Art Market time already?

Tomorrow is Art Market time again at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall and this is not a post I had imagined I would be writing. After a slight case of confusion over the application dates, I missed the deadline to apply to show. However luck smiled on me and a few days ago Nicole from the Drill Hall let me know a spot had opened up. It's been all action since then!

For the past few months, I've been thinking about making prints of late Mid-Century British cars. You know, the kind of car your dad drove until it had to go to the scrap year to be put down (surely it wasn't just my dad that did that?) and were always in the background of grim '70s television programmes. Cars with names like Anglia, Victor and Minx, cars the world has mostly forgotten. I've always had a fondness for those old bangers and now felt like a good time to go back and have a look at them.

So when the call came from the Art Market, I headed right along to the Greyfriars Art Shop for some ink, lino and new blades and spent the following twelve hours drawing and tracing and cutting and pressing.

To start with, I have made two designs, both small cars with big names and bigger personalities. First up is the Austin Mini, probably the single most recognisable British car. Minis are wonderful things and there are still a few on the streets even today. The second design is the Hillman Imp, something of a rarity these days and the last car ever manufactured in Scotland. When I grow up, I think I want an Imp.

I've got plans for more cars prints and ideas for doing more than just lino cuts, however for today that's all I'm revealing. If you're in Edinburgh tomorrow, do drop by the Art Market to get a glimpse of my new prints. I'm off now to try mixing printing inks to make new colours. See you tomorrow!

A market, a store, a studio

The most exciting news thing this week, was the email that let me know that I am going to have a booth at the Out of the Blue art market on October 20th! The art market is a quarterly event in the Drill Hall on Dalmeny Street, where local artists and crafters come together to sell their wonderful things. This is the first time that I will be there as a seller, so I am both very excited and not a little nervous too. Not elate because I've never had a booth on my own before (although I know Megan will be there with me in spirit).
I've got lots of lovely things for the booth, my paper paintings, camera prints, car illustrations and more. I really hope to see some of your friendly faces there!

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This week also saw me launch a new range of prints, on the Society6 website. These prints are based on digital illustrations I made a few years ago and it is lovely to have them finally see the light of day – or at least the light of other people's monitors! These pieces share some similarities with the work that I created with and for Oddhero.

The interesting thing about Society6 is that they offer these illustrations not only as art prints, but also as skins for hand-held digital gadgets and laptops, as well as t-shirts and tote bags (although I have only made a few of mine available as the latter two). There may well be something for everyone.

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The working week ended when I made a visit to look at some artist studios. It was an interesting experience and the first time I have looked studios in Edinburgh. I did so without really thinking deeply about it beforehand, viewing it as an experiment, perhaps a fact-finding mission.

Now having been on the visit, I find myself with more to think about than I had bargained for. There are as many good reason to work at home, as there are to work away from it. There is a lot to consider, although it occurs to me that jumping for the very first opportunity to come my way is probably not the best plan. More research would be a better idea.

There comes a point in all artist's careers, when one must make the leap out of the home studio. I need to consider whether I have reached that point.

Lovely new things and a long list

A few days ago I launched a new range of prints (and more) on the fantastic Society6 site. I'm really excited to finally be able to share this work, which are all digital illustrations from a few years ago. Most of them involve themes of travel and transportation. I really urge you to take a look, because not only are the site and the products quite lovely, Society6 is offering free worldwide shipping until Sunday! What more incentive do you need? I'm know that before tonight is through, I'll have indulged in a treat for myself. The iPhone cases alone are quite lovely and I don't even own such a device!

I also appeared on Hyperallergic this week, as part of their ongoing series that looks at the artist's studios across the world. With two new places to find me online arriving in one week, this got me to thinking about where else I can be found on the interwebs. I made a list. It's quite a bit longer that I expected!

For those of you who want more chances to buy something lovely that I've made (go on, treat yourself too!), there are plenty of opportunites:

• Union Gallery sell my paintings.
• On Etsy you'll find paper paintings, older abstract paintings, cards and prints.
• I have two books on Blurb, one book of art and one of photography. (A book of Iteration/Span photography is imminent.)
• There are t-shirts and prints at Oddhero. Many of their products were designed by me – see if you can spot which are mine!
• Lastly, II have photos licensed on Getty and Alamy.

For those on a tighter budget, you can still see and hear plenty for free:

• My own site is of course a good place to start.
• I am on Facebook as an artist and designer. 
• Megan Chapman and my joint work is here.
• I have a rather large collection of photos on Flickr.
• You can see more of my photos on Lomography, as well as Tumblr. 
• There are even more photos, this time Craig Munro and my Iteration/Span project on
• Carbonmade and Tumblr.
• I've made music and put it on Soundcloud.
• As well as short films on Vimeo and YouTube.
• I'm even on LinkedIn, although I am not sure why. 
• Also there is Twitter.

Is that enough? I didn't think so. You want me to really scrape the bottom of the barrel:

• You can read a couple of articles I've written at Product and Caledonian Mercury.
• Or read mentions and reviews of my work at Hyperallergic (again), Central Station, Broughton Spurtle, The Free Weekly and City Wire.
• I only ever posted one design on Threadless.
• I listen to a lot of music. 
• I especially used to listen to a lot of Jimmy Smith.
• And then there is the company in China that stole some of my old work. Happy joy. (Please don't but any of that!)

And finally, for those of you who find trying to keep up with all of the above a bother, I plan soon to launch a monthly email newsletter. You can sign up for it here, or using the box on the right of this page. Get my news direct to your inbox – nothing could be simpler!