I’m literally THE worst at maintaining a blog. Gah! This is a drawing inspired by the lovely Welsh band Race Horses. They have new music coming out very soon so keep an eye and ear out for those nuggets. Until next time!
You can purchase prints of this image here.
So it turns out that I have a huge ongoing girl crush on Olivia Palermo. Here is a drawing I did of her a few days ago for Amelia’s Magazine. SWOOOOON!
I have been silent for what seems like an awfully long time, my trusty laptop (seven years old I tell thee!!) finally decided it was game overs… HOWEVER, I’m back in the game! Hoorah! So this is just a girl, hangin’ out, off shopping in Paris and stuff. Yep. Well Jel!
I was browsing through the latest photos by The Sartorialist last night and found the most beautiful and striking image of a lady named Joan Burstein. She looked so wonderfully wonderful that I just HAD to draw her. There seemed to be something really calming and peaceful about the photograph, a certain stillness if you like, you really felt that a “moment in time” had been captured. Her confidence and grace almost as the glue holding it together. What a wonderful lady she seems, I mean, I would certainly invite her to a dinner party… oh, and I bet she has at least one tiny dog too (that I could borrow/loan/keep)
I simply adore the photographs that Mr Sartorialist takes, his subjects are always so impossibly impeccable, heartbreakingly stylish, always classy and never faddy. I once went on a wonderful trip to Paris where I hoped he would find me and demand to take my photograph… he mustn’t have been there that weekend… I mean, I believe he is still searching for me. Whatta guy. I’m going to New York soon, perhaps he will find me there? Perhaps I should stop being so creepy?
Oh hai, me again. This is one of two illustrations I made for Ameila Gregory’s review of Ziad Ghanem’s A/W11 collection. It was another haunting collection, dark and intense, very intricate and structured yet it had a flow and flight. A sort of theatrical, colourful zombie collection if you like. Really wonderous. Read Amelia’s full review here and check out the rest of the collection here. Also also also also, I have many more drawings on my facebook page if you fancy a sneak peek.
This is one of two illustrations I made for Ameila Gregory’s review of Charlie Le Mindu’s A/W11 collection. It was a terrifyingly beautiful mix of British wartime inspired ghostly nostalgia, gore and S&M. That perfect combination of a soft, neutral pallet and the sometimes hard and harsh fabrics mixed with a strong and defined outline. Hauntingly dreamy. Read the full review here and check out the rest of the collection here. Also also, I have many more drawings on my facebook page if you fancy a sneak peek.
The picture isn’t that related to this post though I did try and make her quite green, if that makes any difference at all? It just so happens that last week I opened a can of worms. Green worms. Green fashion worms, and I can’t seem to shake off the feeling that I’ve had quite the breakthrough. One that’s hit me like a rainfall of pennies, shiny new pennies, all dropping out of the sky in constant flow, one by one by one. Ouch.
The truth is, I’ve just discovered guilt free fashion and it comes in the form of Ethical Design. It’s basically fashion design at its best only every fabric, swatch and stitch is carefully and laboriously considered before it gets the green go ahead. I guess it means cutting out cheap and inhumane overseas labour, cutting down on import, minimizing waste, insisting on vegetable tanned leather, organically produced fabrics, local workforce.. you know the drill.
It is beyond me how overlooked ethical fashion has been and how misrepresented it still is in mainstream press. However, having said that, I’m a fashion graduate and even I thought that ethically designed fashion was all about recycled circuit boards and ringpulls, what a pea brain!? You’re all probably on to this like a dirty rash, but if you’re new into the game, like me, here are some useful ethically focused fashion sites for you to get started, and if you have more links, send them right on over. Thanking you kindly.
I rarely get the chance to dine out “properly”, and when I say “properly” I mean, like, serious foodies choice food places. I’m quite a regular at Pizza Express, Subway and Bella Pasta you see so Trullo was quite the treat. Yum. It’s a new Italian restaurant located on St Pauls Road in Islington within the great ol’ city of London. It has a very charming and confident air about it, a certain grace you might say. The food, the design, the lighting, the whole team, it all made for a very warm and relaxing atmosphere.
Now I may have drawn a steak here, which was in fact served at Trullo, however it isn’t what I ate. Oh no, for I’m a vegetarian and so, no, thank you. But the food that I did have was oh so very good and was cooked by some lovely chefs. A swoon worthy pasta in a creamy lemon sauce as a starter, a delicious stuffed aubergine main and a sorbet for desert. I always love that citrus burst at the end of a meal, it always seems to make sense. I should also mention at this point that the (hic) wine (hic) was vee dot good, and coming from an anti wine campaigner is quite the feat wouldn’t you say?
The moral of the story is, DO dine out at Trullo. It has proved itself to be a very very welcome addition to the area, VERY. It’s neither too pretentious nor too pricey and so I’d probably suggest taking me with you. Please. Thank you.
Sometimes I force people into letting me illustrate for them. Here is an example of said practice. It is a drawing of a commission piece by fashion designer Ada Zanditon for her recent interview with Amelia’s Magazine, and a lovely interview it is too. Ada talks of her passion for sustainable produce and the growing trend of ethical fashion. However fake leather does get a thumbs down… bye bye pleather jacket, you are gold and lovely and I shall cherish you always. Do sneak over there for a peek at the interview and more illustrations by some lovely others.
Is it possible to be in love with a city that I’ve never been to? I really and truly do love New York. I also know for a fact that I’m going to live there one day, oh yes I am. Anyone have a spare green card or willing husband?? This week I was urged to write and draw about New York as it is Fashion Week over there and I am a sucker for anything/everything fashion. Oh how I wish I could be there.. “oh hai Anna Wintour, wassup, fancy a crisp? no? ok a chocolate button?”… she’s not talking to me (in my imaginary front row discussion with her herself) That wasn’t weird.
So ideal scenario; flat in Brooklyn, part time band member, artist, fashion elite, owner of criminally cute dog, sponsored by Chanel.. this is all. I’m needing to get over that coffee-shop-office/dry-cleaning-Tuesdays/personal-pilate-trainer/free-money-for-drawing sort of lifestyle that I associate with New York. It’s entirely fabricated, all in my tiny mind but I feel that if I move there all of this will happen. I want to visit all of the galleries and museums, eat a cream cheese bagel on the “sidewalk” by the “subway”, visit that MASSIVE toy shop Home Alone style, hang out in Ms Liberty’s head and stand in the middle of Times square singing a song whilst the traffic is whizzing by (a bit like 2become1), write a musical and go to the opening night on Broadway. That’ll keep me busy for a while I should think.
