fables and foxes are lovely

I've already established a pretty solid record of my fondness for art and design rooted in fable imagery (see posts on Linnea Gitts and Diana Sudyka. My November 2008 in general is just chock full of them...) so when I happened upon Fables and Foxes I knew a part of it absolutely belonged here. Thankfully the talented illustrator and artist behind Fable and Foxes agreed. The fables and foxes fabric is by far some of the best looking work I've seen come through in Spoonflower's "vote for your favorite fabric of the week" email blasts. I am so glad she has decided to make it available at her shop. I also love her cut paper pieces, like the sweet little hang tags above. Fables and Foxes has tons of other beautiful fable-themed creations that bring to life Little Red, Thumbelina and of course the wily fox.

places I'd like to go, careers I'd like to have...

The Bologna Children's Book Fair, March 23rd-26th, sounds like an wonderful place to go. It's the world leading event for children's book publishers and has an amazing international exhibit of children's book illustrators every year. Only problem is it's a professional event. Nevertheless, I think the event's website is a fun place to poke around and discover tons of illustrators from all over the world and perhaps even find links to English translations for me and my son. Above I have posted a smattering of illustration annuals from the event. I've already book marked about a half a dozen threads off of this site that I will definitely be revisiting soon. From Bologna, the illustrators exhibition will be setting off to Japan to be shown at museums across the country. Not a bad place to go either. So that's two great places to go in one post... a girl can dream, right?

snow angels, happy pups and tatsuro kiuchi

Today we had a bit of a messy start. I got all the way to school with bundled boy and then remembered... Oh Yeah THAT Martin Luther King Day. You'd think I could remember... especially considering we had just spent the previous evening discussing lessons learned at preschool about Dr King. Eventually all the pieces of the day started to fall into place. When I called home to get the latest news from son and dad they were happily making snow angels in the front yard. I worry about what we all loose, my son especially, in the frenetic routine of work, play and rest that rules our days. So news of snow angels, photos snapped, and naps postponed to play trains with dad makes for a happy monday mom.

I love this snow angel by illustrator tatsuro kiuchi. In fact, I pretty much adore every piece of work in his portfolio. So it pleases me to share this with you. He also has some very lovely prints, like the happy pup shown above available for purchase here. Happy Monday.

aleks sennwald made my day

First of all, it made my day that a friend sent me a link to her portfolio at theloudcloud.com. And then to top it all off, Aleks was super generous when I contacted her and offered to let me post some of her artwork here on my blog where all my illustration heros are now living. I really love these pieces from her portfolio of professional work. I have pictured here, top to bottom, the paiga beast for BEASTS! Book 2 by fantagraphics and a lovely heroine from Spectra Pulse issue no. 2. Lastly, I think you would be wise to check out her prints, galactus and root, at the loud cloud shop.

www.theloudcloud.com
www.senvald.com

fastastic voyages

One of my favorite illustrators, mattias adolfsson kindly offered to let me post some of his recent works currently available at his shop. If your not familiar with mattias, he has a wonderful blog and a tremendous collection of moleskins. I love to check in frequently to see the latest and greatest in his imaginative and ever expanding body of work.

www.mattiasadolfsson.se

go lindsay

Uber-creative Lindsay, who I have the pleasure to work with, just got word that her illustration submission was accepted into this year's American Illustration Annual 27. She was kind enough to let me brag about her here on my uber-silly blog. Here's an excerpt from Lindsay's artist's statement.

“My work is a reflection of how I feel about myself and the world that surrounds me. I use my paintings as visual mentors; they are a documentation of my life, the things I have seen and done, people I have met, and the hardships I have overcome. Though I paint many different faces, most of them are faces and people that encompass an idea, emotion, memory, or feeling I have, not an actual person. The mediums I like to use are acrylics, inks, guache, graphite, and watercolor because I am able to use them in a quick manner and get the outcome I am envisioning, without having to wait too long for paint to dry. I also enjoy painting on smooth surfaces such as board and paper because I am able to get beautiful flat areas of paint as well as thick textural areas...

My current body of work, aside from focusing on my inner self, is dealing with the balance between painterly brush strokes and graphic shapes. After realizing my attraction to patterns and graphic art, I began applying it to my work. I like how this concept challenges the viewer to see my work as flat and dimensional at the same time.” Go Lindsay.

www.lindsaypetrick.com

santa was very good to me

Before Christmas my super-husband started eluding to a present for me and our son that he though we both would love. I couldn't for the life of me think of anything that would have us equally enthralled. His hints had me perplexed. I have the urge to do the same thing when I think I've found the perfect gift. I start eluding to it in conversations because I just can't wait to give it to the recipient and I want them to love it as much as I've hoped they will. My sister was notorious for spilling the beans in this way when she was little. Her hints unfortunately were not quite as cryptic as her six year old brain intended. (It looks like this but bigger...) 

My husband got it right on all points. He didn't ruin the surprise with his hints and yes my son and I both love the poster equally. We are a sting ray lovin family. And jay ryan is pretty cool too. 

www.thebirdmachine.com