Salts Mill part 2. Books and Stationery.
Following on from the wealth of images I took a week or so ago whilst at Salts Mill. I’ve finally sorted them into a presentable format for you. There’s such a wealth of beautiful Children’s Illustration out there that I defy anyone who wants to treat a youngster to a quality book, to be stuck for something to purchase.
I loved the retro feel to this ‘Operation Alphabet’ by Al MacCuish and Illustrations by Luciano Lozano, so much that I ended up getting a copy.
It’s also a fab story that will entertain the adults too.
There’s some great books for younger readers as well as visual treats for us ‘ahem’ slightly older kids. Beautifully constructed. Charley Harper, Alexander Girard and Eric Carle amongst those with new publications.
I loved the feel of this Gecko Press work called ‘Seasons’, great colour and atmosphere in the images.
Julia Donaldson moves from the Gruffalo onto Tyrannosaurus Drip ! and Whiffy Wilson- the wolf who wouldn’t wash, will be a good buy for mum’s of all young ‘ruff N tumble’ boys I’m sure.
Another couple of favourites here. Beautiful illustrations and a quirky style from Salvatore Rubbino (who for my money is a modern day Miroslaz Sasek), so I have snippets of both for you to see and compare. Salvatore looks at London and Miroslav takes in Paris. Both perfect for those tourist trips to the capitals.
I’ll be coming back to Miroslav again. His work is amazing. Leigh Hodginson has created a lovely loose style in her Goldilocks and Just One Bear by Nosy Crow publishers.
More boy centered books with these two swashbuckling Pirate adventures by Johnny Duddle.
Then we get onto the range for adults and some whimsical etchings based, this time, on a London Alphabet theme by Christopher Brown. Oops the Moomins snook in there too !
Something for the hobbyists and crafts minded peeps….
… and some that simply feel amazing and make you want to own them, for their photography alone or the way they can make you want to loose yourself in a good book.
Great covers, redefining some classics and some new titles too.
A few book covers that just caught my eye and made me smile quietly to myself and grow curious about what lay within it’s pages.
Intriguing Poster books and stationery too.
The more observant amongst you will recognise artwork from Angie Lewin, Matte Stephens, Lotta Jansdotter and a new one to me, Lovehart, amongst others.
Hope this visual feast has got you longing for a new book or something to write on ! Many thanks to the staff at Salts Mill, who not only created such stunning visual displays to tempt me but who, more importantly, kindly left me alone whilst I photographed half of their entire book department to share with you lol. The final part of Salts Mill still to come, interior displays and David Hockney. Watch this space !
There’s a great deal of my past memories tucked away in music and thoughts of the 1980’s. One glimpse that is as clear as day to me now, is the video of Annie Lennox in ‘Love is a Stranger’, tearing off her blond wig to reveal her short orange spikey locks. She has been a powerful figure and great songstress ever since.
We are fortunate in Manchester to be treated to a free exhibition of the work, outfits and memorabilia of the lady herself, housed at the Lowry and on until June 17th (sun-fri 11am til 5pm, sat 10 til 5pm). It has come from the V&A with personal extras added by the star herself.
The most powerful part of the show for me was the video room and being transported back to my youth, sitting watching Annie in the videos that I have grown to love and admire her work for.
Annie is one of the world’s best-selling music artists. She has sold more than 80 million records around the globe and won over 100 awards for her work. Born in Scotland, she shot to fame after she formed the Eurythmics with Dave Stewart. Their second album, released in 1983, was a huge success. By 1990, she had gone it alone. Her debut solo album, Diva, sold more than six million copies across the globe. In January last year, she was awarded an OBE. The lady herself introduces you to this exhibition below.
You can find out more about this amazing star on her website here.
Fishink in Saltaire. Salts Mill
Two weeks ago I managed to get a day free to go and revisit the wonderful village of Saltaire. Founded in 1851 by Sir Titus Salt, a leading industrialist in the Yorkshire Woolen industry. The name of the village is a combination of the founder’s surname and the name of the river. Salt moved his business (five separate mills) from Bradford to this site near Shipley to arrange his workers and to site his large textile mill by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the railway.
Salt built neat stone houses for his workers (much better than the slums of Bradford), wash-houses with tap water, bath-houses, a hospital and an institute for recreation and education, with a library, a reading room, a concert hall, billiard room, science laboratory and a gymnasium. The village had a school for the children of the workers, almshouses, allotments, a park and a boathouse. Because of this combination of houses, employment and social services the original town is often seen as an important development in the history of 19th century urban planning. There are some lovely galleries, cafes, bars and vintage/ retro shops just up the road from Salts Mill.
Some of the wonderful buildings in the village.
There is even a most impressive church built for his workers to go to. Beautifully carved with intricate details.
Salt’s Mill is an art gallery, shopping and restaurant complex located in Saltaire, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is inside a former mill, built by Sir Titus Salt. The 1853 gallery takes its name from the date of the building in which it is housed. Salt’s Mill displays many paintings by local artist David Hockney. When completed, it was the largest industrial building in the world by total floor area. It is a grade II* listed building.
They’ve created amazing spaces inside the mill and it’s lovely to see items from the old offices and work rooms now furnishing the modern rooms.
Some amazing displays in the bookshop, art shop and home interiors floor too.
Outside there is a great walk along the side of the building and further along the canal.
Part two with imagery from the books in the bookshop and David Hockney to follow.
Neiko Ng . Quirky Children’s Illustration
There is something a little mid century about the beautiful work of Neiko Ng. An air of Mary Blair or perhaps something I can’t quite put my finger on, but it’s got that familiarity and in a good way.
Originally from Macao, China, Neiko is presently studying Illustration at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, USA. She has made some lovely card designs which are available from her Etsy Store, alongside a range of prints. Her favourite medium is gouache and paper. She told me ” I like fashion drawing, paper cut art, book art, children oriented illustration, printmaking..etc. I am still exploring different styles/ techniques and trying to be a better artist.”
She has a steady hand for creating intricate cut outs too, just look at these.
A great eye for water colour and can even create pretty amazing architectural layouts. This girl has unstoppable talent !
A few of her book illustrations.
We’ve been chatting by email for a few weeks and decided to do a surprise Art Swop with one another. I sent her some of my original work and notebooks, cards etc and today I got this bulging illustrated envelope from San Francisco in the post today…. how very exciting.
Inside there were some fab tiny magnets to decorate my fridge, a card and three amazing prints of her artwork.
I’ll have to get these framed. How much they made me smile. Thanks Neiko, and I hope we will be seeing a lot more of her work in the not too distant future.
If any other illustrators / artists should wish to do an Art Swop, please drop me a line here , and I’ll feature it on my blog.
Alice Tait British Illustration galore .
Alice Tait works in her own studios in Bath town centre, and is always busily working away amid a pile of papers, ink splots and type books. She has a beautiful loose water colour style.
You may have seen Alice’s work in John Lewis flagship store on Oxford Street as it was used for the window displays. This year Alice has also completed her second project for The Folio Society, ‘The Darling Buds of May’ which she has illustrated throughout and created a new cover, and has just finished some exciting new wallpaper for the toy department in the soon to be opened brand new Waitrose in Canary Wharf. Here’s a selection of some of the book covers and maps she’s been working on.
Her most recent hobby is her new blog, ‘ 365 Days of Drawing ‘ as she has committed to doing a drawing a day for a year… check out her progress! There’s colour …
wonderful scenes …
and lovely figure studies amongst the day to day entries.
Alice has a range of prints available in her shop and I think you’ll agree, a friendly relaxed style that it would be difficult not to appreciate.
Tom Mabon Snow and Summer Artist
Tom Mabon works in the extremes of sun and snow. In 2006 he was shortlisted for the prestigious Aspect Prize and won £5,000.
Tom is a principal art teacher at Fortrose Academy. He has been painting and exhibiting throughout his teaching career. His short-listed entry was ‘Glasgow at Sunrise,’ which was based on photographs and sketches he took during a visit to the city. He said “ I am quite delighted and quite surprised to be short-listed. I liked the sunlight, the architecture and darkness of Glasgow. When you come down from the Highlands, it is a different environment in the city and that interests me ”. “My work is quiet, peaceful, and representational, based on places I’ve been to or incidents that I have seen.” Like these painting he created from a trip to Venice.
He captures the true feel of the landscape and isn’t afraid to show it in it’s true light, even if that sometimes happens to be pretty grey and dark !
Lovely to see a variety of styles and use of materials on his website.
His snow scenes are very calm and tranquil and I feel a quiet sense of being present, in the same moment as the artist, when looking at them.
The Lost Room . The power of objects.
I’m a bit of a fan of the occasional sci-fi drama when it’s done well.
Fringe, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes and from my childhood shows like Sapphire and Steel have all intrigued and interested me in the past. I came across a 2006 series called “The Lost Room” that I’d heard of, but not seen previously. This tells the story of a motel room and some of the everyday items from that room which possess unusual powers. The show’s protagonist, Joe Miller, is searching for these objects to rescue his daughter, Anna, who has disappeared inside the Room. Once a typical room at a 1960s motel along U.S. Route 66, the Lost Room has existed outside of normal time and space since 1961, when what is only referred to as “the Event” took place.
Joe Miller becomes the key holder, allowing him to open any door in the world. He uses the lost room as a portal to travel between areas that he needs to visit in order to track down other objects that possess different powers to help in the recovery of his daughter. The show (as with most good sci-fi series) amassed a huge cult following but as of today only six hour long episodes exist. No present plans have been announced for a second series. Today fans are still trying to track down copies of ‘the objects’ that appear in the programmes. Interestingly the dvd also had some info showing how sections of the motel were created and then deliberately aged so they looked like they were nearly 50 years old.
Some of the objects with special powers featured in the show.
The series felt like a cross between the Twilight Zone and Madmen. Six years on from it’s first airing there’s still an audience following. Amazing sites like The Collectors, 3-d designer Spencer Skoglund, and it looks like the story of the Lost Room may continue, but in comic book form, more info here.
I’ve always had what you might call an active imagination and I’ve never tried to suppress that, believing that it’s important in the maintenance and development of a creative mind, to allow it to flow freely and explore the areas that interest it. Great fictional escapism, for me, in the form of a film, book or programme and it’s ability to transport a willing viewer into other time periods, worlds or sometimes just to reach out of their own room is a fantastic resource.
What series have you enjoyed recently and why ?
Fishink in Tarporley again.
Another lovely day on sunday and I headed over to my friends in Tarporley, Cheshire. The skies were beautiful with ‘ Little fluffy clouds’ just like the song by The Orb lol.
In their back garden, I came across a collection of ‘chooks’ forming amongst the vegetables. Some that even store the light in the daytime and then glow from the insides in the evening, how lovely.
A fab array of shapes in the foliage. Tulips and Japonicas whose colour was really quite something and great swaggers of cherry blossom that hung from the trees like captured white candy floss.
We set off on a local walk. I loved this collection of pinks, purples and tiny blue Forget-Me-Nots.
The paths and fields were lovely in the sharp sunlight and dramatic skies.
There was plenty of wildlife and farm animals around to keep us company too. The pigs fur was so wiry and the little ones had curly tan turfs of hair on their sides. Mrs Pig couldn’t face being upright, preferring to stretch out and bask in the afternoon rays, and with all the little ones running around, I kind of understood why.
After the walk, the light was quiet dramatic and illuminated sections of the trees in the nearby field. It looked like someone had spray painted orange and yellow stripes across their branches.
This made me think of a Turner or Constable painting. Another a beautiful day and thanks again to my wonderful hosts for the scrumptious Fish pie that accompanied this view.
Gianluca Foli . Italian Illustrator
Born on a warm May night in 1978 in Rome, Gianluca Foli has always loved drawing. As a child of extreme curiosity he fed his passion year by year and now, from his Studio between the Castelli Romani vineyards, he collaborates as an Illustrator wih different clients like Feltrinelli, Mondadori, Fendi, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe and more. These are some coloured ideas he created for an illustrated version of Wuthering Heights.
He approaches the world of children book illustrations with “the Bear with the Sword” published by ZOOlibri in 2008 and choosen between the best 100 books at the CJbook Festival of Seul and at the Munich White Ravens. In this timely and ingenious parable, a bear with a powerful sword goes out into the forest to chop down all of the trees and build on his impregnable home fort. After it is washed away by a flood, he sets out on a journey to find and punish the creature responsible. After accusing an array of unusual creatures—including a pair of beavers, a one-eared pig-deer, a fox who loves archery, and some fruit-loving birds—he finally arrives at the truth: the flood was caused by someone with a sword who chopped down all the trees. The bear’s remorse, and the actions he takes to make good his vandalism, provide all young readers with an important message. You can buy a copy here.
Inspired by an oriental discipline, in his work you can feel all the mental concentration preceding the creative act which is palpable in his suspended lines and his wide white spaces.
This haunting and slightly dreamlike animated film called Silver House was directed and drawn by Gianluca.
and you can learn more about his way of working in this video clip.
You can also see more of Gianluca’s work on his agent’s site of Anna Goodson Management.
Jane Ormes . Bristol based Printmaker and Artist
Jane Ormes was born in Bromley in 1964. She graduated with a degree in Surface Pattern Design but now concentrates on producing whimsical and decorative limited edition prints which are available from selected galleries throughout the country and her site on Etsy.
Jane says ” My screen prints reflect my take on the world. I produce playful, colourful images, often involving animals in absurd situations. I like to think that these creatures all have a secret life that we know nothing about. I keep a notebook to jot down unsual names or lyrical phrases as these can often lead to an idea but its more likely that I will be inspired by a story or situation that tickles me. Drawing, patterns & textures are all integral to my work as well as large areas of flat bold colour which can be achieved by the screen printing process. ” She also likes the Japanese Gocco style of printing for it’s immediacy and portability too.
Jane sells her work through ‘Fig‘, a shop/gallery set up by six craftswomen in 2009. Here there are limited edition prints alondside exquisite handmade jewellery,unique felt collages, cards and other beautifully crafted original pieces. There’s a lovely feel of nature and the countryside in her work.
Apparently Jane confesses that she spends any spare time daydreaming about Daniel Craig and ginger flapjacks (although not together obviously !).
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