Mick Alister

Love these delicate portraits by Mick Alister, who is an artist, printmaker and comic/zine creator.

Marina Stimolo

Today I received a whole aviary from Argentina. I am hoping to move from the kitchen table to a new desk soon and these birds are definitely going to come with me, to sing and hoot encouragement. Thank you Marina.

Pets in the Post V

Only two pets were put in the post this summer as I only had one week of real 'away' holiday. A snail and a midge traveled south to new homes. I do love this opportunity to connect with friends and send something out of the virtual world into reality, and it is also lovely when a pet makes its way to me.

Marc Moro

I just love the wonder! That is Marc Moro's gallery of egg heads.

Leighanna Light

Leighanna Light makes wonderful birds and books from assembled treasure and junk. (thanks)

Lauri Faggioni

Here are some examples of the creative work by the amazing Lauri Faggioni, a fibre artist who was discovered by the French director Michel Gondry. Lauri Faggioni went on to make props and collaborate with Michael Gondry on many films and animations. Dave Chappelle's 'Block Party' and 'The Science of sleep' earned her world renown and now she is an award winning director, production designer and choreographer.

Crazy Bird Imprint

Excuse my dirty windows . . . I think a pigeon has had a bad collision with Finlay's window today, with amazing results.

Huguette Machado Rico

Hugeutte Machado Rico is an Algerian artist who has been painting and drawing all her life. "I do aim at feisty pictures, I want them to make us look at strange and wonderful things" Feisty colourful happiness just lovely.

Francoise Cuxac

Francoise Cuxac is an artist who will use anything in her assemblages, the results are often quite disturbing as you realise you are looking at chicken feet or birds skulls, but they are also quite magical and work within symbolism of birth life and death.

"I am interested in anything that may indicate an experience, the objects of the past are also witnesses of life through those to whom they belonged, they account for happiness or painful scars. These objects are not related to a nostalgia of the past but they allow me to re-live materials destined to disappear . . . The old photographs that I use are mottled in flea markets, they are damaged, covered in dust in the middle of broken objects : faces of people who have lived, who have something to tell: I turn them into dreamers, I bring a new life, they become one with a dreamlike dimension." Francoise Cuxac

Monique le Chapelain

Monique le Chapelain was forbidden to be an artist by her mother, but on leaving home and finding love she also found the freedom to pursue her dreams. Monique's works have a magical naivety and she uses wonderful colours.

Denis Bonnes

Denis Bonnes makes these wild people and totems from scraps of wood and assembled junk, creating exuberant people full of life and colour. It is my first day back at work so I feel like I look like the top figure.

Caroll Bertin II

Sailing out of the weekend with more stunning examples of Caroll Bertin's wonderful textile sculptures.

Caroll Bertin

Caroll Bertin is a self taught artist in textiles who makes these incredible sculptures using old fabric's, shoes, bags, jumpers and trousers. The old fabrics are softer more lived in and bring stories to the work, because of the wear and tear they have had. They add a depth of narrative to the beautiful sculptures that Caroll creates and indeed look like they have been on a life journey also.

Maria Madeira

I have blogged the work of Portuguese artist Maria Madeira before. Today, I was drawn to the photographic compositions that she makes with her dolls and the illustrative quality of them. I love Maria's graphic work and would love to see her producing some children's books. This led to me to consider the processes involved in making figures like the ones pictured above. I always find that making these three dimensional, textile characters is incredibly satisfying and they do take on a life of their own and I wondered about how two dimensional characters that you are cultivating could be enhanced by making them three dimensional.

Sorry

I would just like to say sorry, this blog always seems to go a wee bit haywire when I get back from holiday and I struggle to get it back into a flowing, tame beast. I say this, as it seems to be darting this way and that, hopefully it will calm down soon. Anyway this morning I found a site that, very quickly and easily, makes your pictures look old and I thought I would share it, have a lovely weekend.

The Happy Film Titles

The Happy Film is going to be a feature length documentary, in which the fantastic graphic designer Stephan Sagmeister tries to test if it is possible for a person to have a meaningful impact on their own happiness, This film is a collection of experiments with the titles, I am looking forward to seeing the whole Happy Film. (thanks)

Maria Walker

These works are part of a current exhibition of textiles and poetry at the Brindley Arts Centre, Runcorn by Maria Walker. They are based around a bundle of discarded letters that Maria bought in an antiques shop 'the Lightfoot Letters'. Maria was so enchanted and inspired by these documents of a families life that she made a body of artworks around them. In turn this led to her meeting and collaborating with poet Angela Topping, who by some unique and bizarre coincidence is the daughter of one of the letter writers Peter Lightfoot. How lovely it is, when stories come together and jigsaw pieces of life fit so perfectly.

Yunmee Kyong

Two illustrations by Yunmee Kyong an illustrator based in New York who trained originally in biology before retraining in illustration. Her works have a lovely space in them and therefore a wonderful peace.

Sharpen those pencils

Just started playing . . . and now the kids have to go back to school and I have to go back to work. The pencils all needed sharpening and then there were lions.