Artforable Fair

www.13thegallery.com

I'm part of this lovely art fair in North London this coming weekend.  If you come along, be sure to say hello - I'll have some bits to give out as well!

I'll be exhibiting some of my screen prints and my watercolour building illustrations, so if you'd like tto see them up close then now is your chance.

Shop in the sale section!

I am a massive fan of a good old sale, isn't everyone?  So that said I've set up a super easy way to get a bargain.  I hate to waste, and often when I'm printing I end up with a few spare - and the same goes for when I have pieces digitally printed.  Or perhaps I want to make way for new designs?  The sale section is a mix of 'only one left', 'misprinted', 'originals' and 'in need of a new home'.

I'd love to hold on to all my illustrations but I just don't have the wall space to appreciate them!  So help me keep on top of my 'Spring cleaning' and see if there's anything you'd like :)

You can find these and more in the **SALE** album on my Facebook page here:

Charlotte Vallance Illustration & Design

Do as I say, not as I do.

A quote that has been springing to mind recently.  I had fun experimenting with printing in two colours at one time...expect more of this this year!  These aren't colours I would normally opt for but I'm enjoying them a lot, they have nice soft tones to them.

This lovely screen print has been printed on both a lovely handmade paper that I still had from last Christmas (can you believe it?!) as well as my favourite watercolour paper.  It will be in my Etsy shop soon if you'd like one for yourself.

She believed she could...

...so she tried her damn best!

My first print of 2014 and I'm really proud of it.  Last year myself and my friend Alex over at youdeer.blogspot.com embarked on what we planned to be a 12 month project, but which unfortunately lasted about 3 months - oh the optimism of the new year!  I've started off this year in the same frame of mind, and last January our theme was 'positive quotes', so here I am starting off 2014 with a positive quote.  Quite a fitting quote I feel no?

It was massively inspired by Nicola Rowlands' 'She believed she could so she did' illustration, so thank you Nicola!  This lovely print is going off to all my girlfriends :)  And I couldn't decide on a colour scheme so I printed two, ten of each in a limited edition of 20.

Bespoke Recipe Screenprint

What a lovely commission I've had to work on in the run up to Christmas.  A recipe that is part of family tradition for my client, hand written and illustrated and then screen printed all by myself.  I love it when customers get in touch after being inspired by one of my products, and the outcome is something that is genuine and personal to them.

With this in mind I will soon be offering a 'bespoke screen printed recipe' listing in my Etsy shop.  How does it work?  You purchase the listing, choose a colour and message me the recipe.  Don't worry if you can't figure it out, I will send you a message which you can pick up via your email  just be sure to check your junk mail.  Your print will be in the colour chosen on A3 paper and will be posted out to you after it's been printed - please allow up to 2 weeks for this, in a hard backed envelope for protection.

Interested?  Get started here : www.charlottevallance.etsy.com  Feel free to ask any questions before hand if you are unsure about anything.

Cushions, cushions, cushions!

With the success of last years Amsterdam cushions, I've done a second run.  This time I have opted for a thicker material and gone with a dark, navy blue as well as the bright, peacock blue - a nice contrast I think.

You can get them via my Etsy shop at www.charlottevallance.etsy.com

And as a last minute decision I attempted to print a limited edition of 4 in red (slightly larger in size with an added triangle border).  But unfortunately they haven't all worked out so they won't be going in the shop just yet!

Book Print

Three colour ways - fluro pink, gold and blue all with a purple outline

This book pattern print came about because I wanted to make some nice bags to give out with purchases at Manchester's Artsists' Book Fair.  Turns out it's actually quite versatile!

 Various colours and sizes of bags

 I stuck to one colour with the tote bags and aside from trying to print it in lime green, am really chuffed with how they've come out.  The more I print the more I learn!

 Drying in the rack and being folded into books

I've printed this amazing folding style book before (back in uni, see the background of the blog, and in this post here) and I've often felt that people buy it a lot for the fun of the fold!  I've been selling them rather cheap for the amount of design work and concentration that goes into them - just £5!  So, as I'm coming to an end of my stock of the current book I've given this fold a re-vamp for those who are interested in the fold, and perhaps print, but weren't too keen on the illustrations.  For £5 you can now grab one of these beauties!  In either 2 or 3 colours, an edition of 30 books with the book print on them are now available - hurrah!

I had a few off cuts and hate to see paper go to waste so I'll be popping these book marks into people's bags when they purchase something at book fairs and craft markets.


Keep an eye out for this pattern popping up on other items as well :)

Lavender Sachets

As you saw in this post here, I printed May's screen print 'Lavender'. Creating a 2 colour pattern I printed on both different papers and some fabric too with the idea that I'd make the fabric into lavender sachets.  Well, here I am at that point now!

The first one was made as a gift for a friend and turned out well!  I then opted to make smaller ones - half the size - as the lavender had such a strong sent to it that you don't need mass amounts to make the most of it.

I've sewn various shapes, circles, triangles, rectangles, diamonds etc...and all with a looped ribbon so you can hang them up, or alternatively just have them in a drawer.

May : Lavender

Another pattern!  I enjoyed working on my last piece and transforming it into a pattern, so this month has also gone down that route!

The lavender print was inspired by lavender sachets - you see them a lot in little European town markets? - But I also have a lovely home made string of them in my wardrobe!  Whilst selling at The Little Fox market in Rickmansworth (May), I was next to the lovely Caroline who, as well as all of her gorgeous soaps, had some dried lavender for sale.  I saw this as a sign and bought some quick, I've been pondering the design ever since.

I've chosen to print onto a loose weave fabric, in natural and a soft grey, and of course a couple of sheets of thick watercolour paper to make notecards.  The material will soon be sewn into lavender sachets which I'll more than likely be giving as gifts for a while, but if you're lucky, you'll be able to snap one up in my online shop.

                

 So happy with how this has turned out!  A lovely little pattern - what do you think?

April : Super

This subject had me stumped for a little while.  The initial thing to spring to mind is 'super heroes' and it's hard to continue thought along a different path once something is stuck in your mind!  However, I did break off from this train of thought and arrived at 'super fruits'.  Super fruits are full of goodness and make you feel super!

I've never branched out into pattern work.  It often doesn't work with what I'm illustrating.  But, this is something I want to try, work at, improve on...therefore 'Super' is my first attempt at pattern work!  Even sticking to fruits that are really similar in colour I've ended up with a 4 colour screen print.

As you can read about in the first post on this project here, I'm using papers I received as presents at Christmas to print onto.  They are lots of different sizes and finishes making each set of prints even more individual.  This month is no different and I've printed onto a lovely handmade, unbleached, super soft, paper.  This one is the largest yet that I've done, so I've also printed onto a couple of sheets of thick watercolour paper as well, these will be cut done to make note cards and smaller prints.

                                           

As you can see in the last photo - the light really catches the pomegranates and cranberries.  This is because I've used a tinted gloss varnish to mimic the glossiness of the real fruit!

March : Beginning

February, March, January

This months subject of choice is 'Beginning' and was chosen by the lovely Alex.  What a challenge!  The subjects you've seen for January and February were quite open not too vague - whereas this is both!  So much scope for directions and ideas, it was tricky to know where to start.

I put my head down and worked hard on this.  I haven't done that much botanical work and certainly not in screen printing, so I was keen to play on the 'beginning' of Spring.  The plan was to make use of Spring buds, but as my idea formed I could only see it as more of a 'frame' than an actual image.  I then had a good ol' chat to my sister and she suggested the New Zealand fern!  Brilliant.  I then check out my paper and decided I could brave a two colour job that wouldn't jump around as much as previously, and developed the illustration for print from there.

The fern represents new beginnings, new life.  But more than that as I went travelling in New Zealand in 2010, such a gorgeous country, loads of wildlife and stunning scenery.  When you're travelling, there are constantly new beginnings - friendships, trips, experiences - the list goes on.  So this print is to remind us that there is always a new beginning where ever we go.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this piece and the project so far, so spare a moment and leave a comment - thank you!

February : Food

The second instalment of the 12 month collaboration with You, Deer.  Have a look on Alex's blog to see where she's up to with her side.  It's so exciting to see how each of us interprets the theme of the month.  We live in very different places (different time zones and everything) so we really don't swap ideas or take a peak over the others shoulder.  Each piece is completed independently from the other.  This is half the excitement with a project like this.

I really don't do much cooking - it's generally baking for special occasions or helping others cook meals.  The recipe that I have illustrated for February is one that I have done the past two Christmases and it has been such a hit!  If you get a chance to try out this recipe then let me know :-)

I have again used gorgeous handmade paper.  It's heavily textured and in fact has a natural wave the crinkles the edges in a lovely manner.  A little note to self : if printing on similar paper in the future, make it a one colour print!  It was a little hard to interpret where the screen would move the paper to - as it caught when going under the screen.  The result of this is a lovely off bonk print on most of the 10 prints I did.

Do you have a recipe you'd like to see me illustrate?  Leave a comment and let me know :-)

This print is now available in my Etsy shop : www.charlottevallance.etsy.com

January : A Positive Quote

'If you can dream it, you can do it' - Walt Disney

You may of heard me talking on Twitter about a collaborative project with my friend Alex Stokes from You, Deer.  In fact I needed some help getting her attention, which you can read about here!  Well, we're now (well) into February and so far so good.  I have my January designs and my February one is taking shape - really happy with them so far.

For Christmas I was lucky enough to get some lovely handmade papers in all different sizes.  I'm using these for each design.  So January's screen print has only 4 of each design as thats all the sheets I had in that size!

I couldn't decide on which design to do so I did both.  I thought that January was a good month for the topic 'Quotes'.  It sort of links in with New Year resolutions but in perhaps a more supportive way.  The ink is a very dark creamy purple in colour.

Both designs are available to buy in my shop and Alex's will soon be up in hers too.  This collaborative project will be running for 12 months, so that's 12 prints I'll be illustrating and printing.  Every month there will be a chance to win one of them through various social media so sign up for updates or keep your eyes peeled!

These first prints can be found in my Etsy shop now and are just £5.00.  They measure 8.5" x 6" and will look great framed or unframed as the paper is a textured thick stock with it's natural edges.  The paper did jump around a little so your print may not be central on the page - it's all in the fun of screen printing!  Each print will come signed and dated by me and cellophane wrapped, posted with a hard back envelope for protection in the post.  Postage costs £1.50 in the UK £2.50 everywhere else.

Be sure to check out Alex's blog to see her design and you'll be able to get them in her Etsy shop if you'd like to buy one of hers.

Collaboration with You Deer

My friend Alex (You Deer) lives, works and plays over in Oakland, California.  She came to visit last year which was amazing and I miss her a lot.  We wanted to do a project together, one that would help us stay creative throughout the year.  This has led us to develop a 12 month project, a brief a month, a final piece a month and hopefully more creative fun every month.

For myself I'm setting the rule of screen printing.  I do not do enough of this!  I love it, and whilst I doodle and use watercolours a lot, I hardly ever screen print.  So this project is in effect giving me that kick up the bum I need to do more printing.  This in turn means more designs - HURRAH!  Designs for me that is.  So much of last year was spent doing lovely commissions that I felt I didn't get the time to develop and grow my style much.  Untapped Cities gave me a helping hand with this in September 2012 in my watercolour work, as I illustrate every 2 weeks for them, it keeps me fresh and gives me a chance to challenge myself.

So I've started on mine, but I am yet to hear from Alex.  I'll be able to share the whole print when Alex has done her piece too!  Perhaps you can do me a favour and leave her a comment on her blog asking when she is starting her side of our project?  Brilliant, thank you so much!  Oh, and if you do, leave me a comment saying so, or Tweet me and I'll send you a little thank you ;-) deal?


Alex's blog : youdeer.blogspot.co.uk
Alex's shop : www.turnipturnip.etsy.com

The 7th Manchester Artist Book Fair

What a great weekend!

This year Hot Bed Press managed to secure us two days in the lovely Holden Gallery, within the Manchester School of Art.  This meant that on Friday we saw lots of students and Saturday bought in people having a browse - I even recognised a few faces from last year!

I was honoured with one of the first tables as you walk in the room - can you believe it?!  Myself and Sarah, of Big Jump Press had our tables set up to welcome people in through the doors and to bid them a good journey on their way out too.

Over the two days I did manage to leave my table for long enough to enjoy a look around everyone else's tables, however, I only got photos of mine and Sarah's! Oops.

I had two new releases for this fair, my 'Down Your Street : York' screen printed book and my 'Lucky Dip' bags.  Both went down great and I had some awesome feedback.  I love hearing what people have to say about my work, it's even more fun when people are really not holding back.  I was lucky enough to hear my table be described as an 'Illustration Wonderland' - how gorgeous does that sound!? As well as '...and shit that's amazing!'  I also managed to get stocked up with more lovely stripy paper bags for future fairs in return for an Amsterdam card.

You can find a list of all the contributors here, be sure to check them out, some really stunning works.

p.s. everything on my table is available to buy and will be found in my shop here.  If it's not in the shop, send me a message and I can do a custom listing specially for you at no extra cost.


You'll find posts about the 7th Manchester Artists Book Fair on many other blogs, but after this one, you can have a look at Fishink's blog fishinkblog.wordpress.com :-D be sure to let us know if you got here from the other!