In a follow on from last week this Monday’s Moodboard is of sea shells.
I promise I’m not obsessed with seaside themes at the mo! I am however obsessed with the structure of natural, organic forms.
This theme has been on the back-burner for me for a while now and I think finally this year will be the year when I tackle this nautical theme that has been so loved by photographers and such an enduring subject in vintage illustrations.
Right, let me get those watercolours out.
I have new products on my Not On The High Street shop; a unicorn card, a hare greeting and a beautiful eucalyptus art print. All are taken from my original watercolour and ink drawings.
My hare and unicorn prints have been incredibly popular at various art fairs with many people asking if I was going to produce co-ordinated greetings – well nobody can say I don’t listen! The new Eucalyptus botanical print is a bit of an indulgence to be honest – I simply wanted one for myself. 
This time of year is just a gift for me as I celebrate my love for hellebores.
I have a confession to make though. Until we had our garden I had never heard of these blooms. Yes I know – I’m rubbish. I have Dr B to thank for this new love of mine.
When we moved from our London flat to a house with a garden, Dr B unleashed his inner Monty Don (no bad thing) and began his plan for ‘all year planting’. Hellebores, he told me, were a classic winter flower that pop up in Feb and I was assured that every February I would see lovely blossoms that would delight. Dr B didn’t disappoint.
Now every year I look forward to the arrival of these beautiful flowers. I’m told they benefit from a little prune so I’m forever dipping into our garden to snip some flower heads to display indoors.
This also gives me a chance to use up my glass globe mini vase (a gift from my sister) and upcycle some charity shop finds. I’ve used my Posca pens to draw on some tealight holders for some floating water displays and spray painted a really rather ugly small vintage vase for a more traditional arrangement.
We live in a new build house (well it’s 10 years old – we’ve been there five). While we love the lack of building work and fighting with fittings, one of the biggest challenges of living in a new build home is to give the place some character and life.
We didn’t want to add architectural features that aren’t there – we wouldn’t feel comfortable about that – but there are simple ways to make the place look more established. The easiest place to start is with the floor and the walls.
We got rid of our standard issue new-build magnolia and gave our walls a classic clean, white and grey paint job. In the lounge we got rid of our fake fireplace and laid an oak floor stained black in our new build town-house and overlaid it with a traditional Persian rug.
You can give your bathrooms and kitchens a similar treatment. These blue Vecchio Floreale tiles are perfect for giving a modern home a vintage touch.
Walls and Floors have just launched their Vecchio Floreale Indigo Tiles. These durable ceramic tiles are suitable for use on both wall and floor spaces. They have a vintage pattern in blue and white tones, with an aged design, which is ideal for injecting personality into a bathroom, kitchen, hallway or living area. These tiles can be used to create a statement floor or feature wall.
The tiles measure 330 x 330 x 9.5mm and have a nice matt finish. They cost £29.95 per square metre. You can get hold of these and more vintage-style designs at the Walls and Floors website.
My drawing of the week is a Robin – because these birds are not just for Christmas.
I often drawn to create illustrations of birds where they look a bit cocky or coquettish – I think this pose captures both.
The robin was voted Britain’s favourite bird last year so I hope this watercolour and ink drawing does him justice.
Yeah, it’s Tuesday but I did this Monday Moodboard yesterday, then took an important commission and had a ton of work to do! This beach, seaside vibe theme is kinda apt as I think I need a holiday!
I was actually putting this board together as a good illustration of how you can take a theme and communicate it using your own style. I adore the deco-esque riveria vintage travel posters illustrations at the top left and right of the board but I really appreciate the simplicity of form that the two lower pieces provide using blues, peaches and whites.
To me this board not only conveys that breezy lightness and crispness of a perfect seaside holiday but it also shows the power of using creative drawing techniques to create convincing visual language.
This time of year is so precious. Spring is coming and cheap posies of daffodils are in the shops. When these blooms are in abundance I buy two bunches every week for an instant hit of natural colour in my home. Unless I cut something from my garden, my floral displays are never usually that cheap.
By the way, the vase was given to me by my mum and dad who found these vintage Horlicks jars at an antique auction. It’s one of my favourite vases for displaying blooms.
Yeah, here’s an antelope in a leotard. What of it?
I picked up this wooden antelope ages ago for 50p and, while I love it, this guy was looking a bit tatty and old. Then I saw a great craft project idea from Handsome Vintage who upcycles retro wooden creatures and pimps them up to make them ‘hipster’. Handsome Vintage has a wonderful collection of hand-painted pieces with intricate patterns and bright colours – it’s such a bright and original revamp idea so I thought I’d give it a go with my little guy.
I sanded old Andy the Antelope down (there’s another Ella’s Menagerie back story post due soon – Andy has an amazing tale to tell) and gave him a paint with bright yellow acrylic paint. Then I used a white posca pen to give the leotard a 1980s-inspired pattern. I gave him a spray of varnish too so his ‘tard stays in place.
Unlike Handsome Vintage, I have no intention of selling Andy. He has now become a firm favourite in our house, beloved particularly by Dr B of all people.
I’m now obviously on the hunt for other charity shop animals (wooden or ceramic) that I can give similar treatments to. And, once she’s back from maternity leave, may purchase some brothers and sisters from HV.
My drawing this week is that of a cormorant. When I do my little morning walk along the Wivenhoe quayside I often see these pre-historic looking birds with their wings out stretched soaking up the sun or in a little group looking like they are waiting for a bus. When the tide is up they often bob about in the water on the hunt for fish. I love them so I wanted to capture these creatures in watercolour and ink.
If you want to catch a glimpse of these sleek guys, you can find them around the UK coastline on rocky shores, coastal lagoons and estuaries. You may also catch them at reservoirs, lakes and gravel pits.
After a frustrating weekend (still trying to master videoing myself and tidying my ever messy photo studio) I needed something to give me joy so this week’s Monday Moodboard is all about BLUE! Yes, while my politics are anything but, blue makes me happy.
Of course, the colour is calming which is why I have it in our bedroom but that’s not the whole story. And far from finding it cold, which I’m told some do, I believe that if you find the right shade, blue can be intoxicatingly rich, and even cosy.
The image on top is from the artist Yves Klein’s Blue Epoch period. This exquisite ultramarine shade is known as International Klein Blue (IKB); a deep hue first mixed by the French artist. This blue is said to have its roots in art history using lapis lazuli as an influence. The finest and most expensive of pigments, lapis has been used since antiquity due to its intense colour; it was used in the funeral mask of Tutankhamun and by Renaissance and Baroque artists for the clothing of the central figures of their paintings, especially the Virgin Mary.