The City is Stumbling, Deliciously

The City is Stumbling, Deliciously
Coloured pencil on MDF with dictionary pages

Friday 18 February 2011

Spring is Coming!

Isn't is lovely to see the snowdrops popping out the ground and tiny buds appearing on the trees? Spring is my favourite time of year, a sign of the nicer weather to come...(here's hoping anyway!)
The Spring Fair up at the NEC Birmingham is one of the first big events for me to visit. It is a huge exhibition of this years trends in greeting cards, paintings, homeware and gifts. I have been going for a few years now, and enjoy it immensely. I have a few agents and publishers who exhibit up there, and it gives me the chance to have a sit down with them and discuss new projects and ideas. I see IBD Licensing and also Fiesta Collectables, as well as any potential publishers who might be interested in my work. I am always armed with a couple of photo books and my memory stick!
It was great to see some of my newer tiles on display at the fair, and overheard some lovely comments about them.




I now have quite a few new commissions to work on from the result of the trip. One being a set of 4 gardening tiles.
The only bad thing that happened that day was the 2 hours it took me to get out of the car park, thanks to two accidents on both main roads leading out of the NEC!

Another exciting event for me is the launch of my work on the front of the tins of the new Derwent Coloursoft Collection. I was commissioned to do 3 drawings of glass, showing the versatility of the pencils. I absolutely love Coloursoft pencils, they are so creamy and the colours so vibrant. I rarely use any other coloured pencil.
These are the drawings they used.



I am still doing my demonstrations at art societies, which I absolutely love. I have got two floral collage demos to do in the next two weeks, so will post the finished articles when done!
This is the last Fractured Pastel drawing I completed on the 16th February at Thameside Art Society. They named it for me- 'Moonlight Tipple'. 50cm x 40cm on Colourfix paper.