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
So these photos are not the sharpest but I will post better ones soon. I have been invited into to show a few pieces at The Big West Fest art festival at the Whale Art Agency in Wester Hales along with some very good ECA alumni. I have two new paintings going in (shown above) and will show also one from my Degree Show last year. The opening is on Thursday from 18.30-20.00 and I do recommend every one comes and has a look. It's bound to be lovely and looks like an interesting venue too. Here's how to get there. Back from holiday in Majorca, I got right back in nannying and had a perfect week back. I took the two youngest to the zoo and ran along a bridge together with zebras going under us. We took pictures of every animal and even got a great shot of a hippopotamus yawning (will try and post these soon too). Along with painting I have kept incredibly busy lately as I am planning a move to Falmouth in just over a month and as I'm starting a Masters there, there is much to do before hand. Looking forward to it immensely and really absorbing my last precious weeks in this city I've grown to see as home. It will be quite something to leave. I've stayed pretty steady put for five years now, and now I have a big haul looking me in the face. I'm looking it right back though and feel good about it. More soon. x
I am in this hot and lush place with family, talk of family, long lunches and slow-ticking time on my hands. Even if I come away only with sketches I am content (almost) to have these firey images bubbling away and preparing themselves. There are times when the internal things seem to all be lined up like ducks in a row, and time when they seem to be so scattered it's hard to see. This is a time, though, just in between. Holding promise but no mania. Reading The Moor's Last Sigh (S.Rushdie) in this place is like the sky behind the funny rainbow that is my trip. It took a long time to get inside the book but now I am hooked. (Thanks to my dear friend who picked it out for me, you know what I like) My grandmother (pictured above) is dancing behind me now to her favourite African music, its a breathy sound that brings heavy, vivid memories of my childhood with her. So many sounds and smells make up the ideas of what happened before, or in this case, what is still happening. The fascination we had of what she was doing and the way she moved!, every morning just as we woke groggy like lion cubs. I don't think there's anything that makes me so interested and keen to understand as growth and family.
I am not on holiday on my own here, not as a travelling brit or german drawn to the sun, sand and friendly custom- I am here with family. And I find, mostly when I am away from everyday life, not working, sleeping early and waking without an alarm (but early), that this puts my mind into a totally different place- wherever we may be gathering. I am almost a child here, thinking simply, eating happily when I am told, my chores are made incredibly pleasant and soothing... It seems 'being away' causes a shift or break really from being an adult. Is it that way for everyone? It's lovely here of course. The Mediterranean certainly has those famous and seductive healing properties. My legs turn to fishtail under water as they did as a girl and I am almost frantic with the chance to swim in the sea daily. Today, I went out with a mask and saw many white and black fish, nibbling on the rocks and laying eggs in the sand of the ocean-floor, they swayed in the current and so did I. I lay on my back floating and could see only blue. What that does to your head and heart! I miss my twinsister as one gets used to being apart when life has its tolls, we work and make up goals and see to them, worry and dream and what-not but when I get here with sweet-nothing to do- I really feel the gap between us. My sister- my natural half. So this picture is for her. As are all of mine. (*Technical resources run short here so I apologize for the unavoidable blur of some of the images in these island-posts.)
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.
After a real feeling of ambition and good ideas for the following week, I swiftly caught a bug going round and basically felt and acted rubbish all week. Though just a minor down it really pointed out to me how much I rely on my good health and while I do make an effort towards upkeep I need to get a grip on how to manage downfalls with a better outlook. Nothing serious. I worked, while not playing big games with the kids- did my duties, and slept while at home. It is Sunday now and I am really excited about going for my first exercise outing all week really- a bike ride with D to Gorgie City Farm for the youngest's birthday party. Here's hoping we beat the rain! On Friday, I had a couple hours extra nannying to do and brought along some kit for monoprinting to do with the girls. We had a sweet time and they made some really great prints. I'll see if I'm able to post some of theirs later as I really think the second eldest in particular had a knack for it. It's perfect for kids really because the mess and the rolling-action over the paper, and pulling it up to see the result really appeals. There's something to it because it's a bit of a surprise. Sometimes plain drawing can be a bit anti-climactic for them. We used a sheet of slightly corrugated plastic, gouache paints, copy paper and a rolling pin. xx
I feel like I've been spending a lot of time indoors lately. Edinburgh weather has not been at it's grandest this spring and I am hoping it returns to form soon. There has been quite a lot of rain this weekend. We have some kind of holiday today and tomorrow, so I have had extra time. Always a treat. Lately, I've had my hands full of the unexpected and haven't had the right mind to draw much but broke that pattern this weekend with some hours with the pen in hand. I had been wanting to do some fairly ambiguous work which I guess you could call "broken stories." They are just drawings with bits of narrative, which in the end, could maybe be strung together to form a story. But as there is only one right now, I like the idea of having just the bit of text and you can connect it to something if you like. I suppose it's as if you find just one torn out page from an old illustrated book. Even the tiniest things have stories attached. I guess nothing stands alone. I have been spending my time doing research of this sort and that and am feeling almost crammed with ever-shifting ideas and images... almost to the point where nothing will come out. Like a too full drawer, jammed shut. Hopefully I'll get in the better habit of shaking them out and making this site as regular as I'd like it to be. Normally I just use my pen-tablet for touch-ups, lettering and simple colouring but here is something a wee bit different. It's really just a test but was neat to do and I am set to try some more. Promise x
