Jen-collins - Jen Collins · Blog

earthly delights

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.

travels

this lil' fox i spied at my local train station is living life on the tracks, & i feel like i have been this month too. we got back from our trip to brighton/london on saturday morning, & i've been enjoying a few days at home (nipping outside occasionally to soak up the BEAUTIFUL weather) before i go off adventuring again.

i just started packing my bag for the most spontaneous trip i've ever decided to take; a few days in maastrict in the netherlands, visiting my sister who's working there for a few weeks. having never flown/travelled out of the country by myself before, i'm feeling nervous as well as excited, but i'm glad there'll be a friendly face at the end of it, & my time away will also provide the content for the third & final installment of the silly trilogy of zines i've been working on this month. said zines will be finished within the next few weeks, & i can get started on some new things (as well as enjoy staying in one place again for a little while).

added a couple of lino-prints to my shop today. both have hand-applied gold details, because gold.

tree

sketchin'.

summer sale!

havin' a little summer sale over in my shop until friday. hoping that the coupon code name might coax the sun out from wherever it's hiding. enter HELLOSUMMER at checkout & get 15% off, hurrah.

remember that lil project i mentioned? well, here it is;, a project in which i illustrate my instagram feed, then post the drawings on instagram.

shop update: 'let it snow' cards

oh man, is it really that time of year again? i always plan to do more work for the festive season - decorations, tags, wrapping paper, calendars - but once again, i'm not quite on the ball (next year, i swear). i did manage to get cards done however; these gocco-printed 'let it snow' cards feature festive snowflakes (including some shiny golden fellas) on recycled card. you can get these, plus a couple of older designs, over in the shop from today.

i've been keeping an eye out for some plants small enough to put in the tiny pots i make, but until now, no joy. however, my boyfriend & i went for a walk in the sun today & came across a 'CACTUS SALE' at the botanic gardens - & voila! £2 later, a tiny cactus & a tiny succulent, the perfect size.

a week off of sorts. we're journeying to the end of a peninsula on the very west coast tomorrow, to celebrate my favourite person's birthday with campfires, marshmallows, walks & trees. as much as i like normality, i'm excited to get away from it for a bit.

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.