Summertime

This is an old sketch, one of the ones I hadn't got around to painting, but this week's Illustration Friday is Midsummer Night and so a great time to get this one finished :)

Riverbank

Riverbank Details - click for larger view.

The little beastie on the rock is an Alpine Newt. They live nocturnally in forested areas next to ponds or streams - perfect for this evening riverbank scene.

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hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

Scatter!

Spoonflower entries this week are all based on fishing. I don't think I'm alone in chosing a nature theme rather than the human sort:

Scatter!

This repeat design is put together from sketches I made of Galápagos Sea Lions seen on a beautiful documentary about the Pacific Ocean. As ever, I'd appreciate your vote if you have time :)

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Update 2014: See the new version of the sea lions here!

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hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

miki.o

I received this splendid package in the post this morning, from the very sweet Bianca, all the way from Melbourne:


I started reading her blog a couple of years ago when she was setting up Ink and Spindle, a screen printing studio, and producing gorgeous things such as this:


Now she's busy with miki.o, designing and selling beautiful paper goods. Visit her at her blog or have a look at the miki.o shop to see more!

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Forest & Sea ▪ www.etsy.com/shop/ForestAndSea

hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

Java Sea

Illustration Friday: Soaked

Java Sea I

Java Sea II

This inter-island area of the Pacific was flooded at the end of the last ice age and now its warm, shallow waters support an estimated three thousand species of marine life. I'll admit, I often sketch from the telly, mainly nature and travel programs, and these drawings were taken from film of the rich volcanic waters off Krakatau (Globe Trekker on the Travel Channel).

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hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

Folk Tales of India

A new Spoonflower contest entry based on the palace gardens and jungles of India:


Palace Garden in Peacock Blue

Clockwise: Palace Garden in Indigo, Lime, Jaipur Pink and Pomegranate.

Palace Garden Details (click for larger view).

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NEW: See the new colours for this pattern here and the repeat version here!

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hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

Illustration Friday: Beginning

I've really enjoyed the weekly Illustration Friday challenge since I started participating in January; it has brought out ideas that I would otherwise never have had and it's been so interesting to see everyone else's interpretations of the themes. I've been looking to see if there are other projects out there I would love to join in with and came across Spoonflower, a website where you can order prints of your own textile designs that also holds a weekly design contest. I specialised in textiles at college and have been thinking for a while now that I'd like to get into it again so, to begin, I've entered the design below into this week's contest. If you like it please click through and vote for me!

Vanilla Bean

Vanilla Bean Details

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hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

The book of Enzo.

I've just finished this book:

It's one of the best I've ever read in which Enzo, a canine philosopher, examines and recounts his life's experiences on the eve of his death. Anyone who loves animals and thinking about the larger picture should try this book but, whatever you do, don't read the end in public...

A fitting reminder, especially today, of all the beautiful beings we coexist with on our planet!


All Creatures Great and Small, by Julia Cairns.

Do something to help your fellow earthlings on this Earth Day! I think I'll donate to Fauna & Flora International, a wide-reaching charity working to conserve threatened species and ecosystems around the globe.

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hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

Illustration Friday: Bottled and Journey

The first thing that crossed my mind when I read last week's subject was our summer holiday a few years ago in Alcúdia Bay. I would have loved to have bottled some of that Mediterranean Sea breeze to bring home with us; we had such a brilliant time that year.

I was too late to enter this painting for 'bottled' but I think it's just as good for this week's theme:

Badia d'Alcúdia

Click on details for larger image.

Have a great weekend!

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hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware

Illustration Friday: Duet

Monkeys fly on parrots' backs - it's true! OK, I wouldn't believe me either, so have a read about this lazy squirrel monkey and his parrot compadre. I think they make a most excellent duet for Illustration Friday this week!


Lazy Monkey

Click on details for larger image.

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Hatching!

This Bald Eagle pair from Iowa are about to welcome their first chick of 2011:

It's so amazing to watch something like this live and is thanks to the Raptor Resource Project, a nonprofit organisation working to restore bird of prey populations in the Midwest.

Update 12th April:

I caught these stills of feeding time earlier. They really don't do the chicks justice though; they're still so wobbly and uncoordinated :) I'm glad they're ok with all the bad weather they've had in the midwest this weekend. I hope that none of you have been badly affected either.

Click to view larger.

More bad weather (19th April):
Ahhh, poor thing : (

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hand drawn nature on fabric, accessories & homeware