RNCM Craft Event and Vintage Book Covers
We all like a bit of vintage, when it comes to book covers, so I thought I’d spoil you again : ) If you’re off on your jollies, have fun and here you go …
Perhaps a little culture ?
Something for the kids.. to keep them quiet whilst you read the Fishink Blog !
A couple for the scientists…
And a little for the house chef too.
Just a reminder for all you local peeps that there is a wonderful designer craft fair on this sunday at the Royal Northern College of Music off Oxford Road, Manchester.
I shall be there alongside another 39 stalls of designer makers, 11am til 4pm and free to get in…. why wouldn’t you : )
Hope to see you there do pop over and say hello and pass the news onto your friends too. Many thanks.
Alexander Jansson . Creative imaginings
Alexander Jansson is a freelance artist born in Uppsala, Sweden, who lives and works in Gothenburg, Sweden. He has an offbeat and unique view of the world he creates.
Sleeping House is his design studio. He specializes in cover art, illustration, character design, concept art and graphic design.
” I was born and raised in the trollish forests of Sweden. At an early age I developed a huge interest for all things concerning music and art. At my early twenties I moved to Gothenburg for art studies at the New Dömen Artschool. After forming a studio along with some friends I tried my luck as an traditional artist. But my interst in filmmaking and the new CGI techniques forced me to try the art of 3D-animation. In 2005 I began the studies at the Stenebyskolan in Dals långed and the rest is shrouded in mystery… ”
How amazing would it be to ride on a fox or encounter this strange family (above) out for a stroll on a foggy, rainy evening !
Recent clients include the New York Ballet, Weekly Reader, Filter Magazine, Random House NY, Random House Spain, Bloomsbury, Roaring Brook, Harcourt, Pearson Education UK, and Clarion Books.
You can find a selection of prints to buy over on the Deviant Art site here. What a great imagination and creativity.
Joe Pearson …. the last of the illustrations
I’ve been gathering the last of the wonderful Joe Pearson Illustrations from my 1961 version of Betty Crocker‘s New Picture Cook Book. Wherever in the world you are, you will appreciate these, for their wit, skill and visually descriptive ability.
Everyone loves cookies !
Even if you plan to get away from it all ….
and have some fun away from home, you’ll still need to curl up somewhere with some heart warming food.
Can’t you just smell that coffee !
And if you’re planning on being the true domestic goddess for that ‘Honey I’m home’ man in your life …
Then it may be worthwhile remembering a few tips from Betty C !
Joe had a superb style and was a truly talented artistic genius. A little more of Joe’s work available here.
Fishink Travels
Monday was a holiday in the UK, so as a rare treat, I decided to actually take it as a day off and do something with it. I headed over to Didsbury where my school friend Sarah was taking part in a ceramics fair. Set in the Didsbury Parsonage, Sarah is part of the Northern Potters Association and there were about 10 ceramists taking part. A couple of large pieces from Sue Harding and Jane Cordingley working together as Diva Pots.
I admired the humour behind the work of Janet Halligan. ‘ Fascinated with different surface textures, her pieces often emulate, leather, metal, cardboard, with an extraordinary likeness to the real thing. Shoes, bags, belts, clothing and everyday household items are the simple inspiration for her work. A detailed study of objects that surround us everyday, make us re-evaluate the shape, form and texture of things we normally take for granted ‘. You did have to look twice at her handbags and laced-up boots to realise they were clay and not leather !
My two favourites were (not unusually) both animal centered. Firstly the charming work of Barbara Chadwick and her raku fired ceramic birds. I liked the combination of the glaze and the wood they were displayed on.
I ended up taking this little one home with me, for £20 who could have resisted and it’s more like the blue of the image on the left than that on the right.
Last but not least was the beautiful work of Sarah Louise Lynch, who’s wise old owls and quirky terriers stole the show for me. Well done Sarah.
Making the most of the good weather, we travelled over to Wythenshaw Park, which is made up of thirteen separate woods. This 85 hectare site also features two sites of biological importance – Nan Noon Wood and Gib Lane Wood. Nature and sunshine, you can’t beat it !
There was a surprising number of sculptures tucked away for the discovering too.
Plus the old house in the grounds with amazing, detailed carvings around the windows.
And I loved finding this rather large fish and toad sitting quietly, contemplating the moment in the afternoon, dappled sunshine. I did wonder what they might have to chat about !
Always good to get out and explore, (makes mental note to do this more ! ). Hope you brits enjoyed your monday holiday too, what did you do with yours ?
Bank Holidays and dog days
Bank holidays, or in fact holidays of any kind have become a bit of a rarity since working for myself again in 2010. I definitely tend to work many more hours than I did when doing a nine to five job and usually end up working most weekends too. However it’s a love for what I do, that keeps me doing it and I’m very happy to be busy creating, drawing and designing without a boss, office or deadlines, other than those I place upon myself.
Today I decided to have a rare day off and intend to spend it visiting a friend who is doing her first craft fair and hopefully (if the sun stays out) take my dog Boo to the beach for the first time in her life.
Boo is now six months and is full of life and smile making abilities. Two friends came to visit her last weekend and you can see from this ‘Spot the difference’ Giraffe toy that it’s been well (ahem) loved.
She’s equally happy munching away on sticks. I decided that another toy she came with had met it’s bitter end, so spent an hour this morning making a new one… just because I fancied creating something with my hands and not on the computer for a change.
Boo keeps us busy with two walks a day, although being a lurcher, she doesn’t need too much more than a 20 min walk and a good run around with another like minded dog. Chasing one another with sticks or just running huge circles around us whilst I chat to some random person I’ve never met or may never even meet again ! It’s fun.
And when the evening comes and she’s had her walks, food and fun then she’ll usually find a quiet corner to curl up in.
It’s funny but getting a dog has reminded me of many important lessons. Namely that life often races past us at a pace that we can hardly even comprehend let alone appreciate and it’s important to sometimes stop in order to allow ourselves a chance to breathe it all in.
Holidays are good for that, enjoy yours, I certainly will : )
Liz Somerville Printmaker and lover of the landscape
Photo by Merrily Harpur from Real West Dorset Site (2010).
As luck would have it, today is the open evening with featured artist Liz Somerville as part of the Dorset Art Weeks running from the 24th May until the 8th June. Liz has featured before on my blog, here, but I’d not had a chance to find out more about this talented artist, that is until recently !
Do you work from real life, photographs, and paint on site or use sketchbooks etc ?
Your love of the countryside and landscape is evident in your work, how did this develop and were you always inspired by landscapes of is this a more recent discovery ?
What is your favorite artist or who’s work do you find most inspiring ?
I don’t have favorites, but I do love Ravilious, Bawden, Nash and all that lot. I”m inspired by book illustration, particularly of the 60s and 70s, eastern European woodcuts, Chagall, Wyeth, Dufy, that French film, Belle Vue Redezvous (brilliant) and architecture.
Good luck with the Dorset Art Weeks Liz, and thanks again for your contribution to Fishink Blog.
A fab new discovery comes in a double measure of good news. Firstly that the work of Sean Sims shines out like the brightest, fun-filled and quirkiest British ‘Contemporary Retro’ that I’ve seen in a long time. But also that he’s the latest illustrator to sign up with my agents over at Yellow House Art Licensing, Yay !
Originally from Teesside in the industrial North East Sean Sims now lives and works as a professional illustrator in Brighton. His colourful creations have distinctively retro feel and he describes his styles as “1970’s Primary School library-esque.”
Sean Sims’ design and illustration clients have included: Paperchase, The Guardian, The Discovery Channel, Marie Claire, The BBC, The Independent Magazine, The Sunday Times, Sainsburys, Holland & Barratt, Yellow Pages, Vodafone & Virgin. He was asked by Fisher-Price USA to create a set of illustrations of their ‘classic’ toys in celebration of their 60th birthday which was particularly exciting for Sims because “I am a big fan of vintage fisher-price toys from the 1960’s and 70’s.”
Some very fetching repeat patterns here.
Designs for T shirts and Kids dishes for Marsh Mellow.
And for a few more grown up clients too !
1973 sell some of Sean’s cards.
One of Sean Sims’ most successful creations has been ‘The Brighton Line’, a quirky version of the London underground map based on his beloved home city. It is a delightful journey of the city’s real locations, from Devil’s Dyke in the north to Brighton Rock in the south. The Hove line is wittily called ‘Actually’, in reference to the residents’ determination to maintain their independence from Brighton. When it was realised Sims said, “I think it’s the first time someone has designed a Tube map of Brighton and I hope it puts the city on the map.”
Celebrating London themes like the Olympics, Pearly Kings and royal celebrations.
Ahh I’m feeling all chilled and visually refreshed now, like this chap with the hat.
If you enjoyed this post you will also like this, this and this, believe me, because I do too … Enjoy !
Boo two !
For all of you who asked me how Boo the dog was settling in, here’s your answer. We spend a lot of time playing and smiling (often upside down !)
A fair amount of time asking questions… usual stuff you know, meaning of life ?… what time is tea ?… is that a cat ?….who me, it simply couldn’t have been !
So I notice from these shots, how she’s growing fast and her coat is getting darker on her ears too.
And we seem to spend an awful lot of time doing this… yoga, with her eyes closed.
I’d love to get a film of her running crazily in the long grass when she has her ‘mad moment’, it’s so lovely to watch her being carefree and happy. So I think she’s doing ok everyone, thanks for asking : )
Shigeyay Yamamoto is from Japan. Born around 1964, he’s got an amazing eye for watercolour detail and can capture light or illustrate a season with a real flair !
He is a whizz with people too, look at these endearing illustrations of children playing together.
You can easily see how his little sketches then come to life and transform into pages from a book.
Also a keen sportsman and band member, Shigeya illustrates his passions for advertising and promotional literature.
How beautifully observed are these small ensembles ?
My favourite is definitely Shigeya’s use of colour and how he depicts light. Soft warm sunlit tones caress these roads.
You can sense the flutter of cherry blossom in the air here too.
And hear the scrunch of frosty snow underfoot.
Uplifting and quietly expressive work here. Delicate water-coloured postcards from Shigeya’s world. Many thanks for sharing them with us and letting them brighten our day too. More examples here.
Juliet Kepes Book illustrator, painter and sculptor
Juliet Kepes (née Appleby) studied at Brighton School in the later 1930s, before moving to the United States in 1937 where she studied at the the ‘New Bauhaus’ in Chicago (known subsequently as the Chicago Institute of Design), established by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy in the same year.
By chance in 1936, in Shaftesbury Avenue, London, she had met her husband, Gyorgy Kepes, a Hungarian artist who had studied under Moholy Nagy in Germany. They fell in love and, when he was invited to teach at the ‘New Bauhaus’, he asked her to go with him: he taught and she studied. They subsequently moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he became Professor of Visual Design (1946-74) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and founded the Center for Advanced Studies in 1967. The couple created a stimulating and whimsical playroom in their home. The room was meant to develop the muscles and senses of their five year old daughter Julie. The Kepeses claimed ‘ The first years are a time of concentrated learning and development. They should also be a time of wonder and delight’ The playroom was celebrated in Life magazine with a photo essay in 1949.
In the early 1950s Juliet began writing and illustrating children’s books, the first of which wasFive Little Monkeys (1952) that she had been working on for a number of years. I see similarities in style to the work of Roger Duvoisin who was also illustrating children’s picture books at this time.
This was considered innovative in its use of expressive, almost calligraphic brushwork, colour and overall design qualities, in 1953 it won a Caldecott Medal, an award presented annually to the illustrators of the most distinguished picture books published in the United States. The subject matter of many of her illustrations included insects, birds and other creatures such as ladybirds and frogs. Juliet also illustrated the work of other writers, such as William Smith’s Laughing Time (1953)
and Boy Blue’s Book of Beasts (1957) or Emilie Macleod’s The Seven Remarkable Bears (1954). In 1962 she received a citation from the Society of Illustrators for her book Frogs Merry (1961), whilst three of her other works, including Beasts from a Brush (1955), were nominated amongst the New York Times’ Ten Best Children’s Books of the Year.
Juliet also collaborated with her husband on a number of public projects including a series of experimental enamel panels of bird and tree designs for the Morse School, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1955), commissioned by the school’s architect. Carl Koch. She also designed a series of bronze birds in flight (1980). set against a wall of a playground at Clarendon Park Avenue, Cambridge. They were commissioned by the Cambridge Arts Council and funded by the Vingo Trust. Her drawings and paintings were exhibited widely, including exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago, Baltimore Museum, Worcester Museum and the Gropper Art Gallery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Many thanks to the Faculty of Art at the University of Brighton for the information for this post.
fishinkblog.com 