Jae Hyo Lee Korean Natural Sculptures
Born in Hapchen, Korea in 1965 Jae Hyo Lee completed a B.F.A in Plastic Arts, Hong-ik University in 1992.
Leaving plastics behind Jae Hyo went on to discover his love for more natural materials, such as wood ….
Look at these beautiful chairs.
Scale appears to be no problem for this talented designer.
Beaten nails into wood.
Stone.
And finally metal. Beautiful shapes, organic and curvaceous, they really make you look twice.
Also beautiful when more weathered and rusty.
Lee creates some weird metallic animals too. The tortoise-helmet made me smile.
Is this his take on ‘ The Scream ‘ I wonder ?
Captivating, Inspired and creative work by a talented maker. More pieces on Lee’s website here.
If you liked this post , you may also like the work of Michael Grab and Andy Goldsworthy.
Fishink Christmas Designs 2014
It’s that time of year again when we start thinking about some the approaching ‘time off’ and ‘time out’ (hopefully). I’ve been busy designing my Christmas cards for this year too. Here are a few of the drawings that didn’t quite make it onto a card this year.
And finally……… the two designs that did ! Dog and Tree and Two Robins with Mistletoe.
What’s even better is that I’m selling them at last years price of
10 cards for only £10 ! (plus p&p of £3 in the UK or £4 to anywhere worldwide)
You can select a pack of 10 handmade cards of either design or ask for a mix of the two styles.
They are all created using recycled paper and envelopes.
What’s more it’s so easy to place an order using paypal,
simply send an email to craig@fishink.co.uk stating…..
1. your desired quantity of cards, ( 10, 20, 30 etc )
2. your selection (Dog and Tree, Robins or a mixture of the two)
3. your address (inc postcode) and
4. the email address that you use for paypal
and I’ll send you a paypal request for the amount and then get them in the post asap !
Please pass this post onto anyone who might also like these cards and
help support small business this year.
Don’t forget you can find more Fishink gifts, like Cards, Notebooks, Stamps, Original Illustrations and Art Prints, which also make superb Christmas presents too, over here. Some examples below.
or even a piece or Original art.
Many thanks for your support, and pop over and order something from Fishink today : )
Vintage Book Covers
Happy Monday everyone, I trust this finds you well. To ease you gently (and colourfully) into the week, here are some more retro book cover online discoveries for your (and my) visual delight ! I hope you enjoy them.
There definitely appears to be more mid century book covers aimed at boys than girls. These Polish ones are lovely, I really like the two little guys in the tree.
A couple more girl focussed pages.
Tons of space books from the 50’s and 60’s. It appears that everyone liked making rockets.
A book about being a chimney sweep, not so much of a profession these days but again fab illustrations.
And for those of you who have been waiting for the kids to go back to school before you go on your late year holidays, here are some cars, planes and travel guides just for you. Gosh I do try to think of everyone : ) Comments welcome as always please.
Sarah McMenemy Illustrating pop-up city life
Sarah McMenemy grew up in London. During her teenage years she was asked by a family friend to draw their house as a memento as they were moving away. By word of mouth she was soon receiving similar commissions and ended up drawing many of the fine houses in North London.
She studied at Chelsea school of Art and Brighton University where she graduated with a degree in Illustration.
On leaving art school she started working for many of the architectural, beauty, home and financial magazines based in London. As a result of this exposure she went on to work with top design and advertising groups and has enjoyed a great variety of commissions from prestigious clients and opportunities to travel around the world. A notable job came from London Underground to create a permanent installation of eighteen full height panels lining the platforms at Shadwell Station on The East London Line. Her reportage illustrations portray the richness of The East End, from pubs, market stalls and tenement blocks to majestic tall ships, and Hawksmoor Churches.
Below is one of her commissions for luggage company Delavaux. There’s a great ‘upbeat’ feel to the characters and situations.
There’s a lovely series of pop out city guides adorned with Sarah’s illustrations. How fab are these, available to purchase here.
In recent years Sarah has also been working on Children’s Books. Walker Books in London, have published two books, both written and illustrated by Sarah as well as the ‘Bonnie’ series of reading books which she has illustrated, written by Bel Mooney. Knopf at Random House in New York have published three of Sarah’s picture books written by respected American authors. She gives talks and workshops to schools and libraries about her work and has book signings at children’s bookshops.
I asked Sarah what she has been working on most recently and how she develops her wonderful style.
” I was working earlier this summer on a new project designing a set of tableware, dinner plates, platters etc. It was based around a classic Hollywood Movie. This was something I had always wanted to try and thoroughly enjoyed it. Another interesting project was to create scenes from around the new development at Cambridge Station, showing how it will look when the building work is finished. I’ve just done a couple of images of restaurants for The Sunday Times to illustrate the AA Gill restaurant reviews. “
” I create the finished pictures on paper using gouache, ink and some collage. Then I tidy them up, make minor adjustments and any corrections in Photoshop. A lot of the enjoyment of being an illustrator, for me, comes from the process of painting and drawing on paper. I use the digital part of the process as a final tuning tool.”
Lovely work Sarah, I can’t wait to see what is coming next, good luck for the future and do keep us posted.
Modern Publicity 1959 – 60. Illustrated Mid century Art, Advertising and Graphics Part 1
Welcome…. we’re off doing some vintage travelling accompanied by the Modern Publicity graphics and illustrations from the 1959-60 annual, grab your coat and join us.
Lovely animal illustrations too.
Some great textural posters here, I can only imagine how colour would have added to their overall eye-catching appeal.
Clever use of the flying fish morphed into a plane in this Finland travel poster.
Busy people everywhere and all rendered differently, it’s interesting to note just how many varied styles are being used at this time.
You can find more posts and illustrations in this series by typing the words Modern Publicity into the search function on the right of this post. Don’t forget to share it and tell your friends about Fishink Blog. Thank you.
Finally myself and the wonderful art of Jim Flora would like to wish you all a very safe Bonfire night too . Please don’t forget to look after your pets who might now be quite so excited about the prospect : )
Bits and Bobs with Birthday Boo, Edward Bawden and Emily Sutton.
October has been such a beautiful month here in the UK. How are things in the USA and Japan nature wise, blog readers … or anywhere else for that matter, do let me know ?
I’m really enjoying the colours and unusual warmth of this years Autumn.
My dog Boo has been enjoying them too, as we seem to spend more and more time outside, making the very most of the days before the inevitable colder climes come-a-creeping. She’s been a little overly focussed on squirrels of late, but fortunately hasn’t been able to catch one … yet ! It’s a good job they’re pretty agile too as her speed (when she’s engaged in their pursuit) is ‘faster than a speeding bullet’ lol, and with her autumnal colouring, she’s managing to blend into the leaf fall pretty well, squirrels beware !!!
Yesterday was her birthday.. she turned one. Celebrating with a ceremonial dip and a splash.
Happy Birthday Boo : )
Later on we went walking in Vernon Park in Stockport and swished along some beautiful leaf-laden, forest paths.
The colours were spectacular and Boo was sprinting up and down the paths and hills, absolutely in her element. She nearly blends into the environment completely here.
So much to explore, things to do, sticks to fetch, squirrels to bother ! Never a dull moment.
I loved the red and orange hillsides, scrunching underfoot and watching Boo leaping around like some cross between a kangaroo and a gazelle lol. I swear she spends more time in the air than on the ground, more like a hover dog !
Two very noteworthy events coming up in November. Firstly there’s an exhibition of Edward Bawden’s work at Morely College in South London. Starting tomorrow, it’s on until 26th Nov.
Secondly, Y.S.P have an exhibition called ‘Town and Country’ showcasing the fabulous work of Emily Sutton, starting on November 15th. It is probably on for a couple of months I’d imagine and Emily is also delivering a couple of exciting workshops, one about stitch and one about hat making. Sign up today !
Finally I have a winner of the Benji Davies Book competition from last Monday. The lucky lady is Carys from Edinburgh, who has two girls who will soon be enjoying their very own copy of ” On Sudden Hill”. Thanks to everyone who took part and especially to the wonderful mister Benji Davies for donating the copy initially. Happy Monday everyone : )
Terence Greer Mid century Illustrator
Happy Friday everyone. For more festive and Halloween based illustrations check out this Helen Borten post I created last year, otherwise here’s a little illustrative nostalgia for you to enjoy.
Born in England in 1929 in Surbiton, SW London, Terence Greer studied painting at Twickenham School of Art, joined the RAF in 1947, then studied at St Martin’s and the Royal Academy School.
Between the 1950s- and the 1980s he was both a playwright and illustrator. Illustrating book covers for Penguin Books and in magazines such as The Economist and Radio Times.
One of his greatest visual impressions from childhood was the Hollywood films from the 1930’s. His consuming interests are jazz, the cinema, photography and the more graphic work of Picasso. Perhaps as a consequence, his work does have an almost cinematic feel to it.
He was represented by Saxon Artist Agents. He later focused on painting while living in Australia, then Canada, Vancouver being his home since the mid 1990s.
His works have been exhibited at the V&A and Ashmolean museums.
Creative design books by Ernst Rottger
For those of you who love mid-century craft books, I came across this fab series published by B.T. Batsford Ltd (now called Batsford Books) in the early 1960’s. Written by Ernst Röttger it contains images of students work from a variety of ages and covers areas such as Clay, Paper, Fabric, Wood, Metal, Different Surfaces and Creative Drawing. 
Here’s a few images from different books in the series. I wonder if the creator of the kids series Fingerbobs had read these books !
Looking at sculpting in clay and wood.
Mark-making, exploring shapes, textures and line.
Designers like Jurianne Matter have explored and modernised these lantern ideas (below) that we used to make as children.
I expect, due to the popularity of this series which was reprinted about 9 times, publishers Batsford Books extended the series, they included more books, this time by Rolf Hartung and covering areas like textiles, colour and corrugated paper craft.
If you like this era of craft books then check out some more suggestions on the Hippli Books Site. Don’t forget to enter Monday’s competition for a chance to win a copy of Benji Davies’s new paperback picture book for children, On Sudden Hill, see here for more details.
Competition !!! Win a copy of ‘On Sudden Hill’ and Lovely Blog News.
Happy Monday one and all and I thought it was about time for another competition. This time, the prize was very generously donated by non other than the very talented Mr Benji Davies himself ! and it’a a paperback copy of his latest book ‘On Sudden Hill’ written by Linda Sarah. Which I’m delighted to say has just been nominated for the 2015 Kate Greenaway Medal !
It’s beautifully illustrated and aimed at 3 to 7 year olds but many adults will love it too !
To win this fabulous book I’d really appreciate it if you could ….
1. Tell me why you read Fishink Blog and what you like and perhaps dislike about it, you can leave me a comment below. (All feedback most welcome)
2. Tell three friends about this blog who you think would like it and may not know about it already and ask them to show me that you have guided them here.
3. Explain who your favourite illustrator is and why you like them.
I’ll be picking the best reply I receive on next Monday’s blog, and it’s open to anyone all around the world. So don’t delay, get busy today !!!
On an equally happy note, the fabulous travel writer Lizzie over at Dream Discover Italia has nominated Fishink Blog for a ‘Lovely Blog Award’…… how great is that !
The award states that I must share 7 things about myself that you may not already know, so here goes : –
1. I’m a Textile Designer / Illustrator currently living in Manchester, UK.
2. I’m also a Reiki Master and have trained in this for the last 12 years.
3. Next Christmas time I will be fifty years old, (although, curiously, I still feel about 25 ! ). I have no fears at all about reaching this age, especially as my friends keep telling me I’m wearing well, perhaps that’s why they’re my friends lol
4. My favourite colours are blue and orange.
5. No surprises for guessing that my favourite design era is around the mid-century.
6. For relaxation in the evenings, I like to escape by watching quality Sci-fi dramas (Battlestar Galactica, Fringe, Game of Thrones) or sometimes by reading teenage fiction. I find they help stimulate my creative side and give my practical, multi-tasking-brain some time off too.
7. I feel very lucky to still have two wonderful parents, many great friends (some dating back to my school days), a fab partner and beautiful dog to help me appreciate my life. Long may that continue : )
For 9 of my own nominations (in no particular order) for this award, from the myriad of great blogs that I follow : –
Lizzie over at Dream Discover Italia for her tourist’s eye cast over the life of Venice as a city.
Michelle at Pattern Observer for her wonderful selections and featured artists work.
Bowie Style over at Print & Pattern, a blog I’ve loved, admired and followed for the longest of time now.
Hazel Terry at The Art Room Plant for introducing me to so many fabulous artists I’d never have discovered if not for her.
Jil Casey at The Art Of Children’s Picture Books for showing me so many great illustrators of children’s books.
The peeps over at Quad Royal for sharing their love of vintage posters and artists.
Laura Ottina at The Animalarium for her amazing collections of different animals and fascinating articles.
Irene Hoofs over on Bloesem for her impeccable interior taste and styling.
Katie Treggiden at Confessions of a Design Geek, whom it appears shares very similar likes to myself as her blog never fails to please.
And for everyone of you that continue to follow and comment on my blog too.. Many thanks !
Useful information – The Rules
The One Lovely Blog Award nominations are chosen by fellow bloggers for those newer or up-and-coming bloggers. The goal is to help give recognition and to also help the new blogger reach more viewers. It also recognizes blogs that are considered to be “lovely” by the fellow-blogger who chose them. This award acknowledges bloggers who share their story or thoughts in a beautiful manner to connect with their viewers and followers.
In order to accept the award nominees should –
- Thank and link back to the person who nominated you for the award.
- List the Rules and Display the One Lovely Blog Award logo to your post and/or blog.
- Share 7 facts/or things about yourself.
- Nominate up to 15 other bloggers and let them know about the award
- Follow the blogger who nominated you (if not already!)
Modern Publicity 1950 – 51. Illustrated Mid century Art, Advertising and Graphics Part 3
Hey everyone, it finally friday !! Here, it’s a wet end to a rather lovely, mild, October week of weather. I thought you might like something retro for the weekend : ) The Modern Publicity Annual for 1950-51 must have been a good year for quirky vintage graphics, as we’ve made it to part 3 packed with more fab illustrations !
These lovely black and white company symbols show bold strength in their visual messages.
I’m always absorbed by the great textures and shapes used at this time.
Lovely movement in these graphics and onto some fab packaging too.
Great polar bear and the Summit cigarettes look almost 3-D.
Can you believe some of these designs are nearly 65 years old !
Keep an eye out on my blog next week as I’ll be posting a competition for you to win a copy of the latest picture book by Benji Davies and Linda Sarah On Sudden Hill !! Wow, it’s a beautiful book too.
You can find more posts and illustrations in this series by typing the words ‘ Modern Publicity ‘ into the search function on the right of this post. Don’t forget to share this and tell your friends about Fishink Blog. Thank you and have a great weekend.
fishinkblog.com 