Tuesday, February 28, 2012 To England

Today I fly home to London. Three weeks on home soil! I can't wait. Not so looking forward to the seven-odd hours in a tin can with my knees up round my ears, but I'll try to just sleep through it. See you on the other side (of the Atlantic).

Monday, February 27, 2012 Sexy red cars

So now I guess I spend my evenings drawing cars. And my days making jewellery and drawing chicks with armpit hair. Who am I? None can answer. But I like my new red Dr PH. Martin's ink.

Sunday, February 26, 2012 New York Stories: Casual

This woman did not skip a beat. As the bus was pulling up, she leaned slightly forward, blaaaaargh-ed, then just hopped on. Damn, New York, you know how to have a good time.

Saturday, February 25, 2012 New York Stories: India Ink

I am in the wrong profession for clean things.

Also this drawing has nothing to do with New York, it is just a thing that has happened.

Thursday, February 23, 2012 More girls with hair

I just don't get bored of drawing girls with body hair, grooming themselves. I'm not even particularly interested in body hair in my day to day life. It rarely crosses my mind. But when drawing, it seems to be what appears. I wonder if they'll ever come up with hair extensions for armpits. Or leg-hair-lengthening mascara. Well, I can probably answer my own question there: doubt there's much call for it.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012 Cars

In the middle of the night last night, I found myself driven (HA) to paint cars. They came out odd and not really how I wanted them to, but still, I sort of dig the idea of 'em at least.

New York Stories: Diamond District

Oh my lord, sometimes I hate walking through the diamond district so much. So many hawkers. Back off! Stop forcing flyers for your sketchy we-buy-gold biz into my hands! And please do not indicate that I am a woman of loose morals if I say 'no thanks' to you!

As if I even own any gold or diamonds. Puh-leeeeeze.

Catskill

Some more photographs from our trip upstate. There was extensive hurricane damage from last year - 70 trees down on this property alone. It made it pretty striking territory to explore.











And hey, you know me. Never can resist a chance to scream and punch at the sun. Take this, nature!

New York Stories: Cat Balcony

This balcony became affectionately known as 'the cage'.

Sunday, February 19, 2012 New York stories: Lady Liberty

Sometimes it is really, really good to be here.

Saturday, February 18, 2012 Tiny hands

A few new designs that I've been 'prototyping', which basically means wearing them and not wanting to part with them long enough to make a mold. I will though. Before too long, these will be in the shop. For now though they're just on me.



The little hands are somewhat based on this amazing medieval ring. According to the BBC, it was found by Mrs Joanna Birdseye, when searching with a metal detector. Can you imagine? That's the luckiest woman on the planet. I've started on a ring with the hands too, but it's not even at the prototyping stage yet. Still in wax.



If I keep going at this rate, my arm will soon be too weighed down to draw with.

Friday, February 17, 2012 New York Stories: Diet

I do not lead a healthy lifestyle.

Kiki's girls

On a trip to Catskill a couple weeks ago, Lion and I encountered these sculptures by Kiki Smith. I took some pictures of them, Lion took a picture of me taking pictures of them, and one girl had a small bug crawling on her nose. They were lovely.

Fingernails as an indication of character

I made these drawings a while back for The Brooklyn Brainery blog. Text taken from the incredibly amazing book Barkham Burroughs' Encycolopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information from 1889. I pretty much want to illustrate that entire book.

Thursday, February 16, 2012 New York stories: Dead mouse

The slow, sad rotation of a mouse, with arms outstretched, in a toilet bowl. This happened over a year ago, but re-enacting the mouse's farewell still makes me laugh.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 One day in Chicago

Before Christmas I spent a day in Chicago, mid-roadtrip. I didn't take many photos, and certainly didn't take any that give away any hint of Chicago-ness. It was pretty weird staying on the edge of the water and simultaneously right in the city.

At the Chicago zoo we were looking at the wolves when an ambulance with siren drove by. All the wolves sent up a call, and howled along with it. IT WAS AMAZING.

New York Stories: Pet Ownership

Sometimes there is great joy in owning a cat.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012 Hudson

Went upstate a couple of weeks ago. Nice colours in the fine town of Hudson, NY.

New york stories: Manhattanhenge

I've started doing a daily(ish) diary(ish) of life in New York. I've been an expat for almost eighteen months now - haven't really done much by way of documenting my life here. But I do have pages of notes of 'things to draw' that have happened here. So now I'm drawing them - some get drawn on the day they happen, but on uneventful days I'm just going to draw something that happened a while ago. Like this.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Lino cut: for luck

I made this as a lucky token. Seems like there's been a bit of a spell of bad luck goin' round me & my loved ones. This is an attempt to ward that off.

I've got quite a bug for lino printing lately. I want to build a press, something like this one. We'll see if the time ever materialises...

Saturday, February 4, 2012 ceramic cat

Well, at the same time as I was making my burning woman, I also made a ceramic portrait of Milo. Here he is. And here's the man himself, to demonstrate the preciseness of the likeness (good rhyme there, eh):