Joe and Niamh Owls...

For our good friend's wedding in Ireland this Summer, I decided to gift them their very own portrait each, painted as Owls...certainly an odd request for some but for Niamh, the Owl is her favourite fluffy, feathered critter.

I included certain personal traits unique to both of them including Joe's large Gallstones he had removed last Christmas, resting in the scales of Justice to represent his law background and ventures into becoming a Barrister...Niamh not only has a selection of her favourite books, but also her prized pair of Con's hanging from the branch she's perched on. 

Joe is from Navan outside of Dublin in Ireland, an area known for it's historical landmark 'Newgrange' so that is represented in the background...Niamh is from Tipperary in Ireland and the landmark on her sunset skyline is the famous 'Rock of Cashel' famous in that area.

The two come together beautifully in a pair of vintage frames dated from 1939 with authentic bubble glass I picked up from a wonderful old lady in Queensland, Australia and they made the journey over here to Ireland safely...

Very happy with the result especially all worked up in Watercolour...my fave. 

Before framing...cut to size and painted specifically for their vintage frames...

The vintage bubble glass frames in action, dated '1939' on the back and stamped from their maker.

A trip to my favourite Framers 'Forte' for some advice and backing to those vintage frames...

A Buxom WIP...

Super excited about my latest project - still very much a work in progress and part of a much larger series coming soon.

I'm investigating the world of the 'Motivational Poster' and I will be developing a series of printable posters for you to pin up in your office cubicle to keep you alive throughout the remainder of the work day.

Huzzah!

My Week In Sketches

My Week In Sketches was a project I created designed to motivate me to engage in everyday news and current affairs and become a littler bit more culturally 'on the ball'. I decided to start picking items of everyday events that interested me and characters that I found both ridiculous and fascinating... 

Every week I would update the world with another useless painting which was a quick sketch of items that caught my attention or points about certain aspects of life I wanted to highlight...

This is a collection of just a few but for the full rundown, I post weekly to Tumblr and Instagram to keep you 'in the know'...

Timeout Magazine Portrait

Bars and Pubs Editor for Timeout Magazine, Emily Lloyd-Tait asked me to make her her very own portrait for her social media presence. Her specifications were 'Victorian Bar Wench' so, I pretty much just went with that...

The result is a busty, stern Bar Wench who filled all of the necessary requirements and certainly looks like a woman you wouldn't want to mess with. I used a combo of my usual Watercolour with the added thickness of Gouache.

Jane Farrell Food & Health

Jane who's based in the UK, approached me to draw a collection of her favourite foods as a Coeliac for her food and health blog. She gave me a list of possible foods to include to be scattered throughout the site as a static backdrop - I decided to make everything on the list as a bit of a foodie challenge for myself...

I then built the custom made background and images into her site all by myself! I think the result is stylish, bright and works well for her content.

Jane ran her very own health-food store called Aubergine based in Portland, UK that was an award winning organic supplier and carried on her obsession with all things healthy, delicious and nutritious to her blog to talk about her own experience battling Coeliac Disease. 

Piss In Boots

In 2015 I created the Satanist fat cat I like to call 'Piss In Boots'.

Piss In Boots was an experiment I created after I was invited to take part in an exhibition exploring Satanism, curated by self confessed Satanist, Vice Contributor, Artist, Writer and Director Shane Bugbee, based in the US.

The content made me squirm slightly and it wasn't an image I was used to creating or an area I was comfortable involving myself in, but I wanted exactly that. I wanted to push myself well out of my comfort zone and into: 'anthropomorphic-overweight-cat-with-a-whipped-cream-pentagram-smeared-across-his-chest' territory. 

Quentin Tarantino Exhibition

In early 2015 I was invited to contribute a piece for AU Creative Network's Tarantino Show, hosted in Wynyard, Sydney.

I decided in an homage to classic Italian painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo, I would create a Tarantino portrait built from a Pulp Fiction classic reference, the: 'Royale with Cheese'. Here he is, complete with melty cheese face.