The First Cut

It was lovely to be back in Manchester this weekend and great to get to The Manchester Art Gallery to see the Paper Cut exhibition. With work by artists such as Rob Ryan and Su Blackwell, The First Cut brings together the work of thirty-one international artists, all connected by one basic principle: a shared love of paper.

With beautiful hanging paper sculptures, huge paper cut outs and magical book art pieces the exhibition really made me want to get the old scalpels out again!

The exhibition is on until the end of January and well worth a visit!

Best of British Illustration

This weekend I managed to get to Derby Uni before the snow blew in to see the Images 35 exhibition. Every year the Association of Illustrators selects the best illustration and the exhibition tours the country. As usual the work was really inspiring and it was great to see such a variety of styles. It was really difficult to select a few to blog (which is why there are a few more than a few!) but here are some of my highlights...

Jonny Hannah



David Hughes

Jonathan Burton

Katrina Page

Peskimo

Peter Mac

Rachel Louise

Rose Lloyd

Sarah Hamson

Teresa Murfin

Zanny Mellor

MMU Illustration Degree Show

We popped along to the MMU show this morning and were really impressed. There were a few students that really stood out, see below for pic and links!

Lucy Letherland



Faye Coral
Beth Crowley





Nele Anders


Ashley Edge
(* This photo just doesn't do this work justice, this illustration was amazing and reminiscent of Chris Van Allsburg, beautiful!)

Emily Welham

Art Club Summer Exhibition 2010

This weekend I attended the Art Club Summer Exhibition in Derby, opened by the Queen (as you can see above). The exhibition shows the whole years work of the Saturday morning art club, of children who's ages range from 4-13. In the morning we did an illustration project before all the parents came to view the work. The morning ended with an awards ceremony in which I got to present the prestigious Art Club Cup for outstanding artistic achievement.

I made a concertina book of 26 blank pages, each with a letter of the alphabet. The children had to make up an imaginary name for an animal and then draw it on the page, we had some brilliant results!



World Cup Project (spot angry Fabio in black!)

Mostyn Gallery / Llandudno

Managed to pop into the recently opened Mostyn Gallery in Llandudno on our way to Anglesey. The building itself inside is beautiful and the space really great. The exhibition was 'We have the Mirrors, We have the Plans' and is a look at whether art reflects society today amongst other things. Click here to see the rest of the exhibition photos.

London Bound

Bag (and hat!) packed and ready for London last weekend.

Chelsea Flower Show




My first visit to the Chelsea Flower Show, it was great! The weather was beautiful and the Pimms kept flowing! More pics here.

Ryan Town


I finally made it to Ryan Town! Our lovely friends who we were staying with took us for breakfast along the Columbia Road where we browsed Rob Ryan's beautiful shop.


Saatchi Gallery


Saatchi Gallery visit, click here to see more photos including the 'mind messing with' oil filled room!