to have the weekend still but actually look forward to getting back to work, taking care of the three girls and fitting back into our daily routines.
Oh, and above is my Illustration Friday for the week, the word is Clandestine.
x

Out on a limb

And here it is: my Illustration Friday submission for the week with relation to the theme Voices. I am spending my first winter holiday in Edinburgh and am delighted every day so far with the turn out. I have my father with me and we spend the days just strolling. Even without a trace of snow it is stunning for winter, blue lights on the trees and not a soul out. Lovely.
x

The Hand of Burke

I have enjoyed a very busy week just passed and so did not manage my Illustration Friday submission on time. But the word was Similar and I thought it appropriate to post the dry-points prints series from my Degree Show back in June. They were centered very much around twin-hood and fit, though very flexibly, in chronological order.
I had the sweet opportunity to see Edinburgh with the eyes of a holiday-maker as my friend, Sasha, from Florida paid a short visit. We spent the days walking quickly through the cold, making stops for vegetarian Haggis and different sights (including a tiny and not very impressive wallet made from the left hand of William Burke.) We also went on the Ferris Wheel which went much faster than expected and was not the quaint and lovely view of Edinburgh we wished for.
I am more than halfway through my lazy Sunday and expect to spend the rest of the night making holiday cards from the comfort of my tiny couch and preparing for an early rise tomorrow.
x

Blue blew away

Here is my IF submission for this week, the word being Balloon.

x

Wind from the North

The increasingly dark days and chilly wind has made me too sleepy to write much but let this image suffice. It's my Illustration Friday submission for the week and the word is Pretend. It's based on a game I played with one of the girls I take care of where we pretended that their little Jack Russell Terrier was a baby. And he played the role surprisingly well!
I have a sweet weekend planned and in a way I look forward to the North Pole current heading our way this weekend. Bringing temperatures down by 10 degrees, they say. It would do me real good if it snowed this winter, I haven't seen Edinburgh bathed in white since the first year I moved here! Here's hoping, as always.
x

Wise Are The Wilds

Well this is my submission for Illustration Friday this week, the word being 'wise'. It is very appropriate that it happens to be the first post at this address, a very good place to start.
Edinburgh is beyond sweet this time of year. The leaves have changed to yellow and are falling to fill the pavements and the bareness of the trees lends a whole new view to admire.
I'll be posting drawings of the city soon, and regularly too, as I am keeping a series of books this year on what could be my last foreseeable one in old Edinburgh.
For previous posts and to see more of my work please do visit www.esargent.com
Goodnight now.
x