Decisions decisions!

Hello hello! Sorry for the long silence.

I've been working slowly and steadily on a cover piece for the July edition of the local arts and culture free paper, The Bedford Clanger. I'm managing about 30 mins-1 hour a day, 5 days a week, whilst the youngest one has a nap. 

It's almost there, hooray!! (I've altered the picture above as it won't be out for another month or so). Some of the tough decisions I faced included choosing the right pair of sunglasses for a bear!

My work space has got smaller and smaller over the years. I blame the kids! I've condensed everything I need into 2 boxes; one for paper, the other for paint. As soon as the little one goes down for a nap, I spend about an hour doing some boring chores, then I pull out my boxes and get to work. I work quite quickly now. I'm much more decisive as I have less materials to choose from, and more importantly less time. I never know when the little one will wake so it can be quite unsettling but I've LOVED every minute I've been able to work :) 

then and now

I have a poorly toddler at the moment. We've been enjoying extra cuddles and lots of time reading together which is lovely, and just about makes up for the broken sleep, grumpiness and occasional non-stop crying session (on both parts)!

Here we are enjoying "Fresh Delicious" together - a book I illustrated whilst he was in my tummy, maybe having a peep out from my belly button. I finished the artwork on his due date - lucky he didn't arrive early!! The 2nd and 3rd picture show work in progress and are dated about a month before he was born. Funny to think we hadn't met yet at that point, and here we are a year and a half later, sharing my lap and the book :)

And the winner is...

...Emma Talbot! 

Well done Emma. Please get in touch so I can post these to you :)

Thank you to everyone else who entered. I may do more giveaways from time to time so keep your eyes peeled!

***BOOK AND POSTER GIVEAWAY***

Hello hello!

To celebrate the start of Spring and the US release of "FRESH DELICIOUS - Poems from the Farmers' Market" (words by Irene Latham, pictures by me), I'm doing a BOOK & POSTER GIVEAWAY! The poster is roughly 43cmx61cm and has an Educator's Guide printed on the back. (Thank you Wordsong for these!)

To enter, simply answer this question, here on my blog or over on my Facebook page. 

***If you could be a fruit or a vegetable for one day, what would you be and why?***

A winner will be picked at random on Monday 21st March 2016.

Good luck!

By the way, I answered some questions for Irene Latham - a little glimpse into the making of the pictures for FRESH DELICIOUS - which you can find on her lovely blog here.

Beautiful Books!

"One Family"

By George Shannon and Blanca Gomez

"Last Stop on Market Street"
By Matt de la Pena and Christian Robinson

"Beastly Verse"

By Joohee Yoon

"Jemmy Button"

By Jennifer Uman and Valerio Vidali

"Les poings sur les iles"

By Elise Fontenaille and Violeta Lopiz

"Home"

By Carson Ellis

Hello hello and a Happy New Year to you all!

I've been invited to give a talk as a visiting lecturer at Teesside University at the end of this month...bit nervous! My days have been filled with the feeding and cleaning of and day to day survival with our 2 little children for so long now that I've kind of forgotten the illustrator "me". It's going to be a bit of a task rifling through old work and trying to make it relevant and useful to illustration students. 

Putting together my inspiration and influences was easy peasy though, and brought me so much joy!

I thought I'd share a small selection of favourites from my bookshelf here. You can also find some more here, here, and here. I could go on and on about what I love about each book and illustrator but I thought it best to let the pictures do the talking.

Enjoy :)

the secret is out!

Now that our guest of honour has arrived I can reveal the third stocking, for Rosie :)

HOPPY CHRISTMAS!

It's been a busy year for us - leaving London and starting a new life in a new town with 2 small children, but we're settling nicely and starting to find some sort of rhythm to daily life and a little bit of sanity!!

Wishing everyone a Hoppy Christmas and a Happy New Year!