Only in Matchbox Land…
June 15th, 2009 § 3 Comments
… will you find veggie loving kids.
I haven’t given up but it’s no longer a battle…
it’s more like a siege!
Images | Eastern European matchboxes from designer Jane McDevitt’s flickr collection.
Cravings
June 13th, 2009 § 13 Comments
Oh boy, do I remember those pregnancy cravings well. Mine were for citrus ~ oranges, tangellos, and grapefruit. I ate an obscene number for six months straight. Never underestimate the power of hormones. So lets just say this week’s Illustration Friday theme was one I know well, CRAVE.
And now, I am seriously craving a sloth-like beach holiday somewhere where there is absolutely nothing to do but swim, doze, have aromatherapy massages and eat juicy fruit… ahhh SEE, it does all come back to oranges!
Oranges, oranges, oranges
June 12th, 2009 § 4 Comments
This week our whole family has had one big old snotty ‘welcome to winter’ cold (notice I said one cold). I don’t know who brought it home but my suspicions lead me to the smallest, very generous, poppet who is always trying to give her dinner away… “Try it?! Try it Mummy?!” Bless her! So around here it’s just oranges, oranges, oranges! Some to print with but many, many more to guzzle.
The dimpled effect in the image above comes from stamping with your garden variety orange skin. I’m thinking it might be helpful in the illustration I’m working on, not sure yet, maybe…
You’ll find lots of fun creative spaces to peruse over at lovely Kirsty’s Kootoyoo.
The Trysting Tree
June 9th, 2009 § 4 Comments
In the backyard of my Dad’s house is an old tree. It’s thick trunk is gnarled and twisted, it’s wrinkles and lines are just like those etched in an old man’s face. It’s the type of tree that just begs to be drawn. So I sat in the sheltered sunshine of the garden and sketched.
One of my favourite books as a ‘tween’ was The Cuckoo Tree. I loved Joan Aiken‘s stories, they were always chock-full of smugglers, strange magic and wicked Hanoverian plots to kill the King. In the book, the tree itself was a tysting place, a place of secrets whispered in the dead of night. And the description of it is so perfect that it could be my Dad’s very tree.
I wonder about this tree’s history, about all it may have overheard, all the secret notes that may have been tucked into the hollows of it’s trunk and all the tales it could tell… if only.
Adept at adapting
June 5th, 2009 § 11 Comments
The Illustration Friday theme for this week was ADAPT.
My first thoughts were rudely interrupted by a scritch-scratching at my window. It turned out to be a large, glossy Indian Myna bird pecking at a moth in the shutters. Procrastination and I are old buddies so, naturally, I sat and watched. The bird sauntered along the windowsill and peered in at me, bold as brass. And there it eyeballed me with a menacing look, as if to say “You gotta problem?”. For a moment I felt like the trespasser.
I guess you could say a good example of ‘Adapt’ was staring me right in the face. Oh yes, Mynas will still be here long after we’re ancient history. They can make themselves at home anywhere!
My Creative Space – Bird Brain
June 4th, 2009 § 4 Comments
(Warning: terrible puns to be found all over this post, proceed with extreme caution.)
I can’t believe how this week has flown. Right now my head is full of feathers, fluff, straw and twigs and promises to stay that way until this illustration is hatched. Though time wise, I’m in a bit of a flap.
And here is Chef Smurf. He is brought in and left on my desk every day by my littlest. HE IS HAUNTING ME! See, those are probably lentils he is tasting which naturally all the other Smurfs are going to love (not throw across the table) and make up happy songs about. Curse him and his Smurfy smugness!
Anyway must dash, you know what they say, no nest for the wicked.
There are two tiny hearts hiding in this post, can you find them? Head on over to Kirsty‘s for more creative spaces and hidden hearts.
