Surprise Feature

I had a lovely feature on my work from artist/writer Lorrie Whittington aka Illusio Creative the other day on her arty blog. It came as a sweet surprise and it was interesting to hear how she sees my work- so often it's just me and the page/screen/studio so having feedback, comments, interaction with others is something that gives me great encouragement and a fresh perspective! Read the blog post here.

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A right royal Pop Up!

Lovely Pigeon are the organisers behind a quirky Pop-up exhibition and shop that will coincide with the Royal Wedding on Friday this week! The exhibition is titled 'Beards and Tiaras' and yes you've guessed it features beards and tiaras. I submitted work earlier in the year and have found out that my piece will feature alongside 24 others from the 28th-9th May- Murray Library, Anstruther, Scotland. All work will be for sale  at £25 each (plus £2 P&P). Here it is below- it's a little bit more eccentric than my usual stuff and the beard just kind of took over!

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Let's Link Up!

I'm currently putting together a CREATIVE LINKS page taking the idea from @illusiocreative for improving traffic to my blog!  


So, if you are an artist, illustrator, creative or gallery and would like to be included in the new CREATIVE LINKS page please send a 200 px by 50 px banner to me at melanie.chadwick(at)gmail.com and I'll add you here with a link to your blog/site. In return please use my banner somewhere on your site and link back to my blog. Happy Linking!

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Peculiar Bliss!

Here's an interesting online place- its called Peculiar Bliss twitter follow @peculiarbliss and is "a stream of doodles and images, featuring creative, original works from sketchbooks and other mediums into one location, with the hope to inspire continued creative thinking".

If like me you appreciate looking at other artists and illustrators for inspiration and general creative visual enjoyment then have a scoot over to their latest issue number 5. Themed around Process it features a variety of art from folk all over! Here was my contribution:

Why not submit to the next issue? The theme is PASTIME and the deadline is June 24th.

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Handmade at the Poly!

Here are some photos from my first fair I've been selling at in Cornwall! The fair, called Handmade has been organised by crafty gal Lucy Tutte with her textile business, Lulubee- I joined for the 3rd fair they've run in an quaint old building called the Poly in the centre of Falmouth town centre. 

If you've been reading my blog you'll recognise my Tea collection in the photo below- complete with hand-painted mugs and teapots as well as tea towels and plates.  

It was also a lovely chance to meet other local sellers and hand-crafty folk including Bee Diss who bakes delicious cakes for her business, The Honey Bee Bakery and textile artist, Penny Buckingham aka Cotton Cottage  who makes retro animal decorations and bunting and has designed a quirky alternative to the traditional hobby horses- Dress Up Ponies!

There were lots of other great sellers as well that made the day a pleasure to be at-unfotunately my camera didn't manage to make it out as much as I hoped!

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Zine Trades

I just wanted to share a couple of zines I've recently received through trades with my Tea zine. Both have come about through twitter. The first zine package is from @jessicagowling and travelled  all the way from Canada. This is her first zine- prompted by an unfortunate bout of tendinitis (which I hope is starting to calm down) and has been inspired by mountains and bears. As she puts it:  it's based loosely on the idea that ‘mountains are more than just rocks and trees; they are a part of the beings who roam their surface.’ It has been produced using her computer and a photocopier and even has a packet of mountain stickers...ace!

The second zine is from a trade with the OWT collective- again found through a Twitter call out- @OWTcreative. The zine has been created using the slides and imagery received on the theme of 'Exchange' at OWT. Each individual zine is different and comes with a genuine slide from the evening attached to the front cover-and is a limited run of Ten! I like how its been made and the use of the slides for the cover and then continued through the zine- its a lovely pocketful of visual memories.

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More Tea?

An exciting morning was spent hanging my tea-themed work at the Here and Now Gallery in Falmouth. I have a selection of original illustrations, hand screen-printed tea-towels and cards, notepads and a zine on the theme of Tea now on show there until the end of May. Near the bottom of Killigrew Street this gallery is packed full to the brim with quirky illustrations, prints, zines, cards, hand-made plushies and generally a haven for all things I love! 

A bonus was meeting the other artist whose work is also on show- Barnaby Purdy. On first glance his work looks digitally manipulated and printed but on closer examination (and with a bit of intense questioning) all his pieces have been lino-printed and details drawn in pencil over re-cycled pictures from encyclopedias! The effect is striking and seriously if I hadn't intensely scrutinised the pieces would not have believed they had been hand-rendered! If you are in Falmouth make sure you check the Gallery out- Purdy's work has to be seen in the person to appreciate the skill involved...

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And the award goes to...

Much to my surprise I recently received a blogger award from creative pattern-catchall Georgia Coote- whose bright and crisp designs I have regularly taken a look at over on her blog. The award is simply to support bloggers and showcase others. So thank-you Georgia for the Liebster Blog Award! -in accepting this award my job is to:

• write a blog post on receiving this award and add the Liebster picture
• link back to the person who gave it me
• pick 3-5 of my favourite blogs to share and present this award to

This is a little harder than first imagined as there are so many lovely blogs that I stumble across quite regularly!  However I have decided and hope that 1) you'll discover work that can inspire you and 2) that those that receive it will be encouraged and also share their favourite blogs!

1. http://www.amyblackwell.co.uk/ - a blog I regularly click to simply to enjoy the cheery illustrations that Amy does in her own unique style- expect cats and patterns!
2.  http://www.anjaboretzki.blogspot.com/- a studio blog of Anja's work that she produces for children's illustration- I always love seeing her new pieces and the way she adds a little texture here and there!
3. http://www.ericasirotich.com/- came across Erica's work not that long ago on Flickr and then found her blog- its a lovely place to see her work in progress and read about how she develops her illustrations- helps too that I love her dreamy style!
4. http://boraillustraties.blogspot.com/- it's exciting when you come across an illustrator whose work just makes you smile- Bora's blog does exactly that- bright, fresh and cute!
5. http://www.iheartdotdotdotblog.blogspot.com/ - I love to read about what crafters and artists are doing in their part of the world and this lovely gal- Iona Bruce is one of those industrious types- maker of all things knitted and stitched she also regularly leads workshops and organises collaborations for all sorts of creative projects from zines to woolly patches and more recently planning to open an eco- friendly line in her online store! Click through to be encouraged!

So there you have it- my Famous Five- hope you enjoy discovering them if you haven't already and are encouraged to think of your favourite blogs!

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