stuff i done think and draw: illustration

Friday, 27 February 2015

A letter of love to the staff at Piccadilly Waterstones

A few weeks ago I went to Waterstones in Piccadilly seeking something. Recently, I've gone through a through a few difficult life events, things that I accept and am dealing with but are affecting me in different ways.

I came to Waterstones to find books. Obvious, I know but I needed a certain kind of book. A funny, warm, loving book - the kind of book that we've all read that made us fall in love with reading in the first place. My only stipulation? For the love of god, not chick lit. But I was welcome to anything and everything else.

Piccadilly Circus, LMC

I went to the main desk and met Darcy. I told Darcy what I was looking for - a book to help me switch off, engage with something else, take my mind off things and basically give me a literary hug.

Darcy was incredible.

We went through the shop, collecting her colleagues as we went, who all had their own recommendations for me. It warmed my heart to be met with such passion, kindness and joy for books and people that Darcy and her colleagues showed.

I bought 'The Eyre Affair' by Jasper Fforde, 'High Fidelity' by Nick Hornby and 'How to be a Woman' by Caitlin Moran.

I wanted to thank Darcy and her colleagues for giving me a lift that day, and showing that in this busy city, people still genuinely care about each other in a real way and are willing to open their hearts to strangers to help them out.

Thanks Darcy - I really loved High Fidelity.

Lizzie xxx

Wednesday, 25 February 2015

Private or Public London

Walking, exploring, seeing, adventuring, perceiving, being, mapping, finding....

I'm spending the year exploring the hidden joys of London for my solo show, and there is so much wonder to be found.

But there is trouble afoot in old London Town.

What is public? What is private?

Where can you walk in your city, and where is barred to you?

Check out this worrying look at what happened when Guardian journalist Jack Shenker, writer Anna Minton and urban explorer Dr. Brad Garrett went on a mission to walk the Thames Pathway, to varying degrees of success....

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/feb/24/private-london-exposed-thames-path-riverside-walking-route

Sunday, 4 January 2015

Illustrating by the sea

It's 4th Jan 2015 and I've come to a small fishing village in Cornwall. The idea is to buckle down and get some serious work done.

There's not much here - I saw a dog and a seagull fighting this morning on the beach. That was quite interesting. Right now, I'm looking at the expanse of the sea from my room, it's pretty immense.

While I'm here, I'll be working on some odd jobs for various people, but my main purpose is to create my submission for the annual Folio Society Book Competition - more info here - http://competitions.houseofillustration.org.uk/book-illustration-competition-2015/

I don't agree with unpaid spec work but this is a different kettle of fish. This competition has been running for a few years, and offers a chance to create a book for the Folio Society (one of the most beautiful book publishers in the world.) It also offers people (like me) who aren't too experienced in the world of book illustration to have a project to dig their teeth into.

This year it's a collection of ghost stories. Since I'm alone in this desolate sea front, (so much so that walking around on my own gives me a creepy Meryl Streep from French Leuithenant's Woman vibe) I'm hoping to only read these stories in the day, or I might scare the crap out of myself late at night. Alone. By the seafront. In the middle of nowhere.