New festive shop goodies

Hello!

Once again, it has been a while since I've last posted, whoops!  Still, I have a bit to share right now so I think today is the day for more of my scribblings.  

I've been busy getting ready for......I daren't say it, because it is early, but, yes, for Christmas.  It's tricky, but as a person making and selling things for that time of year you do have to start gabbling about it early!  It's been quite exciting for me really because I've tried out a few new things this time.  Foiled cards is one. They've been something I've wanted to try for a while, and I'm really happy finally to have made some.  I've also ventured into making wrapping paper and gift tags this year.  

My original plan was to make one set of cards, the foiled ones, but once they were done I was in the swing of festive ideas (you know how it is), so I made another card featuring partridges (any excuse to draw a bird), and seasonal foliage.  I'm really happy with all the designs, I've realised it's a very green coloured Christmas in Sharon land but that's ok I think :).

They are now all live in my Etsy shop SharonFarrowArt

Also, if you're in London in December I will be selling in the flesh at various markets every weekend throughout that month.  I'm going to save all that information for another post though.  That means I will be back soonish with all those details.  I'm very excited about all of them.  Markets and fairs are something I started doing in the last few years and I've really been enjoying them.

So, I will leave it there for now.  I hope you're having a lovely week and I WILL be back soon!

Sharon :)

A bird fest

Hello,

It's been a while (again) since I've written a post but better late than never!

I've been busy over the past few weeks creating new work and it's been an exciting and productive time.  I came back from a short Christmas break full of energy and enthusiasm, ready to flesh out some ideas that had been brewing for a while. 

For the purpose of this post I'm going to focus on three recent images I made.  My plan was to make a small group of images with a similar subject matter and colour palette.  I don't often make sets of work so I thought this would be a good challenge for me and I'm really happy with how they turned out. 

The starting point for each image was a linocut bird.  I love the textures you can achieve with linocut whilst still achieving an all over pretty even covering of colour.  I am a basic linocutter I guess but as there's no real right or wrong way for my purposes (so I've told myself), I feel that's ok.  I wanted each bird to be surrounded by a strange plant land, and I really enjoy creating fantasy plants and landscapes that are a little strange and perhaps unsettling.  I always like to imagine living in those strange worlds and whether I'd feel entirely comfortable!  I wanted the images to be retro-mid century tinged, and I hope my chosen colour palette reflects this.  Once the linocut print was down, I worked into the landscape building it up with coloured pencil, acrylic and gouache.  I get totally absorbed in creating, working up the layers, making the textures, it's a real joy.  I've started using gouache after leaving it for a long time (lots of dried tubes that have now been re-discovered and bought back to life, not always successfully)!  I find for larger areas it scans better that watercolour for me (although that may be my bad scanning technique, who knows, if anyone has any tips I'm all ears)!  I took inspiration from sketches I made from one of my many visits to the V&A Museum in London (love it so), and of course natures delights, birds, are always a lovely subject.  The V&A has a huge amount of beautiful and sometimes strange objects and artwork.  I especially love the medieval period rooms and get lost in time when I'm there.  

Well, I think I've rabbled on for long enough.  I hope you've enjoyed this post.  I'll aim to get more regular at this, although I can't promise anything!

Enjoy your day and I'll see you soon. 

Sharon :).

Birds and plants

Hello,

Following on from my last post I wanted to share some work I made inspired by the sketch and my museum visit.  My idea for this image was to create something inspired by ceramic work, carvings and tapestries that I saw on my visit.  It's a combination of linocut, handmade stencils alongside painted and pencilled shapes.  I've mentioned before that I love using limited colour palettes, that way of working really suits me.

I've just finished another image in a similar vein, using that sketch and museum visit as my inspiration which I'll share next time.  

Have a great rest of the week :).

Sketching, sketching, sketching

Hello,

Last week I took myself for a midweek museum visit.  I picked one of my favourite museums which I've been to countless times, the V&A.  I always feel so lucky to have such a fantastic museum within easy reach of me, and since I moved to London many years ago it's been a staple place to visit for me.  I always come away so inspired by what I've seen, and it really seems to fire up the creative juices!

I intended to sketch on site a lot more than I actually did, but in the end I did a lot more looking, wandering, and took a lot more photos that I could use as reference later.  The plan then was just to sketch freely, drawing from what I'd seen, and seeing what ideas would come along as I did.  Once I got home I picked a long random piece of paper that was a wonky end from a roll of paper I have, and just began drawing.  It was so much fun.  I was completely absorbed in that drawing, it didn't matter how it turned out or what came about to draw next, I was just letting it flow very naturally and it felt wonderful.  I wanted to just sketch with pencil and without colour, as this is something I've only been using recently to do very quick drawings, so I really wanted to explore using just that one medium.  I was so happy with how it turned out and it has produced seeds of new ideas which may or may not be taken further (more scribbling is due to commence)!  It's also definitely taken my mind off into new subject matter which is always a bonus, and was something that I really hoped would happen.  To top it all off the whole process has given me an enormous amount of pleasure which has been an amazing gift to me.  I could have just carried on drawing and drawing if the paper hadn't run out!

This is the full drawing.

I'm now working up some ideas inspired by these drawings, and continuing to sketch :).

Enjoy your weekend.  

New Christmas goodies

Hello,

I thought I'd do a quick shop update.  I've added some new Christmas/Festive cards to my shop.  I've got two new designs, both bird themed.  I had such fun working on these, just as we had turned into autumn and the weather had started to change.  The cards can be bought as singles or as a pack of four.  I know it may seem a bit early but if you're someone who likes to get organised you can find them here at SharonFarrowArt.

I've also got lots of art prints, illustrated cards, pocket mirrors and more over in the shop if you're looking for other non seasonal goods.  

It's a lovely start to the day here today, blue sky and those lovely leaves that are beginning to golden are swaying gently in the breeze.  Starting the day with sunshine can't help but give you a lift!

Have a lovely day and I'll be back soon :).

More new things in the shop :)

Hello again, 

I hope everyone is doing well.  I've been spending today doodling away which has been rather nice.  Autumn is very much here so I'm enjoying getting out all my cosy clothes and socks and drinking lots of tea! (nothing out of the ordinary there then!)

This week I updated my Etsy shop with some new products so I wanted to share them with you.  I've now added small lined notebooks and pocket mirrors.  I loved creating these designs.  I got really carried away creating all the patterns which was something a little different for me too.  

First up are the mirrors.  They're pocket sized 76mm in diameter so ideal to be carried in your bag.

Next are the notebooks.  A6 in size and lined so again they can be easily slipped in your bag for reminders and scribbles.

I'm really happy with how they've turned out.  Hopefully they will also brighten up your day!  

Ok, I'm off to make a cuppa, I think it's time.  Have a lovely weekend! :)

Etsy shop update and the start of autumn

Hello, It's Monday morning and it looks like it's going to be a nice sunny day! That always makes a good start to the week. Yesterday I uploaded some more products to my Etsy shop so I thought I'd tell you a bit about that today. I've added five new art prints including an Autumn themed print, some nature themed prints (including an owl print of course), and a fruit and vegetable print. They're printed on 400gsm silk card and are A5 in size so they could be used as a postcard or as a print for the home.

 

What do you think?  I'm so happy to finally have them up in my shop.  I've got some more items coming soon, I just need to get them all photographed and listed.

Other than that I've been getting used to now being in autumn.  The weather has definitely changed here, it's got colder and I've got my woolly socks out.  I'm looking forward to the season of cosiness.

I hope you're all keeping well.  I'll be back soon with another shop update, now it's time to drink my coffee and get on with the day :).

Cards, prints and Monday sun

Hello,

The start of another (so far, sunny) week.  It is always nice when Monday begins with sunshine.
I hope everyone is keeping well.  Today I'm going to share a couple of recent things I've done.  The first is I've added some products to my Etsy shop.  There is now a range of cards (birthday, thank you, any occasion,) and prints on a variety of themes.  There's nature, London and wildlife.  Here's a little selection :-

Last week I also was very kindly featured on the Feast Norfolk Magazine website.  They did a little interview about me, my work and of course food! 

I'm guzzling down coffee as I write this, keeping it brief.  I hope you're all having a good start to the week and I'll be back soonish with more of my goings on. 

Patterns, stickers and my shop

Hello,

I hope you've had a good week.  I wanted to share a few more of the images I created in my sketchbook which have now been scanned and cleaned and some of them have become products in my Etsy shop.  I'm also starting to make patterns from some of the images, more to come about that soon.  I found doing this work so useful in terms of experimentation.

Below are the original illustrations for the sticker packs which are available here.  I have some other images which I'm planning to make into stickers soon.  

Right, back to work with a cuppa.  A lovely new roll of paper arrived this week all ready to be sketched on :).  Have a great weekend!

My Etsy shop

Hello,

I hope you're having a good Friday.  Today I wanted to share some of the work I've created which is now available in my Etsy shop SharonFarrowArt hooray! I'm now stocking stickers, prints and tote bags, and I'd love it if you come and take a look.
The stickers are the latest additions and come in a pack of five.  At the moment I have packs of different types of birds, (some of my favourites) and mushrooms, (they are such fun to draw).  I think stickers are such a great way to brighten up surfaces and pages in notebooks and diaries.

Here's a couple of the Giclee prints which are also available.

I hope you like the products.  I'm planning more for the future and am pretty excited about the shop.  Today, it's not raining at the moment thankfully, which is a nice change this week as it has been rain and more rain, boo!  Anyway, I have been making summery themed work which I will share soon.  Have a lovely weekend :).