Holly Surplice @ ECA

This week at Edinburgh College of Art, we were very lucky to have a very special visiting illustrator... the lovely Holly Surplice. Holly is one of my favourite illustrators working in the current children's book market so I was EXCITED when she agreed to coming in.

During her visit, Holly did a little presentation telling us all about her, her work and making it in the industry. She showed us a variety of her work, both old and new. We even got the opportunity to see her screen-printed children's book that she created for her degree show. "Silly Jack" went on to be her first publication with Walker books in 2006.

Those students who are particularly interested in creating artwork for children and children's books also had the opportunity to have personal tutorials with her. What a fantastic experience!

Thank you to Holly and ECA for this wonderful event. I am very much looking forward to the next visit in March.

You can find Holly Surplice here....
www.marblesink.co.uk
www.hollysurplice.blogspot.com

My Products

I have recently been creating products for my own online store. These cute little keyrings and mugs are a sneaky peak at the sorts of exciting things that you will find there.

I had so much fun making them, it became a little addictive. I have definitely found another niche that I would like to create more for. 

So if you need a pretty new mug for work, or a very cute new keyring then check out my store when it is up and running. I hope that my little products all find kind and loving new homes.

Watch this space! :)

End of Semester

Display of  "work in progress". My desk in the MA/MFA Illustration Studio

My exposed screen... ready for printing

Experimenting in the print studio (Edinburgh College of Art)

Prints in the drying-rack

Completed Print

I have just completed my final deadline and first semester at Edinburgh College of Art, so I thought I would share what I have been up to.

I have used this initial research semester to explore the representation of Multicultural Britain in children's books and the process of screen-printing. I have carried out two focus group sessions that have supported this work, which involved analysing both old and new children's books that aim to represent characters from different ethnic backgrounds. 

Some of this research time was observational, in which I spent Dame Dorothy Primary School in Sunderland. This was a great opportunity to study a classroom environment and see how children interact with each other. I didn't get as much done as I had hoped however, as the children were so interested in what I was drawing and asking me lots of questions! I also spent some afternoons studying the wonderful displays at The Museum of Childhood on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh.

Alongside this research, I am developing an idea for a children's book. I look forward to sharing more about this with you soon.

Thank you for reading.

Illustration Friday - Scattered

A true representation of my work methods :P

How do you like to work?

New project

Thought I'd share this little sketch from a new project that I have started. Hope to share more with you soon.

Big Bang Creative - NEW SITE

Here it is!! Big Bang have just launched their funky new site. Do you recognise the illustration work..??

Looking good Big Bang! Miss seeing your cheeky faces every morning.

** BIG WAVES FROM EDINBURGH ** 

:)

Paris!

It's been a very busy few weeks for me all in preparation for starting my Masters of Fine Art at Edinburgh College of Art and training up for the World Karate Championships. This is why I have been a little quiet on my blog.

I thought I would share this recent creation that followed my trip to beautiful Paris to visit my dear cousin.

Thank you to the lovely Angela Muss for some great suggestions of places to visit. We managed to fit in stops to The Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysees and Montmatre. One of my favourite places was Montparnasse, where we got to see the Tower of Montparnasse and eat some amazing crepes!!! Another beautiful place was le Marais. It was such a lovely place to walk around some cute shops and restaurants. Here we enjoyed a sit in the park, followed by a scrummy hot chocolate.

Although it was only a short visit, we managed to get quite a lot of site seeing in. During our final day, we stayed more local, outside of the city centre and enjoyed a walk around the town. We explored the local woodland where we had fun 'fighting' dragons and monsters with my cousin's four year old son.