travel journal

I thought I would share a few pictures of a travel journal commission that I've just finished. The brief was to make a journal for a campervan owner encompassing some of my textile images on the cover. 

The finished deign was made up of a collection of some of my textile illustrations printed onto good quailty card, I added a strip of bookbinding cloth along the spine for added strength and durability in compilmentary navy blue.

As a nice finishing touch I added blue and white striped headbands to the top and bottom edge of the book block and used some decorative printed paper for the end pages.

The pages inside are divided into eight sections, and are a collection of cartridge paper, lined paper, plain and tracing paper which I printed some nice bright colourful images onto. Every other section has a brown envelope bound into the spine for saving things in.

I'm delighted with the end result and definately think i'll make some more either as gifts, commissions or to use myself!

Thanks for reading
Cx
  

joy of the everyday

I'm feeling freshly motivated and joyful for the small inconsequential things that we encounter each day. Things like...

Freshly baked victoria sponge cake,

New sketchbooks,

Lawns,

Table linen,

Coconut rice,

Bank holiday weekends,

Sparkly light shining through leaves,

Sea charts,

Old photographs,

Egg cups,

Spoons.

from the sketchbook

This week i've been keeping it small. Time just seems to fly past and i'm always trying to find ways to capture the moments, minutes and ideas that might just make the basis for a great piece of work.

It's also been ages since I posted any of my sketchbok pages and thought it would be nice to share some today.


The pages are taken from my pocket sized notebook (3 1/2 inches x 5 1/2 inches) an old molskine diary that I chopped up once it became out-of-date. Bound a selection of new pages of my favorite watercolour paper (300gms rough) and re-housed them in the old covers of the molskine diary.
I found this way of recycling and reusing notebooks to be a really satisfactory way of guaranteeing the perfect sketchbook. They feel and sit perfectly in my hands and fit like a dream into their own pocket inside my handbag.

I always label my notebooks and sketchbooks clearly, I would hate to loose one. So each one has my name, address and number in the front. I always date them too, I love knowing when I strted one and when I finish it. They sometimes live with me for so long, they become best friends and witnesses to everything, some of it will inevitably end up in their pages.


Lists, i'm forever writing them! I find they help make sense of everything that i've got to do and i'm able to prioritise work and ideas.


Oh! The wonderful Japanese MT tape, an incredible range of multi coloured and decorated masking tape. Looking at the little rolls together in their box just makes me happy! I think if you just google that, a list of suppliers in your country should appear. It took me ages to find a UK supplier and I know there are several now.


Doodles: a very important part my sketchbooks, I'm forever just jotting down ideas and pictures, they don't have to be wonderful or beautiful, just help me to remember what tickled my fancy or caught my eye!

If you have any questions or suggestions to help capture those moments then please feel free to email or post below.

Happy Sketching,

Cat x

left handed life 2

Sweetpeas from the garden 10.7.10
Agapanthus 10.7.10

More drawings using my left hand, mostly flowers again i'm afraid but they are so bright and cheerful and seem so forgiving! I've tried drawing things with harder lines and edges but they all appear as if they've been drawn on a boat in a force 8 gale!

left handed life

Two weeks ago yesterday I broke my right (drawing hand) wrist and have been in a cast since. After the shock of not being able to use my right hand to do any of the things i'd usually do, having taken for granted these things for 29 years, i've been learning to use my under-used left side (I have most definately been right sided dominant).

It has been the most unusual and frustrating experience, marks, lines, shading that I would have normally expected to or were used to making using my right hand I couldn't reproduce with my left. I have had to go back to nursery school and learn to write and draw all over again.

Until I can cut up fabric again with a pair of scissors ( I could go out and buy a left-handed pair) i'm just sticking to practicing and playing with pen and ink.

The images above are my first attempts at drawing and colouring with my left hand... it's been akward, annoying and very frustrating but some how rewarding in the end as I hope through the process of using my left side more, to become a more even and balanced creative person.