seasons greetings

A very Merry Christmas to everyone - thanks for visiting throughout the year and for taking time to leave comments. Your friendship is much appreciated. Here's to a wonderful 2011.

The picture below just about sums up how cold it is in this part of the world at the moment, but very beautiful too. The illustration above was inspired by this.

Prehistoric

One of my old illustrations just seemed to fit the bill!
© 2010 nicky linzey for illustration friday

Hello

I'm a terrible blogger at the moment. Work is so busy which is great financially but I'm missing my blog - I don't have enough time to visit everyone as much as I'd like either.
So I just popped in to say  hello....

Boat bottoms

Paint finish

From a weekend walk - not nature this time but shapes, patterns and reflections on cars and rubbish bins. Amazing what you can find.

Spent

I went walking at the weekend and spent a lot of time watching the trees. I had the feeling they were watching me too.
© 2010 nicky linzey for illustration friday

list it tuesday

My list is 'random things I've drawn today'.
Visit Aimee (who started this whole thing) to see more.

Spooky

© nicky linzey 2010 for Illustration Friday

I was wrong ...

. . . Summer's not really over

Thank you all for your get well wishes to Bill (MJR). Glad to report he's back to his old self now and has ripped up his T Shirt.
Good news too, we got the work we pitched for! Children's fun/educational packs for an airline company.

Grumpy

My Jack Russell has recently been through a terrible trauma. He had a operation a couple of weeks ago to remove 6 lumps and at the age of 11 it was a worry for me. The good news is that the operation went well, he is much better now and the lumps were all benign.
The trauma was that he's had to wear a medical body suit to keep all the dressings in place and to stop him scratching his wounds. The suit has a velcro fastening around his tail and he kept becoming 'velcroed' to the sofa. It was a pitiful sight but one that had us in hysterics although we've tried not to let him see us laughing - we've now found a T shirt to replace his suit but he doesn't seem any happier.

Autumn . . .

... came early this year.

Beneath

I love to stand beneath the trees and gaze at the sky.
© 2010 nicky linzey for illustration friday.

Old-fashioned

This vase - inherited from my Mother-in-law, is one of my favourite possessions - it looks so old-fashioned. Is it the colour, pattern or shape that makes it seem from another era?
© nicky linzey 2010 for illustration friday

Acrobat

Inspired by one of my favourite artists ever.
© nicky linzey for illustration friday

Proverb

How true!
© nicky linzey for illustration friday

Harvest

It makes him all itchy but I can't stop him. In fact it looks like a nice thing to do - I may give it a try. I'm still neglecting my blog at the moment - sorry - lots of work and the invalid is still needing help, although I'm glad to say he can get his socks on by himself now and he is improving!
I find it very hard to be creative for myself when I have a lot of work on, in the evenings I just crash out with a large glass of wine.
PS. The presentation went well - it just has to be passed by one more person now - so fingers crossed.

Thanks

At the beginning of the Summer I participated in Kelly Light's great idea to raise money to help creatures affected by the Gulf oil spill. Kelly has now raised over $10,000 with the help of hundreds of artists. These are the wonderful artworks that I received in the post over the past few weeks. If you haven't done so already, please visit their websites: jackie, harsha and howard.
Also the Ripple website is still going strong! 

Deluge

It never rains but it pours doesn't it. Apologies for neglecting my blog but I have been busy getting together a presentation for an exciting work project over the past few weeks. The deadline is this Friday and as Gra has slipped a disc in his back he's finding it hard to sit at the computer for too long. So I'm trying to get the work done and generally fetch and carry for the invalid!
Plus of course My Jack Russell needs walking twice a day (now I couldn't neglect him now could I? Well he certainly wouldn't let me!)
Summer seems to have come to an end here too and I must admit that today I feel like these two little birds sitting on my fence in the rain!

Artificial

I love watermelon and probably buy it for how it looks, more than for the taste. The colours are so bright they actually look artificial.
© 2010 nicky linzey for illustration friday

July in the garden

© 2010 nicky linzey

Diary

A week ago today on July 8th my Mum and Dad's dog Ellie had to be put to sleep. She was the sweetest dog and My Jack Russell's best friend.

Ellie was found by a lorry driver, wandering on a motorway in Liverpool, never claimed, she was eventually shipped down to Brighton RSPCA where they thought she would stand more chance of getting a home.

We went there looking for a dog and she chose my Mum as her new owner. It took her a long time to settle in, she didn't bark for over a year - in fact we thought she couldn't. (She made up for this later in life though!) She sat on her bed in the kitchen huddled in the corner, scared of her own shadow, eventually realising what a lovely, safe, new home she had - filled with love and she responded accordingly. She was nearly 14 when she died and we all miss her so much.
© 2010 nicky linzey for Illustration Friday

I'm surrounded

It seems I'm surrounded by giants this week. I went for an evening walk up to Goodwood and came across this amazing sculpture by Nic Fiddian-Green. My photos don't do this justice as it was a murky evening, but the colours and textures and pure size of this piece were astounding. 

More giants

Had a lovely afternoon on Sunday walking around this dreamy garden, amongst these giant wire animals by Julian Broad. (I can't find a link to him unfortunately).

Giant

I picked over 12 lbs of gooseberries from just one bush on my allotment - some of them were giants!
© 2010 nicky linzey for illustration friday

Structure

Visually I tend to look for natural organic structures but the other day I noticed these.
Are my patterns changing?

Greed

Finished off all the chocolate biscuits left over from camping.
© nicky linzey

Paisley

I apologise if you've seen this before but I've just spent the weekend in a tent - in the cold and rain and realistically I don't have time to do something new. I did have fun though!
Paisley for Illustration Friday
© 2008 nicky linzey. Inspired by Gaudi.

Ripple

The Illustration Friday theme 'Ripple' has been suggested by Kelly Light who has the great idea of raising money for creatures affected by the oil spill. You can buy artist's cards for a donation of $10 to charitable causes - see her website for details.
I've chosen to draw the Great American Egret one of the beautiful birds that may be affected.
When I last looked she had raised over $1000 - see what a ripple can do.
KELLY HAS NOW HELPED RAISE OVER $3000  $4000 $7,400

Summer

Rain, tea and cake, steamy car, the archers, wet dog, smelly ....

We'd planned a walk on the South Downs last night with a picnic. The english summer had other ideas.

Trail

Watching the bees trail around my garden on a hot summers day ...

I cannot make up my mind. Do I prefer the one with the line drawing or the one without? What do you think?

© 2010 nicky linzey for illustration friday

Slither

I couldn't put my hand in amongst this lot, could you?
© 2010 nicky linzey for illustration friday

Celebrations

It was my Mum's birthday at the weekend and as a family we always make a big deal of these days. After all, they are kind of special. It was the first truly hot day of the year and so we were able to be outside for the evening - a real treat.
My sister made her 'speciality pudding/cake' which is simple and delicious - I am going to have to share it here:
She buys a ready-made large sponge flan base which she cuts into 3 - horizontally - you are left with 3 thin layers. Don't worry if you muck this up - it is very hard to do - you can easily patch it up later! 
If it is an adult dinner, douse the sponge with peach liquer (Archers). If not just layer it with sliced strawberries and softly whipped double cream. When the final top of sponge goes on, cover with more cream and decorate with strawberries. Leave for a while before serving to go all gooey.
As you can see - 3 of us contributed to this and we had drunk too many glasses of the pink liquid on the left! Plus my nieces were throwing strawberries at it from all angles. Rather artistic I think, and my Mum loved it!

Equipment

I think this speaks for itself. I've added the recipe as Gra makes the very best bread, so this is worth a try!

© nicky linzey 2010 for Illustration Friday

Recipe by Graham Wilkins

Stop & stare 10

Couldn't resist a picture of this!

Cocoon

Did you know:
Silk thread is the hardened silk worm saliva which they use to form their cocoon
The single strand of the silk when unravelled is over a mile long
3,000 cocoons are needed to make 1 pound of raw silk.
I didn't until I researched it for Illustration Friday. You learn something every day!

© 2010 nicky linzey for illustration friday

Ahead

None of us knows what is ahead of us. I find it's best to stay in the present, although that can be easier said than done. So for the Illustration Friday theme this week I've drawn the view ahead of me at this very moment. Statue I've had for ages, plants from friends, jug from Greece and stones from Cornwall.
© 2010 nicky linzey for illustration friday

Wood blocks

Found these in a boatyard, they are used to prop up the boats while they're being worked on. I wanted to take them home.

I spy with my little eye . . .

I always quite fancied being a private detective. It's the nosiness in me I think!
© nicky linzey for illustration friday

Osmosis of colour

People often comment on my use of colours and ask me how I decide upon them. I have been thinking about this and I've realised it is by 'osmosis of colour'. I don't actually make any decisions and I don't have a plan, they just sort of seep into my mind.
For example in this picture SIESTA, which is a drawing of a spanish villa we stayed in, I wanted to use my wire pattern to create the feeling of mediterranean light in the heat of early afternoon. So I sort of went there in my body - how it felt to have a siesta in this villa and the colours of the light just came to me.
© nicky linzey 2010

How I spend my evenings . . .

He's eleven now and still no signs of slowing down. Oh well, that's a jack russell for you!

Easter Walk

Wow - 4 days away from my computer has been just what I needed.
These pictures are from exactly the same walk as this one but what a difference in atmosphere between spring and summer. I find it strange that I can take the same route many times but notice totally different things.

Also thanks to Shirley for sending me the Sunshine Award. Check out her blog - her illustrations are just wonderful.

Rescue

Thanks to all your suggestions and support, together with a bit of drawing around my wire photographs, I've been rescued from my creative block!

© 2010 nicky linzey for Illustration Friday

Friendship

Your help in overcoming my 'stuckness' has been just what I needed. Even just the thought of a cycle ride in the countryside sent me into raptures - playing with and walking my dog is the best thing I can ever do, I'm investigating spoonflower  and definitely switching off my computer more.
Again & again I come back to Keri Smith for inspiration - I just love her rebel's manifesto.
Thank you all for your friendship - it means a lot.
Image is of photographed wire with coloured in sections

Stuck

I'm loath to use the word 'stuck', however this is how I feel at the moment. I'm inundated with work, pitching for new contracts which is great for my bank balance - although it completely empties my head of all creative ideas for my own projects and this blog.

Visiting other blogs - seeing everyone writing wittily and creating fantastically - the more I do this the worse the 'stuckness' becomes.

I probably need to get away from this computer and go and play! Any ideas....?

I drew this alphabet a while ago and filled it with my patterns

© 2010 nicky linzey

I'm seeing eyes everywhere

I looked round and found these trees watching me....

Scary!