Hello again. Thailand

Its a been a while since I last posted, and I apologize for my absence. I have had several major distractions and problems with my account recently that I'm hoping is now fixed.as I would like to return to sharing my thoughts and views again. I have tried my hand at a great deal of things since my last post and will share each on separate posts as I can imagine they will be long posts.

In October 2014 I went on holiday to the beautiful country Thailand with my boyfriend L and loved every moment of it. We spent just over two weeks touring from Bangkok to Koh Samui for the first week then up to Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and then back to Bangkok.

It was so lovely over there, the temperature was hot but felt nice and healing to my whiplash injuries. The people were all so happy and friendly to see you. They couldn't do enough for you, I can understand why they call it the land of smiles.

The landscapes and cultural places were amazing. Some parts were so different to England with the mass amounts of lush jungle and tropical flora including my favourite Orchidaceae (The Orchid) were in abundance. The beaches of Koh Samui were just as I imagined a beach truly perfect to be; white sands, crystal blue water, with palm trees swaying in the breeze. It was like a dream, and was great to spend a few days here truly relaxing.

When we visited the temples they were decorated with beautiful intricate designs of natural forms and many of the Buddhist icons which were lavished in gold- A tradition outlining the importance of the temple to the community. The guardians outside of the temples were also very interesting to look at, as they were brightly coloured and had a character look to them.which made me think they could spring to life any moment.

I found the spirit houses fascinating as they were miniature houses outside of normal houses and businesses, that were used to give spirits a place to rest.  They were filled with offerings for the spirits to appease them which ranged from a photograph of the family to Buddhist statues and small bottles of various liquids. They reminded me of fairy houses and that something magical could live in them like in a fairy tale.

Even the smells in Thailand were quite an experience, with the aromatic food, the Eastern seas, local flowers and even streets themselves had certain scents, some that even now when I smell a similar aroma it takes me right back to there.

The whole holiday appealed to my creative side and I look forward to going back there. I would love to fully explore the islands and its history, and also around Bangkok. There was so much more to see, do and try that I hope to go again soon for the Thai new year celebrations.

Black and White Competition 2014

 Over the last month I have been working on this current competition by Tigerprint. The brief was to create a design with only black and white colours.The design would be used for cards, wrapping paper and gift bags.

When I first found out about this competition I was excited as I felt that this was the perfect theme for me. It meant that I could show my talents using my patterns to create beautiful organic creations.

This image on the left was orginally for the colour of love competition that I was going to enter. However I did not feel that it suited the theme enough, so I saved it for this competition particularly. For this design I chose to include as many hearts I could. In a variety of styles. I like the thought that the hearts or 'love' is growing and blooming.

These next three images are variety of some designs. I particularly liked the butterflies they seem a big thing at the moment. I am also enjoying decorating them with my patterns. The flowers were inspired by the effect that I used to get with a Spirograph. The looping petals give the flowers a few ways of looking at the flower, especially if you focus on one petal. I think the mixture of the flowers and butterflies work well together and relate with the shapes.

I particularly like the last image as the contrast of the black background with my designs, make the details more pronounced and eye catching. I think I will try this out with a few more of my designs.

Creating these designs for the competition, was a new challenge for me as my whiplash is still effecting me. I found I could only draw in 10 minute sperts. Where I then needed to rest my neck and arm, as I would be in quite some pain. I tried to push myself as much as I could but found it hard at times and frustrating.


For my future designs I think I will continue exploring with butterflies, as I like the summitry on the wings. I also like the thought of lots choices with a small surface pattern space.


When I submitted my designs I was hopeful of my entries as I thought the subject matter suited me well. However I was unfortunate to not be shortlisted. Which I found disapointing but  I will continue try to more competitions.

Accident

It's been a hard few weeks. Recently I have suffered from a car accident which has caused me to have whiplash. This has effected my daily life quite alot as I don't have alot of motablity in my neck, back and arm. So I have been restricted to doing little moments of drawing mostly trying things on my laptop. Even then I am only able to do 20 minutes maximum before taking a rest. I have found this quite frustrating but trying to use the time to do more research into my next collection of designs.

I am currently receiving physio and hoping I'll be back to myself as soon as possible. Little by little I am improving but in quite a bit of pain.

Building work

Since my last post, lots of things have happened. 

I have been to Bournemouth to see Russell Howard with brother, which was hilarious and great fun. I just wish I had my Nikon camera as the beach was beautiful especially with the waves crashing and the surfers in the distance. However I did get a few pictures with my phone which I might use them for future work.

I also got to catch with my friend N, it was great to see her and her baby bump. I always enjoy seeing her, she makes me smile a lot and a great friend to talk to. I can always rely on her to give a better prospective on things.

As well as this I have been constantly looking for work, I signed up to a few recruitment agencies, so hopefully will get somewhere soon. I hoping to get into the creative industry so I can use my talents and also grow within the industry. I have started another series of designs for my next competition, which very excited about. The brief is right up my street and I feel that I can really show off my talents. I can't wait to show you my designs.

Finally the last thing that is currently happening in my life at the moment is that my home is currently having some building work done. There is lots of noise, mess, dust and furniture everywhere its quite hard work trying to concentrate on applications or designs. So I've been trying to escape as much as I can, taking my dog out for extra long walks and going to Weston Super Mare. Trying out my Nikon camera and developing my skills with it.

Surface design competition 2014

It has been a busy week, but I can now tell you about the competition that I recently entered was for Tiger print.

The Surface design competition was the first of the year, and will be followed by many more.

The brief was to design a pattern that would be used for gift bags, cards, stationary, which included pencils and pencil cases, as well as wrapping paper. I needed to consider the audience my design was for, and where it would fit in the industry today.

So I chose to do some research into upcoming trends for 2014. Where I noticed that flowers were going to be big thing this year. As well as colour which seemed a big influence in upcoming trends and the specified surfaces that my pattern would be applied to.

With my designs I chose to do a modern take of the classic polka dot design that has been used on gift items for many years. My twist was to have the entire surface covered with pattern, instead of the classic block colours. I chose to have a leaf background as it felt it made more sense to have my flowers sit on top of them. As you would imagine them in a natural environment. The 'dots' were represented by my flowers in this classic design. I chose to make them more of an exotic nature as the influences from India have become a prominent feature in fashion, and I found the vibrant colours worked better.

The images above and below are my entry designs that I submitted for the competition, to represent a card format and the surface pattern. Sadly I was not selected to be shortlisted for this competition but I personally did enjoy designing work with a brief again. I found it interesting to work in colour instead of my signature black and white. I sometimes found it difficult to make the patterns flow as well as they usually do. Usually growing as a group but instead it was more independent seeds of designs.

What do you think of the designs? and what do you think of the colours? Any comments will be gratefully received.

New year

It's been a busy new year already, I been looking for work on constant basis. To hopefully boast my funds and get me back to routine.

As well as this I have been looking at competitions and recently just finished one. Which I'm quite excited about. I will talk about as soon as I can. Hopefully it will be good news. However I van already say it has giving me the encouragement I needed to start drawing again.

I've already thought of new designs I want to follow up. Being inspired by many things, and artists. I have some really talented friends and looking at their work always makes me want to do more.

The image I have show is some adorable booties my friend made for her baby, shes expecting soon, but don't you think they would sell well. I'm looking forward to seeing them on the baby and potentially on others. Where me and N have set up a stall with our new work.

So watch this space, there will be designs soon and hopefully lots of good news.

Season Greetings

Its drawing nearer and nearer  to Christmas every day. Luckily I am ready with only a few gifts to wrap.

With the Christmas spirit in full flow with Christmas songs on every radio and in every shop I visit. I can't help but feel in the Christmas spirit.

So I thought I would do some quick designs of Christmas cards I may develop for a future show. I particularly like the card I have shown as it interprets my style in a different way. However I am unsure about the text, but thought I would try this as an example.
I would love some feed back if anyone would like to leave a comment.


I will continue to do designs now and may have a nice collection of new cards for the New year. 

For now I will wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

My last few months

The last few months of my life have been so crazy. Work has given new me targets to achieve which I'm finding difficult, but I will rise to challenge. I do find I'm quite exhausted from work. It has been physically and mentally tiring trying to think of new ways to recruit people. Me and k also went our separate ways, but things couldn't be better.

I had a great birthday with some new friends and my new man. My friends wedding that I was preparing for was an amazing day and couldn't be happier for her. Also many close friends are having babies or have had a baby.

I'm looking forward to the New Year now and hope to focus on my artwork more often.

The Gromit's begin

It's been a week now since the Bristol Gromits have landed in my home town. And I have been so excited to see them but have had no time to find them.

I have seen a few on my trips around Bristol and have particularly liked the Egyptian gromit in the Bristol museum. It fits in well to the Egyptian exhibition they have in the gallery at the moment.

I still think about my gromit and where he would have been displayed. Possibly somewhere colourful area with a jungle theme around it. He would have fit well with his Mayan design, and hopefully made people excited by it, as well as making them think.

This weekend I spent alot of time with K, going to a birthday party and walks around a lake. This was great, as there was so many things to see that inspired me. The animals, the high wild grass and the seed pods for all the amazing flowers. It just made me want to draw right there and then. I think the beautiful sunshine and great company helped alot as well. K has always been a great help inspiring me, and I thank him for it.

I will now look out for even more competitions and commissions for my art, as it be waste to not use this burst of inspiration.

Preparing for a friends wedding

Over the past year I have been doing little bits towards preparing for a friends wedding. I been helping her by making the name placement souvenirs and now looking at the hen night. My friend is an amazing person and very family orientated, which had made me think of many different ways to celebrate, than the traditional way.

I've been looking forward to being a bridesmaid and the day it's self, it all sounds amazing. The colour theme is both the bride and grooms favourite colours with a little compromise, with the decoration based on birds.

My dress is so beautiful. It's inspired by a 50's style dress and a great blue that luckly goes well with my skin tone. The bride's mum has made all the dresses for the wedding which has made me think about doing some dress making myself. But I might need to get the nick of it again as I haven't used a sewing for about 7 years.

Designing for friends

Its been too long since I last pick up my pens and started a design. In the last few months I have been so busy and I found myself completely uninspired.

Its only since my friends asked me to do some tattoo designs that I have had the itch to draw again.
I now find myself doodling little patterns on post its at work, and even carry my sketchbook and pens everywhere.

It has felt good getting back to my designs and have now started different styles to my original pieces.
My plan now is to build a portfolio of my designs and hopefully collect enough funds to start my ceramics again.

I do admit I miss the feeling of clay, and making glaze to spray onto my vessels. The anticipation of waiting for the results of each stage was a great feeling especially when they turned out better than I expected.

My Lastest competition venture

 

In the last few months I have been frantically rushing around in my job, but have also still been looking at competitions to enter. In December I stumbled upon the Gromit competition for the Grand appeal charity. I was so excited to see this competition as the charity is one close to my heart and I love Aardman animations especially Wallace and Gromit. So I applied to have my designs on a Bristol Gromit that would have been displayed around the city.

It would have been one of seventy creations, that will be displayed around Bristol this summer and would have been bigger than me. So it would have been interesting to decorate. However sadly I was unsuccessful with my design that I have shown above. 

I called it 'New Year' and it was based on the Mayan calender. I was inspired about the recent events that were happening and thought about how I could make a positive twist on it. So I wanted to show Gromit in a style of a Mayan warrior to symbolise the Aztecs but named the design 'New year' because it was the end of their calender and the start of a new year.

In neck dress and even the war paint I wanted to add as much pattern as I could, which would have made the piece very intricate for me and a lot of hard work as well, but I think the finished result would have looked very impressive. I was unsure whether i wanted to keep the design black and white if I wanted to add colours like red, blue, yellow and greens. These would have been similar colours that we see on Aztec pieces such as their wall art.

Although I did not get the opportunity this year to decorate a wild art figure I will hopefully try again next year. But for now I will look forward to seeing the amazing designs that will be on the Bristol Gromit's, and continue looking for more competitions.

What do you guys think? any comments would be gratefully received.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my bloggers and hope you all have a lovely New Year. Looking forward to a creative and fun year ahead. Such as a friends wedding, I'm her maid of honour. I also aim to make my ceramic work again. I look forward to hearing any feed back or questions you have.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year x x x

Going. . . going . . . GONE!

The final stage of the painted pony trail has now come to an end. The ten day auction on eBay finished yesterday with my pony finishing at a total of £56. I was quite impressed with the total and the interest that my pony had. It was nice to think that someone liked my designs, and would like to purchase them. I hope that my pony has now gone to a good home, and will be admired for the beautiful design that I took my quality time on.

Painted Pony Auction

The final stages of the Horse World Painted Pony Trail is coming this Thursday. To raise money for the charity they are auctioning a selection of the 60 ponies that were included in the trail.

As a competition winner I was asked if I would like to keep my pony or auction it. I was extremely flattered with this offer, and getting a choice to auction it was a great honour in my eyes. Although I did enjoy making my pony and it would be a great piece to show off as a example of how my designs could be used. I decided to auction it as I wanted to support the charity and I would like to see if the public that saw my pony during the trail would buy it.

My pony was called 'Natures design' as it was inspired by many natural elements that the pony would experience. The patterns also reflected on my style of design where I am stimulated by organic shapes and patterns that I love to see grow across the surface.

When I decorated my pony it was a completely new experience for me as the surface I was drawing on was not flat and sometimes awkward. For example when I was decorating the legs and underbelly of the pony I had to hold my pens in a very strange way, but the results were beautiful as well as surprised me. It took me about 2 to 3 weeks to decorate my pony completely as the designs was very intricate and needed time to dry so they wouldn't smudge.

Seeing the final product completed was a great feeling. Finding my pony proudly displayed in the Body shop window with a protective layer, gave it the quality finish it needed. On the opening day it was great to see so many people be involved in the trail whether they were fellow artists, family members, Horse World colleagues or public that had an interest in the charity, they gave a warm happy start to the trail. I personally found all the charity members a great team to work with and would love to do the trail again.

So for any admires of my work please visit the online auction for Horse World this Thursday coming, you end up having a beautiful piece of art as well support a great charity. Also any questions or comments are gratefully received.

800 views

I have now reached over 800 views.

I would like to welcome any new followers and thank you so much to all my regular viewers. I appreciate you all taking the time to have a peak into my life. I will be posting more designs soon, so please watch this space.

Here is a little snippet of an image I made for a friend, it was called 'Paws for thought'. What do you think I'd love some comments, they are all welcome.

5 days left of the painted pony trail

 I can't believe it is September already. The last few months have been quite busy and it seems to have gone by so quickly, but I have loved being part of the painted pony trail and helping support Horse World on their ongoing campaign. I have had a few friends and family see my pony in all her glory, displayed proudly in the Body Shop window. I have had some lovely comments too, saying that they are so proud of me and that the design looks amazing, including being told by the campaign leader that it was one of his personal favourites.

I personally have a few favourites myself which were all my fellow competitors in the design competition. I particularly loved all four ponies I have shown images of to the left. Their designs were all very colourful and inventive. With the cupcake pony I loved how the design was transform to the real model as the cakes were made 3D. I think that this was a great way to decorate and made me want to eat them.

The Olympia pony was a great that has suited the recent events well. I particularly loved how the Olympic rings were made into horseshoes interlinked. The pebbles pony was quite interesting and I respect the person who had to decorate the pony as there was a lot of dots. I also love how the eyes were silver and decorated with gems.

 The last pony I liked was candyfloss which was decorated with feathers and gems to make it look like part of a carnival. I particularly loved the big pink headdress.
Being part of the pony trail has been great fun, and I would definitely do it again especially if the ponies were bigger, like the Gorillas that visited Bristol last year.

The competition has inspired me to start looking at new designs and what I will do next, any ideas!?
 If you would like to see my pony there is still 5 days left as the trail finishes on 7th September. In Bristol Cabot Circus, the Body Shop.

Competition results

Zest for Life

I can now officially say that the competition I entered a few months ago was for Zizzi. As part of the competition terms and conditions I was not able to share any information, but I can now talk about it.

The competition was to design an image for some plates that would displayed in the restaurants. Where the customers could use and buy them. The theme for the competitions was deliciously stylish which I first found difficult to think of a design for. I chose go with citrus fruit slices, as I find citrus juice refreshing and Delicious. I also thought that the shapes of the segments would be interesting to look at with my personal touch.

It took me a while to make my design because I decided to make nine citrus slices. For each slice I tried to make them individual with different patterns in the segments. However I found this quite hard to come up with a pattern for every segment, so I decided to stick to a group of patterns. When I was happy with the design I played around with the layout and colours. I thought of many things like making a spiral or flower head, but i decided to make them a little random as I thought it would show of the patterns.

Many people like the finished product unfortunately my design was not selected to become a plate. However I will try next year which will be my third chance so hopefully third time lucky.

My first time I tried I had to design a cover for the restaurant menu, which I researched by looking at the menu and tried to make a design for all the vegetables they used.

What do you think?

Menu Design

The Trail of Painted Ponies Grand opening!

 Last saturday was the grand opening of the Horseworld store and painted pony trail.

Grand Opening of the store

I woke up excited about seeing my pony finished and displayed. I had worked so hard on decorating my pony that it took me just under 3 weeks to complete. I then sent my pony back to the organisers to be given its finishing touch by covering it with a protective layer as my design was drawn on by the pens I use on much of my work which although somewhat difficult to work with, brings out a look of quality.

Shop Window

When I arrived at Bristol's Cabot Circus the Horseworld store was surrounded by excited people. Some not knowing what was going on but, like me there were other competition entrees. They handed out sweets and cakes while waiting for the shop to open.

When the ribbon was cut everyone tried to get in the shop at the same time. I was a little disappointed when I didn't see my pony I thought something might have happened to it. I noticed a few of the entrees that also entered the competition and it was nice to see them made as a pony. One of my favourite was a cup cake design, which looked really good as the cakes were 3D.

My pony as a shop window display

Me and My Pony

When I eventually got to talk to the charity organisers, they were  happy to meet me and thanked me for entering the competition. I then asked where my pony was and described it to them. As soon as they recognised it they were excited and said "that they loved my design and it must have taken me a long time". This made me feel great and excited as it was nice to get some feedback.

They then said that my pony was in The Body Shop and if they could take some photographs of me with it, which I was happy for them to do.

I was quite proud to just be part of the opening day and the trail. I appreciated it even more that they loved my pony. It made me feel proud of the 3 weeks I spent on it, carefully creating my patterns inspired by natural elements and adding my personal to every detail. Although some parts were hard to decorate, such as the belly and inner legs. I think my efforts were worth while as the final piece turned out beautiful and better than I expected. I hope the public enjoy it as much as I did making it.
The trail is on until 7th September. So please go see the amazing ponies involved in the trail. It is for a great charity and I am proud to be part of the trail.

If you have any feedback, comments or would like to know more about my work please send me a message. I'd be happy to help.

Horse World Painted Ponies Trail Finalist

I am pleased to annouced that my design will be one of the ponies that will be created for the trail. I would like to thank everyone that helped and supported me in the voting process.

I am also pleased to annouce that I have been asked to decorate my pony. They asked me if I would like to do the decoration myself as they could see I was artistically talented.

 

So the past few weeks I have been decorating my pony. When I first got my package I was surprised with the size. I thought the horse would be a little bigger, but I think this will be a good thing in the end as my designs take me a while to do on flat paper, and I got a short deadline.

When I first started to decorate my pony I immediately noticed how much harder the surface was to draw on. I first tested the surface with a pencil and then pen, by drawing on the base. I decided to decorate my pony the same way that my designed it. This was because I don't want to lose any of the detail and find that using my pens I can control my decoration more than if I used a paint brush. I have had a few problems with angles and surface as the size of the pony has made it difficult to draw on certain parts like the legs. I have also found that the image is prone to smudging if I'm not extra careful and don't allow time for the ink to dry.

I have found the process really intersting and have loved decorating my pony. Not long now till I finish design. Then I can relax and enjoy watching people admire it on display which I'm really looking forward to seeing. I wonder where it will be in Bristol Cabot Circus.