And the winner is...

And the giveaway winner 

( choosen with random number generator)

is...

MAGGIE MCKINNEY!

My 2018 calendar will be with you soon! 

thank you for participating!

GIVEAWAY !

GIVEAWAY! 

To celebrate my gratitude to all my lovely  followers, 

I host a giveaway, which means a GIFT of... one of my colourful 2018 calendars! 

To win this prize just 

SHARE this post between all your friends on social media
Which you can do at the bottom of this post)

and ENTER a comment below saying which is your favourite month and why! 

I 'll ship this gift worldwide! 

Please spread the voice ...

winner will be announced on Saturday 4th November!

New doors...

Hello Everyone!

The new season brings new colors, 

and with them new ideas and insights...

( a walk in the woods can generate a color palette!) 

 I recently took some on line courses after the very intense and inspirational Childrens book Illustration summer school at Cambridge ( which I described here ).

The one I'm enjoying the most is The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design, with Rachael Taylor and Beth Kempton, who founded the Make it in Design Company. 

I have been always drawn to pattern and wondered how I could create my own designs to use in my illustrations... 

(creating a new illustration with a fab pattern as background)

With this amazing course, and this generous, knowledgeable and enthusiastic teacher  I'm learning some simple ways to make this  happen, and having fun at the same time, with lots of creative exercises !

(one of my first pattern exercises)

Through this time of learning, I can see how Art is not just painting, but an entire approach to life,  expressing one self in our own way. 

It 's taking care of ourselves and what matters for us.

In fact, Art is about giving form -in a imaginative way-  to what matters for us.

( Love for nature is something I always try to encourage, through my work)

Learning new skills reminded me 

that we can't expect to start from the end, where we see our favorite artists already are. We can't expect to skip all the learning steps! 

(my first basic physical box repeat pattern)

I'm learning that the best Art happens when our heart warms up, looking at something, thinking at something, or doing something.

That is not which materials we use, but what we want to say with them, that make it happen.

(visiting the House of Illustration, in London)

I also wanted to share with you what inspired me most during this month:

listening to All the wonders podcasts

discovering new favourite illustrators like Catia Chien

using Adobe Capture app for mobile phones ( to create color schemes)

visiting Quentin Blake exhibition at The House of Illustration

and

visiting my native Country: Italy!

( a view over Valmarecchia, Emilia Romagna)

What have been inspiring you recently?

My Exhibition at The Garlic Farm

Hello folks!

It has been a busy summer working on the

Calendar 2018

and preparing the exhibition at

The Garlic Farm (Isle of Wight)

Finally the day arrived
and

we did an open event inviting

everybody to join us in this very 

unique place.

The restaurant space is open all the year round, and it's a lovely 

and welcoming area where exhibitions are always on.

The waiting list is about a year,

and they take a reasonable commission on artwork .

We agreed to keep the prices under £100,

so I decided to present a variety of 20 framed prints of my best work

from the last 7 years...

This choice made

my art affordable to many more people,

and I feel happy about this.

My calendars and stationery have been much appreciated 

too...

     It looks like a very colorful place!
The exhibition goes on until the 15th of October,
from 9 to 5 pm everyday ,
so still plenty of time to see if you 're around !

Now is time to rest and open a new door to my 

artistic path...

which has started with the Children's Book Illustration summer school in Cambridge 

at the Anglia Ruskin University this past july 2017 

(here a little post about it).

Time

 to grow, to reinvent, to learn, 

....

to dream even more!

My calendar is ready for pre-order!

Such an exciting moment 

after so much work...!

Finally my 

WALL CALENDAR 2018 is ready 

to buy on my
Etsy shop !

And to reward your enthusiasm, 

you can buy it with 10% off

until the 31 august

just entering the coupon code

BRIGHT2018

at the checkout!

The releasing date

is 3rd of September!

HOORAY!

Children's Book Illustration Summer School 2017, Anglia Ruskin University

And so it happened!

I had as a gift this course in Cambridge,

and I really recommend it,

the teaching was great!

This is the Ruskin Gallery, where we had our week of lectures

and studio time...we were basically living in there!

The campus was very near, maybe two minutes walk,

and I'm afraid the staying was awful as the room and shared kitchen 

were very dirty , and building works on site

made it extra uncomfortable ..

All together, it was an unforgettable experience!

I discovered that even Syd Barrett,founder of Pink Floyd band, studied here!

This is a view of the studio, a great space that the teachers filled up

with children's book, for sale

and for reference...

So if you felt stuck you could go round seeing other people's desk,

or finding inspiration in the books..

We had to bring our own story,

that during the week has been constantly

changing according from what we learned 

step by step,

and each day tutors were visiting our desk and

helped us... we were more than 60 people,

so we only had the chance to see one tutor a day,

and this was maybe too less for my wish..

but at the end of the day,we met for questions time,

so any doubt could be clarified ..

I tryed to have my daily review with the tutors

as soon as possible in the mornings,

so that the imprint of the daily task could be

good from beginning...

The course started on Monday and on Friday at 2pm

we had to present our book to the class,

we were divided in groups with a tutor each and with did

a critic of our work,

and everybody could give his/her constructive

feedback!

On Friday evening we went to

Heffers Bookshop to celebrate and 

immerse ourselves in a sea of books

( but at that time we were so warn out that

our eyes could barely stay open !)

On Saturday we could attend to a public symposium

full of enthusiastic speakers,

agents like Helen Mackenzie Smith, makers like Helen Musselwhite, 

curators like Olivia Ahmad, 

and social media experts like Tom Bransby!

I was sad to leave it just before the end as I had to catch my bus 

to come home..

But I'm very proud of my story

and most of all,

of what I learned,

and I'll treasure it for sure!

Here the link to the school,

they organize  a MA 

in Childrens' illustration Book!

(full time 18 month, and part time 2,5 years duration)

Now I'm happy to be

home in my little green island!

All the world is new!

This is just how I felt after a few months break from painting:

The All World is new!

During this time, I did ask myself which
 inspiring creative things
 I still missed to try,

and I realized that a calendar was still on the list...

Although I wanted to make one from several years,
I never attempted before,
 as I felt I didn't have enough knowledge of

the technology needed to edit this project...

but with lots of patience,
the help of a dear friend, and the lovely

support of my local printer,
it is coming along beautifully!

This was really a life lesson as

I could understand that we don't have more limits

than the ones we put to ourselves,

and also that is important to feel humble enough

to ask for help

to achieve our goals...

I feel so good now,
as learning new things
has always be one of my favorite things to do!
The calendar will be soon available on my Etsy Shop,
so stay tuned!

Making

In the last few months, 

I found it a bit difficult to paint,

 and honestly at the beginning this made me feel a bit disorientated.

In fact, I have based my life on painting for the last 4 years

 while before my creative experience was a bit more varied and broad,

 focused on learning as many crafts as possible.

The spring came to my help

as the beautiful days and the call for beauty outside 

brought me the most amazing scenarios ! I spent a lot of time walking, 

taking pictures of seas of flowers in the fields...

 I also visited friends  that I have rarely time to see and spend time with...and that was great too!

But as the days passed, I felt a subtle sense of disorientation growing inside... I missed something important...

and that was creating!

Even if there is no painting, there can be making!

So I rediscover many crafts that I had abandoned..

like felt, woodwork and...knitting.

Specially this last, has been a focal point

 as it allows me to spend time in the nature not as a traveller, 

but more as part of the landscape, as I can sit on a moss cushion for hours, 

and it was such a surprise to meet foxes and see butterflies landing on my hands, 

observing the new life of birds and the growth of plants. 

I felt more than ever a creature of the woods, 

specially because I really like to find hidden nests for myself too ^_^

All this transitional period came at hand at the right time,

as I have just released my new summer cards here, 

and produced in the last months a good amount of work 

for my next Exhibition at the Garlic Farm, in September 2017.

So I could really enjoy this time of making...

and I have to say also making SPACE, for the new to come..

Beauty has so many paths...

and all lead to the Sublime elevation of the heart and the soul.

I feel so blessed!

What will happen next?

New cards on my Etsy shop!

A new colorful range 

of greeting cards

is now available

on my Etsy shop

It has been such a fun photographing

these images..

and why not take advantage

 of the spring outdoor light?

So there I went, in search of

beauty all around me... not to difficult as a job

I have to say, 

as everywhere it s a profusion of colors and scents now!

And back to my little nest,

I prepared all these new works

ready for you,

one for each occasion!

Hope you will like them as much as I do!

Magic dream

Hello Folks!

It has been a while since I had the chance to post..

I've been working on my last painting, 

Magic Dream,

which gave me so much love..

It is interesting how some works really

give me more than I give them..

It is truly a magic!

 I always put all my love in them,

but not always this sparkle happens.

 Spring has arrived, the painting said,

and so I have been out a lot,

enjoying nature and 

doing walks..

discovering new plant friends 

like this cute Navelwort

nourishing my own garden , which after three years 

is thriving with life and beauty 

(despite the slugs!... here my secret)

and what I like the most is looking for small treasures,

hidden surprises 

and quiet places where to feel one with the Creation,

where to listen to its own voice...

and I became a knitter!

Absolutely a new addiction for me,

that started in a bit of a funny way,

 as you can read in my previous post

Now the hat of happy thoughts is completed,

I just love it!

Noro Garden Solo yarn shade 431 and Wolly Wormhead

Spring Hat pattern...

Now I'm waiting for my next yarn, another treasure to come!

Have a good week end!