Another young lady for The Design Files Open House

 Here is another young lady for The Design Files Open House (see previous post below).

Here she is above in the studio just after completion, with the actual scarf that she is modelling in the painting.  And below a photo from home -- just because I am very fond of this accidental colour combination.

Portrait No 2 for The Design Files Open House

I painted this lass and her little green friend back in August, but haven't been able to show them until now.  This is the second in a series of ten portraits that I have painted for The Design Files Open House 2013.  The first one is here.  All of the paintings are acrylic on wood and measure around 30 x 40 cm.  They will each have a rather spiffy frame too, made by Michael Cleary.  Photo above by the multi talented Tim Gresham.  (How lovely to have my work professionally photographed, for once!)

Bad i-phone shot of my work in progress, above.  I always paint the face first.  The face is the most important and difficult part as far as I am concerned.  If I wreck it and need to start again, there's less collateral damage.  More importantly, if I paint the face first, I  get to know who I am dealing with, and we decide on the other details together.

Embroidered logo for the Craft Awards

I was honoured to be asked to make an embroidered version of the Craft Awards logo a few months ago.  Unusually for me, I actually enjoyed the exercise from start to finish without letting nerves get the better of me.  Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the finished embroidery before I handed it over, and I can't see any evidence of it on the Craft Awards site.  But I had fun, and was pleased with the results.

The Finders Keepers: photos by Mark Lobo

Mark Lobo took such lovely shots of my work as part of The Finders Keepers' documentation of the recent Melbourne market that I just had to share them here.  I hope that he and the people from Finders Keepers don't mind.  I also had to show readers who do not live in Melbourne how magnificent our World Heritage listed Royal Exhibition Building is.  It feels incredible to be a tiny part of an exhibiting  history which stretches back almost 150 years.

9 x 5...and a few secrets

Originally inspired by the 1890 Heidelberg School 9 by 5 Impressionism Exhibition for which works were painted on cigar box lids, the Illustrators Australia 9 x 5 Exhibition has become an annual tradition in its own right.  Once a year, Illustrators Australia members receive a piece of 9 x 5 inch plywood in the mail, accompanied by the challenge of a one word theme.  (Last year's example here.)  Please don't tell anyone that my own tradition of cutting the wood into novelty shapes has primarily developed in order to distract attention from any shortcomings I had as an illustrator.  This year, for the first time, I made the nervous decision to leave the wood as it is.  I happen to be at the tail end of painting A LOT of portraits for The Design Files Open House (first example here).  I am quite sure that their traditional format inspired the work you see above.  So, for what it's worth, thanks Lucy F for inadvertently giving me the artistic confidence to leave the 9 x 5 plywood as it is.

By the way, this year's theme is FLOURISH.  I immediately thought of flowers, and almost as immediately decided against going with something that seemed so obvious.  So I looked the word up in the dictionary and decided to include as many definitions for it as possible.  Decorative flourishes and curling vines are accompanied by the less usual definitions of a type of song played by a brass instrument and a kind of wave.  He looks more like he is saluting though as I can't draw hands.  Illustrative shortcomings revealed. 

If you are in Melbourne, come and have a look at all of the entries, and make a bid on the ones you like!  I have copied this from the Illustrators Australia site:

OPENING NIGHT
Friday 18th October 6pm - 9pm
includes Silent Auction for original artwork on wood, drinks and launch of new IA APP

GALLERY OPEN:
Oct 19th - Nov 3rd, Mon- Sun 8am - 4pm

ILLUSTRATORS MARKET:  - Sun Oct 20th & Sat Oct 26 10am-4pm
This is an exciting pre-Christmas market that includes prints, unique original work, jewellery, cards, fashion and more from professional illustrators in the industry,
don’t miss out!

Where:
ST HELIERS ST GALLERY
Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St, Abbotsford, Vic 3067

New House, Volcano and Mr Worcester in the shop

New House on Fire, Volcano and Mr. Worcester in the shop.

Post Finders Keepers: new mirrors and dolls

I had a fantastic time at Finders Keepers over the weekend.  Thanks so much to everyone who said hi, had a look, took a little card, smiled at me, said nice things about my work or even BOUGHT something!  You know who you are, and your support is hugely appreciated.  I was especially chuffed by the response to my Yeah No vest, which has spurred me on to do some more knitting.  I am pretty busy right now though so it might not be until after Christmas....and then it will be too hot to wear a knitted vest...but who knows?!  

The mirrors did amazingly well but as I made quite a few for the market, there are some left over ones which have gone into the shop.

 

 There are new dolls in the shop too -- the Tattoo Sailor in Love is proudly making his Etsy debut today.

The Design Files Open House 2013

 Photo by Sean Fennessy above, and a still from the short film by Jessica Leski, below.

I am honoured to be taking part in The Design Files Open House event in both Melbourne and Sydney this year.  "Melbourne's worst kept secret" as Lucy termed it in her preview post on The Design Files this week.  Indeed!  The work above is the first of quite a few that I am working on for both houses.  Lots of painting for me in the next few weeks!  I am also looking for an excuse to go up to Sydney to visit the Open House in beautiful Surry Hills...

In between, there's Finders Keepers at The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne this Friday night and Saturday.  It promises to be a lot of fun, rather tiring, and a huge learning curve for this debut stall holder.  Please come and say hi if you decide to attend.