PENANG STREET ART

It's been a couple of months now since I went to Malaysia (where has the time gone!) and with Christmas so soon after I got back, all of the arts and crafts I was doing were appropriately festive so the blog obviously followed suit. I absolutely love Christmas, and love doing Christmas crafts and then blogging about it, but it does mean that I haven't yet had the chance to share my memories and experiences of the places I visited in Malaysia, like Penang; an island on the north-west coast of Malaysia. Whilst in Penang, we spent most of our time in the multicultural capital, Georgetown. Here, we visited places like Chinatown, LIttle India, the clan houses and the clan jetty. It was such an interesting place, full of so many different sights, sounds and smells. Having come from Kuala Lumpur, Penang felt like such an authentic experience of Malaysia. As we wandered around Georgetown, we came across so many paintings on the street walls which I just absolutely loved, so I wanted to share some photos of them with you.

When I got back, I did some research and found out that several of the art pieces and murals ('Boy on the Bike' and 'Little Boy with Pet Dinosaur') are by Lithuanian born artist Ernest Zacharevic, who has been dubbed "Malaysia's answer to Banksy". Many of the pieces were created for the 2012 Georgetown Arts and Crafts Festival. Prior to this, Georgetown apparently had no graffiti or street art whatsoever. Things certainly changed following this though, with Artists for Stray Animals installing a dozen or so feline-friendly pieces, such as 'Love me like your fortune cat' and 'The real Bruce Lee would never do this', for the 2013 Georgetown Festival. The following year, local artist WK Setor created the 'I want Pau!' mural which shows two children reaching out of a window towards a bicycle. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find out who the Penguin graffiti is by, which is a shame, as for some reason I find it so cute - it's like a child pretending to be a lawyer!

What do you think of this street art? 

Have you been to Penang?

Let me know in the comments below!

♥

5 FAVES FRIDAY // SOCIETY6 ARTISTS

Thank god it's Friday again eh! I hope everyone's Friday is more a POET's day (aka Push Off Early Tomorrow's Saturday) than another normal working day and that everyone is looking forward to a well deserved weekend. I posted quite some time ago about starting a Society6 store and although uploading new illustrations onto it has been put onto the back burner for a while, I still log in to explore new uploads from the HUGE range of talented artists, designers and illustrators on there.

I really enjoy having a look through Society6 at the many talented designers, illustrators and artists out there however I seem to return to the profiles and shops of a few. So seeing as it is Friday, and I haven't done a 5 Faves Friday since my Classy Craftoween post, I thought I would share with you who my five favourite Society6 artists are at the moment.

1. CAT COQUILLETTE

Little & Fierce by Cat Coquillette. Buy a giclee print of this lovely piece from Society6.

Gold Tree Rings by Cat Coquillette. Buy a giclee print of this intricate piece from Society6.

I absolutely love the work of Cat Coquillette's and I just can't get enough of it; it just amkes me happy. It has such a distinctive style, often incorporating intricate but bold ink and watercolour designs with metallic gold hints and motifs. And what's more, the motifs are heartfelt and inspiring and the designs are vibrant and colourful. What's not to love?!

2. LAURA GRAVES

Mr Deer gets festive by Laura Graves. Buy a print of this fine festive fellow from Society6.

Koalas love hugs by Laura Graves. Buy a giclee print of these cute little fellas from Society6.

I'm a big fan of monochrome illustrations with hints of colour added here and there in my own artwork and so I was instantly drawn to Laura Grave's work. She has such skill in creating quirky and somewhat vintage looking illustrations, which literally burst with character, feeling and humour. Just look at that boozey deer!

3. VIN ZZEP

Vanishing Elephant by Vin Zzep. Buy a giclee print of this beautiful image from Society6.

Like a Horse in the woods by Vin Zzep. Buy a print of this haunting image from Society6.

Vin Zzep is an artist who cleverly combines different subject matters in his work to create hauntingly beautiful and thought-provoking pieces. More recently, Vin Zzep's work has taken a more surreal like quality, slightly reminiscent of Salvador Dali, but with a style and texture that is markedly different. I'd definitely recommend giving this Society6 store a peek!

4. AMY HAMILTON

Fox by Amy Hamilton. Buy a print of this fantastical fox from Society6.

Feathers by Amy Hamilton. Buy a giclee print of this piece from Society6.

Amy Hamilton is a graphic designer and illustrator who creates lovely whimsical illustrations and portraits of animals and natural objects. I love how she captures such movement and realism in her pieces using splodges, smudges and brush strokes. Her style and technique also seems to give the pieces a unique dream-like quality that you can instantly recognise as hers. I love how piercing the foxes eyes are in the artwork above!

5. DAVID FLECK

I first became aware of David Fleck's work when I saw the piece, Voyages over Edinburgh, which just surely has to be one of the most popular art prints on Society6. With their vintage, quirky and slight architectural-inspired accuracy and subject matter, it's easy to see why David Fleck has gained over 10,000 followers on Society6. Unfortunately I didn't hear back from him about including images of his pieces in this post (I imagine he receives many and as we all know, it's hard to keep track of those emails sometimes!) so go check them out on his Society6 store - I'd particularly recommend 'Winter in New York' and 'Drift II'.

Rather excitingly I recently sold my first product on my Society6 store (eee!) and received my very first payment for it through PayPal. I read many many reviews before joining Society6 which detailed stories of individuals not selling anything for years and years, and the general consensus was that you needed lots of illustrations on there to get anywhere, so I really didn't expect to sell anything myself. It's always been a dream of mine to actually sell some of my art and never have - until now! *happy dance*

Have you got any work on Society6? 

If so, post a link to it below!

Be sure to share this post :)

♥

ART // WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS...

I recognise how extremely fortunate I am when I say it's not very often that life gives me lemons. Recently I've had a few lemons tossed my way and in a fashion that is typical of me, I've either been knocked sideways by them or I have actively (and successfully) ignored them. In my line of work, I frequently advocate mindfulness, but much like the old saying, and to my dismay, I actually rarely practice what I preach. From now on though, when life does gives me lemons, I'm going to try and be non-judgementally aware of them.

So when life does give me lemons, I'm going to draw them. And just look what can happen when you do decide to make something positive of those pesky lemons! I was so pleased with the resulting pattern, that rather uncharacteristically of me, I decided to upload it onto my Society6 store. This means that you can now get my illustrated lemon pattern on stationary cards, cushions, phone cases or as a simple art print. If you know someone who has had some lemons chucked their way recently, a lemon greeting card might be just the thing to cheer them up!

How do you cope with lemons? And what do you think of my pattern?

Let me know in the comments below!

♥

ART // PURRFECT PEPPER

So I've been feeling super creative recently and really enjoying blogging about the bits and bobs I doodle or make in my spare time, which along with my recent pledge to be more organised with my blog, means you may have noticed a bit more activity on here. I've wanted to share this doodle for ages but got caught up with all my other blog post ideas. Last year my sister and her (then) boyfriend bought two gorgeous and ridiculously cute kittens, Poppy and Pepper, which did absolutely nothing to lessen my desires of getting my own kitten.

However, seeing as I couldn't have one at the time (or now - the woes of living in a flat), and because I had probably watched enough 'adorable kitten' videos on youtube to last a lifetime, I thought I would continue to fuel my cat obsession by drawing Pepper. Pepper had (still has!) such lovely markings on her face and I couldn't help but find her absolutely hilarious as a kitten. Whenever I went round, she would alternate between creepily staring at me (well, as creepy as a pink nosed fur ball could be) and licking me.

Licking. And staring. What a little weirdo. Anyway, I was pretty pleased with my final doodle and my sister was too. 

What do you think? 

Is it worthy of my Society6 store?

Let me know in the comments below! It's always really valuable to hear your opinions and get feedback :)

♥

PATTERNS AT PETWORTH

How is it Sunday already! Hasn't this weekend just flown by?! In fact, this entire week seems to have gone by really quickly, although that may have something to do with this week being pretty fun and busy. One of the things I got up to last week, was popping to Petworth House and Park to have a mosey around the manor and a leisurely gander around the grounds in the sunshine. One of the main highlights for me, was seeing all of the patterns and textures that adorn the decor and furniture in the house. Although my illustrations and art are usually quite modern in style, I found the patterns, and colour combinations, really inspiring. Having been asked to help a friend design her wedding invitations for next year, I thought I would take some photos of them to keep for some vintage inspiration.

Another thing I really enjoyed was seeing all of the original J.M.W. Turner's that are part of Petworth's incredible art collection. It was interesting to see the difference between his earlier, more traditional works, and his later, more abstract, works. There was also a small exhibition dedicated to Mr Turner, a film about the life and art of J.M.W. Turner, who had something of a connection to the house, which shows not only some of the making of the film but also some interesting facts about the artist himself.

What do you think of these patterns? 

Have you got any 'vintage inspirations' to share?

Let me know in the comments below!

♥