My Illustration Portfolio

I do believe it's time for somewhat of a re-invention of this blog.  With these crazy busy days with two at home and an active boy toddler being one of them, I have found little time for planning and executing arty projects.  I haven't wanted to force it for the sake of 'keeping up the blog' and know that things ebb and flow and no doubt in time we will be back again in that place. 

However, after some years of tinkering around with my illustration work in the 'margins' of my life, things are starting to come together, and its time for me to bring in centre stage.  So I have created a new 'gallery' at the side of this blog where I will be showcasing some of my illustration work as I compile my portfolio to submit to publishers of childrens books.  I'll also be writing some posts about how things are going and my working process.

I've been exploring some different approaches in my work and usually end up working in mixed media.  I make and dye my own paper sometimes, other times using found papers as well as fabric.  Recently I've been making use of some lino and rubber stamping in my work and think there is lots of scope to develop this further.

I'll stop talking now and show you some pictures, hope you enjoy them.

I also have a new page on Facebook which you can go 'like' at CathHughesArt.  In time I will figure out how to put one of those nice little buttons on this blog!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boo in Okido

 
We have been fans of Okido magazine for a little while now.  We heart the art/science themes (e.g. the weather, babies, emotions etc), the funky innovative illustration and the age-appropriate stories and activities (mazes, doodles, finding characters etc).  Boo senses an alter ego in the character 'messy monster', as I am sure do many young uns reading his stories!  The 'Dirt' issue is particularly special to us, however, as, there on the inside cover are two pics of the Boo herself mucking about in muck.  She appears top and bottom right, in her wellies.  We affectionately refer to her as 'child of the mud', seeking out muddy puddles as is her wont, so she fits right in here.

Papier Mache Hot Air Balloon

Somewhere, somehow, in the midst of all these 'I can't get a thing done anymore' baby and preschooler-at-home days, Boo and I managed to fashion something with our hands.  Whoop whoop! 

The other week we borrowed a book from the library called 'Hot air: The (mostly) True Story of the First Hot Air Balloon Ride' by Marjorie Priceman, Simon and Schuster 2005.

 
It tells the story (in a most amusing way) of the (mostly imagined) escapades of the sheep, rooster and duck who were the passenger of the maiden voyage of the hot air balloon. 

I had been thinking for some time that I would like to introduce Boo to the world of papier mache, and this provided the perfect opportunity for a bit of gluey creation.

We used an inflated balloon as the base and layered newspaper and paper paste (about 4 layers) before leaving it to dry and harden.  The trick with the laminating technique of papier mache is to ensure that both sides of each piece of newspaper are thoroughly coated in glue.  Boo and I did the glueing together to ensure that this happened, though I have to say she took to it wonderfully, always eager to get up to her eyeballs in gunk of some description or another. 

 

 
The best bit for the little one was popping the balloon when the papier mache was hard and seeing the shape retained.  It does take a couple of days to dry before you can progress to the next stage.

We then painted the balloon shape using white paint to cover the newspaper and then Boo painted it in her own choice of colours.  I did have ideas of further decoration but baby naptime was over and it just wasnt gonna happen today.

 

 
Finally, a basket was required, so I made an origami one, attached it to the balloon using string, and then we were ready for the inaugural flight....

and Boo chose a cow and a panda (finger puppet) if you can just about glimpse them, to take to the air in our creation...

 
 
It might be good to do this project using layers of coloured tissue paper to achieve a translucent effect.  Maybe next time.  For now, I'm still celebrating the joy of a wee bit of creating. 

Clothkits n Cut Outs

It's been a while.  I've had a lovely little Clothkits parcel stashed away for a while now. First the season was wrong, then my belly swelled.  Finally it's time had come, and the scrunchy tissue was removed, the sewing machine unhusked and zim zum, voila, a skirt.  I was especially looking forward to this one as the design is by the tremendous Rob Ryan, whose quirky and poetic paper cuts are just what you would wish for on a skirt.   It wasn't yet open when I was living in East London, but when I finally get to go back (can't face it with a babe and preschooler in tow right now!) I'll definitely be making a visit to his shop Ryantown in Spitalfields.

Enough preamble, here's the item in question...

 
With Dadda Boo in the UK on a business trip, it was a one-woman (at least for now...) photo shoot in the mirror.  Hmmm, see the issue there?  The text.  Yes, the text... ho hum. The cut out lettering on the bell says 'This bell will ring when you take me in your arms and hold me'.  What more can one ask for than a romantic skirt?!

 
Ah yes, as you can see, I wasn't alone for very long. 

 
On the back the text reads 'Every bird is my brother and sister'.  Boo loves this.

And soon I was relegated to the background.

 
I have great respect for someone who can wield a scalpel with such impressive results, precision never having been my forte. 

Staying with cut-outs, today we picked up this book from the library:

 
Nicky McClure is a self taught cut-out artist who uses black paper to create images, usually with a family/home life theme. Her book Mama, is it summer yet? was just right for us today, when we are hanging on for the pacific northwest summer to finally emerge.  The young boy asks if it is summer way too early and his mother plants seeds with him and draws his attention to things changing in the natural world around them, until the strawberries are in fruit and summer is finally here.

 
 
 
Finally, if paper cutting rings your bell, you must check out the work of Peter Callesen, who can do things with a scalpel and a piece of A4 white paper than I can only marvel at.

Now where did I put those cack-handed scissors?

Great resource on Children's Picture Books

I just discovered the Guardian's page on children's literaturefor the under 7's - great resource with interviews, audio etc.

So far I've checked out a great audio/slideshow with Jan Pienowski talking about his development of the Meg and Mog storybooks (which I remember so well from my own childhood) link here

and an interesting interview with Lauren Child (originator of Charlie and Lola) link here

... and there is so much more to explore

Yum yum, Hyewon Yum!

Recently I came across a great interview with the author illustrator Hyewon Yum on the children's literature blog 7 Impossible Things before Breakfast.  I featured Yum's book Last Night as 'book of the week' here a while ago, and was enamoured with her lino printing technique.  So I wanted to check out her more recent book 'There are no Scary Wolves'

 
In this book, an impish little boy (and his shifty-looking feline companion) are in the house of a morning whilst a too-busy mum tackles mountains of washing up and laundry.

 
The boy tires of waiting for his mum and determines to head out himself, but finds that there are 'scary wolves everywhere' even in his favourite destination, the toy shop.

 
 
The boy runs home terrified, but when he later goes out with his mum, he finds that there are 'no scary wolves anywhere'.... or are there?

 
This tale is a gentle reminder to young children that they need to explore the world under the guidance of an adult, but I don't find it moralistic.  Instead, it portrays the escapade from the eyes and unfettered imagination of a child. 

This time, Yum has used a mixed media collage approach to the illustration, with photo collage and drawn elements as well as attractive use of pattern and texture.  Love it.  I've recently been exploring some similar approaches, and also printmaking, so I can't get enough of looking at Yum's work.

As I said, yum yum.

Picture Book Picks for Christmas 2010

Here's my top picks for childrens picture books of 2010 I think any young bibliophile would be thrilled to unwrap on christmas morning...

 
'Cave Baby', Julia Donaldson (author), Emily Gravett (illus), Macmillan 2010

When you bring together the inimitable talents of Donaldson (Gruffalo, Snail and the Whale etc) and the fluid pencil work of Gravett (Apple, Pear, Orange, Bear etc), you are most likely in for a cracker.  A stone age baby fond of cave wall daubing romps with a hairy mammoth and other creatures.

 
'It's a Book', Lane Smith, Roaring Book Press, 2010

This is a very 'knowing' and funny book, and for that reason in many ways I think its one of those children's books which might be more for the adults.  Certainly my little girl would not 'get it', knowing little about the technological world, which is the way I would prefer things for the time being.  Older children who are familiar with technological gadgets and gizmos but have a great love for the printed book would probably enjoy the humour. But maybe the grown ups even more.

 
'Owls see Clearly at Night', Julie Flett, Simply Read, 2010

Julie Flett is a Cree Metis Vancouver illustrator (Zoe and the Fawn) whose exquisite digital collage work we recently saw at 'Collage Collage'.  This book is a Michif alphabet with beautifully spare illustrations.  Boo liked the bear hiding behind the tree.

 
'The Quiet Book', Deborah Underwood (author), Renata Liwska (illus), Houghton Mifflin 2010

A book about many different kinds of quiet - from comfortable quiets to the quiet of having done something wrong.  A beautifully meditative book with some adorable animal characters, rendered in fine pencil with digital colouration.

 

'Shadow', Suzy Lee, Chronicle 2010

Suzy Lee hasn't put a foot wrong as far as I can see.  With her wordless books 'Mirror' , 'Wave' and those with a spare story ( 'The Zoo'), her lively marks in charcoal, ink wash or pencil convey the energy and imagination of a young girl's antics.  In 'shadow' the girl plays in a dark attic, where the shadows begin to have a life of their own.

 

'Up and Down', Oliver Jeffers, Harpercollins 2010

Oliver Jeffers can do no wrong.  'up and down' is the next installment in the adventures of the boy and his friend the penguin, who decides it is his mission to learn how to fly.  'The Great Paper Caper' remains my favourite, but who can resist another deadpan tale of adventure and absurdity?

 
'The Tree house', Marije Tolman and Ronald Tolamsn, Lemniscaat USA, 2010

Boo and I were mesmerised when we came across this at the library.  The cover was enough for the Boo, who is obsessed by polar bears, and to look inside to see that he is joined in the tree house by a brown bear who flies there on a boat, she was sold.  So was I by the quality of the art work, which is stunning.  A wordless book, the tree house remains throughout as it is visited by hoards of flamingoes, rhinos and other animals who join the bears to hang out and enjoy the tree.  Magical. 

Happy Reading!

 

 

Advent Adventures

With my recent unreliable levels of energy, I wasn't sure I was going to make a homemade advent calendar this year (see last year's here), but here it is after all...

 
I decided to once again do an 'advent activities' calendar, so each little stocking contains a small card with an activity written on it for that day.  I've tried  to not get carried away and to keep it realistic, just hope I've managed it.  I found this beautiful origami paper at the local art store, then just folded each sheet in half and cut a stocking shape, glueing it around the edges to make a pocket into which the activity card could be inserted.  Then hole punched each side of the top and threaded a ribbon through the lot before hanging it on the wall.

 
 
For the activities, I used our list from last year which I found it my notebook, fitted in activities we already had scheduled, and picked up a couple of ideas from The Artful Parent's Advent Calendar.

Here's our activity list:

1.  Get out the Christmas box


2. Decorate salt dough ornaments (we made these last week)


3. Write a letter to Santa


4. Make paper snowflakes


5. Choose a Christmas tree


6. go to the library and get some Christmas books


7. Paint snow on our 'window trees'


8. Make paper chains


9. Make gingerbread house pieces


10. Put gingerbread house together and decorate


11. Go on a light-filled train adventure (Bright Nights in Stanley Park)


12. Learn a Christmas son


13. Make presents for your teachers


14. Make a wreath for the door


15. Make something for Dadda


16. Tell the Christmas story


17. Paint a snowy scene


18. Find some reindeer on a mountain (Grouse Mountain)


19. Go out to see some Christmas lights


20. Make mince pies


21. Make something for the Winter nature table


22. Go on a winter nature walk


23. Make some bird treats


24. Choose treats for Santa and his reindeer

 

As I said, I wasn't sure I was going to get around to a homemade calendar this year, so to cover myself I had already bought the one pictured above, an eeboo calendar, featuring artwork by renowned childrens book illustrator Melissa Sweet, whose work we are familiar with from the 'Baby Bear' series and the 'Hugaroo' books. 

So now we have two... and at least some of it will be a surprise for me too!

 

 

 

 

 

Still here (and kicking).

Well, things have been whizzing along in HuggerBoo land, and I have found myself having a hiatus from blogging.  It's ironic that the time I have lots I would like to blog about, I can't seem to actually get around to blogging. 

There have been visitors (thanks for coming to see us Nicky, Anne and James!). 

There has been some 'nesting'.  I said goodbye to my cherished studio, now relocated downstairs to share Dadda Boo's office, to make way for baby's space.

There have been some extra 'zzzz's ' for pregnancy. 

There have been a couple of needles, some sickly glucose drink and a scan which revealed 'boy parts'.  All progressing well at week 27 with the little fella, though I do wish he would stop bouncing on my bladder.  And those night cramps - owww!

 

There has been a teddy bear outfit sewn, some pumpkins carved and some treats munched.

There has been enthusiasm for preschool and a promise of gnomes being made by Santa Bear's (there's fear of Santa around these parts) elves.  Better get sewing little elf.

There have been mushroom hunts (most fruitful in our wet corner of the world), trail tramping and sandbox-sitting.

There has been a Dadda Boo working around the clock at his busiest time of year.

 

 

And each week since the beginning of October, there has been for me, a class about children's book writing and illustration with the immensely experienced Kathryn Shoemaker (see a selection of her books here ).  And an attempt to squeeze in a few hours a week to work on developing my new book with the insight I am gaining from the course. 

 

 

So I went to the 'Fall Illustrator's Breakfast', organised the the Childrens Literature Roundtable of Vancouver in October, which was lovely, and was written about here by the fantastic author/illustrator Lisa Cinar, who was sitting on the table behind me.  The presentation was made by Pierre Pratt, whose quirky painterly illustrations are really inspiring.

 

And I have been learning much more about wizzardy illustrators and authors in the field, one of my top discoveries (how I missed him before I'm not really sure), being John Burningham, who was again written about by Lisa Cinar on her excellent picture book blog here. 

Little Bear Boo is calling for me again but I will try to come back to this space before too long this time... and do a proper 'in the present' post.

Growly Goodness

We were back at Collage Collage yesterday (see my description of a workshop there here), enjoying another arty crafty tot drop-in with Erin.  Much to Boo's delight, in line with her ongoing obsession, the workshop was  all about bears, taking inspiration from another top quality book from Simply Read Books: A Growling Place  by Thomas Aquinas Maguire.  It's a flight of fantasy book, reminiscent of Sendak's 'Where the Wild Things Are'.  The artwork has a graphic, stylized quality and the panoramic landscape format reminds me of comic strips.  The girl in the story journeys with her teddy bear to the 'growling place', peopled with real bears, but she dresses them up in costumes and they are no longer intimidating.  With its magical bear storyline this book also reminds me of Last Night by Hyewon Yum and Wonderbear by Tao Nyeu. 

 I learnt from the Simply Read website that Maguire is primarily an industrial designer, hence perhaps the graphic, sculptural quality to his work.  He also looks like a schoolboy, but then I am middle aged!

I noticed on that last visit that the E15th St parade that Collage Collage is on, seems to have more thatn its fair share of arty crafty wonders.  Today I put my head into Spool of Thread  - another shop/workshop space, this time for adult seamstresses.  They stock some delicious little-un's sewing patterns from Oliver and S and some for the grown ups from Anna Maria Horner.  The range of fabrics is mouth-watering - Boo and I fell upon Heather Ross's 'owl and pussycat' fabric (she recites this poem with Dadda Boo) and I really want to come up with a project to make her something from that.  I left empty handed (this time) but with a desire to return with a specific project in mind. 

I also clocked The Art Way, another art workshop space for adults and kids, as well as Ruby Dog's Art House (always closed when we visit on Tuesdays alas) which looks v. alluring for a collage and print lover like myself.

There are also a couple of gallery spaces and laid back cafes along the parade, making it the most boho-creative little enclave I have come across for a while.  I would always choose to live on the north shore of Vancouver for the (literally 'awesome') natural world on our doorstep, but I sometimes feel its a bit culturally bland, so its great to know places where I can go to get an artycrafty fix before returning to the mountain air. 

 

Creating at Collage Collage

Until this week, I had held back from taking Boo to art classes.  After all, she has an art studio bedecked with quality art materials and an experienced art educator (c'est moi) at home.  But, you know, sometimes planning and delivering thoughtful projects in the course of a busy week is just too much for this mama, especially when her creative energy is being channelled into building a wee human.  And I have been somewhat out in a creative wilderness for the last couple of years whilst at home with Boo.  So, both being in need of fresh creative input, I thought it was high time for a long-desired visit to Collage Collage, a shop come kid's workshop space come gallery space located near Main St, in Vancouver. 

We've been planning this visit since February when we found Collage Collage's kids drawing station, in a downtown gallery in the midst of Olympic mayhem.  For us, it requires a car journey across a busy bit of town, but my confidence in driving and negotiating the city has grown since I got my own car in February, and I was finally up for it.

There are many art workshops for kids available in this area, but it takes a little something special to entice me, and Collage Collage seemed to offer that.  There is contemporary artists' work in the shop and there seems to be a broader approach to studying artists' work than the frequently trotted out 'modern masters', though I appreciate that they are 'new' to the kids! 

I was practically salivating in the shop.  As well as many familiar favourites (books by Lisa Cinar, Oliver Jeffers, colouring books by Taro Gomi and Rosie Flo, Okido magazine, art materials by Lyra, Stockmar etc etc) there were many things new to me and some artists' editions which look very interesting.  I wasn't there to shop on this visit, however; I fancy a solo visit for that. 

We dropped in on a Thursday morning for a drop-in one hour workshop for 2-3 year olds (and mamas/dadas), led by the owner Erin.  The shop was flooded with little ones, and Erin managed to accommodate 13 little artists along the central table and on small desks.  The class begun with free drawing on long rolls of paper and a chance to say hello to other wee ones and their parents.  Then the children moved to the 'story carpet' and were introduced to some books about the surrealist artist Rene Magritte designed for children. 

We looked at 'Mr M: The Exploring Dreamer' (Sozick Meister et al, Simply Read Books, 2010), an interpretation of Mr Magritte visiting landscapes of the imagination, which did seem to resemble Vancouver, with mountains, bridge, a bear, crows, and beach and so on.  We also looked at a board book about Magritte which was most probably 'Magritte's Imagination' (Susan Goldman Rubin, Chronicle Books, 2009).

Storytime over, the children moved back to the table and drew elements from the landscape (bridge, mountains, beach etc) with oil pastels onto brown paper.  Erin then gave out silhouettes of Mr M, his umbrella, crows, and trees, which were collaged onto the background.  The next stage was to paint onto the composition.  It was very effective to carry out the piece of work in stages for this age group as they are often quick to declare they have 'finished' and this created a good pace.  I may have chosen to do the silhouette stage later as many of the kids obliterated theirs with paint, but its a small point.  I don't want to generalise (as I don't really know) but at 2 years, Boo's art was all about process and experience.  Now, however, she is beginning to approach some degree of representation.  When she paints a narrative accompanies the painting to describe what she is painting.  So I think she found the task of painting different elements such as the bridge (that's the green vertical lines in her painting!), the sea, beach, snow on the mountains etc helpful for her in structuring the composition.  The final stage was the application of blue glitter paint which was pushed around with a spreader to represent rain.

The workshop concluded with a recap on the story carpet, a second look at the books studied, and some time to explore the book box, whilst the adults paid, chatted, or looked at the shop.  There is also a little cubby hole with organic felt shapes and boards for those of approx 3ft in height.

This was Boo's first experience of making art in a class with her peers, and she was totally engrossed throughout.  As well as drop-ins, 3-5 yr olds can attend a series of booked classes 'sans mama'.  I'm sure it'll be great for her to do this once she is familiar with the place and structure, but I have to admit I'll be reluctant to leave, not for her sake, but for mine!

Apologies for the lack of pics of Collage Collage (forgot my camera - doh!) but you can see a whole load and find out all info about workshops etc at www.collagecollage.ca  

Oliver Jeffers video

I came across this video of Oliver Jeffers talking about his work and the processes he uses in creating new picture books.  The quality is not good but you can just about make out his drawings and the humour of his work is tangible.  He also has a rather dandy 'tache, must be the thing in NYC.

Book of the Week: 'Forever Friends' by Carin Berger

'Forever Friends' by Carin Berger, Greenwillow Books (an imprint of Harper Collins), 2010

The story begins in Spring as blossoms open on the trees.  A blue bird sings to a bunny sleeping in a hollow log below him to 'come play', and soon they are friends, floating a daisy chain between one another, playing with fireflies in Summer and acorns and drifting leaves in Autumn.  Then the bird announces that it is time for him to fly south, though he promises to return in the spring.  Through the winter, the friends miss each other, until at last Spring returns and the animals joyfully reunite to play once again. 

I am a great fan of collage and currently making my own book using this technique, so Carin Berger's artwork is an obvious choice for me to study.  Her collage materials are often found materials such as magazines, with some that are clearly aged or vintage.  She uses a muted background of what looks like handmade paper or aged lined/squared paper, and sparingly creates the motifs on top, using fluid lines.  Parallels can be drawn with similar approaches seen in the work of Sara Fanelli and 'The Book Eating Boy' by Oliver Jeffers.  In this book she has also used some sponge-stencilled motifs, the softness of which contrasts with the hard edges of cut shapes very effectively.

I am wondering if Berger creates her images on a larger scale and then shrinks the images, down, as some of the cut pieces are just so tiny, I can't imagine how she managed it otherwise, small pieces of paper are just so fiddly, even with the use of tweezers.

Another aspect of this book that I like is the use of graphic devices to tell the story, such as when the bird says he must fly south and we see little circular vignettes of his forthcoming migration.  Berger also uses split spreads (I'm sure there is a better technical term here!) to show the passage of time and the two animals when they are separated.  I am enjoying learning about all these pictorial devices for storytelling as I look at more childrens picture books.

This is a beautiful book, check it out.