Horse Print by Cathy Cullis.

The Ship print from Faye Moorhouse.

Bug Me-Hand painted Silk Dress by Coni Matta.

Last week the lovely people at The Working Proof contacted me to tell me all about themselves and a new print, illustration/animation goddess Julia Pott, has produced for them. The print is titled Whale Hill and below you will find some more information about it and The Working Proof: “an online print gallery and shop with the mission of promoting both art and social responsibility through a series of limited-edition prints.”

“Julia was influenced by English beach towns. Julia says that while she was creating the piece, it was brought to her attention by a few people that she’s not very good at sharing things (whether it be her dessert or lending someone a book), so she created the fox as a version of herself, keeping the houses and ponies to himself. As always, Julia’s print is full of great details: an intricate landscape, the night sky, the fox’s awesome knit pants…15% of each print sold will be donated to Transportation Alternatives, a NYC non-profit that advocates for bicycling, walking and public transportation as the best transportation alternatives. “

“Prints [from The Working Title] are affordable (always under $100), and each print is paired by the artist with a charity to which we will donate 15% of each sale – creating what we believe to be a product with not just aesthetic, but social value. Our charities support a wide range of causes including humanitarian outreach, animal rights, environment, and research. A new print is released once a week, on Tuesdays at 1:30 pm, EST. “

The Working Proof

I know I am woefully behind the times but I couldn’t let a new short film by Julia Pott pass me by without a huge yelp of joy. Howard is Julia’s first year film from the Royal College of Art and it is magnificent, beautifully observed, gorgeous to look at, full of poetic detail, oh that roar of delight at the height of the swing! Haven’t we all felt some of the bear’s longing as a once fulfilling relationship turns stale? Watch, if you haven’t already.

Click the screen to view large.

I know the blog looks a mess, my links need updating and so they will remain until we have a chance to overhaul everything. I am still here but a little ghostly until the bean goes to nursery at the end of August. My inbox is a fright, I am hoping to send some ‘I haven’t forgotten you’ emails next week when my Dad arrives for his first visit and mega grandson sitting!

I want this wall paper from Fine Little Shop so badly! And, my friend Mathyld has a new identity,Under the Pyramids, pop over and say hello.

The little piece above has made its way into the shop at last. Said shop is looking sparse, perhaps a touch sad, a case of what you see is what you get. I am happily working away on some exciting projects to come, meditative stitching, thinking, evaluating, then hot headed, verging on the riotous. Funny but I remember feeling a little like this when I gave up smoking in my early thirties, oh and I loved to smoke, it was hard, I felt itchy as if a wolf were trying to break through my skin. Did I ever tell you how much I love Jacobean revenge tragedy with its malcontents, floridity, extremity, yup lycanthropy occasionally too. I don’t know but have a feeling that some new work is gelling, many and varied fragments are moving together, revisiting texts, pieces of poetry. This is a good space to be in right now.

Hello Polar Bear! I am working on a top secret project and immersing myself in the Arctic, really a boundless source of inspiration. I have been studying A Naturalist’s Guide to the Arctic written by the ecologist, E.C. Pielou, so that my fanciful imaginings and magical projections about the polar region are tempered with a dash of natural history. I have a head full of patterned ground, tundra polygons and ponds, not to mention the plants, birds, mammals, fish and insects.

Can it really be a year since I stitched my first Polar Fish Boy? I wonder where my armchair expedition will take me this time!

Continuing the polar theme I received two wonderful mini books for Christmas by the illustrator Jackie Bos, pop over to Jackie’s Etsy shop and marvel at I Heart The Arctic .

I like the collage above by Lizzy Janssen too, it is named Land of Shine.

Of course I couldn’t get away without including some work by Diane of Hibou Caillou Chou! Diane’s work is influenced by Inuit culture and the Great North, poetic lines indeed.

The Polar Bear Plate by One Blackbird caught my imagination as well.

Happy New Year everyone!

This print and this bag send me into a rapturous delirium of acquisitiveness, oh yes pleeease imaginary secret benefactor!

In Russia screen print from Lizzy Stewart’s shop, About Today.
Tote from Dazzling Lanna.

Hopefully a Plush You report later!
XXX

Oh look, super yummy, new T-shirts from Caitlin Shearer over at Pepperminte. If you love Caitlin’s prints you will definitely want to wear these illustrations on your chest all day long. I particularly like The Bleeding Knees Club tee shown above.

I am intrigued by Ian Carpenter’s paintings; landscapes that morph into creaturely forms, arresting blocks and swatches of acid bright colour, these works will take you on an emotional journey into spaces where stories are woven. Let’s join Ian and learn some more about his work.

Tell me us little about yourself, the media you work with and your creative process.

“Well I have a natural inclination towards the creative process and I find paintings to be a good outlet, a great medium for myself. I find working with gouache at the moment (I’ve worked with oils and acrylics too) with wood board a spontaneous way of creating and the way the colors mix and react with the wood itself. Sometimes I work without any plan and paint as I go along but lately having a predetermined idea of what I want to do has been my creative guide.”

From where do you draw your inspiration: music, books, people, nature etc?

“Music, so many things, just today I’ve been listening to Tortoise again, great ambient and jazzy sonic textures and now I have some sad ol’ Wilco song drifting through my head, so yes, songs can help out in terms of a painting’s atmosphere when one is painting. Nature plays a part too obviously – I like landscapes, from the Fauves to the American Tonalists to De Stael to various artists of our time. People, well, hm, I’m not much of a figurative painter of late. I’ve studied Classical Drawing and have rendered the human form in many ways (paint, pencil, charcoal), but in the last few years I’ve focused on nature and abstract forms – why is that – I don’t know – maybe just living in New York City I get enough of human beings and human interaction daily, ha.”

If you could talk briefly about the background to one of your pieces which would you choose and why? Tell us the story behind the piece.

“For example Bánh Hỏi Weather (above), I had that Vietnamese dish on my latest birthday and being a foodie (and an artist), just putting that dish into a landscape seemed fun to me – and maybe the thoughts of growing older influenced me to put stormy clouds in there, something greyish and forlorn overlooking tasty sustenance – and again everything is regenerative so nature provides/nourishes the food we eat then we or I live on to experience another day – or more specifically in this case – to paint another day. So looking at this painting again I’m getting that meditation from it and a colorful one at that.”

You can find Ian here:
Blog
Coming soon to:
Artquiver

Ian tells me that he is planning to open an Etsy shop at some point in the future. Do let us know when your shop is up and running Ian, thanks so much for joining us today and sharing a little corner of your life with us. What is it about Tortoise’s music that creates such vivid mental imagery? When I was going through an “I’m going to be a filmaker” phase I plotted out a cinematic journey to Standards. Sadly my film was never made!!!
I have a plush related interview coming up soon, in line with my all new super-relaxed attitude to blogging I can’t say when. But soon kittens!

I am sure that many of you will recognize those delightful teapots and cups above, as we are joined today by the wonderful Anna of Lilla Lotta. Anna has such a strong and instantly recognizable style, fresh, crisp and homely, inspiring thoughts of cinnamon buns, the smell of freshly baked bread, percolating coffee and cut grass in a spring meadow. Oh yum! In addition to running her amazingly successful Etsy shop Anna is also a mother to five beautiful children, I am in awe of her creativity and feel sure that Anna must get very little sleep indeed! Let us grab a cup of tea and settle down comfortably to meet Anna.

Tell us a little about yourself, the media you work with and your creative process.

“I am Anna. Mum to five young children. Living under the big blue sky in the South of France. Originally Swedish/Dutch, I have lived in 6 different countries in the last 20 years and am still not feeling quite ‘at home’ where I am at. I suppose I am a bit of a wanderer, slightly lost in the wrong era.”

“I am a bit of a fiddler and have a creativity compulsive disorder. A day without creativity, just does not seem like a proper day. I won’t call myself an artist, to me that would imply that I “studied” it at a grand school, in a specific class. And truth is, I have never taken a class in art or any other creative process. I suppose that is why the title “fiddler” suits me better.”

“I have never found a medium that takes my fancy the most. I flitter about, from one thing to another, like a flutter-by. One day I simply must paint in water colour and the next I feel the need to do lettering. Lately however I have been completely inspired by fabrics. I am working on a selection of Lilla Lotta fabric designs, which hopefully will be finished by the end of the year. Needless to say I have very little free time and do without sleep often. Who needs sleep anyways? *smiles* ”

From where do you draw your inspiration: music, books, people, nature etc?

“Inspiration is one of those things that can be found in every day living. It might be loud laughter and a smile that comes unexpectedly. Or those moments where little arms give such big hugs, incredibly warm and loving. It is like sparkle. Magic dust. The only reason you need to wake up in the morning and have a head filled with ideas. Things waiting to be created.”

” My source of inspiration is being the woman who runs around like a headless chicken most of the time and takes care of a large family with lots of little feet. Almost like living double the life and feeling doubly blessed.”

If you could talk briefly about the background to one of your pieces which would you choose and why?

“I would have to choose my recent creation of cotton tapes. By chance I made one to add to a 3D woolfelt house I was making as a Christmas gift and I needed a specific ribbon to go on the top of the roof. That is when it happened. How about making lots of different ones? A creative project where I could combine my love for illustrating with my love for fabrics. ”

“And it has been wonderful ever since! By the Autumn I will be able to finish a whole new selection of highly illustrated cotton tapes. I find myself feeling so blessed to be able to do what I love doing. Fiddling around and raising my family.”

You can find Anna in these places:

Lilla Lotta Etsy Shop
Flickr
Blog

Thank you so much Anna for sharing a little of your life and creativity with us. I feel so inspired by your attitude to the world and the obvious joy you take in creating your handmade goodness.

As I was putting this interview together this morning I began to read Anna’s blog, duh, I hadn’t come across it before, and laughed out loud at this post: 40 Facts About My Summer. I could relate to so many of Anna’s ‘facts’, I am sure you can too!

40 Facts About My Summer

1. The weather in the South of France is hot. I mean it is really hot.
2. Being a mother to five kidlets is exhausting. Especially during the Summer.
3. I am drawing and painting every spare minute in front of a fan.
4. New banners for my blog and shop in the making. Everything will be brandnew and fresh in the coming Autumn.
5. Lots of highly decorative cotton tapes being made for the new season.
6. Only 7 days before my mother arrives.
7. Husbands work throughout the Summer.
8. I work throughout the Summer.
9. My head is exploding with ideas.
10. I have no real appetite during the Summer months.
11. Thai food does not agree with me and is returned within an hour.
12. I am already thinking about Christmas.
13. I am tired all the time.
14. There is absolutely nothing on the telly (and I am not even a big telly fan).
15. Bed linen is changed more often during the Summer.
16. My washing machine broke down about two weeks ago.
17. My children only want to eat ice pops.
18. Home made cake does not taste as good as it does in the winter.
19. I am still in love with my hot chocolate.
20. I am going through hand soap like there is no tomorrow.
21. My hoover is used about 4 times a day.
22. Paddling pools for little children are great!
23. Long trips in a car are not recommended.
24. I worry about the new school year and my children.
25. I still have not learnt any French.
26. I am totally behind with all my emails and visiting my favourite places online.
27. I spent very very very little time behind the computer. And if I do, I have to wrestle someone off first.
28. Sitting in the garden in the evening is like recharging your batteries.
29. France has some freaky insects.
30. I am not even mentioning the snakes and the lizards.
31. I don’t sleep during the Summer, I just pass out.
32. I am still totally lost.
33. I love being productive and being able to run my shop. It has saved my life.
34. I am grateful for meeting new friends. It means a lot.
35. Husbands are grumpier when it is hot outside.
36. My to do lists are taking on monstrous proportions.
37. I have to remind myself to drink less coffee, and more water all the time. It makes me really ill.
38. For some reason I have started biting my nails again.
39. I am doing my best.
40. I am a rubbish blogger.

He, he, he, excellent!

Thanks so much again Anna.

I am so very happy to have Belinda with us at LL&O, on a grey & rainy day her work lifts my heart. I want to bathe in those beautiful, rapturous colours, float and spin in the air amongst abstract shapes that are full of joy, somehow! Grab your comfiest chair and say hello to Belinda, a treat indeed.

Tell us a little about yourself, the media you work with and your creative process.

“I live in an inner city suburb of melbourne {Australia} with my husband and our two little boys. I like to be close to great cafes and galleries and walk to most places I need to get to {I don’t have my lisence!}.”

“My work is mainly mixed media ~ a mix of drawing and painting, drawing and collage, painting and collage, block printing and drawing! I work with whichever medium appeals to me at the time. they all have their different attractions to me {physically and aesthetically} and it usually depends on my mood as to what I go with! Sometimes I have a clear image in my head as to what the piece might be, but most often just a vague inkling or feeling. I love to make quick sketches as I work ~ often the best ideas come from working. Sometimes the sketches form part of a new series or the next piece. I like to work on a few pieces at once or have a few in progress.”

From where do you draw your inspiration: music, books, people, nature etc?

“I draw inspiration from reliable sources like magazines, galleries & the internet and incidental sources like: colour combinations that I see in daily life that pop out {an almost fluro orange cup floating in a white bath tub, a vermillion flower against a dark grey wall with soft chalky green leaves}; landscapes ~ a memory of the Swiss Alps from a boat on a lake, cane fields, the ocean ~ especially on an overcast day; a blurry background; watching my kids draw & paint ~ they have no self-imposed limitations or judgement stopping the flow of ideas. They use colour and shape indiscriminately.”

If you could talk briefly about the background to one of your pieces which would you choose and why?Please tell us the story behind the piece.

“I chose ‘Late Night Mist’ because it’s pretty new and I’m happy with it! The ‘mist’ paintings are my favourite pieces to work on ~ I find it really relaxing to paint the shapes of the mist and to see how the different levels of transparent white turn out over the other layers of colour.”

“It has a very brief story: this is an imagined landscape in the deep of night when the light is misty and the individuals who live in the hills have something important to say!”

“Thanks so much lisa for having me on your gorgeous blog.”

You can find Belinda in these places:
Gretchenmist Etsy Shop
Blog
Flickr

Don’t you feel a little happier looking at Belinda’s lovely work, those colours really sing don’t they? Thank you so much Belinda for joining us, it has been such a pleasure learning some more about you.

Hooray, I’m so glad the interviews are back, they really are such a joy to work on. Who will be up next week kittens, a little clue, we will be looking to the east.