Lara Maiklem II

Lara Maiklem has been collaging some of her amazing finds, above is Jack Frost.

"This chilly chap is made up of a conglomeration of finds, including a paleolithic flint; a 17th century Bellarmine jug face; human teeth; medieval mail; boar tusks; handmade iron ship nails (c.15-18th century); a copper alloy needle (c.15-18th century); cloak fasteners (c.16th century); glass 'seed' beads; semiprecious stone beads; mother of pearl buttons (c.19th century); handmade dress pins (c.15-18th century); mounts (c.15-18th century); a pearl bead." Lara Maiklem

Above: A partridge in a pear tree.

"My pear tree is made up of 17th and 18th century clay pipes; its trunk is a late 17th century wig curler; the ground is Roman mosaic (tesserae) pieces,;the pears are 16th century glass goblet stems and a modern glass stopper; the 'partridge' is a 17th century pipe clay 'fairing' (a cheap child's toy sold at fairs), it has a halo of beads - cane trade beads (c.17th century), a chevron trade bead (c.16th century), two coral beads and blue glass beads." Lara Maiklem

 "The sleigh driver is a mid-century (or earlier) snow baby and his sleigh is being pulled by a collection of broken toy lead horses. The sleigh is made up of a betty lamp hook (c.19th century) a medieval knife handle, two Tudor cloak hooks and an early 17th-century bone pocket sundial. His booty includes scraps of gold, semi-precious stones, glass (paste) jewels, a Roman ring intaglio, a Roman melon bead and a pearl bead - all found by eye on the Thames foreshore." Lara Maiklem

Lara Maiklem

I have been following various Mud Larkers including Lara Maiklem for some time now and I was thrilled that she announced her book release for 'Mudlarking' and forthcoming feature on Radio 4's Book of the week. The endpapers above are illustrated by a fellow mud larker called Jonny, from his mud larking diary and are stunning!

Mud Larkers are people who beach comb the tidal line of the Thames in London for treasure . . .

Above: spectacle lenses all found within half a mile of each other. 
Below: 19th-century clay pipe bowl

and treasure they find! 

Above: Frozen Charlottes are glazed or unglazed porcelain dolls that date from the mid-19th-century to the early 20th-century. 
Below: a selection of precious and semi-precious beads. Bottom: Horseheads.

Early Autumn

The heat of the summer has distressed the trees, and so autumn has arrived early in London, led by the horse chestnuts who always seem to give up their large hand like leaves first.
Whilst walking far and wide I am taking advantage of this early bounty and gathering new shapes of exotic, metropolitan leaves for new fish and maybe more possible creative endeavours.

Sweet Potato Baby

I found this poor little man in the vegetable basket, I wish I could plant him, but it is getting very autumnal here in London and he would not thrive.

Today

Today I returned to one of my favourite children's bookshops, in Muswell Hill, London, and treated myself to Marianna Coppo's 'Petra' which I introduced here two years ago.
This shop is a delight in every way. To be fair I was never going to walk out empty handed, it has passionate and knowledgeable staff and of course, a stunning array of books and I am really happy to have Petra as a new addition to my library because, 'she's a rock and she knows how to roll'.

London Planes

The trees of London are hot and are taking off their clothes, shedding bark on the pavements. The bark of London Planes has wonderful shapes and is encrusted with jewels of lichen.
Perfect to gather up and use as the starting point for illustrations.

Sophie Herxheimer I

Sophie Herxheimer is a London based artist, poet and story collector. For the past twelve years, she has been gathering people's tales of food and transposing them into these illustrated transcripts. She now has over 1200 of these inspiring warm, and humorous insights into people their memories, philosophies and wisdom.

The Bookartbookshop

Above: Spiral lens porthole by Régine de la Hey

Affordable art is a common term these days with festivals and exhibitions worldwide to connect artists with a wider audience. Artist books and zines are another way that artists try to connect with the public and a great way for people to be able to buy a piece of original art.

While in London, I visited a jewel of a shop called; 'Bookartbookshop', which was founded in 2002 by Tanya Peixoto. This is a tiny shop laden with treasure is a great place to visit and explore the vast variety of hand-made, small press and independently published artist's books. The artist's books available here embrace a broad definition of art and literature and are created in every possible format.
Here I met the lovely Chiara Ambrosio a visual artist and film-maker who helps to run this incredible library of creativity. If you are in London, I would highly recommend a visit to this tiny treasure, say hello to the lovely Tanya or Chiara and buy some original art in book form.

Adventures in Moomin Land I

I didn't anticipate being able to see the exhibition 'Adventures in Moomin Land' an exploration of the internationally renowned Moomin stories and the life of its author, Tove Jansson, so soon after it opened. However fate has led me to London for a few days and so today I am looking forward to a treat at London's South Bank Centre and the chance to see my good friend Lizzy Hobbs and her specially commissioned animation for this exhibition exploring the evolution of the Moomintroll.

The House of Illustration

I am blogging on the run at the moment.
I never find this works out very well, so please excuse any problems with text or photographs, I will fine tune when I return home.
Freya and I are on a pilgrimage, celebrating the great combination of Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake.
Yesterday we went to The House of Illustration in London to see an exhibition of Quentin Blake's work, which was of course wonderful, but all too small (could spend days looking at his work and the tiny adjustments made with paper grafts).
Today we are visiting the Roald Dahl Museum at Great Missenden and having seen glimpses of it last night, we both can't wait.

Cathy Daley

This drawing by Canadian artist Cathy Daley is full of vigor and energy and expresses exactly how I feel on most days, but especially today, as I have run away to London again to do lots of exciting things. Including becoming a piece of art for the Motley Collective and seeing degree shows and friends. I hope you have a good weekend, I am really looking forward to mine.

Theresa Rowe III

The rain has driven me to seek out the wonderful illustrations of Theresa Rowe again. I love her coloured rain, and would like a shower in these coloured drips as opposed to the grey, cold, wet drips that are falling all around us today.

Christopher Corr

A wonderful illustration from Christopher Corr, who's rainbow pallet and joyful subject matter lighten the heart.

Rob Ryan

Another treat from my recent trip, was being able to visit Rob Ryan's shop on Columbia Road, London. It was a case of me looking up from children and flowers and asking Lizzy 'is that what I think it is ?' and then running to spend a few seconds with someone who's work I love. I wanted to share an image of a paper cut in the shop, but I cannot find it, so you need to go and have a look yourselves. Rob also has a blog and website and a shop at etsy for you to explore.

Ice Cream Van

This Ice cream Van outside the British Museum last week inspired me, I will show you how soon, isn't it just such a lovely wee ice cream van though ?

Beyond Fabrics

Beyond Fabrics is a gem of a shop at Columbia Road, London. Like a sweetie shop for anyone who works with textiles, stocking beautiful retro fabrics and ribbons.

Columbia Road Flower Market

It always makes me chuckle to see the interaction between people and their new plant or flowers. Almost the same as witnessing people with an new pet. Columbia Road, flower market in London is a great place to observe this, as people struggle away with their new 'pets', so I took the opportunity for a photo project, to record and share this and their wonder.