not always eloquent

Waitangi Day is today in my native Aotearoa otherwise known as New Zealand. Aotearoa is te reo, or Maori for Land of the Long White Cloud. The long weekend is in honour of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi which was the founding document of our nation. Like all... [Details]

Today the unthinkable happened. I was unable to make it to our Women's March held here in Auckland today but I wanted to demonstrate my solidarity for all folk who are going to be affected by the inauguration of President Trump. Update! I now can upload downloadable files. The link is here. If... [Details]

This latest issue of Your Home and Garden Magazine features the opportunity to select from one of  3 illustrations. A lush bush scene featuring native birds by Flox, an ode to Turkish Delight by Evie Kemp or Dove by me. It was such a buzz to have been invited to... [Details]

This is a wee series that has been in my head for a while. It did take some time to successfully resolve the illustrations, but I am so happy with how they turned out. Normally my work rests upon environmental themes as the source of its inspiration, however in the... [Details]

For a couple of years now I have been thinking about producing super cute children's wear finally I have gotten around to doing it! All designs are screen printed with love, using eco-friendly, solvent free screen printing inks. The garments are top quality 100% pure cotton t-shirts produced by AS... [Details]

As you might be aware, I often infuse my work with some underlying concept, based upon a love and concern for the environment and the beasties that dwell on our planet. My recently released 'Summer Bears' series was no different. Habitat loss and increasing temperatures threaten many species around the... [Details]

I hope you and yours have all had a wonderful Festive Season. My little family and I have had a lovely time which involved far too much food and wine and lots of rambling conversations and catching up with other family members. As you might have guessed, one of my (many) New Years resolutions is to get back into blogging again. As well as being a useful means to convey some of the concepts that surround a new series of illustrations, I find that it can help me to clarify some of my own thinking process and ideas. Hopefully you as a reader, find some of my posts interesting too. If not I apologise :)

I love tigers and to celebrate Global Tiger Day, I decided to post a collection of some tiger inspired things that I have found from around the net. There might be a wee bit of shameless self-promotion among the items too . . . enjoy

1) Pink Bat Wing Tiger Sweatshirt

2) Royal Bengal Tiger Nightlight

3) Tiger Toms

4) The Tiger Who Came for Tea  by Judith Kerr

5) leanimale Le Brave TIger Totem

6) Tiger Print Swimsuit

7) ellaquaint Tiger and Peonies

8) tiny kiwi creations Geometric Illustration Tiger

9) zenipa Ze Tiger Tshirt

There is something rather amazing about animals that have evolved to survive

some of the most extreme conditions on the planet. The Arctic and other similar

environments have influenced the evolution of such creatures as polar bears,

arctic wolves and snow leopards. Like many folk who are aware of the increasing

issues associated with global warming, how these stunning creatures will continue

to survive in altered climates is a something that is of concern to me.

Sir David Attenborough is one of my biggest heroes and I have so loved

watching the programme Frozen Planet that was screened earlier on in the

year. Like many of his documentaries, it has been the source of inspiration

for my latest series; 'Snow Beasts.

This series was attempting to explore notions around how animals who

are dependant on arctic conditions could potentially survived in an environment

where the temperature has increases. Already places are having issues with

wild animals hunting / foraging closer to inhabited areas, due to habitat loss.

Animals who are domesticated face a greater chance of survival.

Peruvian llamas as pictured here are marked with coloured tassels

on their ears to note their bloodlines and ownership. This inspired me

to experiment with similar adornments on wild animals who live in

cooler climes.

This was my initial idea, but while painting them, I started thinking that conceptually

it was a great idea, actually having these amazing wild beasts with their ears pierced

like cattle made me cringe. Also there was that 80's association . . .

So in the end I edited out the ear tassels and I am very pleased with the results.

It still alludes the ideas that I was exploring without being lost to 80's pop music

references.

The limited edition giclee prints of these, both in A3 and A4 format will be

available for purchase at the Auckland Art and Craft Fair. It is this Saturday

the 29th of June at the Edge in the Aotea Centre. If you were unable to get

there you can purchase them off here too:)