memo

ink + Paper anthology

2012-01-22T08:11:00.001-08:00

At the end of 2011 I contributed to the first issue of a new comic anthology named ink + Paper. Its a super little book containing short stories, comic strips, recipes and more. My pages are titled 'a month in the life of a thrift addict' and focus on treasure I collected at car boot sales and second hand shops in the space of a month. Other contributors include Lizz Lunney, Hugh 'Shug' Raine, and talented creator of the book David O' Connell. Definitely worth a read! Available to buy here

long time no see

2012-01-21T09:11:00.000-08:00

Its been a bit quiet on the Memo front for a while now, sorry about that. I had a hectic December selling my work at a number of fairs around the UK, reprinting stock and thinking up new directions to take my work in 2012. Also decided to take a break for a couple of weeks to switch my brain off and get those new ideas rolling!

First new product completed... a new Valentines design, 'Float my Boat' is now available in my etsy shop. A nice way to tell someone you are Keen.

I'll be back with another update very soon. For now here's a link to Leeds Print Festival at which I will be exhibiting my current range of prints, cards and zines this coming Saturday 28th January. Hope to see you there!

Blue Ship

2011-11-09T04:36:00.000-08:00

Introducing a second edition of my Blue Ship screen print. Its an edition of 35, hand printed onto recycled card. Available in my etsy shop now.

This coming weekend I will be taking part in the Headingley Arts Trail. Lots of local houses and shops will be opening up to the public to showcase work by around 80 local artists. For more info and a map of the trail visit the Bowery Arts website

I also have a number of Christmas craft fairs and events coming up in the next few weeks, details of those are listed on the right hand side of my blog...

Dead Good exhibition

2011-11-06T10:27:00.000-08:00

Last week I took part in an exhibition in Leeds called 'Dead Good'. It happened on Halloween and had a theme loosely linked to ideas of death and mortality. Organised by Matt Saunders the show was held at Test Space Leeds and featured work by lots of great illustrators and artists.

I screen printed a limited edition poster for the show entitled 'Positive Thinking', now available to buy in my etsy shop

festive canines

2011-11-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

Introducing my Christmas card design for 2011. It features my recently rescued greyhound Eli. Screen printed by hand onto 100% recycled card.

The blue/grey colour way is a limited edition of 100 cards, all proceeds of which will go to Tia Greyhound Rescue, where Eli came from. I thought it'd be a nice idea to raise a bit of money to help give the hounds that haven't yet been rescued a nice Christmas dinner. (The red/brown colour way will be helping to raise money for my Christmas dinner!)

Both are available now from my etsy shop

snap snap

2011-10-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of photos from the recent Leeds Alternative Comics Fair 3, featuring Hugh Shug Raine who's stall was next to mine. (I am not in pain as the first photo may suggest, just never ready to have my photo taken!)

Followed by some of the slide film I just had cross processed from my America trip, I really miss Portland...

Leeds Alt Comics Fair no. 3

2011-10-01T00:07:00.000-07:00

Its TODAY! See you there.

Manchester Print Fair

2011-09-14T02:23:00.000-07:00

Sunday 25th September i'll be selling my wares at the Manchester Print Fair. More info about the event here...

four legger

2011-09-13T04:04:00.001-07:00

while i make new work and get new projects ready to reveal here's a few little snaps of my greyhound friend Eli. he's made himself right at home!!

hello there!

2011-09-07T04:06:00.000-07:00

Well its been a while, I'm back from my travels, fully rested and with a brain full of new ideas ready to be put down on paper. Here's a few photos from my travels in Portland, the Oregon coast, Yosemite and lots of other beautiful places.

I would also like to announce the arrival of Eli, my new retired greyhound friend who has come to live with us. He will be keeping me company while I work at home. I've pretty much waited all my life for a four legged friend, so excited to have him here! More updates soon, hope it hasn't rained too much while I was away, I got pretty used to 30 degrees C each day, my kind of temperature!

Yorkshire exhibition and a Bye for now

2011-07-30T05:36:00.000-07:00

I have two new screen prints currently on show in an exhibition called 'Flat Caps and Whippets' at WYPW. Its a Yorkshire themed show and my contribution is two little Yorkshire terriers. The prints are each a limited edition of 6 and will be available in my etsy shop at the end of August.

Time for me to sign out for a while. I'm off to the USA with my chap Sam for 3 weeks to explore Portland, San Fransisco and everywhere in between! I'll leave you with a little snap of two of my latest second hand finds and part of my herb garden from my studio window, that one's thyme..

TTFN!

Helen

new Shiny show!

2011-07-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

On Monday I attended the private view for a big group show I'm part of at the Shine Business Centre in Leeds. The centre is a huge bright space with high ceilings and lots of meeting and conference rooms. I've got a selection of recent screen prints on display in one of the little meeting rooms. The work on show covers a wide range of practices, there are some great etchings and aquatint prints to look at alongside some amazing mixed media map pieces by Eva Mileusnic. The exhibition is open to the public, more information can be found on the facebook event page.

Looking for Trouble!

2011-07-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

this week and next I'm part of a group show in Nottingham organised by the talented Amy Blackwell. have a look at her website for more details. my recent coffee screen prints are in the show alongside work by some super lady illustrators..

new coffee screen prints

2011-06-18T07:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of new screen prints 'Hot Beverages' and 'Cowboy Coffee'. Both are available now in my etsy shop. They'll also be a part of a group exhibition in Nottingham in July that will involve work by a number of female illustrators. More about that soon, think its time for some coffee..

printing!

2011-06-10T07:10:00.001-07:00

I've been busy screen printing this week, lots of greetings cards and a new print shown above in the various colour stages. This little coffee number will be available in my etsy shop soon and it will also be part of an upcoming exhibition in Nottingham, more about that soon.

For now here's a bit of info about where I'll be this weekend:

Tomorrow I will be in Sheffield at the Craft Candy mini fair from 1-5pm. Alongside my stall I'll be holding a small bird drawing workshop throughout the event. There will even be a tree to sit your finished creation in!

On Sunday I will be in Leeds selling my wares at Marvellous Sunday, an event organised by the Marvellous Tea Dance Company.

today is Coffee day

2011-05-28T03:09:00.001-07:00

I am a self confessed coffee obsessive. I don't think I'll ever print enough coffee-based work! Here's a couple of new items recently added to my etsy shop. Both are printed on 100% recycled card. The Coffee Cups card comes with a hairy manilla envelope. The Coffee is Good screen print is a limited edition of 30.

If you're also a fan and happen to live in Leeds, a friend of mine recently opened a new shop called Laynes Espresso. Its just round the corner from the train station and definitely worth a visit!

pining for a bit of sunshine..

2011-05-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

Introducing a new card design screen printed earlier this week. My new Parrot card is available in my etsy shop now. Printed on recycled yellow card with a hairy manilla envelope. I really wish the weather would stay nice for a day, just one day, until that happens Mr Parrot can help cheer us up with his vibrant tail feathers and stories of the sunshine!

Magic zine

2011-05-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a new zine that I've got some work in. It was produced by Karoline Rerrie alongside the recent Magic Show, an exhibition by the Girls Who Draw at the Solihull Gallery in Birmingham. The zine has two different covers, the top image shows the cover by the talented Gemma Correll the second cover by Kate Hindley (also v.talented).
The zine is printed by litho on recycled paper with a screen printed cover courtesy of Karoline. There's some great drawing in there, all magical in their own way. More info and images here:

roots!

2011-05-17T02:41:00.001-07:00

Here's card number 3 in my new occasions series. Theme: new home, title: 'Roots'. The card is printed onto 100% recycled cream card and comes with a hairy manilla recycled envelope. Available now in my etsy shop.

I think it would be great to live in a tree..

Victoria Baths Fanzine Convention

2011-05-15T13:26:00.001-07:00

Here's a few images from the Victoria Baths Fanzine Convention yesterday, it was a busy day in an amazing setting. The baths comprises of various pools and rooms with beautiful old tiles on the walls and hidden treasures everywhere. Good zines, good cake, good place, good day.

I've just listed a couple of new card designs in my etsy shop, more to come tomorrow

new card design # 2

2011-05-07T01:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a sneaky peak of the second in a new series of occasions cards I'm working on, 'Hello Baby'. It'll be available soon with a number of others, they're printed on 100% recycled card and come with a corresponding envelope. More designs to follow soon..

Collections prints

2011-05-04T06:45:00.001-07:00

Here's a few close ups of five new screen prints available in my etsy shop. They're from my 'Collections II' exhibition at the Bowery in Headingley, Leeds that began in April..

making zines

2011-04-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

I recently made a fresh batch of Lost and Found zines in a new set of colours, its quite a tricky zine to assemble and a time consuming process, surprisingly therapeutic!

here comes the bride..

2011-04-22T06:33:00.000-07:00

Here's the first in a new series of occasions cards I'm currently working on. Each card will be hand printed onto recycled card and come with a matching envelope. I'm going to cover a number of special occasions and thought that with the royal wedding coming up next week a wedding card would be a good place to start! This card along with a number of others will be available in my etsy shop soon. Watch this space...

new screen prints

2011-04-17T01:15:00.000-07:00

I've got 6 new prints on display at the Bowery in Leeds, they're part of my ongoing Collections series. I'll put a small number of each design in my etsy shop soon.

mural at the Bowery

2011-04-12T08:39:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I finished painting a mural at the Bowery arts centre in Headingley, Leeds. Its a collection of hand painted picture frames, some of which house images and some house posters advertising upcoming creative courses at the Bowery. The mural is on the wall that leads into the classroom. I'll put some photos of the finished piece up on here soon, for now here's a few of the work in progress...

The image at the bottom shows 6 new screen prints recently finished and framed, they will be on display and for sale at the Bowery from Friday this week (15th). On Friday there is a private view for all of the new work that will be on display, its from 6pm-9pm I'll be there, come and say hello!

More photos of the new prints to follow soon, they'll be available in my etsy shop soon too. Now, back to my coffee, book and much needed day off!

zine making workshop

2011-04-09T02:54:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I taught a zine making workshop at West Yorkshire Print Workshop. During the day long workshop the group learned about a number of paper folding techniques and explored content ideas. Lots of super little zines were produced, many containing interesting collage techniques and drawings.

Girls Who Draw: Magic Show

2011-03-22T05:21:00.000-07:00

In April I am taking part in the new Girls Who Draw exhibition, the theme of which is 'magic'. Artists involved are: Karoline Rerrie, Kate Hindley, Ruth Green, Beth Morrison, Sarah Ray, Jane Anderson, Mary Kilvert, Sarah Lippett, Daisy Whitehouse, Mina Braun and me.

Above are some images of my piece for the show in the construction stage. Its a big wall hanging made up of many small screen prints all hand stitched together. An ode to Harry Houdini.

The poster for the show was drawn by the lovely Kate Hindley.

If you'd like a press release for the event please email me at: memoillustration@gmail.com

the 2nd Leeds Alternative Comics Fair

2011-03-19T02:30:00.001-07:00

Today I'll be at A Nation of Shopkeepers in Leeds selling my wares at the 2nd Leeds Alternative Comics Fair. Should be a hoot, come down and say hi

Leeds Artists Book Fair

2011-03-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a few photos from the Leeds Artists Book Fair this weekend. It was a really good couple of days, lots of interesting folk, super work and good coffee. Next weekend I'll be at the Leeds Alternative Comic Fair, more info about that here

prints in progress

2011-03-09T03:10:00.001-08:00

The last few weeks I've been busy working on new prints for two upcoming exhibitions. The images above show prints in progress for a small solo exhibition I'm having at the Bowery in Leeds in April, this coincides with a mural I'll be drawing on the Bowery's classroom entrance wall. More images to follow shortly for a group show I'm taking part in in Sollihul, Birmingham with the Girls Who Draw, also in April.

March is proving to be a busy month..

Today I'm having a little discount day in my etsy shop, use the code: WEDNES0311 to receive 10% discount on all orders, today only!

Collections zine issue 1

2011-03-08T08:52:00.000-08:00

Collections zine issue 1 is a new zine that I just finished screen printing. Its the first in a new series about my various collections of objects. Issue 1 focuses on my collection of paper drinks coasters from the 1950s-1970s. I collect so many things I thought it was about time I started documenting them!

Issue 1 is available here

This coming weekend I'll be selling my wares at the Leeds International Artists Bookfair held at the Leeds University on both Friday 11th and Saturday 12th March. More information available here

a sunny day

2011-02-12T06:29:00.000-08:00

i love the way my house looks on a sunny day, i hope the blue sky outside means the end of winter is nigh.

theres a few more new images up on my flickr

ten fingers issue 2

2011-02-06T06:19:00.003-08:00

i am pleased to announce the arrival of the second issue of Ten Fingers. the theme for this one is 'childhood memories', artists included are:
jen collins
will bryant
gemma correll
jay cover
lesley barnes
mia christopher
anthony zinonos
me
the zine is fully screen printed onto 100% recycled card, its a limited edition of 100. each page is perforated with a postcard layout printed on the reverse. it could be a zine, book of prints, set of postcards, its up to you..

available here

recipe card for indie fixx

2011-02-05T03:01:00.000-08:00

i recently designed a recipe card for the super Indie Fixx blog. my design is part of a sweet little pack of printable designs available to purchase on the site. the pack contains loads of printable cards, stationery and projects, here's my recipe card in action and a link to the print-it-yourself- booklet

love is in the air

2011-01-19T11:29:00.000-08:00

yesterday i screen printed a new Valentines card.. 'Hey Good Lookin!' available now in my etsy shop

i'm also in the early stages of beginning to print the second edition if Ten Fingers zine, i'll keep you updated on the progress of that..

wedding bells

2011-01-14T08:02:00.001-08:00

at the end of 2010 a friend of mine Ellen married her dreamboat Matt. Ellen asked me to design and print a card that guests could use at the reception to write a message to the happy couple. these cards were pegged up on a line for everyone to see. i screen printed 150 of them onto recycled pink card

happy new year folks! its been a bit of a slow start for me, got a bit of a fluey bug last week and i'm struggling to shake it off. ignoring that and back to more interesting things.. i've got quite a few projects and products lined up over the next few months. first up is the second issue of Ten Fingers zine which i will begin screen printing this coming week, i'm hoping it will be completed and ready to go at the beginning of February, i'll let you know!

take part art: blackpool

2010-12-29T03:37:00.001-08:00

earlier in December i had the pleasure of working with the Grundy Art Gallery in Blackpool to produce a series of animal illustrations for their current exhibition -'Take Part Art'. alongside the illustrations i went over to Blackpool one Saturday to run a workshop for the morning craft club for children, we made animal puppets with movable limbs. the exhibition is open until Saturday 8th January and includes work produced by several local schools, all with an animal theme. more info here

new products..

2010-12-04T05:06:00.001-08:00

here's a couple of new products that i recently printed.. 'Hey Good Lookin', a cotton tote bag ode to Hank Williams, and Christmas gift tags that match the Greetings to You Christmas card. Both new products are hand screen printed and available in my etsy shop now

tomorrow i'll be at the Handmade Christmas fair at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds from 1pm-4pm, it'll be my last fair of the year more info here

time for an update..

2010-11-26T06:59:00.000-08:00

here's a few photos from the Headingley Arts Trail event I took part in a couple of weekends back which involved opening my house to the public to view my work and that of other local artists.

the top image shows a short run of hand printed business cards that i've done for upcoming fairs this weekend. tomorrow i'll be in Sheffield for the Candy Cane Christmas fair at the Millenium Gallery and then on Sunday i'll be in London for the Bust Christmas Craftacular at York Hall in Bethnal Green. alongside newly screen printed business cards i'll have a new tote bag design for sale and hand printed Christmas gifts alongside the current range of Memo products. it's going to be a busy weekend, hope to see you at one of the fairs!

Headingley Arts Trail & Handmade Nation screening..

2010-11-12T13:55:00.000-08:00

this weekend is going to be a pretty hectic one for me.. Saturday & Sunday my house is open to the public as part of Headingley Arts Trail. My work and the work of 3 other local 2d & textile artists will be displayed in my house 10am-4pm both days. if you fancy stopping by to see the work here's a map that shows my house and the other places involved in the trail.

as soon as the trail finishes on Sunday i'm heading into Leeds to run a zine making workshop and a stall at a screening of Handmade Nation at a bar called A Nation of Shopkeepers. its part of Leeds International Film Festival and has been organised by Craftsville. hope to see you there.. either at my house or in the pub!

the last few weeks..

2010-11-08T12:23:00.000-08:00

on Saturday I had a stall at the Manchester Artists Book Fair alongside my friend Karoline Rerrie. we ate several nice cakes.

its been a while since my last blog post which i put down to being crazily busy making work in the run up to Christmas.. oh, and it was my birthday at the end of October. the amazing cake photograph shows the black forest gateaux Sam made for me, it tasted so good!

i've been busy screen printing, drawing and stitching over the last few weeks. i'll have new products and projects to announce very soon..

Christmas card and exhibition update

2010-10-09T07:48:00.001-07:00

here's my 2010 Christmas card design 'Greetings to You', screen printed onto 100% recycled brown card. each card comes with a matching envelope and packaged n a bio-degradable cello bag, available in my etsy shop now. it may seem a bit early to be thinking about the festive season, I just thought I'd cater for those early birds by getting the card up for sale so soon!

other news.. i currently have a few prints and cube chaps in the fantastic Toy Shop exhibition in Manchester, curated by Laura Gee. there's some super folks involved in the show, well worth a look

also, a while back i donated a print and a few accessories to a charity exhibition at Here & Now in Falmouth. the exhibiton is called 'Colours' all proceeds go to CLIC Sargent, Caring for Children with Cancer, more info about the show here

yesterday's zine fair

2010-10-04T10:55:00.001-07:00

here's the stall at yesterdays zine fair in Manchester. it was a super little event, loads of good stalls and nice folk, pity it wouldn't stop raining outside! nice of my Mum & Dad to pop over to see me and my younger Sis. highlights of the day: fry up for breakfast, the mini zine i purchased by Marcin Dudek, and whiskey and cola in a can!

chez moi

2010-09-29T07:49:00.000-07:00

its a really grey day in Leeds, lots of rain and not much else. i thought i'd take the house-bound opportunity to tidy my studio. yesterday i found a set of 1960s shelves in a local charity shop, perfect for storing envelopes and letters! the third photo down shows a new addition to my living room, a 1960s boat shaped bar. it's amazing, can't wait for the first cocktail party! the final shot shows my freshly stocked up larder, i don't know what i'd do without that space.

back to work now, just wanted to share a few images of my flat, i love the place to bits!

a b c

2010-09-25T03:27:00.001-07:00

i have a new screen print available in my etsy shop today called 'alphabet'. its a 3 colour print on very high quality acid free paper, a limited edition of 20.

also, this weekend (24th-26th september) i have a couple of zines in an exhibition at the Baltimore Book Festival in Maryland, USA. More information about that event here.

time for me to get on with zine making for the Piccadilly Self Publishing Fair next sunday (3rd october), a bientot!

the farmer

2010-09-17T13:05:00.001-07:00

i've had this little farmer for a couple of months now. i found him at a carboot sale in Cornwall when down there putting up a Girls Who Draw exhibition in July. i had to buy him because of his sweet face and i really love hand painted wood. until this afternoon he has sat redundant on top of a cupboard. i've given him the job of masking tape minder, he seems much happier now he has a purpose

little tree stickers

2010-09-16T03:56:00.001-07:00

first of all, i should really apologise for the lack of posts recently. i've been really busy working on new projects and products that will all come to light pretty soon.

i've printed a short run of little tree stickers that are available over in my etsy shop. there's only 15 packs of these available.

on Saturday i'll be at the Alternative Comics and Zine fair at A Nation of Shopkeepers in Leeds, more info about that event here. Also, in a couple of weeks time I'll be at the Piccadilly Self Publishing fair in Manchester on Sunday 3rd October. Lots more fairs to be announced soon!

drink of champions

2010-09-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

this little notebook belonged to my Grandad. i never met him, he never wrote in this book, thought it was time i made a start.

leeds alternative comics fair

2010-09-01T03:33:00.000-07:00

here's the next fair i'll be attending in a couple of weeks time. this ones dedicated to small press comics and zines, its going to be a good afternoon. more info about the event and profiles of stall holders here.

nice things and new stockists

2010-08-18T12:08:00.000-07:00

howdo? i'm back from my little break in France. my chap Sam and I had a super time that involved adventures in a canoe, a French fete 'Spectacle' event (complete madness) and lots of good food. here's a few finds i made in a local second hand warehouse. if i had a bigger bag i'd have bought more..

on the work front i have a couple of new stockists to announce: Pad Gallery in Preston (Lancs), and the lovely Tschau Tschussi in Leipzig, Germany. more to be announced soon.

i'll be at the Leeds Alternative Comics fair on Saturday 18th of September with lots of zines, prints and paper goods in tow. i'll do a post about more upcoming fairs in the near future. bye for now!

au revoir

2010-08-07T18:11:00.001-07:00

i'm going to France today for a week of sitting down and having a rest. i have new work to unveil when i get home which i'm excited about. until my return here is a photo of this morning's breakfast, raspberry pancakes mmmmmm.

thinking on the train

2010-08-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

a little sketch from a recent train journey, sums up how manic things have been round here lately!

drawing shed day 3

2010-07-31T01:57:00.000-07:00

yesterday i spent a final day finishing off my design on the drawing shed. in the evening the doodle party was a success, lots of folk turned up and added work to the big drawing wall at project space leeds, ate cake and had a good time. over the last week i've become quite attached to the shed, i'm sad that after the gallery closes at 5pm today it'll be painted black for next week's creation by Leslie Halliwell. such is life. for more photos of my shed drawings have a look here.

drawing shed day 2

2010-07-29T01:16:00.001-07:00

yesterday i spent my day working on the shed. you can probably tell by now the theme i am working with. the front and one side are now complete, and i have a mini shop set up inside. on friday i'll complete the final two sides ready for the doodle party in the evening. the party is from 5:30pm-7:30pm, hope you can make it

drawing shed day 1

2010-07-27T13:35:00.001-07:00

i spent this afternoon beginning my piece on the drawing shed at project space leeds. heres how far i've gotten. i'll spend all day tomorrow completing it. there's a lot of blank shed left to draw on. thankfully i have a big pile of posca pens at the ready. more photos of my progress soon.. you can read more about the drawing shed on it's very own blog here.

yesterday i asked my chap Sam to act as a random number generator to pick a winner for the Ten Fingers giveaway. he chose number 11, a lady named Sky. i'll be sending her a little parcel later this week. over and out i need some sleep!

the drawing shed

2010-07-25T07:54:00.000-07:00

this coming week i will be at project space leeds drawing on a shed. 'the drawing shed' started out at the tate modern in london earlier this year to mark the gallery's 10th birthday. various artists have created work on the shed. it will be in leeds at p.s.l. for ten weeks, with a different artist working on it each week.

i am going to draw all over it, creating a themed scene that incorporates the shape of the shed. i'm not letting on what the theme is, you can come and have a look if you'd like. the shed will be open to the public from wednesday 28th-saturday 31st july. on friday 30th there will be an event in the evening from 5:30pm-7:30pm which will involve cake eating, drawing and looking at my shed creation.

come if you can!

nice to see you note card

2010-07-24T03:27:00.000-07:00

i have a new note card available in my etsy shop today. its screen printed onto A6 cream card, comes with a white envelope. you can have a little look here..

a new website and a giveaway!

2010-07-16T05:01:00.000-07:00

this week i have launched my new website, its been long overdue for a while now. to celebrate it's completion i am going to give away one copy of a collaborative zine i recently made called ten fingers. it contains work by a number of my very talented friends including gemma correll, anthony zinonos, and jen collins to name a few. the issue i am giving away is number 2 in the edition of 100 (i'm keeping number one for myself, sorry).

if you would like to own this little paper treat i thought we'd keep in tow with the zine theme which is 'hometowns', tell me something interesting about where you are from. leave me a comment on this post and i will pick one winner at random on monday 26th july.

how does that sound?

animals on the road zine

2010-07-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

heres a new zine i made for the Travelling Menagerie exhibition in Falmouth. its a6 in size, fully screen printed, containing 10 pages of my imaginary animal friends! theres a few of the little fellows available over in my etsy shop

the travelling menagerie

2010-07-11T12:58:00.001-07:00

last week i spent a few days in Falmouth with the Girls Who Draw putting up the Travelling Menagerie exhibition at the Here and Now gallery. it was a great few days, nice to be near the sea and explore some unfamiliar charity shops (i found a few excellent treasures!) the exhibition is up until the end of July, more info about it here.

upcoming show

2010-06-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

tomorrow morning i'm off to Falmouth for a few days with a few of the Girls Who Draw. they have put together a travelling menagerie exhibition that will be at the Here & Now gallery. i have made a zine of the same theme that i will be taking with me. it should be a fun few days. i will have photos of Falmouth and the new zine to show you early next week. bye for now!

the super poster above was created by the lovely Anke

Etsy craft party

2010-06-18T03:49:00.000-07:00

tonight in Leeds there will be an Etsy craft party, organised by Craftsville as part of Etsy's birthday. they're happening all over the place, at least 500 parties have been organised in 49 different countries! the Leeds party will be held at Mook bar (Hirst's Yard, Leeds LS1 6NJ) from 8pm, more info can be found here. the event will include badge making, origami, brooch sewing, cocktail drinking and a zine making workshop that i'll be leading.

i'll be bringing along a selection of super zines from my collection alongside a few that i've made. there will be the opportunity to make your own zine, i'll have materials for you to draw, paint, collage or stitch a little zine and theme ideas if you get stuck. should be a fun evening. if you're in the Leeds area come and get involved

thankyou and merci

2010-06-17T02:31:00.000-07:00

i have a new thankyou card available in my etsy shop today, its a little a7 card screen printed in two colours

another bit of news, this weekend on sunday 20th june i will be at the Bradford zine fayre selling my wares and those of my Fine City Friends. hope to see you there

vinyler decals

2010-06-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

i have a new range of decorative vinyls available at www.vinyler.com
its a brand new website that launched earlier today. you can pick the size and colour you'd like your vinyl to be, go and have a little look..

good weekend

2010-06-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

last weekend i paid a trip to Norwich to visit my pals and to see the Rocky Horror show at the theatre. i stayed with my good friends Anthony and Gemma and their new housemate Mr Pickles. the local coffee shop (the little red roaster) had a copy of my coffee zine on the counter to peruse while you wait for your coffee. they made a really good cup!

ships and a music box

2010-06-08T15:10:00.001-07:00

i'm in the middle of a pretty hectic week.. my best pal Kate got married at the weekend, it was fantastic! tomorrow i'm going to Dundee to watch a screening of Handmade Nation, on friday i'm off to Norwich for the weekend to see the Rocky Horror show at the theatre with Gemma. when i'm back from Dundee i have several exciting bits of news to share. for now heres a couple of snazzy finds i made recently.. a set of ship themed stamps and a musical jewellery box that only plays when you put the needle on the record, so good!

no website..

2010-06-03T04:40:00.001-07:00

due to reasons out of my hands my website www.hellomemo.com won't be online this weekend. i'll have it back up and running and looking much better next week, looking forward to it! for now, heres some trees..

Big Team Scribble colouring book

2010-05-31T13:50:00.000-07:00

a while back i submitted a doodle for a project called the Big Team Scribble, organised by super illustrator Lisa Currie. the idea was to customise a carriage for a big colouring book train. above is my carriage doodle which features in the finished book. its currently available to pre-order here, some of the cash raised from sales will go to UNICEF. good book, good cause, you can't go wrong!

tomorrow in leeds and london

2010-05-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

tomorrow there are a couple of exciting things you could attend if you'll be in Leeds or London. i will be at the Brewery Wharf Pannier Market in Leeds from 10am-4pm selling my work and that of my Fine City Friends Gemma Correll and Anthony Zinonos. Anthony will be down in London at the Zine Symposium selling our zines. come and say hey if you're in the neighbourhood!

good to know zine, issue 8

2010-05-26T14:24:00.000-07:00

over on the super Pikaland blog the new issue of Good to Know zine is now available. it contains lots of tips and advice from artists and illustrators about where creative folks go for support and where to seek help. its well worth a read, its full of inspiring ideas and stories.
i've done the cover artwork and also contributed my thoughts about support.

find out more about the zine (and how to purchase it) here

COW design festival, Ukraine

2010-05-25T15:28:00.000-07:00

the COW design festival is currently underway in a place i will never be able to pronounce called Dnepropetrovsk in the Ukraine. i have a few pieces of work in the illustration section, more info about the exhibition can be found here, and a flickr album of the exhibiting artists can be found here.

Ten Fingers is here

2010-05-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

the first issue of Ten Fingers zine is now available over in my etsy shop. it contains 8 illustrations by 7 super artists and myself. the zine is fully screen printed and hand assembled by me. each page is perforated and has a postcard layout printed on the reverse so that you can remove them to frame or post to your friends if you choose. its a limited edition of 100 copies.

contributors to this issue are:
anthony zinonos
karoline rerrie
jen collins
gemma correll
merlin mason
amy ng
matt saunders
and me

i will be putting together a second issue later this year, hope you enjoy the first one!

nice car(s)

2010-05-18T14:13:00.001-07:00

recently my friend Mike brought his hotrod, a model Y Ford to visit for a get together of classic cars. whilst it was parked in my driveway i took the opportunity to do a little drawing.. heres a few other cars from the meet. my sketchy little lomo camera doesn't do the colours much justice which is a shame. fun evening though! (and i got to stroke two very small puppies)

pattern zine

2010-05-12T03:59:00.000-07:00

Pattern Zine is a Love to Print project organised by Karoline Rerrie. its an a5 zine with screen printed cover and 20 pages which are a mixture of screen printed and litho printed in shades of blue

contributors are:
Karoline Rerrie
Katie Parry
Ruth Green
Sarah Lynch
Daisy Whitehouse
and me

the zine is a limited edition of 100, i have some copies available in my etsy shop now

introducing.. ten fingers zine

2010-05-07T03:08:00.001-07:00

over the past couple of months i've been working on a new zine project called Ten Fingers. i asked 7 friends to contribute an image with the theme 'hometown'. the zine will be a limited edition of 100, fully screen printed and hand bound by myself. each page is perforated and has the option of being a postcard, mini print or kept together as a zine, your choice.

i finished printing earlier this week, above images show the cover and a contribution by my friend Anthony. the finished zines will be available soon, i'll let you know when!

craftsville

2010-05-06T01:56:00.000-07:00

hey folks, a new website that i've been working on with my friend Michelle is now up online and ready to explore! its called Craftsville and focuses on UK based illustration/craft/indie makers. there will be regular features, interviews, reviews, competitions and listings of exciting events across the UK.

the imagery of the site is all my doing as will be a few regular features each week. Michelle is the brains behind the project and the maker of the site. check it out and get in touch if you have an event we could include in our listings. also you can follow us on twitter if you'd like to @craftsville

www.craftsville.co.uk

recent drawings

2010-05-03T03:42:00.000-07:00

heres a couple of drawings i did a while back. they will be part of a collaborative zine organised by my friend Karoline which should be available any time now, watch this space..

carboot saturday

2010-05-02T05:23:00.000-07:00

yesterday i went to a lovely carboot sale at York racecourse, one i haven't been to before. it was more along the lines of an antiques fair, pricier than your average carboot sale, but full of good stuff. heres what i came home with.. the bridge set with the sailboat playing cards is my personal favourite

sailboat brooches

2010-04-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

heres a new product to brighten up a rainy day! sailboat brooches.. my little boat drawing is screen printed and each brooch then hand assembled by moi. available in 3 colours, they're in my etsy shop now. lots more new products on the way in the near future, i'll keep you posted

busy weekend

2010-04-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

last weekend i had a couple of stalls at crafty events in leeds, a doodle day at the subculture on friday and a cupcake competition at hifi on saturday. heres a little doodle contribution i made to the room full of doodles and my stall at hifi (including wares by my fine city friends). busy weekend, it involved eating some tasty cake which is no bad thing!

ed templeton show

2010-04-27T11:53:00.001-07:00

whilst in london a couple of weekends back i caught the last day of Ed Templeton's photography show 'drinking the kool-aid' at elms lesters painting rooms. i love his work, he knows whats what. the show included a shot of Margaret Kilgallen, one of my heros. top notch show, pity it was only up for a couple of weeks.

Mr Templeton currently has his biggest show to date in gent, belgium at the S.M.A.K gallery (until 13th june). my chap Sam has looked into every possible means of us getting there but we just can't fit it in, major bummer. will have to make do with online photos!

52 show and more news

2010-04-22T02:49:00.000-07:00

heres a couple of shots of my work in the 52 exhibition in Bristol a few weeks back. thanks to claire and camilla for putting on a really fun looking show, lots of exciting work. wish i could have seen it in person!

i also have a new stockist to announce this week, Good Grief in Manchester. they stock lots of snazzy looking zines, definitely worth a look

fair news.. tomorrow (23rd) i have a stall at Doodlefest in Leeds and on saturday (24th) i have a stall at the Competitive Cupcakes fair, also in Leeds

roses

2010-04-15T23:41:00.000-07:00

last week i saved some roses. they were going in the bin at the fruit shop where i work a couple of shifts a week. its crazy what people throw away, they have been brightening up my flat for the last week and they're still going strong

alongside rescuing flowers i have had a busy week working on new product ideas, screen printing a collaborative new zine that i'm organising and also have a couple of new stockists lined up. all of which i will be revealing next week

today i'm going to london to find a bridesmaids dress, my best buddy kate beckett is getting married in june, exciting times!

new work!

2010-04-09T10:29:00.000-07:00

i've been busy screen printing new work this week including mini mountain note cards, owl tote bags and mr and miss pooch notebooks. they are all available in my etsy shop. you can have a little look HERE

mountain friend cushions

2010-04-03T10:12:00.000-07:00

new in my etsy shop today.. screen printed mountain friend cushions

52 exhibition

2010-03-30T15:22:00.000-07:00

tomorrow is the opening of an exhibition i have some work in down in bristol at room 212. its called 'fifty-two' and features work by that number of artists. heres a couple of the screen prints i sent.. each is a one off in that colour-way for the show. the show is up from 31st march-april 3rd. find out more info here

new zine, print and notecard!

2010-03-18T04:15:00.000-07:00

i have been busy russling up new products the last week or so, heres a few of my new inventions..

tree zine, a mini screen printed zine all about our static friends

mountain friend notecard, screen printed onto nice textured cream card

spring screen print, A5 3 colour print, limited edition of 25

they are all available now over in my etsy shop.

another bit of recent news, my work is currently being featured in the poppytalk handmade spring market alongside lots of snazzy things, have a little look at the here

coffee & cake break

2010-03-09T10:21:00.001-08:00

this food/drink combo is definitely one of my all-time favourites. the cake pictured is one i made recently, a vanilla sponge with blueberry frosting alongside one of my favourite coffee mugs. yum yum yum

international book fair this weekend

2010-03-08T12:40:00.001-08:00

this week on friday and saturday (12th & 13th march) i will be at the leeds artists' book fair (at leeds uni) with my good friend anthony zinonos. we will have a range of zines, prints and other handmade work for sale by the two of us and our fine city friend gemma correll. if you're in town stop by and say hello, there should be lots of good things to see. our friend karoline rerrie will also be there selling super handmade prints and zines.

also, just across the road from leeds uni is opposite cafe who i have heard make top notch coffee, i'm looking forward to trying some!

mountain friends prints

2010-03-04T15:04:00.000-08:00

new mountain friend screen prints now available in my etsy shop, they're A5 in size and a limited edition of 25

little boxes

2010-02-28T09:38:00.000-08:00

cutting and sticking on a sunday afternoon

52 exhibition interview

2010-02-26T02:38:00.001-08:00

at the end of march i will be taking part in a group exhibition in bristol at room 212. it will be called 'fifty two' and include worked by 52 international artists. the exhibition has been organised by camilla stacey and claire platt, heres a few questions i answered for them over on their blog

lost & found zine cover reprint

2010-02-25T02:07:00.001-08:00

i recently sold the last of the first run of this zine so decided to print the second run of covers in a few spring inspired colours. this run is an edition of 60. they're available in my etsy shop now

good find and a useful fox

2010-02-24T04:58:00.000-08:00

heres a find i made in a charity shop earlier this week, a little wooden ship container. good for keeping small things in. its handmade and handpainted and on the back says 'handcrafted in jamaica'. i think it will be living on my kitchen window sill for now

also, my little fox ornament had a bit of a fall and his tail snapped off. at first i thought i'd just glue it back on but then had the idea to use him as an incense holder. he's good at his new job, don't think he misses his tail much

chaps

2010-02-19T07:35:00.001-08:00

a just love doodling these little fellas

ship tote bag

2010-02-18T01:50:00.001-08:00

i have a new tote bag design available at the super envelop online shop. they're printed onto 100% cotton in a pleasant eco-friendly process using water-based inks.

more new items to be announced very soon

art of zines exhibition

2010-02-05T08:13:00.000-08:00

some exciting news today! lost and found, a zine i made with my friend katie haegele is part of an exhibition at anno domini gallery in san jose, ca. tonight is the opening night, the exhibition includes a huge range of zines of all shapes and sizes and themes. if only it wasn't so far away, i would love to go and see it myself

new zine, coasters and a giveaway

2010-02-04T01:39:00.000-08:00

introducing my new coffee zine, ten pages of screen printed coffee illustrations stitched together into a little a6 book. available over in my etsy shop now

i recently printed some cork drinks coasters with coffee cup designs, they to are available in my etsy shop..

over on the culture vultures website there is the chance to win one of my limited edition 'dreamboat' screen prints, all you have to do is spill the beans about any secret crushes you may have... find out more here

a weekend off and a trip to blackpool

2010-02-03T02:49:00.000-08:00

on friday last week i had a stall at the lancashire zine fair at preston university, pictures of this are up on the fine city friends blog. this year started off pretty hectic for me, haven't had a day off in ages so i thought i'd take the weekend off to see my mum and dad and go to blackpool. we went up the tower, watched people dancing in the tower ballroom, ate cherry scones and bought some amazing snow globes. pretty good day if you ask me.