boat

the midnight ramble

Here is it! This is the cd cover I designed and illustrated for The Midnight Ramble, a rock/soul/blues band from Liverpool, UK. They commissioned me early in the summer and I was able to complete the design by the time I left England, which was July 10th. I even got to visit them in the studio during their first day of recording and was very impressed by the guys as well as their music.

Check out their website and myspace!

When they gave me their ideas about an image for the cover and it involved a lion boxing a man out at sea I must admit that I wasn't sure what to make of it, although I knew that I could do it. They were certain that they wanted my style and so I set to work and came up with a few rounds of sketches. Paul Dunbar, the lead singer, did a great job as art director for the project and told me exactly what he was looking for and gave constructive feedback. Drawing a boxing lion on two feet was by far the biggest challenge, but the whole thing was a joy to work on. The style of waves I developed has captured my imagination and I think I will continue to use it for work in the future. You can even see it in my previous post!

Above: Second round sketch of cover. A little bit closer...

Above: Earliest sketch of cover. And my, how it changed!

moon

Summer is so sweet.

water and waves

Here are some simple watercolors I made a few days ago. Jesse and I are travelling a bit before we head back to the US and currently we find ourselves in the Netherlands. He is doing a summer course at the University of Leiden and I am going between there and Rotterdam where we have friends. It's always good to be in this country, even if the weather is sadly similar to the UK!

I just finished up a CD cover for a band based in Liverpool and waves were a big part of the imagry. I've begun to really like drawing them and so they found there way into this piece. I'll be posting about the cover at some point in the future...

coloring kits!

About a month ago I was at The Sunday Market and got talking with Diana Heredia who also had a stall there. She makes beautiful prints, cards, pillows, bags, as well as children's clothes and much more. Her business is called Léon and Coco and you can find her website here. After seeing my work she asked me if I would be interested in drawing something for her coloring kits and I was immediately interested.

My original idea was to draw a set of birds but when I did some initial sketches it turned out to be pretty boring for coloring in, not much detail and the like. Then I was reminded by some drawing I had done a couple of years ago when I was interested in bird houses and children's books. I've always loved to imagine the homes of animals and to see them in cartoons like Tom and Jerry (mice in the wall).

Here are three of the final 6 designs:

above: Bird Dwelling

above: Worm Dwelling

above: Fox Dwelling

Diana's Coloring Kit with trucks etc.

My designs are not currently available but when they are I will let eveyone know! In the mean time, check out the site and esty shop....

Léon and Coco website

Léon and Coco etsy shop

denizen: third culture kids

It's June! The year is flying by at the speed of light and it's exciting. We are preparing ourselves for leaving Manchester at the end of the month, doing some travelling, then going home to Massachusetts for a few weeks, and finally moving to Los Angeles in September. I'm not looking forward to the goodbyes here, England has been a wonderful place to live for three years and the people we've become friends with will be missed...the weather on the other hand, will not be.

I've recently done some illustrations for the online magazine Denizen, which features articles by 'Third Culture Kids', and if you are like me and had never heard that term before, this is how they define it:

Formally defined, TCKs are people who have spent a portion of their formative childhood years (0-18) in a culture different than their parents’. Most TCKs will return to their parents’ home country at some point in their lives, undergoing repatriation. TCKs tend to develop their identities while living abroad, thus blending their “home” culture with the culture of the world around them. People who have attended international schools, who are children of diplomats, “military brats,” or children of missionaries are just a few examples of TCKs.

It's a interesting site full of stories and ideas. My three years in England gives me a sliver of understanding, though I myself and not a TCK. I'm very happy to be a part of it and hope to do more work for them in the future. Editorial illustration is more and more attractive to me because I love making pictures that accompany something, that speak for themselves though also compliment a piece of writing.

http://www.denizenmag.com

ps. Doing another SUNDAY MARKET at Islington Mills this weekend. The last one was great, lots of people, good music, and a relaxed Sunday atmosphere.

the sunday market

This Sunday I'll have a stall at the weekly SUNDAY MARKET at Islington Mills, Salford. It'll be my third time doing the market and I'll be selling my handmade cards and books, original prints, screen-printed tote bags and also some very good homemade whiskey marmalade!

So, if you are in the Manchester area be sure to check it out!!

Website

Facebook

above: my hand made journals with screen-printed covers.

show at unicorn

This is a show of work, mostly prints, at Unicorn Grocery, 89 Albany Road, Chorlton, Manchester M21 0BN. (Between the olive oils and rice: it's in the hallway towards the toilets).

I am moving to Los Angeles at the end of the summer so would love to find homes for my prints and watercolors!

If you are in the area, please check it out (and then you can do your food shopping too)

x mary

new

I took a bit of time today to apply watercolor to some recent sketches. It's been a goal of mine to draw more from my imagination and memory as well as try to tell a story. Sometimes the most interesting images come from an open mind, unconcerned with recording an object from life. I had a lot of fun coloring them in, it was a bit like a coloring book!

Through the next few months I'll be travelling quite a bit and in September Jesse and I will be moving to Los Angeles! It's a very exciting time and I plan to keep a sketchbook journal throughout the summer to record these funny little illustrations.

sale!

I am having a sale on my Etsy shop, two for one bags (owl and snail). Jesse and I are moving at the end of the summer and I can't take them along, so get them while they're here!

world recipes and refugees

I'm currently doing illustrations for another recipe book although this one is being put together by Unicorn Grocery and a Manchester refugee project. The book will feature recipes from the women involved with the project who are from many different parts of the world and who are now living in and around Manchester. It's a wonderful thing to be a part of. Instead of drawing the final dishes, I've decided on just the ingredients. Here are some of the illustrations I have done so far:

When the book is done I'll post more about it. It will be for sale at Unicorn and hopefully I can sell some online as well.

etsy shop

Hope everyone is well, thawing out after a long winter. Today here in Manchester I didn't have to wear a jacket!

I've updated my etsy shop, putting up new photos of my hand screenprinted bags and designing a new banner. I gotta say that it's looking alright and I think light green is my new favorite color.

etsy shop!

teddy

1369 coffee house cup

My most recent commission was to redesign a brand-spanking new paper cup for 1369 Coffee House (in Cambridge, Massachusetts). The owner, Josh Gerber, wanted a cup that was distinct and represented the brand, showed the two locations, and incorporated community. Another important aspect would be that the cup is identifiable with a sleeve on it as well.

Both shops, Central Square and Inman Square, are situated in interesting buildings and I found that drawing them was fun, though coloring them in a way that was interesting and used two colors proved to be a bit of a challenge. Once I found the right style it came together quite nicely, using a layered effect which looks like an off-register print. For anyone living in the area, they are very recognizable as the two buildings (I have lived in both squares and worked at 1369 Central for 3 years!)

I added details to the outside of both shops, like the umbrella and chairs and the street sign and bicycle, to represent the people who congregate there. These items are pretty much fixtures outside either location (the table and chairs mostly in New England's not-freezing months!). I remember many-a-time sitting outside under the umbrellas or locking my bike up outside of the Inman store, and my experience is shared by so much of the community that I thought they were the perfect details to include.

Above: The final design! I warped it and was able to print out a version which can be wrapped around a cup for making the prototype. It was very helpful in understand how things will look on a cylindrical object.

Below is a selection of process work. In total I made around 35 versions of the cup! It changed (and improved) quite a lot over time and when I considered the composition more and more. Josh wanted to use the two colors of the brand (purple and beige) plus white. In the beginning I also tried using just purple and black, but it didn't go that well!

Above: Playing with the logo, trying to make it interesting and still using all the elements.

I really like how the coffee cup is peeking out from the bottom of the cup. It's a bit too cut off in this version, but the idea remains in the final version. The cropping makes it more dynamic and interesting, as well as using the space which can be seen when the sleeve is on.

Way too much beige!

These early versions are pretty boring and static. I was trying out blocks of color instead of coloring the whole cup purple, which was one of the original ideas. I still like the use of circles to frame and emphasize certain things. You've got to begin somewhere.

The cups have not been printed professionally yet, but I'll post again when I get one of the real-deals!