I went to see the men's indoor volleyball semi-finals last week, at Earl's Court. I had no idea what it would be like, but I really enjoyed the fast-paced game, and cheered for Bulgaria (I liked their outfits), although they eventually lost to Russia, the eventual gold medallists.
It's the second week of the Olympics. It's still sunny, it's still fun, and I finally made it to the Olympic Park!
We managed to get some last minute athletics tickets, and couldn't believe that our seats in the main stadium were right next to the gorgeous Olympic cauldron. It was designed by Thomas Heatherwick (I love his work!), and it's truly beautiful...
Here's my little watercolour sketch of it...
Hurrah for the Olympics in London! It's going well, the sun is out, and everyone is happy. This week I went to see the men's weightlifting. It was fascinating, and we saw the Chinese gold medal winner break two world records. Amazing...
It was pretty hard to sketch, as it happens so quickly, but it was sort of like this!
A few days in Venice is enough to make anyone happy! It was hot (so hot!) and sunny every day, and I saw beautiful paintings in churches, famous vistas, and even had time to sit on our hotel terrace and paint the view...
My favourite things in Venice are the winged lions of St Mark which are everywhere. Here's a sketch of the most famous, on one of the pillars at the entrance to St Marks Square.
We drank cold sodas in cafes during the heat of the day,
and ate icecreams as the night drew in...
Yesterday was my birthday, hurrah! Here's a little sketch of my birthday raspberry and rose cake, made with real rose petals...
The childrens book I illustrated called 'Ling Ling Looked in the Mirror', about a cheeky girl who dreams of all the things she can grow up to be (and her even more sassy panda friend), is now available as an app! I'm very excited about it. You can view it on any ipad or iphone.
You can have it read to you, or read it yourself. You can click on the pictures and it'll tell you what they are, you can get help reading a word if you're not sure what it is, and you can even record yourself reading the whole book. 
It's aimed at kids between the ages of 4-10, but really it's fun for any age at all!
It's available as a hard-cover book on Amazon, and as an app in itunes. The app is £1.99 in the UK, $2.99 in the US. You can see a preview of it here.
A few weeks ago I went to Istanbul and was amazed at the changes since my last visit twenty years ago. The sun shone, the Bosphorus sparkled, everyone was super friendly, and it was magical...
I loved the subtle shades and patterns of the tiles in the blue mosque, and also in the Topkapi palace.
The huge cavernous space of the Hagia Sofia was incredible, and I especially admired the Byzantine mozaics that had been partially uncovered under the Ottoman painting of the interiors.
I worked with the ad agency Brokaw in the States to create a series of animated/live action TV commercials for First Merit Bank. Each of the adverts features people who have achieved their dreams, and I created hand-drawn illustrated backgrounds that they could interact with. Hope you enjoy!
There was also a series of print ads that went with the TV commercials, featuring the same characters and backgrounds.
I gave several printmaking workshops recently, at an International school in Hong Kong. I showed the students various techniques for mono-printing (handy as no presses are needed) and we used the table surfaces to print from.
I encouraged them to experiment and explore, and they were so enthusiastic it really inspired me. I taught the IB students (16-18 years old),
and also some primary classes (9-11yrs old)
and they all produced amazing work...
I hope they enjoyed the classes as much as I did!
I was commissioned to create a decorative sight-seeing map of Kuala Lumpur, for LOKL, a boutique coffee shop there. The brief was for it to be colourful, fun, a bit modern-retro, and to show all the great things to do in KL...
Here are some photos of the framed map on the wall. The cafe is attached to a fantastic little modern back-packer place called BackHome.
I've just developed some photos from my recent trip to the States. They seem extra atmospheric somehow...
This is Bonaventure Cemetery, which featured in 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'. We visited the graves of Conrad Aitken, and especially Johnny Mercer (he wrote the wonderful song 'That Old Black Magic'. I loved the trees with hanging Spanish moss all over Savannah.
This is the swamp garden at Magnolia Plantation, just outside Charleston, SC. We didn't see any crocodiles here, but did see lots of little turtles sunning themselves, and wading birds.
I did a few sketches while at my friend Karen's wedding. It was held in the University Chapel in Glasgow, which was rather grand and imposing, but everyone was so happy and beautiful it felt warm and cosy. I really adore Scottish weddings, with all the men wearing kilts...
Karen's dress was classical and simple...
The flowers at the reception was adorable, lots of anemones and simple glass jam jar holders.
I created the wedding invitations, place settings and seating plan, for my friend Karen's wedding recently, up in Scotland. They had a map theme, mixing elements from both London and Glasgow, the cities where the bride and groom live.
We chose pink and brown to give a lovely vintage look, to match the overall theme of the wedding.
The place settings had elements of the invitation illustration on the front, with a little bonus illustration of Karen's spaniel in a neat bow-tie on the reverse. I added a delicate die-cut pop-out shape for the guests' names, which I hand-wrote in brown ink. I then also hand made name settings for the tables to match.
The tables were named after roads in both Glasgow and Scotland. I designed the seating plan around this concept, making it into a street map, with each individual place marker as a geographic feature on the map: a house, a tree, a car, a statue... 
Us and the seating plan on the day...
The wedding photos were taken by Christopher Currie.
My sketchbook for the Art House Co-op 2012 tour ('Forks and Spoons, and what we think about them') has been scanned and is now available to view online in their digital library. Just register, and feel free to browse. There are some amazing books in there...
I've been invited to join an exciting online design project organised by the Singapore based OuterEdit. Their website hasn't launched yet, but have a look at their facebook page. It's a chance for 5 designers/illustrators to work together to create various designs which will then be produced on clothes. There'll be several different sessions during the year, and I can't wait to take part. My 'collab' will be in September. I'll keep everyone updated so you can watch the designs online as they happen, and even influence the outcomes...
The OuterEdit film team came to London to interview all the UK-based designers for a short promotional piece, and I think mine went ok. We'll see, when it goes out online closer to the time. I was asked to draw a little logo during the filming, and this is what I came up with...
Here's a section of the info kit, with my bit and also my friend Kahori's:
Their tagline is 'Together we make Awesome'. I love collaborations, so I couldn't agree more.
Here are two of my exclusive, limited edition Peony rugs, available from faux in Hong Kong. They're hand-made to order, and I think they're gorgeous! Well, I would...
They're made from the highest quality silk and wool, and the designs are based on my series of Peony etchings. See my previous blogs for images of the Peony collection silk cushions also!
I went to visit the art department of the Wall Street Journal in New York, and got a copy of the 'Off Duty' section of the paper that I did a fashion cover for in December. I'm so happy with it! It features catwalk photographs of models, in an illustrated party setting.
I've just come back from a road trip through the South of America. It was amazing. We started in cultured Savannah, Georgia, where I was super happy to see the Bird Girl sculpture, made famous by the book 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil' (one of my favourites).
Then onwards to Charleston, South Carolina, where we toured a few preserved historical residences,
and also the Magnolia Plantation with its gorgeous swamp garden. 
We stayed in some lovely bed and breakfast places.
Then it was on to the Great Smoky Mountains, where we saw a baby bear! In Nashville we went to a Honky Tonk in a Western bar and saw the Don Kelly Band...
and watched a show at the Grand Ole Opry, and also ate the best "meat and 3s" ever at Arnolds. Mostly, this was a music and food trip, to sample all the specialities of the South. Here's an example of local cuisine, although usually there's a few fried somethings thrown in too!
And of course, pies aplenty...
The local "chess pie" was extra sweet, but the winner was the "lemon ice-box pie" from Corky's in Memphis. Their ribs were also the overall winner!
I've just been to visit the first stop of the Brooklyn Art Library's Sketchbook Tour 2012, in the home of the library itself: Williamsburg New York. 
It was a gloriously sunny day, and I wandered in, got myself a library card, and browsed some of the delightful sketchbooks on offer. There were so many! 
Of course I checked that my own sketchbook (you can see some pages from it on one of my previous blogs) was there safe and sound, which was a great feeling. 
The sketchbooks will be in Brooklyn for another few weeks, and then off around the States, and in London in November. You can check the dates on the website. Hope you'll make it!
These are the new lights by thinkgadgets, in production as we speak. They're made of delicate ceramic, and hand-painted (my pattern design!) to give off a lovely vintage-y feeling warm glow. They'll be available this year. But not yet...
