Rainy Days!

Well today I've been feeling a little down and it's probably linked to all of this rain and just recovering from my long weekend in London still. So I'm drinking lots of lemon and cucumber water (yum!) and getting on with paperwork instead of stressing trying to draw when I'm not in the mood...
I wanted to share with you a picture from my weekend in Covent Garden Market.. 

It was a lot of fun but SUCH a long weekend. We got up at half 4 on saturday morning and it goes on from there haha. 

This weekend though should be a little more chilled, I'm down in Liverpool for this amazing event!! 

I can't wait. Liverpool is one of my favorite cities, and I'm going to pop in to see one of my stockists as well :) Do come along if you local, and even if your not ;)

I will be sharing my submission to The Global Talent Search soon so stay tuned!! 

Louise x

Birthday Roundup!

As you may well know I suck at taking photo's of things, places, anything that happens to me.
This wasn't very different over my birthday weekend, but there were a few! Here's a little roundup :)
 

It was SUCH a lovely weekend spent with friends and in the sunshine! :)
Louise x

Make Art That Sells Week 5 (final week!!)

Hello hello!
As you may know last week was the final assignment for MATS (sad face!) but Lilla was determined that we should go out with a bang! The mini threw me a little (a lot) this week,  Lilla told us to document a collection of ours. Now I don't really collect much that I could use so I put off doing it which was silly because I didn't have the full week to work on it since I was taking a much needed weekend off to celebrate my birthday!
The main assignment came round and to be honest I freaked out about this one a little bit. Aimed at the Gift market we were to create a 'hyper lush' zipper pouch design!!
I've never really thought of my work as hyper lush and lots of the examples showed use of real flowers in there and these beautiful, busy works. I felt really out of my depth....
Not leaving myself enough time to play I started working on something I wasn't having all that much fun with but I didn't have enough time to throw away and restart and I really didn't want to not submit for the final week!
So I'm going to show you what I submitted and I'm doing this with my new found confidence from the course, I'm showing you art I don't like!
Based on my little collection of elephants bought back from India..

There it is!
I put it out of my mind for the weekend but when Monday rolled around I knew I had to go back and make it better haha.
So I started again from scratch and had fun with the work I was creating and it's amazing what a difference it made to how I felt! Fun art!!
So here is my new hyper lush design based on my small collection of animal figures dotted around my desk.
What do you think? :)

I've not long watched the final video from the course and I'm sad and elated at the same time, I feel like a different person for doing it and my work feels very different too, very sad to be done on my little journey though.
Into the big wide world for me now! 

Louise x

Things That Make Me Smile

This months theme for Pencil Play Collective was 'Things that make you smile' and I've been super duper busy but I really wanted to contribute to it still so I whipped these two up today. I do love strawberry laces...*read more in the PPC blog 
Louise x

Make Art That Sells Week 4

Hello hello!
Well it's been a SUPER busy busy week! Week 4 of Lilla's course was all about wall art, something I've never really done before, we were told to crack out the collage collection and only focus on using two colours which were allocated by star sign.
My star sign is Cancer (yep, it's my birthday next weekend!) and so my colours were pink and yellow......yeah I thought the same too, don't feature very heavily in my work do they?
Anyway, I had SO MUCH fun with this assignment, I cracked out the paint, bought some canvases and it was just such a weight off my shoulders not to worry about the final outcome so much and enjoy the process. As Lilla tells us - 'People buy your joy'..
For the first part of the week I worked on two pieces to loosen up as it were...

This was my first attempt, but Lilla has specified that the piece was abstract, and I didn't really feel that this was abstract enough.. 

I began to settle into the assignment and it was after this piece I went out and bought some canvases, how could I not?? :) I was having far too much fun!

I worked on 3 canvases simultaneously. One I still haven't scanned yet, but here is the smaller one and then the one I submitted to the Flickr group is next!

What do you think??
I had so much fun in this weeks assignment, so you never know more canvases might be creeping into the house... ;)
 

Louise x

Make Art That Sells Week 3 & Art Market!

Hello!

Well it has been a super busy week! And as ever I've promised I will do a blog post about it and so I've taken 5 mins away from all of the work with my cup of tea to reflect...
First up, week three of Lilla's course! Picture Books!
The mini assignment was to draw snails and practice hand lettering of 'The snail and the rose tree'. Wanting to get stuck in and not have to worry about the big assignment until Wednesday I (like most other people in the class) did not rush out to go read the story. Instead we focused on drawing snails, and some veryyyy cute snails were appearing in the facebook group! 
I had never really thought to draw snails before and so this was a bit of a challenge for me, and also you know how fond I am of my dot eyes on my characters, lilla said there was to be none of that, eyes needed to connect with the children reading it.

- A few cheeky photo's of my sketchbook!
Then Wednesday rolled around and the big assignment was set - to illustrate a front cover or inside spread for 'The snail and the rose tree' and the text was provided.
My god it was a tough first read, I think it shocked us all a little bit. Lilla urged us to interpret it in whatever way we liked and suited our styles. 
During this project I had told myself I wasn't going to use photoshop but instead go back to my collage style and work with that. I didn't have very long due to other commitments that weekend (The art market) so I got stuck in. Stopped. Freaked out. Started again, created a double page spread. Looked on the facebook group at all of the amazing work that was being produced. Started again!
It was a stressful week for me because it took me such a long time to get over the initial challenge that the text set.
In the end this is what I submitted to the flickr group (and Lilla reviewed it in her video of the works!! - I feel so honored!)

It's something I will be coming back to after the course to have another look at though!

Now, last weekend I was of course at the Art Market in Holmfirth, a market I've heard a lot about from other traders, and one supporting affordable art. I took 100% original work with me in the end, I never really get the chance to do that so I couldn't resist! ;)
I wanted to make my (3 meter!!) stand look as good as possible and so I got hold of some wood for the sides so I could hang artwork from them too!
Turns out painting that took forever, and it rained outside so I had to do it inside haha (I do have some bright ideas don't I?)

So, wood all painted, car loaded we set off Saturday afternoon down the market, set up and traded between 8-10pm.
The venue was lovely, as were all the people who stopped and chatted to me!
Here is a photo of my stand :)

Can you spy some originals in there?
Early Sunday morning we came back to the fair (I say early, it was 10am so late for me!) ready for a full days trading and I had a commendation waiting for me on my stall!!
I didn't see it to begin with haha, another trader had to point it out to me- It really made my day so thankyou Victoria at the Art Market for making me feel so welcome! Also its really nice that all the effort I put into getting set up got noticed and appreciated.

All in all the Art Market was just lovely to attend and I will be applying for the November one so I might be back you never know Holmfirth ;)
I was also interviewed because of my award so watch out for that beauty! haha. Never was any good at having my photo taken let alone being filmed!! 
I have new work to share with you too but this is a very long blog post so I'll wrap it up here tonight and I'll be back soon :)

Night!
Louise x

Large Summer Totes Are Here!

Heading down to the beach, or needing to carry that little bit more around with you? (I know i do!)  Well I've got just the thing for you! An 100% organic cotton large summer tote bag. 
Each of these are designed to compliment your outfit and add a splash of colour for those lazy summer days :)

I use mine for popping into town for bits of shopping, carrying books and sketchbooks around in and packing for picnics - even my blanket fits in!
They are priced at £12 each and you can purchase from my Etsy Shop.
What would you carry in yours?
Louise x

Back to school!

Hello folks!
So I've got some exciting news to share with you all, I've gone back to school! :)
As an early birthday present I've started on the fantastic Lilla Rogers 'Make art that sells' course, it all ties in perfectly with the AOI event I visited in London a week or too ago based on image licensing. I now know what direction I need to be heading in and the course run by Lilla is helping me to get there. (Fingers crossed!) 

It's just been 2 weeks of the course and although I was away for the first week the whole thing is already so so inspirational, the classroom is FULL to the brim of talented and supportive creatives and I just love being a part of that.
I never want it to end!
Each week of the course focuses on a different area of the market and this weeks has been Home Decor, we were set an assignment to use a more modern take on floral and translate it into a circular plate design. 
To begin with I began with LOTS of sketches and drawings using different materials, here's a teeny snippet...

I started with inks and pencils and brush pens because I didn't want to get too bogged down with colour, instead focusing on the shapes of seed pods and unusual shapes.
I then scanned in and played around ALOT on the computer with them (I think me and Illustrator are slowly becoming friends)
and I wanted to share with you some final plates and what a collection might look like....:)

Squee! What do you think??
I had such fun with this assignment, and I can wait to start this weeks work...Picture books! 
I'm still messing around with plates so some more might sneak in ;)
Louise x

Pencil Play Collective

My latest piece for the flora and fauna theme :) http://www.pencilplaycollective.com/ 

Louise x

Elvaston Castle

Hello out there!
Sorry it's been so far and few between my blog posts at the moment, I'm taking the time to allow myself some freedom to go back to my illustration work and really have a think about the direction I'm going in.
I attended the brilliant AOI licensing event this week too which has given me alot to think about.
I just wanted to share with you that if you were to pop along to Elvaston Castle gift shop you can find a selection of my work for sale this month! I'm their artist of the month so if your local and fancied seeing some of my work in real life then head on down :)
 

Louise x

Another busy week

Hello Folks!
It's been a busy and tough old week this week, but I yet again have lots to share :)
First up - I finished my outdoor mural today at the Wonky Table in Derby . A favorite restaurant of mine in Derby, featuring a vegetarian and a ladies night, serving locally sourced food, whats not to love?
Here's a sneaky peek but you'll have to pop and visit to see the real deal! ;)

Also this week I've had the worst cold I've had in years so I do apologise for being so quiet, I'm still recovering and my voice still isn't back  but I'm hoping it will be allll ok ready for Derbyshire Open Arts this weekend. 
You can find me in person at Studio 61 gallery (map on image) and also some of my work will be available at Green Door set within Bank's Mill :)

I'll be back with more updates soon!
Louise x

Illustrate!

Hello!
As you might know I'm part of the pencil play collective and this month I set the theme of 'Flora and Fauna' if you would like to have a go yourself you can you know!
Just tweet us with your illustration @pencilplay before the end of the month and we can share it with everyone, and we also take on guest illustrators as well :)
Good luck!

​Louise x

My month in photos

Hello!
It's been a super busy month and it hasn't stopped yet so I thought you might want to see a little roundup of what I've been up to!​

From the top left:
1. Silk screen printing new summer deer totes (premium size!)
2. A quick snap from my current exhibition CMYK - http://themakinghouse.org/​
3. Another feature in the Derby Evening telegraph :) 'My week'
4. I spent last weekend selling at RHS Malvern. Some beautiful plants to be seen!
5. My lunch from 'Sacred cafe' London after visiting Country Living Magazine. Yum.

​I will be back with lots more news for you, but until then!
Louise x

CMYK

An Exhibition about the visual impact of colour.
​

This exhibition kicks off with a preview evening tonight! I have original works for sale available as well :)
A great bunch of artists are exhibiting and you can come and meet us all tonight 6.30 - 8.30 where there will be nibbles and refreshments.
To find out more about the event and who else is exhibiting you can visit the Facebook event page here.
Exciting times!
Louise x

Cloth Magazine

My summer deer tote bag has been featured in this months Cloth Magazine! You must get yourself a copy, it's full of spring-time yellows and beautiful things to make :)​

My summer totes have been selling fast but you can still grab one for yourself by clicking on the picture!​

Louise x

John Lewis Pitch!

Hello!​
So, I've been keeping some exciting news under my hat of late, purely because I didn't want to make a big deal of it, and add more pressure to myself, but now it's done I can share with you all!
On Tuesday this week I made the journey up to London to pitch my products to John Lewis! I won the opportunity through Start Up Britain's amazing competition 'Pitch up'.
Which is part of a national enterprise to encourage bigger businesses to help out the smaller ones.
Out of over 400 entries Start Up Britain choose their top 100, and then John Lewis choose their final 13 business to come and pitch to them.

So armed with my presentation and lots of samples I left on a very early train!
I arrived full of nerves and worries about how my pitch would go but the ladies running the event from Start Up Britain were fabulous and provided a comfy area (and an amazing buffet) to help us relax.
We heard from Julia - founder of Oily Rag, who had been in our place a year ago and her products were chosen by John Lewis to stock in their stores. (wowee!) Again, she made us feel much more at ease and the John Lewis buyers popped out to introduce themselves too, I can't tell you what a friendly day it was.  
After arriving at 11.30am I didn't pitch until 3pm so it was a little wait but the time soon flew by and it was time for me to go and do my pitch. 
Now my memory of my pitch is a little hazy but I'm told it went very well and that John Lewis were very impressed with my products. I think I must of pulling off the swan trick (where under the water it's going crazy, but on the surface cool and composed.) They highlighted a couple of areas for me to have a look at but it was a very positive experience.
After my pitch I went to grab a glass of water and then got taken into a separate room to speak to two lovely ladies from the Country Living Magazine who said 'that my pitch had been very inspiring' which was amazing to hear! So we had a chat about me and my products and it was just such a pleasure to feel like all my hard work was being noticed and paying off! :)

I left the building in whirlwind of emotion. I have never done anything like this before, and not only was it a shock to the system but all the great feedback I had received was just amazing. 
John Lewis told us all at the beginning of the day that because they were so impressed with us all we would all receive an hours mentoring session with our relevant buyer!!
So I'm still trying to get my head around how amazing the day was, and I will of course let you know when my mentoring session will be, and if anything else happens ;)

It was probably for the best I had a long bus ride home to help to calm down again haha.
You can read about the other finalists and find out more about Start Up Britain on their blog post about the day here.
You can also look back on the tweets from the day using #PitchUp.

Louise x

Printing process shots

​Thought I'd share a few snaps showing the progress of my latest screen print with you!

First of all I get some rough sketches together to whittle down ideas, here were my final 2 in sketch form.​

Then on sheets of paper I ​ separate out my colour layers and begin inking in!

After scanning and a little tidy up my image was ready to be printed out onto acetates!​ Here are my two layers of acetate and my hand torn paper ready to rock and roll at the studio.

After coating, exposing, and washing out my screen I wait for it to dry (next to my bike helmet, yeah!)
Can you spot the fox and the flowers?​

While my screen dries off I start mixing up my inks...​

...setting up the print bed...​

And then I run a few test prints onto some newsprint just to make sure colours are spot on and the design is printing through properly, and then it's onto the hand torn (precious) paper!​

Ta da! A sunny new addition to my print family, what do you think?​

Louise x

Easter Monday Day Off!

Hello, I've got some BIG news to share with you, buuuut not until I've shown you my holiday photos, yes, I'm doing it!
After a slow weekend and lots of time without a day off together me and the boy finally got a full day on Monday, and off into the middle of no-where we went!
Here are a few snaps of our day out in Goyt Valley, Buxton :)​

​The roads to get there...

It was very bleak, and bitterly cold, but it was just what I needed! :)​
Did you do anything over your easter weekend? 

Louise x

Elvaston Castle Day One...

A quick couple of snaps from my first day at Elvaston Castle Country Park, back again tomorrow and hopefully with more sunshine too! :)
Can you spot my brand new screenprint? ​

Louise x

UK Handmade feature!

Hello again,
We've had a shocking week for weather over this end, so much so, that the very much anticipated SOCK festival (although brilliantly inspiring) was a little lacking in visitor numbers this year. A huge thankyou to everyone that braved the blizzards and came to see us all though, it was still a good weekend, I meet lots of lovely inspiring people and was able to put some names to twitter faces.
I - as usual- was unarmed with my camera, and so here is a picture of my stall taken by Susan Guy who popped round and took some lovely photos of us all :) 

You can see more of the festival up on her blog .

Oh and in other news, an interview I did for UK Handmade has been making the rounds today. I participated in their MEET feature, there is a REAL photo of me and everything!...You can take a peek here, let me know what you think!

I also launched a couple of new prints and cards over the past week, all are now available in my Etsy shop...

​All of the cards are printed onto a 100% premium recycled card stock, with recycled envelopes of your choice and biodegradable packaging. Doesn't get much greener :)

Now, all being well with the weather I'm exhibiting at Elvaston Castle Country Park this weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, so do come along and say hello! (Also cross your fingers for warmer weather for me please - I'm outside!) I may be clutching my hot water bottle but I'll be there!

Louise x