Inspiring Artist: Kirsten Jones

When I first moved away from home, I was delighted to discover there was an incredible artist, Kirsten Jones, living in the same building as me. I often see her work in the communal areas and it is stunning. I thought I would share it with you! I love the colours, fine detail, movement and the found elements in her artwork. I also like the sense of fun she brings to some of her images.

 

Her website reads:

'Each piece has a subtle narrative, which she creates by collaging vintage envelopes, stamps, dictionary text and maps.  These clues evoke of the places objects were found or bought. Once the collage stage is complete, Kirsten paints over the richly layered surface using gesso, inks and washes of acrylic paint.'

Do go and find out more about her and her wonderful collection of work, there is so much more to see! I hope you are as inspired as I am.

Some very good news...

Hello lovely followers! I'm here to announce that I got engaged on Wednesday evening! I'm so very happy and can barely stop smiling! He asked me in our home, with romantic music playing. It was incredibly sweet, he got down on his knee and told me how much I meant to him. Perfect. We had an amazing evening - meal, drinks, talks and lots of laughter. It's early, but I'm quite excited by the thought of illustrating our wedding stationery! Have a lovely weekend everybody!

 We picked out the ring together from our local Antique shop. We didn't see the point in spending so much on something new when we could have something so beautiful and delicate with a history. I'm so happy with it and I'm very glad we made this decision! :)

A couple of illustrations to end :)

An old illustration I did of us together..

 

?!X - Think Act Vote

A few months ago, I was asked to take part in a project, with the aim of creating a book including writing and illustrations. The project is Think Act Vote and here is the aim:

'Think Act Vote (?!X) is radical think tank that brings together culture, creativity, digital, sustainability and citizenship. A space online and offline where how you dream the world and how you see it come together. A place where all of us can share inspiration and be inspired. Think Act Vote is built to inspire us to think positively about our future and the votes we cast, today, tomorrow and forever. Create the future you choose.'

Here is the future I choose to illustrate:

Emma McGinn‘s Future “The Future I Choose is where focus is put on people and planet rather than MONEY.”

I love to draw people and it was this reason, along with the fact that I wholeheartedly agreed with the statement, that I chose to illustrate this future. It instantly took me back to my childhood - when love, nature, people and happiness was the only thing that truly mattered. Memories of climbing trees, making boats from scraps in the garden, creating jumps for our games of 'horses', skipping and using our imaginations. This is what inspired my illustration. I wanted to create a piece that showed happiness. Happiness through nature and people and without the need for money. This future would be wonderful, just like childhood should be.

Buy Now!

I have two of each of these prints packaged and ready to sell at the moment. They are just £18 (including P&P) and printed and mounted to a very high quality.

I don't think the photographs quite capture the quality (bad lighting - sorry about that!). If you are interested in buying one please get in contact with me either through my blog or email me at: yodalpip@hotmail.co.uk

Have a lovely weekend!

Photography...

It's been a little while since my last post, so firstly, hello! Unfortunately my drawings didn't win the What Is Love competition, but I'm working on improving them and hopefully I can launch them myself as prints and cards in the near future!

I've recently treated myself to a new camera (the boyfriend handily stood on and broke the last - but I was secretly happy about the fact we had the perfect excuse for a new one!), so I've been happily snapping away this last week. One subject I never tire of capturing is flowers. I love the final images, they're so bright and inviting.

We went for a little trip to Oxford last weekend, so I took the opportunity to take some architecture photographs, another beautiful subject matter. (I always find architecture fascinating and believe buildings can really bring something special to a place - I could spend ages gazing, snapping and drawing an interesting structure).

The final image in Oxford (above) reminded me of my holiday in Venice - the closeness, how unique each building is and those beautiful colours. Below are some of my favourites.

And, of course, I can't get excited about buildings without mentioning my trip to Tokyo. The vibrancy, the height, the lines and the excitement of the landscape there was incredible and completely different from the aforementioned.

And, finally, Kyoto! Just as stunning but a stark contrast from Tokyo. I love how intricate these are. It really is a very magical place. I can't wait to go back and see more!

I've decided I want to illustrate some of these photographs, both the flowers and buildings. I love illustrating people and fashion but I also love experimenting and working on something completely different. I think it helps keep work fresh and interesting, as well as allowing me to translate my way of working into new subject matter. I think it definitely helps someone's decision when commissioning you too. I remember a tutor at uni once told me - if someone wants a drawing of a spoon, they want to know you can draw a spoon. You may be a brilliant illustrator but they may not be able to envisage your style working with that subject. So draw anything and everything - I love that!

So you may see some of these come to life as drawings very soon! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I won't leave my next post as long!

What Is Love?

This morning I found that Tigerprint had a competition ending today. I decided the subject, "what Is Love?' was too good to pass up so got working on it this morning. I love illustrating love, it's a beautiful and strong subject and with everybody being so different, there is a lot of scope.

I had actually started some personal work a few days ago and they seemed like the perfect start. Flowers have very strong connotations with love, so it was perfect! Basically my thoughts were to produce a number of different phrase and colour combinations, writing some of the things love means to me, and hopefully means to others! (I produced the blue and green for those who don't like pink - but I think it worked just as effectively!)

The first two are the drawings I had already done followed by my five entries. I hope you (and they!) like them.

And my entries..

Wish me look!

EDIT: The LOVE part is my own text, the other is a commercial use text I found. With more time I would have attempted it all by hand. Maybe next time, I'd love to play with text more!