Spiritcloth. Jude Hill’s beauty of storytelling through Quilting
I see that that the Knitting and Stitching show is currently starting at Alexandra Palace
in London and is on between 7th and 10th October, more info here.
Noticing that this was on, reminded me of a blog I often make the time to read.
Simply because the creator Jude Hill (above), manages to weave a wonderful story around
her work that makes it not only captivating reading, but also completely calming.
Somehow through her stories and explanations of her quilting craft, she manages
to make time stand still whilst drawing me into her tales and sparking thoughts.
There’s a great explanation about this lady here, and in the meantime I’ll delight
your eyes with some equally creative images of her quilting skills.
Her work is available for purchase here and is very affordably priced.
Jude’s wonderful blog can be found here but like any good stories or books, perhaps it’s worth reading
from the beginning.
Matte Stephens Vintage Revisited
A lover of old English films like The Ladykillers and Kind Hearts and Coronets,
Portland based Matte Stephens has never had a regular day job in his life !
Fresh from high school, Matte launched himself into a career of painting and
trying to get his work exhibited in local galleries and later online, being one of the
early contributors to Ebay.
Now with more than 16 years as a commercial artist behind him, his retro-styled work
sells internationally and through a number of online galleries and his blog.
You can find that you slowly fall in love with his humorous, yet slightly crazy style.
Great colours too.
There’s a great interview with the young man on Inspired Outsiders site here.
Edward Chambre Hardman Liverpool’s Portrait Photographer
Edward Chambré Hardman (self portrait above) was an eminent portrait
and landscape photographer, who moved to 59 Rodney Street in 1948
with his wife Margaret, who was also working as a photographer alongside her husband.
Two years later, Edward took what Peter Hagerty of the Open Eye Gallery claims to be
“the most reproduced photograph illustrating an era of Liverpool’s commerce”,
“Birth of the Ark Royal”.
I visited Hardman’s studio home last weekend. The couple didn’t throw anything away
during their time in their Liverpool home so it’s crammed full of 1950 and 60’s packaging,
clothing, images etc a rare place to see a home and business preserved from that era.
Below are some images taken from my visit.
You can find more information about how to visit this fascinating residence here,
and also about Margaret a talented photographer in her own right.
Jing Jing Tsong
Having a name that sounds like jingling bells, there’s no surprise that Jing Jing Tsong is a
colourful children’s illustrator (amongst other areas). Living in Hawaii, she has some
impressive clients tucked under her wing. Including, San Francisco Chronicle,
Penguin, Washington Post, Crayola, Girl Scouts of America, Wall Street Journal (Asia),
Honolulu Magazine, McDonald’s, Spirituality and Health and Common Grounds.
Her work is fresh, fun and almost sparkles with the sun and the life
she must see around her everyday. Check out her blog here.
Fishink Foxes In The Woods
Tadahiro Uesugi
One of the finest Japanese illustrators I’ve seen for a long time must be Tadahiro Uesugi.
His work is pure style and elegance and the figures in his illustrations which are
usually female, have such flair and poise that everyone would be jealous of their taste
and decadence. His towns and cities are beautifully drawn, and always are sunny and light,
with a great grasp for depicting nature and the seasons too, there’s some Sex in the City vibes
in their too. Hey this guy can do no wrong in my eyes, what do you think ?
More examples on his site here. It’s in Japanese but click on enter and illustration at the bottom then
just scroll and click on the images on the right. Enjoy.
Alice Melvin * Stop Press News *
I recently purchased a favourite print I’d seen from Alice Melvin’s online shop.
Although mine had a special addition, and look at the beautiful way it arrived.
I’ve been chatting recently to Alice and she very kindly let me into a few secrets
about the projects she’s working on at this time, that I’m able to share with you.
” There’s a new book that I’m working on with The Tate. It is going to be called
The High Street, and features a girl with a whimsical shopping list of 10 items
as she visits 10 traditional high street shops (bakers, sweetshop, pet shop etc.)
The book contains throw out pages that allow you to peer behind the fronts of the shops
and see everything that is going on behind the scenes. It is requiring a monumental
amount of detail and so is a project that has assumed epic proportions for me
and much eye strain! ” Here’s a sneak preview of one of the shop fronts.
The book looks to be a great idea but unfortunately we will have to wait until next September
before it’s available in our shops. In the meantime Alice has projects ongoing, working with
the National Galleries of Scotland designing new ranges of merchandise for their shop and
she’s creating her first textile designs for a childrens’ seating company, also in Edinburgh.
You can buy a whole host of finely illustrated products from Alice’s online shop here.
I’d also mentioned her work on a previous blog when I visited The Tate in Liverpool.
The Sketchbook Project 2 Brooklyn Art Library
In a not too distant post here, I gave you details about a wonderful project that
the Brooklyn Art Library is running for it’s fifth year. Without giving you all the info
again, it’s basically a great idea where anyone who draws, illustrates, designs or
breathes art in any form can illustrate a blank book and have it travel across parts of
the USA, before becoming part of a permanent collection.
Well my journey has begun, because today my personal moleskin sketchbook arrived.
I must admit I wasn’t too impressed at the quality of the sketchbook pages themselves,
but I believe people tend to stick their own work into them and cover them
in a multitude of ways and means other than with a simple pencil …
so we’ll see how we go. I’m hoping to bring you some updates as they happen.
The closing date to participate is October the 31st so hurry ! You can join the project here.
Helen Dardik Illustrator extroadinaire !
I love the work of Helen Dardik, it’s crazy, it’s funny and it’s beautifully created.
Helen lives in Canada with her husband and three girls and I’ve no idea where she finds
the time to create all the products that she does but they include paintings, illustrations,
textile designs and toys, ( to name but a few ).
Prior to going freelance she previously worked as a graphic designer for two years,
a production assistant for Canada’s longest running animated series ‘Kevin Spencer’
for six years and then settled for a career in Illustration.
I think she has a keen eye for colour and happily shares her thoughts and work on her blog
where she also has treats of download-able freebie labels and book plates and some
wonderfully illustrated photos of her and her kids having fun.
I bet she’s a fun mum ! More samples of her work and varied products here.
The Whimsical Works of David Weidman
My purchase of ‘ The Whimsical Works of David Weidman ‘ arrived today and what a book.
Beautifully illustrated with some excellent images of Weidman’s work throughout his career,
which I might add is still going strong at the age of 89 ! (see previous blogpost here. )
I think David’s work looks as fresh as when it was first created back in the 60’s.
fishinkblog.com 