Fishink Travels.
I’ve just returned from a lovely four day break in the heart of Northumberland.
Here’s some of my friend Sarahs’ work and surroundings.
Many many thanks to Sarah and her mum for being such great company and artistic
guides ( as ever ). If you want to experience a beautiful stay in Northumberland
check out their wonderful cottage ” Townfoot “, as a fantastic place to stay .
You can also buy some more of Sarahs’ beautiful papercut pop-up books here.
For the Times they are a changing !
Just returned from a lovely escape away for 4 days. Snow, sun and scenery
and I didn’t even leave the country ! Here’s a quick taster, more tomorrow.
My bedroom view on the first morning !…… Cripes where did all that snow magically appear from !
My farmyard neighbours…. snow only lasted a day (thankfully).
And a bewt of a sunset on day three…. sigh this is the life lol.
Glen Mullaly. Retro-modern cartoonist
When he’s not dressing up as a space man, or looking like a character from Scooby Doo ! ,
you can find a great energy and style to the work of Glen Mullaly. He manages to emulate
and create that wonderful retro feel in his work, often with a modern twist thrown in.
There’s a great interview about him, his origins and his own ‘ what makes you tick’, over at
Design Inspiration. Some of his work looks so close to the genuine 50s’ retro, that I would struggle
to tell the two apart. There’s also some great vintage pieces on his flickr site here. Great work Glen.
Staffan Wiren. Swedish Illustrator of the 50s’ and 60s’
If it wasn’t for the kind P-E-Fronning on Flickr, I’d never have come across the work of
Staffan Wiren at all. All I can gather is that he worked as a
Swedish Illustrator in the fifties and sixties.
It’s such a shame with a lot of amazing artists from this era that more information isn’t
available online. I hope someone out there is writing a book about them all and is busily
compiling information as I type ! It would be awful to loose the chance to see such
beautiful and inspiring work from this era.
Madalena Matoso. Childrens’ Illustrator from Portugal.
The illustrator Madalena Matoso was born in Lisbon (Portugal), in 1974. She attended a course
at the University of Lisbon and also studied graphical design editorial in the University of Barcelona.
In 1999, she established, together with the writer Isabel Minhós Martins, the publishing company
Tangerina Planet. In the 2008, ‘My neighbor is a dog’ received a First for Best Illustration
from Childrens’ Book in the Festival of the Fan, Portugal. More of Madalenas’ work here.
Such lovely colours, textures and styles.
Fishink Birdwalk.
Nobuo Yamada. Japanese Illustrator
This is not the well known Japanese lead singer of the band ‘Make Up’, this is Nobuo Yamada,
the lesser known but still admired illustrator !
His work has a lovely 60s’ and 70s’ feel and his colour use, like his imagery, is pretty dreamy too.
Twiggy… make room for these !
Craig and Tone Ceramics.
Here’s a sneak preview of the latest work that I’ve been designing with my friend Tone.
She has a beautiful studio space in which she can throw the ceramics (on the potters wheel)
and on sunny days, it’s a great escape that makes you feel like you’re somewhere else.
The ceramics here have still to be fired and the bluey tinge on the decals (or transfers) will
disappear leaving only the true colour that we originally created. I still get excited when I
first see the results coming out of the kiln.
Soon these will be available to buy on my Etsy site. Cups, Vases, perhaps ceramic tiles
and perhaps some easter eggcups too. How exciting !! Watch this space for details.
Tone hard at work making some more mugs.
Fab Friends and counting your lucky stars.
I am lucky enough to have the kind of fab friends who not only txt/phone/email me but
when it comes to them visiting me, who also bring beautiful gifts as well as their company.
For both, I am forever grateful. I’m also thankful that I have had Sarah as a friend since
my school days, which is more years than I care to remember ..
and we still get on so famously lol
This beautiful present from Sarah had one of my own stickers that she’d made into a gift tag,
and the dotty long list is made by Mara-Mi. I do my own range of notebooks available here.
Ken Garland creator of Galt Toys from the 1960’s.
Galt was founded over 150-years ago as a stockist of educational products and turned into what is now “Galt Toys”
in 1961 with the aim of selling fun and creative toys that encouraged learning through play.
Ken Garland established Galt Toys and they also produce a range of products aimed at older children.
In particular, their “Horrible Science” kits have proved popular with children and parents alike.
Thanks to their strong educational content which is effortlessly combined with great play value.
With names like ‘Weird Worms’, ‘Snotty Slime Clock’ and ‘Blood, Bones and Body Bits’,
I can see why kids like them ! Thanks to Jane Foster, Eliza Boothy and Sharon Hall Shipp
amongst others, for some of the images used here. More about Ken Garland here.
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