Lourdes

I’ve just got back from a quick trip to France. Our first stop was Lourdes, in the Hautes-Pyrenees. While I’m not a religious person, I was interested to see a site of such significance to so many.

There is something special in the air of the region, and the weather was glorious, and it was interesting to wander around and even sit in the huge underground church.

I absolutely loved the view from our hotel room - it looked over a green park and onto the opposite hillside covered in trees and houses. I watched the light changing at different times during the day, and made a quick sketch of the picturebook buildings.

I was also super happy to be able to watch the candlelight procession in the evening, and listen to the lovely chanting.

The area around our hotel was very touristy and full of souvenir shops, but I still enjoyed browsing. We bought a little glass bottle and collected some holy water from the grotto to take home. (It didn’t cure my cold though).

Lourdes is a tiny town, with a big presence. I hope all the people visiting for a miracle, got hope from it.

Wales

Last week we went on a little roadtrip to the West of the UK, driving down to the River Severn, crossing the bridge and then going up the beautiful Wye Valley. We stopped at a little riverside pub for lunch, and then on to Wales border…

The weather alternated between grey and glorious, but always the land was lush and rolling and green.

We stayed in a delightful old stone cottage and I woke early every morning and saw wild bunnies eating the fallen apples.

One afternoon we drove into the Brecon Beacons National Park…

and stopped at Gospel Pass to admire the view. It’s truly astounding, and we were so lucky with the weather!

The UK has such green and wonderful countryside. I always forget and then am wonderfully, pleasantly surprised each time I explore it.

fox and croc

I’ve been working at a makeshift desk set up in my parents’ guestroom that has doors that open up into the garden. One afternoon, I was surprised to see a young fox walking past and being inquisitive.

I managed to grab my camera and film a little of it, and realised there were actually two of them! They must live somewhere at the back of the garden.

I was even more surprised when I heard a noise a few mintues later and saw one of the foxes stroll past with a croc in its mouth! I know the shoes were just inside the back door, so the fox actually came inside to get it! I wonder why. I shouted in surprise and he dropped it, but in the days since, we’ve found it in the middle of the garden with teeth marks…

Belgium

I’m in Belgium at the moment, working in my friend’s studio, as I have deadlines deadlines deadlines and wanted to focus. I take a walk for a break every day, and explore the local area, and love the nearby Bois de la Cambre.

On the public holiday this week I had a wonderful meal and absolutely the most delicious ile flottante I’ve ever tasted…

this weekend I went to stay in the country with my friend and her family, and we relaxed in the fresh air of the Ardennes. I woke with the sun and did a tiny watercolour of the early morning sunlight on the dewy grass.

We tramped through the woods, picked wild raspberries (so sweet!) and looked for mushrooms (there were a few, but it’s a bit too early for them). I loved the moss and clover combos in the shade of the trees.

There was a grand old tree in the garden, and I loved watching it change in the various weather conditions and times of day. There was something special about this tree.

I tried out a pencil sketch as we sat by the stream and chatted. The kids caught crayfish and we ate barbequed sausages in baguettes. Sometimes a person just needs to relax in order to focus again. Hope you had a great weekend too.

tiny sketch

When I visited the V & A recently, I did a tiny watercolour sketch of my view as I ate lunch in the superlative cafe. It was a gloriously sunny day and the bits of the museum I could see in the courtyard through the tall windows was like a puzzle.

I always carry this mini childrens paint set with me for emergencies, and managed to create all the colours I wanted from it. I started with just paint, and then added some fine black lines for the detail.

* Reminder - I have an easy sketchbook class that you can take on Creativebug if you’d like an intro to carrying your sketchbook round with you everywhere like me :)

Lantau T-shirt

This year I was commissioned to create an illustration for Mui Wo Laundry Co. on Lantau Island, Hong Kong: a new and very contemporary laundromat. They used the design on a T-shirt that is available to purchase exclusively from them, and only in HK.

I drew lots of images specifically of things in Mui Wo, the area nearest to the ferry pier on Lantau Island, like the post box, the banyan trees, the local temple and the pagoda by the local waterfall. I was super happy about this project because I could show my love for the place where I lived for almost 7 years when I was in HK.

I hand lettered the name of the laundry for the front of the T-shirt, to give it a relaxed and fun feel…

I love these professional photos for the promotion of the T-shirts! They were all taken around Mui Wo.

The T-shirt was also used as the official team outfit for the Mui Wo Boys Liondance troupe. I featured a retro liondance lion in the illustration, so it was a perfect fit.

A big thank you to Alvin Yeung of ymk design who art directed this project.

birthday

This year I was like the Queen and had two birthdays. I like having a birthday month really! My first birthday was a picnic on Box Hill. I often walked there when I was younger, and love it especially because it was an important location in Jane Austen’s Emma. On the day, the weather forecast was abysmal, but I crossed my fingers and insisted it would be ok…

It was truly a miracle! At 2pm precisely, the rain stopped, we put down a large tarpaulin, and everyone came out from under the trees and we had a wonderful picnic overlooking the incredible view. I am eternally grateful that we could enjoy a wonderful British Summer picnic.

On my actual birthday, I spent some time by myself at the V & A museum in London, and drew happily in the ceramics department. I could spend hours there. I also treated myself to a fantastic meal at Ottolenghi in Chelsea. Heavenly!

I received these beautiful pieces of jewellery for my birthday, made from my own HK ceramics. I have quite a few pieces of ceramics that broke in transit, that I can’t bear to throw away, and my husband took some and commissioned these pieces! I got lovely peonies and had a simple fish and chip dinner with my parents in the garden.

I love birthdays!

Hampshire

I went with my mum and dad for a little holiday in Hampshire this week, to stay in a cottage in the countryside. The English Summer is the best time of the year, and the world is suddenly bursting with greenery and the days are long and bright.

We booked the Keeper’s Cottage, which sat on a totally quiet and peaceful hill corner of a large estate. We couldn’t see or hear anyone else anywhere nearby! The silence was incredible - just birds and bees and far away some cows and horses.

We visited several National Trust properties during the mornings - the first was Hinton Ampner - a beautiful old manor house with incredible manicured lawns, and topiary…

I absolutely loved wandering in the gardens: so many secret paths and hidden vistas. I could’ve stayed for days.

The countryside in and around Hampshire was delightful - although the hedges were often high along the country roads! The sunny/rainy/grey days meant incredible clouds and shadows everywhere…

We also visited Uppark House, which was even more perfect of a building - like a dollhouse! The Regency house and interiors were like a Jane Austen fantasy. The gardens were smaller than Hinton, but the views across the South Downs were even more expansive. I love that meadow gardens are making a comeback.

Every afternoon we went home to our little cottage and sat on the lawn and had a nap. The sun set behind the trees and cast a glorious light over everything. It’s so close to London, and yet feels like a different world.

Amsterdam afternoon

This week I went to Amsterdam for one afternoon, as a side trip from Brussels. I felt I had to see the Vermeers. Unfortunately I was too late to see the major Vermeer restrospective, but there were still two extra paintings on loan there to go with the museum’s permanent four. One of those, Girl with a Red Hat might possibly be the most beautiful painting in the world. I stood tranfixed…

There were so many people in the section that housed the Vermeers, that I had to wait for the natural ebb and flow of people to die down so that I could spend time alone in front of the paintings. It was a lot of train travel for just a few hours in the museum, but definitely worth it.

The Rijksmuseum itself is a lovely building, although quite confusing inside with its 2 sides…

…and I was happy to see these works by Richard Long inside the museum as a bonus!

On the way back to the train station I stopped in a store and bought myself a little Miffy coin purse. I love Miffy…

It’s been too long since I was in the Netherlands, I must make a longer stay next time…

Provence

I just got back from an idyllic week in Provence, in the South of France. It was a long awaited proper holiday with no work at all! I did do a few sketches though of course…

We explored many of the little towns in the patch of Provence near where we were staying: Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, L’Isle de la Sorgue, St Remy-de-Provence. All of them delightful with their own characteristics. We wandered markets, ate icecreams, and tried to stay in the shade where possible.

We had at least one special meal a day - here is a sampling; the first image shows sketches I made at Pollen in Avignon: many, many little courses in a beautiful tasting menu, the second is a starter in a rural bistro that blew my mind: cold soup made of tomato, peach and cucumber! The last was at the Michelin starred restaurant Chateau de la Pioline: looks like a tomato, but actually it’s a reimagined ratatouille. And every course was sort of like that…

The best bit of the holiday was the place we stayed, the absolutely sublime Le Mas de la Sorgue. It was about 20 minutes from Avignon, in beautiful countryside, and the atmosphere was so peaceful, welcoming and restful. Every afternoon we went home after a hot day exploring, and had a dip in the pool and a nap. Heavenly!

In the evenings we sat and enjoyed the sunset and wondered if life could be like this every day…

Cambridge

I went to stay for a few days in Cambridge, one of those places that I always meant to go to, but somehow just hadn’t made the time for. I loved it. It was incredible to feel so surrounded by history, especially with the lovely English Summer weather. One of the places I was especially looking forward to visiting was Kettle’s Yard, a contemporary art gallery in a home setting. The owner knew lots of artists and collected their works, and some wonderful natural objects, and then donated the whole house to the University to be used as a gallery. Incredible! I stayed for a long time, soaking in the atmosphere and doing several sketches.

I really enjoyed walking around the city, exploring the alleyways and green spaces. I felt like I was in a movie…

We stayed at the Graduate Hotel in Cambridge, which was perfectly placed, and the staff were really kind. I loved the view from our room over the river and sketched it several times.

I also visited the Cambridge University Library to see the Raymond Briggs exhibition. I find his work so moving and deeply emotional. He celebrates our humanity in such a touching way. I loved seeing his pen tests and little notes on the edges of the paper, and reading about his life and career.

The first image is from my sketchbook.

One afternoon I treated myself to afternoon tea at Fitzbillies, a Cambridge institution. It was pretty tasty.

I spent several hours at the Fitzwilliam Museum and could have spent more - they had to throw me out at closing time! I saw their famous paintings, but was much more interested in their big collection of ceramics from around the world. Stunning.

As ever, when I travel, I end up working too, and the hotel desk provided a good place to get on with it. I had a wonderful stay and would love to spend a little more time exploring.

sewing box

I needed to mend a rip in a dress, and I borrowed my mum’s sewing box. I noticed she still had a pin cushion and needle case I had made for her many, many years ago. They made me feel nostalgic and I realised I’ve always liking making things. But also that my sewing skills haven’t really moved on much…

UK

I’m in the UK for the summer, and amazed already by the beautiful weather. My parents’ garden is overflowing with flowers and so green. I’m usually here in the winter, so this is a delightful surprise!

There are peonies, foxgloves, daisies and so many flowers I don’t even know the names for, all blooming at once. There are big bumblebees buzzing around, and so many birds, it’s wonderful to just sit under the apple tree and watch…

The weather is so balmy and the days so long, it’s heavenly. I’m looking forward to the time I’m going to spend with friends and family here.

Delicious show in San Fransisco

I have several prints in the new Delicious group show at STUDIO Gallery SF that opened this week.

This blue and white etching of caviar and vodka will be shown for the first time. I originally made this print for an editorial project, and had added colour to the tins of caviar. I have to say I kind of like it in just the blue too.

I added tea to these empty cup etchings, and also a touch of colour. The cup on the right has a soft gold tint that gleams in the light.

I love how my prints look when surrounded by other beautiful things. You can see them all online here, and look for yourself.

The show is on for almost a month, hope you’ll be able to pop in.

San Francisco walk

This week I spent a day walking and riding buses in unfamiliar areas in the city. I took lots of pictures and was reminded how beautiful this city truly is. I did a quick brush pen sketch of a view of the hillside from Eureka Valley. All the fancy houses were so pretty in the sun.

I love all the different kinds of houses and buildings there are in the city, all sorts of shapes and colours…

…and because of the hills, I had many different incredible views across the landscape towards the downtown and even the Bay.

There were little pockets of delightful details in the residential streets, and I was reminded of my daily constitutionals in Tokyo. I should go into the city more!

Calaveras

We spent the long Memorial Day weekend in Arnold, a tiny town in the low hills of the Sierra mountains, for a break from the city. We stayed in a cabin surrounded by trees and ate our breakfasts on the deck enjoying the clean air.

The main reason to visit this area is the Calaveras Big Trees State Park, home to groves of sequoias, the largest trees in the world!

The weather was perfect for walking peacefully amongst the giant trees and enjoying all the forest sights and sounds. There were beautiful white dogwood flowers and many types of tiny flowers along the ground. It is always incredible to see these huge trees, some of which are thousands of years old!

On saturday evening we took a picnic blanket and went to Brice Station Vineyard for one of their live music evenings. We ate freshly made burgers, relaxed on the grass and listened to the Dave Luning Band play country music. It was great! I felt like we were in a movie…

We drove back to the Bay Area via Columbia State Historic Park, a preserved Gold Rush town, and wandered the wide streets, visited the little museum, enjoyed watching the people dressed in period costume, and even panned for gold! I think that was maybe the highlight of the trip. I can see how it might be addictive, the hope that you’ll find some gold and make your fortune…

It’s always nice to get away for a few days, and I love this season, the almost-beginning of summer, when everything is starting to bloom and nature is fully enjoying itself.

Tucson

We recently visited Tucson, Arizona, as a special anniversary trip. It was heavenly. We stayed in an absolutely wonderful airbnb, in a quiet residential area, with our own pool (!) surrounded by flowering trees. It was restful and comfortable and gave us lots of ideas for a future home…

We had a lovely meal at Bata in downtown Tucson, with all sorts of local foods and specialities. This was my favourite, a tiny savoury tartlet of all different greens.

And then we spent two days exploring both the East and West sides of Saguaro National Park. It has always been one of my dreams to see the Saguaro, the famous standing cactus, reminiscent of old Western movies. It’s only found in the Sonoran Desert, and it was truly everything I’d hoped for. Wide open expanses with nothing but brush and cactii for miles in every direction.

It was crazy hot though. We could only walk about outside for short times because of the weight of the hot sun. And apparently this was a ‘cool’ weekend! I can’t imagine it in the summer.

We were also lucky as all the cactii were in bloom. All the different types had amazingly bright colourful flowers in pinks, reds and yellows. We couldn’t get too close to the Saguaro flowers, as they are like crowns right on top of the tall stems, but they looked like white and yellow fried eggs.

I sketched these Prickly Pear and giant Aloe plants and felt like I was drawing alien lifeforms.

I also visited the Tucson Botanical Gardens - they had wonderful desert areas full of different cactii, but also shady paths and corners with more leafy plants, where I could sit on the shade and sketch.

This was my favourite animal encounter - a desert spiny lizard that turned to look at me as I photographed it. It had brilliant viridian breast scales, like a miniature dragon.

It was only a few days, but I loved Tucson, and would definately recommend it to see the magical Saguaros!

Eurovision

Yesterday was Eurovision! While we watched, I managed to sketch each country’s entry (I added colour to the ones that performed particularly amazingly). 

We were all upset that the obvious winner (Kaarija from Finland) didn’t win - later found out he got double the people’s votes of the winner (Sweden). It does seem like the system is broken if the performer the people who watch Eurovision want and vote for, doesn’t actually win. Hopefully they’ll be able to fix this problem. It was a perfect show right up until they announced the winner. 

Maybe a solution is to have 2 winners? - 1 is the jury’s winner and the other is the people’s winner. 

Gustaph from Belgium and Lord of the Lost from Germany were real highlights - absolutely incredible to watch!

We had a watching party and made a retro pineapple-cheese with European flags. It was great to enjoy the spectacle with friends and vote for our favourites!

I especially thought UK and Ukraine did a great job hosting such a fantastic show. I did some sketches of the hosts and some extra guests - the real star of the show was definitely Hannah Waddingham. A real highlight for me was Dadi Freyr singing an Atomic Kitten song!

It’s a whole year until the next Eurovision, I can’t wait…

pocket garden series

The third project in our wood + paper + box printmaking collaboration is (un)fold - an exploration of both the act of folding and unfolding.

Katie Baldwin, Yoonmi Nam and I each made 6 pieces, in an edition of 8. Here are my artworks:

clockwise from top left: perfume, for the most beautiful, le petit jardin, unfurled, secret garden, and hidden message.

I explored the physical nature of folding/unfolding, but also looked at stories and how they unfold, and to our relationships with nature, as well as each other.

Each piece has its own enclosure, and you can see that it’s a pretty small edition in the photo on the left.

Here are my pieces all together. I call this my Pocket Garden series. Each of the artworks can be folded down small and flat, for easy carrying (in your pocket!) but when opened up, has 3-dimensional elements that create a miniature garden.

This project will be exhibited at the Beach Museum in Manhattan Kansas later this year.

Midsomer Murders

I was watching some old episodes of Midsomer Murders this week and I suddenly realised that Mrs Barnaby was cooking from the River Cottage Veg everyday cookbook - the one that I illustrated!

This is a delicious recipe that she’s making. I somehow feel that I’ve made the big time, having my work on Midsomer!

This was a great book to illustrate, as I printed the images using actual vegetables. The endpapers were a great collection of many of the prints put together.

This is by far the most popular of Hugh’s River Cottage books that I worked on. I thoroughly recommend it, we cook from it all the time.