Kew Garden
Photography from a visit to Kew Gardens, London.
Two wax-eyes
My first illustration of the new year: Two wax-eyes (Tauhou) feeding on pink abutilon flower nectar. I love seeing little wax-eyes feeding off the abutilon in my garden.
Porto e tônica
I recently worked on a collaboration/commission with Anna Tiller from Framed in Wood. It was a dream illustration brief, one that perfectly fits with the illustrations I create.
Daffodil picking
Sometimes grief can be overwhelming. Though there isn’t a magic wand to make is vanish I do find creating art therapeutic and calming.
Charles Demuth (1883–1935)
There is such a sensual beauty in these two artworks by the American artist Charles Demuth. I love the gestural, confidently applied colours with the fine details of the graphite pencil.
Marc Chagall (1887 - 1985)
It’s wonderful and inspiring to research the life’s and works created by artists. There is often techniques, colours or aspects that make me want to explore different materials and methods. Russian born artist Marc Chagall is one of those artists which I love looking through his vast collection of works.
Paule Marrot (1902-1987)
I was exploring French textile designs recently on Pinterest and came across some beautiful textiles and textile artworks from Paule Marrot (1902-1987)
Day Dreamer radio interview
A few weeks ago I was selling my greeting cards at a small stall at Forage’s market in Alicetown, Lower Hutt. Local Hutt City FM radio host Lisa Yung got chatting to me about my artwork and illustrations, and invited me to join her show for an interview (with her co-host Craig Wade).
Seashells and seaweed
Here’s a illustration I created over the weekend of mussel shells, cat-eye shells, and seaweed. There is something tranquil and mediative about foraging on a beach and finding the shells and seaweed washed up on the shore.
Blue and white vase with pink peonies
Here’s a illustration I created last weekend of a vase full with pink peonies.
My shady garden in summer
I’m glad I found some time in the weekend to weed, sweep fallen leaves and tidy up my garden. Here’s a few details of the favourite parts of my shady back garden. It’s a mix of snowball viburnum shrubs, green and red Japanese Maples, campanula, Mock orange (Philadelphus coronarius) and viola.
The Grinch
Running and creating artwork for Day Dreamer is how I fill by free time in the evenings and in the weekend. During the working week, I work as a Designer Advisor for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. Here is one of the designs I created recently for Old St Paul’s, one of the properties cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
Above the Clouds 1, Georgia O’Keeffe
One day I hope to see some of the legendary Georgia O’Keeffe’s works in person. I just came across this work recently and I love how it captures the emotion of being in a plane flying above the clouds, the excitement of new adventures and places to see.
Butterfly
One of the simple and lovely enjoyments of summer is seeing the bees and butterflies in the garden. Here’s a papercut gouache butterfly illustration I created last week.
Dream flower
Originally the blues in the the flower were from a Indian ink gestural artwork. I decided I would cut out the favourite part of the artwork to form a new small piece, adding in dark green leaves and a stem.
Daffodil
My original idea for this illustration was to have several daffodil flowers, but laying out the cut outs on paper I decided that a single flower composition worked best.
Snowball viburnum
I have two Snowball viburnum shrubs growing in my shady back garden. They have been a bit battered from the Wellington winter winds recently, but they tend to be hardy and I’ve sure they’re bounce back. They get their name from the snowball shaped hanging clusters of tiny delicate flowers.
Jasmine
Here’s a recent illustration of Jasmine, one of the most lovely scented flowers.
Japanese algae botanical illustrations
Biology was always my favourite of the sciences when in high school. I think in part it might have been exploring the natural world in depth and the beauty in scientific illustrations. I came across these detailed illustrated studies of various algae and seaweeds from the book Icones of Japanese algae by Okamura Kintaro, 1867-1935. I love the composition, the gentle shading, and the details of the illustrations, such as close up diagrams of cell structures.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
One of the inspirations for my work is the botanical watercolours from Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928). I love the way his fine pencil lines define the shapes of the flowers, stems, and leaves. Watercolour fills in the shapes, adding depth and richness to the artwork.