Art&Ghosts Blog

The Meddlesome Moon

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New works for the Fairytales series:

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My Sister Marlinchen She Gathered Up My Bones

Text taken from the fairytale 'The Juniper Tree' (via Marina Warner's wonderful book No Go The Bogeyman). Really loving Broadcast and the Focus Group's collaborative album, very much where I'm at right now. Also listening to quite a lot of renaissance/early music at the moment, too. Sort of flipping, repetitively, between the two. Perfect for these stories in picture form. 

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The Lunatic The Lover And The Poet

Digital drawing/illustration and photoshop text. Words taken from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. 

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The Meddlesome Moon

I love working in two tones only at present. The feeling: more graphic than painterly. Silhouette themed too. Poster style.

I have recently licensed a selection of my works with a wonderful company in Australia, LaLa Land, resulting in a delightful little postcard set:

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There are also a couple of limited edition sets still available at the Art&Ghosts shop.

Have a jolly little weekend wherever you may be!

xxx 

May Mornings

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As you can see, I have developed a passion for blue/white stripes: the slippers, the cardigan and the fabric pendant (Mac photobooth images). 

I am experiencing a lot of Typepad related woes this evening, so shall cut my dialogue short. I am having to sign in with my email and password literally every 3 minutes or so, losing each post as fast as I compose it. This entire shebang took me nearly three hours, so I dearly need a break. 

More soon!

Oh, and do check out the previous post from this evening which showcases a selection of my older, paper collage and scrapbook material from yesteryear.

♥

Art&Ghosts : the early years part 1

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Older paper collages/mixed media work/dream diaries:

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Typepad not working for me today. Each time that I try to save or publish a post I am thrown to the sign in page, my work lost. I had wanted to write some commentary alongside this series of images, but it doesn't seem worth the risk of losing more work (and effort) at present. Most of these works were taken from three artist's books that I made between 2002 and 2007, my uni years.

The themes were concerned with fairytales and dream work (many of the text elements are handwritten or type written segments from my dreams), mapping the unconscious, playing with the surreal. They are quite a bit darker in mood than my usual, more recent works, yet clearly coming from the same 'nucleus'.

I am hoping to split these into several posts, so do check them out if you have the time!

Will see if this post works....more later tonight, perhaps x

 

Limited Edition Postcards

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Limited edition postcards sets now available.

Sets of 6, limited edition, glossy fronted postcards with regular style backs, measuring 4x6" complete with white envelopes. Only 10 will be available.

Summer came upon us here in the UK almost overnight. We had been wondering why the cold breezes throughout early May, the need to still wear our winter coats. Until now. Welcome to the muggy malaise of the great British summertime: wasps, humidity and endless, sleepless nights! I shall have to learn to live with it. Make the most of it. Visit my friends at the North Pole. That sort of thing.

However, one of the most beautiful aspects of our summertime are these magical, almost mystical evening twilights; one of which slowly surrounds me right now, as I type. I have always felt that they are rather special, like a whisper of secrets through a doorway in time, something wild yet delicate, and ever so full of potential.

 

I am also delighted to share this beautiful little exhibition booklet courtesy of Puella: the booklet features several of my works for their Bohemian Afternoon series back in 2008. Thank you Barbara!

 

 

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To view my contribution just click on the collection: Bohemian Afternoon

Back soon xxx
 

Musings: and the mystical art of blogging

 
 

A bit of a blog redesign. 

I am experiencing a lot of issues sizing columns and banners at the moment. I dearly love Typepad, but the layouts puzzle me. Every now and again I get a bit angsty about the appearance of my websites. It gives me a headache, but there’s also something addictive, fun, exciting about tinkering with the code. Sadly, I am not particularly competent with it. So far, my banner, no matter what size, will not reach the absolute left margin. One’s brain might explode attempting to work out why. Clearly I am no expert, but this is uncanny. My main content column will not stretch beyond 500 pixels (I would prefer 600), and if I switch to ‘fluid’ pixels the pages become uncontrollable: although the fluid option allows for more space, the accompanying blocks of text tend to 'stretch' with the pictures in a curious fashion.

And then there's tumblr.

I moved Milk Tooth over to tumbler a couple of days ago. This particular platform seems to suit Milk Tooth very well: quick fire posts which include easy-peasy and fuss free video and music uploads, text posts, quotations (which I love!) and regular photo posts. One thing that does worry me about tumblr (and this is hearsay) is the general attitude towards the 'recirculation' of existing images, often without quoting the source. For example, a user may originally upload an artists work accompanied by a link to the source, yet subsequently, other users will re-blog this post, often neglecting to bother with the artists link. Worrying! But such is life online. One of my uploads featuring the wonderful Margaret Rutherford has already been re-blogged, which is nice, but kind of........where do you draw the line concerning original content? I would feel pretty odd if the majority of my Typepad posts we re-blogged shortly after I had taken so much time to compose them. 

Do you know what I mean? So there's the good and the not so good. It would be great to hear your opinions on this. This is exactly why I watermark my images, because it does seem to be the absolute and only way to ensure that an image will not go astray without some recognizable link to the source. I dare say more people would feature my work if I didn't watermark, but I feel that it is the only safe way to contend with this issue at present. 

So, if anyone out there could advise me with regards to the banner/column width conundrum, I would be most grateful. Until then I shall go to sleep and dream about the possibilities of 600 pixel width main content columns and banners which reach the left edge without falling mystically short. Ek!

And a text only post. Whatever next?

(image: Lewis and Lumi of Le Train Fantome)

♥

Broken Dawn and giveaway results!

For Spectres and Dreams....

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  Broken Dawn

The feeling behind this work: Dutch courage perhaps, or braving adversity despite her diminutive size and immaturity. She may have had to learn to be on guard, to fight her own crusade. Cocky and wise before her time. Even tiny, blue-eyed blondes experience prejudice and pain.......

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I am also happy to announce that 10 new postcard sets will be arriving at the shop very soon. The sets will comprise of six glossy fronted postcards (standard size) with accompanying white envelopes. I chose a selection of my most recent works this time. 

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And now for the giveaway results!

1st Marina Castilla

2nd Icitea

3rd Jason J P Martins

Do get in touch whenever you have the time so that I shall be able to send off the goodies as soon as possible. I always feel like a rotten villain for not being able to choose everybody - but thank you all so very much for taking part, I hope to be able to reference this list for a long time to come. And as stated a little while ago, I ought to compile a live list of these posts for readers to browse through and locate it in the sidebar for easy reference. Will do!

EDIT: I also wanted to mention this album just in case any of you might have a clue as to where I could locate a 'physical' copy. I have downloaded it via itunes, but would still prefer to listen to it uncompressed. I stumbled upon it sometime last week and have been obsessively working along to it ever since. It transcends me! I can't find any information about it via google either, and would love to know a little more about the story behind the work. A shot in the dark, perhaps, but it can't hurt to ask.

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xxx

The Lost Detective

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New work for the Fairytales series:

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Lost Detective

A quick post, but I shall return tomorrow (late night BST) to re-edit this entry with the giveaway results.

Toodleoo xxx

Ivory Towers and a Giveaway!

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Hello folks!

T'is the middle of a moonless night and what better time for a giveaway?

First I would like to share two new pieces for the Imagined Portraits series:

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Ivory Towers

She began as a little boy, slowly morphing herself into a girl, much to my annoyance. I can never control these things. There is something slightly melancholy about her, something connected to the Moonlight Sonata and the dreams I can't recall. 

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Lisp

The Art&Ghosts shop has also been updated, with some new prints and a scattering of older works which will be available for a limited period only:

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As for my myself, I have finally come to some sort of friendly terms with my new fringe (bangs). Silly poses ahead, but I am never quite comfortable taking non-creative self portraits. I was also trying out bright red lipstick for the very first time in my life here, which carried me away a little:

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And now for the giveaway:

I shall be offering the following new print 'Paper Hearts'  (10"x8") with 2 runner up random prints from the Imagined Portraits series.

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To enter, just jot down the name of your favourite ever film/movie in the comments section below. I tend to prefer questions such as these because they can be exciting for everyone rather than merely random or useful to myself. Winners will be announced on the 16th of May.

Take care xxx

Roses and Moonshine for May

 

         

 

 

 

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So, I discovered something called 'Google Maps'.

Fascinating, helpful.....and just plain weird. Why? Well, of course, the first thing I did was search for my own address, becoming increasingly excited when I realized that I could view my home in full focus right up to the garden gate (lets just ignore the creepy aspect of this). And what did I find there? My little Mirlo sat in the living room window! How crazy is that - my kitty on Google Maps!

We are all hoping that you enjoyed a very pleasant May Day here at Art&Ghosts Towers. I have been busy doing absolutely nothing for the past 48 hours, which has been extremely enjoyable indeed. A rarity, no less. 

More soon, and a long overdue shop update - I promise! ♥

 
 

Paper Hearts

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New work for the Spectres and Dreams series.

Sort of returning to an older style here, combining digital collage with illustration. Darker, atmospheric, and unplanned! I woke today feeling quite dreadful, a head cold or throat infection, so I'm feeling a little bit sorry for myself. I turned to the wacom tablet for comfort, whilst revisiting an old favourite on dvd: Patrick McGoohan's Prisoner. Toast with full fat butter and honey most certainly helped! 

The work is somewhat influenced by the ghost stories of M R James, particularly a story entitled Lost Hearts. I made several versions, with and without spectacles, although the third image presented here is my absolute favourite. I like to think of them as llittle film stills, in some way how I might imagine filming James' stories, perhaps via animation - which I will never do, because I should never have the patience! I would suggest viewing these works at flickr for more clarity.

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She may easily be the solitary child, a child who chooses to be lonely in preference of her own company. The type of girl who sneaks off during lunch hour to a dark yet welcoming little clearing in the woods. Perhaps some of her closest allies are invisible. I like to imagine the heart printed paper bag contains an offering - although we shall all have our very own interpretations as to whom it may be for.

I will return soon, with this months print giveaway details, so take care ♥

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Shop Update

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New prints have just arrived at the Art&Ghosts shop

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Click the photo's above to view much larger.

More soon!

x

snapdragons

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Playing with a new camera, a gift from my parents.

Long, sunlit afternoons, earl grey and cinnamon cookies.

Reading Agatha Christie, daphne Du Maurier, again.

And camera manuals.

Obsessed with florals, dream diaries, paper cut-outs, old dolls clothes, snapdragons and larkspur.

Happy with recently completed commission work.

I am in the mood for darker illustrations, merging beauty and innocence with shadowy apprehensions, like my recent dreams. My dreams which rehash the long distant past: from way above, snapshots of my past scatter about me like Alice's playing cards, sometimes I catch hold of one only to find that it is indistinct, unfathomable. 

♥

         

Dreamchord Luxe revised

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I have created several new works for the Dreamchord Luxe series, which I first began back in March last year. The series consists of what I like to call 'digital miniatures', for they are supposed to suggest a similar intimacy to polaroid images. The recurring themes here: childhood, memory, magic, diaries.

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Changeling

Digital collage incorporating older illustration The Midnight Folk. Includes polaroid.
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Amnesiac

Digital collage incorporating polaroid photo, collage and older illustration Midnight Croquet

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Letters Home

Digital collage with silhouette illustration, polaroid and text.  

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Maps

Digital collage, polaroid, maps.

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Wait Forever

Digital collage incorporating illustration and digital painting.

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Seven Years

Digital collage, polaroid, acrylic painting and pencil.  

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Nevermind

Digital photo with photomontage and crepe paper.

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Silent

Digital collage and painting, featuring Anoushka

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For Madchen

Digital collage incorporating older work and watercolour wash.

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Crash Hat Fairy

Digital collage incorporating older work with doll.

I am currently crawling through another phase of insomnia, so my working hours are pretty haphazard. Thankfully I managed to sleep almost the entirety of yesterday, so I'm just about ready to take on the world once again! I am also beginning work on a brand new commission/collaboration, which I should be able to elaborate upon at a later date - although I can say that it involves a book cover illustration and character design for a unique little doll! Quite exciting. 

Oh and on a shop related note, I shall be adding new works Anoushka and Closer to the shelves very soon!

Take care 

♥

closer

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Closer

Digital illustration and photomanipulation.

Of memories and ghosts. 

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Closer ver.2

Best viewed here

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♥

Results...

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I have recently added a sale section to the shop. This will be a permanent fixture, although the items selected will recycle each month.

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And the results of the silhouette sampler set competition: 

Lily van Niekerk

Thank you ever so much for sharing your favourite reads. I think that the list would make a wonderful addition to my regular reading list in the links section of my blog (top left), sort of like a 'readers picks' section? A few of you actually suggested keeping the list live, so hopefully this will make for an adequate solution.

More soon!

♥