Teapots & Paper

animals that i did not meet #2

summer 2013 is the summer of making things, apparently. i just added a couple of new things to the shop in the form of the pretty little tiger you'll see above, plus another new postcard set. i've also got a couple of other things up my sleeve. it's good to be busy.

TO/NY + others in between

we just returned from what ended up being the best trip i've ever taken. a week in toronto & a week in new york, which also included visits to haliburton, new haven, salem & boston. despite a bout of jet-lag that feels more like a two day hangover, i'm going to attempt to summarise the trip before my terrible memory forgets some of the things that i want to remember.

TO: pre-travel nerves & crappy BA service at edinburgh airport · good films & no sleep thanks to a group of brummies on the flight from london to toronto · meeting our wonderful transatlantic friend at pearson · fighting 22 hours of no sleep/humidity & still triumphing (with beginners luck) at blokus · witnessing alan drive an automatic car on the other side of the road, both for the first time · heading north in a fiat 500 to "halibut town" according to alan's auto correct · CORN (it's awesome) · WE SAW A BEAR · ian's lovely family, a gang of dogs & late evening lake swims · beers & chat around the fire · bugs like biting alan, apparently · canoeing up kennisis river · more swims, grilled corn & beer · paddling back to the cabin down the river & across the lake · jalapeño poppers with fake bacon · beers & board games · back to toronto with naomi behind the wheel · a slow wander around kensington market, with stops at wanda's pie in the sky, last temptation & good egg · ICED CAPP · baseball, soccer baseball & beers in the park · home for some drinks on the deck until the small hours · a caesar = gross, sorry ian · inferior frisbee syndrome (ours didn't light up) · beers, illustration chat & alan falling asleep in the park · delicious french toast for breakfast at the rustic owl · hanlan's point is a nudist beach you guys · spot the scottish person in the sun *wilt* · ferry to toronto island · frisbee & swimming in lake ontario · visiting the church of hockey or something? · a pitcher too many with alan, ian & john · an early morning & a hangover · one last visit to tim hortons · bye TO, hi NY

NY: tiniest plane · OH GOD WHY IS IT SO HOT · finally finding our cute little airbnb apartment in park slope, brooklyn · accidentally trying to get into the upstairs neighbour's place · sampling poutine at last · beer & board-games at skylark · a much needed lie-in · wander through prospect park to get to the brooklyn museum · hanging out with leah, dylan & baby moses · too many beers. just too many · filming alan asleep on the subway & not remembering much of the journey home · hungover. the worst · practically crawling to grand central to get the train to new haven · hello conneticut · hanging with tuesday, yelena, pete & lil' mischka in their beautiful new apartment · first night with no beers, thank goodness · mischka stealing pillow space & kneading alan's face in the night · road trip to massachusetts! · bunghole liquors. oh yes · meeting the lovely elise (& yoshimi the bunny) · life alive & its semi-erotic dish names (anyone for a hot & healthy bachelor?) · train to boston · boston is rainy · seeeeals · elise & tuesday's floating heads · finding out salem has not one but two bunghole liquors · impromptu sleepover at the snow residence · driving back to new haven accompanied by 90's pop music · time to return to ny · checking into our cute little hotel, offloading the bags & heading out into the city · visiting the 9/11 memorial site, which has changed so much throughout all my visits to ny · early night, long sleep · delicious brunch at good enough to eat · wandering around the museum of natural history, learning about forests · oh hey they have tim hortons here too · shopping for comics & graphic novels at jim hanley's universe (have done so on every visit) · vegan korean food at franchia · rooftop bar beers · last minute city wandering on our final day · quick walk across central park in the ridiculous heat · home time. sad face.

so that was pretty long. i'm not expecting anyone to spend their time deciphering the details, but i do want to highlight the people who made our trip way better than we could have by ourselves: ian turner (i love & miss toronto way more than i thought i could thanks to this guy); leah goren & dylan ousley (super talented & lovely people who i'm so happy we got to meet); tuesday bassen, yelena bryksenkova & pete gamlen (new haven got lucky with this bunch); & elise towle snow (rad lady who i've wanted to hang out with for so long! yes!).

i'm picking up a few rolls of film from our trip tomorrow & will share more once i've got them uploaded.

meanwhile

bit of silence here as i work on some images for other people. currently in the midst of getting some new prints done, which is taking a little time as i try to fine-tune the final outcome in terms of colour & size. slowly getting there. will also be bringing back an oft-requested image that i sold out of some time ago, once it looks right in digitally-printed format.

in other news, i'm up to day eighty over on girl faces. you can read a nice little post on the project over on the fox is black.

pros & cons

some food for thought. i need to adopt this as my new mantra.

botanic

after a slight break from drawing, i started inking this morning with a bit of a shaky hand. turns out this was in my favour however, & i took the opportunity to loosen up a bit. we visited glasgow's botanic gardens yesterday & now i just want to draw a whole lot of plants.

in other news, my website got a bit of an update last week. there are a couple of new things still to be added already, but this'll do for now.

i'll post my piece for this soon.

The Garden of Earthly Delights

An exhibition of original work by 20 illustrators and artists from across the globe, showing at the Light Grey Art Lab in Minneapolis, MN, USA.

The show is curated by fellow illustrators Tuesday Bassen and Pete Gamlen. 

The show opens Friday June 15th and is open to the public until July 13th.

Links to the 20 Illustrators and Artists participating in the show below…

Brittany Burton, Gemma Correll, Giulia Sagramola, Hattie Newman, Jean De Wet, Jen Collins, Jing Wei, Kaye Blegvad, Laurie Rollitt, Leah Reena Goren, Lizzy Stewart, Mary Kate McDevitt, Olimpia Zagnoli, Paul Layzell, Peter Gamlen, Sarah McNeil, Stacey Rozich, Tim Lahan, Tuesday Bassen, Umberto Mischi and Yeji Yeti Yun

new ways of living (ii)

another piece from 'new ways of living' for the looking for trouble exhibition in nottingham.

titled keys, phone, wallet, the objects pictured are three items (cup, knife, compass) that would prove useful towards survival in the great outdoors, but come further down the line in terms of things that are considered necessary for every day life.

yurt

when my boyfriend & i got our car last year, i figured we'd probably head out on lots of little trips, go camping & spend a little more time in the great outdoors. i'm not sure how i confused 'getting a car' with 'magically having more free time' because, of course, that's not quite how it's panned out.

however, we made good use of our automobile at the weekend & headed out to stay in a yurt at loch tay, a sweet present from my mum & dad for my birthday earlier in the year. this was one of the things on my 25 things to do when i'm 25 list, & it's so nice to finally tick it off (especially since it rolled over from 24 things to do when i'm 24). the yurt was lovely; full of killim rugs & pillows & - most importantly - a wood-burning stove (we'd timed our visit to miss the high-season & catch the last of summer whilst not being too warm for a fire). the first night we chatted by candle & fire light, fuelled by a couple of bottles of red wine, before falling asleep to the sound of rain bouncing off the canvas. the next morning we sat on the yurt's small deck in the sun, watching the fog over the loch & feeling grateful that we had no hangovers (a miracle!). the day was spent feeding ducks & a short car trip to nearby village, killin, before another night in our cosy little hut, quietly enjoying some downtime & keeping the stove going.

the next morning it was time to return home & to work. just a short little escape, but a nice reminder to take time out every so often. hopefully we'll go camping on the west coast soon.

moving

my boyfriend & i like the little city we live in. we have a cosy flat, live close to lots of friends & know of cafés, local shops & creative events that make you feel part of a community. however, lately we've been yearning for a small adventure of sorts, a change of scenery. despite all the great things that make this little city worth staying in, we've decided to pack up & move.

perhaps a little dramatic seeing as we're only heading a couple of hours west, but come mid-september we're waving goodbye to dundee & heading over to glasgow. whilst i'll still be working my day-job here for the foreseeable future, alan has a new job which gives us the opportunity to shake things up a bit. a new flat, a new place to explore & new people to meet. unlike alan, i've not done much moving about, so i'm excited about cleaning out what we don't need, putting things in boxes & having a blank canvas to make our own.

west coast tips appreciated!