Thursday, December 3, 2009

One Hundred And First Post

I only realised when I started this new post that my previous post was my 100th. I couldn't believe I missed it when I had been waiting for it to arrive. I was going to have a giveaway to celebrate but it is too near to Christmas now and our postal services are all up in the air at the moment. However, such a momentous occasion shouldn't go uncelebrated so I will have to put my thinking cap on for the New Year and do one then. It has taken me much longer to reach 100 than most people because I only blog weekly.

White Bird Dreaming is a pen and ink drawing. This took quite a while to draw.


This is "Shore Bird". Ink and digital, and not a tree in sight.


If you like letterpress cards (and who doesn't?) you can see some lovely ones on Etsy seller byvikINK's site here. She is an illustrator called Cristina Martinez Byvik and she works with her husband. She has produced some great designs but in keeping with the festive season I thought I would show you two versions of her partridge in a pear tree. Both colourways are great but I think the red and green is my favourite. I really love this type of graphic design.



If you love cats you will enjoy Mary Stubberfield's feline paintings. Her cats are adorable characters. I particularly love these two. Mary is a English artist who has painted ever since she can remember and is also qualified in illustration. You can see her lovely cats and lots of paintings on other subjects on her website here.

Bird Watching


Blackie


Wilz Pottery do a great line of 12 days of Christmas plates. You can see the others in the series here.

Partridge In A Pear Tree


Two Turtle Doves


I love this really graphic design by Sarah Young called Print Garden. She does such amazing work. You can see lots of her art here.

This is one of my favourite views locally. I think this tree is just beautifully placed along this public footpath. It leads to a farm which has been there since Domesday.


Not sure when I took this photo but I thought they looked nice and sparkly with their moisture drops.


There is supposed to be quite a shortage of mistletoe in certain areas in the UK but in Bucks it grows well. There is a particularly good crop here but I have seen other areas where it is successful. These are extremely tall trees so no-one could just come along and pick it. Also they are on private property. I suppose it would work if you just stood under the trees and kissed.


This beautiful design (part of) is a poster by Alexander Girard. Girard, who died in 1993 was an amazing man who created artwork for a multitude of different things including textiles, dolls, fonts, toys etc. He was very much interested in the folk tradition and his work displays a very graphic leaning. He is particularly well known for his nativities and there is a huge display at his wing of the Folk Museum in Santa Fe. You only need to Google his name to find masses of sites featuring his work, but I was particularly taken with the Girard House Industries website here. If you click on the buttons on the left hand side you can see some lovely designs on the slide show.


This wonderful creature is Henrietta Corbett's Running Horse. The Trojan horse comes to mind when I see it - not sure why. It has a fascinating stance and is beautifully simple. This is one of her prints and she has more images on her website here.


I found this wonderful ceramic work on the Flickr site of Ramil here the other day. I love his brilliantly quirky style, particularly his fish and cats. He has lots more ceramics on his website here. I can't tell you anything more about him other than he is Russian as his website is also written in Russian, but definitely go and have a browse.

Big Fish


Fishy


Blue Bird


Going Deep


Ptizaselanalizo


Red Bird

30 comments:

Flora said...

Congratulations! Loved this post and the last one - great to see other work by the Provensens... they illustrated The Colour Kittens (by the incredible Margaret Wise Brown) which is one of my favourite books to read to my daughters.

Crafty Green Poet said...

I love your two bird paintings, the tree in the first one is so ornate, its amazing.

And you've shared such wonderful things as ever, I'm particularly struck by Ramil's work, very beautiful and characterful.

Congratulations on yur 101st blog post!

tammykingdon said...

Cathy, I too love Henritta Corbett's Horse, it reminds me of caveman drawings. Love your photo of that pathway very enticing. Congrats on your milestone and please keep feeding us with your tempting selections of artwork.

Cathy said...

Hello Flora. I shall have to keep an eye open for that book. I really love the Provensen's style and they have done such a huge variety of work.

Cathy said...

Thanks Juliet. 100 posts came and went without my noticing. Yes, I love Ramil's work too. I like the naive style of it. I am very pleased with the first bird drawing. It took forever but I love doing detail like that.

Cathy said...

Thanks Tammy. I will do although I will be having a few weeks off blogging over Christmas to catch up with a few things.

sea-blue-sky & abstracts said...

Hi Cathy, congrats on reaching your 101st post! I love every single piece of artwork included (as always). Bye for now. Lesley

Acornmoon said...

Congratulations on 101 very inspirational posts, a visual delight.

Cathy said...

Thanks Lesley. Only another 99 to go now.

Cathy said...

Thanks Valerie. I am pleased you think my posts are inspirational. They are to me too.

Caroline said...

Oh so many posts already - and lots of followers too! Congrats Cathy - they've all been wonderfully interesting posts - always something for everyone, and this is no exception! I love your Shore bird - lovely beachy colours in that one. Have a good week.

~ Phyllis ~ said...

Love your two drawings. I can imagine that the tree with the bird took an extemely long time. All that detail is amazing.
Congratulations on you 100th blog. I have enjoyed every one of them.

bunnits said...

Love the new header. Loved the old one, too! As always, thanks for the treats and wonderful art.

Cathy said...

Hi Caroline. That 100th post just crept up on me and I didn't notice. I have been waiting for it for ages and then I missed it. Ah well, not to worry. Glad you have liked them all anyway.

Cathy said...

Thanks Phyllis. The time has gone really quickly. I can remember my first post and thinking no one would read it - and they probably didn't...haha.

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Melissa. Everyone has been so nice about my blog posts that it has made it all worthwhile.

Elizabeth Goodspeed said...

I really love that top image! So crisp and graphic
You should do more in the style

Ces Adorio said...

OOOOH! I love your drawings! I am so glad I came here! Yes, I believe it when you say that your drawings take a long time! Beautiful!

Cathy said...

Thanks Elizabeth. Glad you like that. I must say that although I do a lot of digital work pen and ink always remains my favourite medium.

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Ces. Nice of you to visit and I am glad you like my work.

andamento said...

Another gorgeous collection - I love visiting your blog and discovering new (to me!) artists.

Congrats on you 101 posts.

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Anne

Holly Zemak said...

Congratulations on your 100 plus posts. Amazing how fast time goes by. Love the ceramic work by Ramil,great design and creative ideas. We have cold temps and snow on the ground, Christmas is here.

Pomona said...

I love your drawings, Cathy - you are so talented!

Pomona x

Cathy said...

Hi Holly, the weather here has become a lot colder too but we are not forecast to have any snow so no white Christmas for us. I cannot believe I have been blogging for nearly 2 years. Amazing.

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Pomona.

Artist said...

i love shore bird. the colours in it are eye catching but yet calming!!!

Cathy said...

Thanks Artist. Surprisingly enough when I print that image out the colours of the sky are much more green than blue.

Old World Primitives said...

Hi Cathy,
Congratulations on reaching 100.. and 101.. posts! I might be reaching that number soon too, I really should check as well. I absolutely love everything pictured in this week's post. I can see how much time went into White Bird Dreaming and really like the result. "Shore Bird" makes me wish I was on a nice warm beach somewhere right now - I think it would make a beautiful greeting card as well. I must go follow some of your links now, as many of the other images have intrigued me.

Stephanie

Cathy said...

Hi Stephanie. Thanks for your comments. I am very fond of White Bird Dreaming. It looks much better than the computer shows it but that is always the case isn't it? Hope you enjoy the links.