A Chapel Full of Birds

I've generally been blogging over here on Wordpress lately, but this is truly brilliant news, so I thought I'd blog twice...

I have some really exciting news which I can finally tell you ALL about!

In August last year, I had THE BEST work day out, ever. It involved travelling up to Seahouses in Northumberland to meet some lovely people from the National Trust, taking a tiny boat across the sea on a beautiful, sunny day, eating cake delivered by post, a tour of a beautiful island and a really unique exhibition space, all topped off by a seal watching expedition (and fish and chips for tea)! It really will take some beating, although I am, of course, open to offers.



The result of all this northern adventuring is that from the end of June until the end of October this year, a lovely chapel on the National Trust's beautiful Farne Islands will be filled with a vast flock of my life-size, collaged birds! Similar to those I created for Yorkshire Sculpture Park in 2010, but at least ten times as many and only species which can be seen on the islands (no flamingos this time), the birds will be suspended from the beams in the chapel so you'll be able to walk amongst them as they swoop to and fro!

The Farne Islands are a tiny group of islands just off the coast of Northumberland in the north-east of England. They're one of the most magical places I have ever visited, this is the breathtaking view looking back towards the mainland from the Farnes, with Bamburgh Castle on the coast and the Cheviot Hills in the background.



The islands are most famous for their incredible bird life - they have 23 species, including around 37,000 pairs of puffin! Look - it is impossible to keep yourself from beaming with joy at the sight of ONE, let alone 37,000 pairs:



Luckily, I'd been to the Farnes on holiday in my teens, so I knew a bit about them when Simon Lee, the manager for this area of the Northumberland coast, contacted me about creating a flock especially for this space. Somehow one of my dream commissions has become reality - a seaside, bird-based reality! It really couldn't be better.

The chapel is on Inner Farne which was once home to St Cuthbert in 678 AD. Built in 1370, the chapel is dedicated to the saint and stands alongside the Pele Tower which once housed monks and is now home to some of the National Trust rangers!
Imagine this space filled to the rafters with birds!





 




Here are some more photos I took of the islands:











 










Look - SEALS! Unfortunately my camera failed at the last minute and I didn't get many photos of them. Huge thanks to Simon, David, Claire and everyone else for making it such a super day!

You can see more photos on the Pinterest board I've created here. Also well worth a look is the rangers' blog - they live on Inner Farne for eight months of the year (check out the photos of their mammoth supermarket shop just before they ventured out for the new season!).

You can follow @Northumb_Coast (National Trust's Northumberland Coast group of properties) and @NTSteely (head ranger for the islands).
I feel a puffin brooch in the offing. More importantly, I have A LOT of birds to collage...

A Celebratory Discount – Hurrah for Hilary Mantel!

I made this Henry VIII illustration after reading Wolf Hall and becoming completely absorbed by all things Tudor, so to celebrate the brilliant Hilary Mantel becoming the first woman AND the first Briton to win the Man Booker Prize TWICE with ‘Bring Up the Bodies’, the second book in her trilogy charting the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, this print is now just £15, half it’s usual price! This offer will last for 48 hours only and expires at 1pm GMT on Thursday.

Zero 2 Illo LIVE

On Saturday 10th of November I’ll be participating in two panel discussions at Zero 2 Illo LIVE, the inaugural (one might say most eminent) conference for UK illustrators. It has been masterminded by Jonathan and Lea Woodward, who instead of bemoaning the dearth of such conferences in the UK, decided to launch one of their own!

I’m a bit nervous about the public speaking part, but thrilled too because I’m really looking forward to meeting the other fantastic illustrators taking part and hopefully gleaning some useful hints, tips and inspiration myself on such mind-boggling matters as The Future of Illustration. Thankfully, I’m not in that one, I will try to be much more enlightening upon the subjects of Getting Clients and Commissions (with Rod Hunt, Stanley Chow and Leigh Hodgkinson) and Making it on Your Own (with Katriona Chapman and Kate Hindley). Apart from super illustrators there will also be people who commission illustration such as Stephanie Amster, head of design at Nosy Crow.

It promises to be a fantastic event so if you haven’t booked your ticket already head over here – hope to see you on the 10th!

Penguins, Tennyson, Lanterns and Bears! Shop Update...

I've added lots of new products to my Notonthehighstreet and Etsy shops! Please visit and let me know what you think - any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

All the beautiful photos were taken by Holly Booth, photography-whiz and all round lovely person.

(Once again, I find myself vowing to blog more often...)

RSPB - Room for a Little One

Here are my latest illustrations for the RSPB's Wild Times magazine. This time, a lovely story about a rather chilly wren (this is the illustration for Jan/Feb 2013, hence the wintry look!). You can see all the previous work I've done for the RSPB here and here.

20% Off Everything

One thousand people now like my Facebook page (well, I think technically one of them might be me, so make that 999, but that is neither here nor there). To celebrate this startling fact, you can get 20% off everything in my Etsy shop until the end of August with the code SUMMER1000.

Enjoy!

Bears, Jam, Workshops and SALE!

I have all sorts of blogging plans, but never seem to get round to actually writing them! Here's a quick round up of the last week or so.

Firstly, there's a sale on at the moment in my Notonthehighstreet.com shop. Take a look, there's 20% off almost everything including the popular bird prints which you can now buy packaged with a mount ready to frame - they make a wonderful gift!

My exhibition at The Jam Factory is now up in beautiful Oxford, featuring lots of new work...

...most of which is now up on my website, here's a snippet of something beary:

I also held my first Book Builders Workshop at The Book Barge on Thursday. Here are some of the wonderful drawings the children made - next week it's storytelling! There are still spaces left on the next 4 workshops, so do get in touch if you know a budding author/illustrator who'd like to take part!

Talking of the Book Barge, bookseller extraordinaire Sarah is writing a book of her own in an attempt to raise funds to keep the barge open. You can read all about the motivation behind it here and find the first few chapters here!

Hope you're all having a super weekend! Go Team GB! Go EVERYONE from EVERYWHERE! I love the Olympics so much more than I expected.