we took a short trip to paris in october & while we were there we visited les galerie de paléontologie. this place was amazing, & certainly one of my favourite museums i've ever visited. the first floor (the best) was just row after row & case after case of animal skeletons, with some organs & oddities in jars thrown in for good measure. it was so good, & it was a rad way to spend hallowe'en.
i've come away from some cultural experiences like this feeling a bit disappointed of late. whilst i think museums ought to do what they can to grab the interest of young minds, it drives me nuts when wonderful buildings full of extraordinary things turn into one big interactive & somewhat patronising exhibit for children. that doesn't mean i'm not a sucker for a well designed & relevant learning game every so often, but this place was stripped back to its bare bones (PUN!) yet there was a ten minute queue to get in, & it was full of families (i think i saw one other couple there without kids). i would have queued for longer & it'd have been worth the wait. i hate to sound complainy, especially when pulling in audiences on a crappy budget is already a challenge that cultural organisations face, but that's how i feel.
anyway, in short, if you ever visit paris you've got to go to this place. also, i was originally blogging so i could tell you about the new postcard set (i'll post about it another time, but it's for sale here) i illustrated that was inspired by the museum, but then i got distracted.
tried something a little different today, technique-wise (largely inspired by miss emma trithart, check out her shiny new website). i really like the textures & the results of haphazardly piecing together individual components. the outcome doesn't feel quite right though, possibly because it's so different to my usual & not entirely what i had in my head beforehand (& i'm not used to not using more black/outlines in my work), but it was fun all the same.
you can see the full image here.
if you're anywhere near minneapolis then you should probably do yourself a favour & visit light grey art lab; as well as it sounding like a pretty great place, they've got an exhibition on at the moment featuring a ridiculously good selection of artists & illustrators, including some of my favourites (somehow i snuck in there).
the garden of earthly delights is curated by ms tuesday bassen & mr pete gamlen. it just opened on friday & runs until 13 july. as someone who currently spends twelve hours a week commuting through the scottish countryside on a train, my piece (above) is inspired by about how much i'd prefer to be out in the forests and fields rather that headed towards an office at 70 miles per hour.
a black cat has crossed your path, what luck! this little screen-printed chat noir can be found over in my shop.
some tiny wild things to hide in your plants. hoping to have new things (& old favourites) in my ceramics shop soon. in the meantime, you'll find some small pots (on sale!) & a palm dish, if you like that sort of thing.
things that april has taught me so far:
clutter is detrimental to your bank balance
clothes moths are rude & do not wait for an invite into your home
my mother was right all along; hoovering is important
if there had been an award for most impractical costume at the halloween party i went to, i'd undoubtably have won.
got a whole bunch of new cards in the shop today. subjects covered include birthdays, babies & bikes. it's been a while since i've made any cards but i wanted to illustrate a range of occasions with more than just the usual text approach i take. i'm pretty happy with how they turned out & hope you like them too.
okay, so if you're outside of scotland you actually might have some sunshine today, but after a weekend of glorious weather we're back to rain clouds. that doesn't mean a sweet little discount ain't welcome though, right? in a bid to clear out of a few older items plus raise funds for some new things i'm making, i'm offering 15% off everything in my shop until 1 june with code HELLOSUMMER (enter at checkout). aaaand i'm also going to throw in some freebies to all orders over £13/$20. it's always summer in our hearts u guys. have at it.