I'm a Busy Bee at the mo…

It's been a while since i've posted on here, I've been super busy working on new books for the Bolognia book fair at the end of the month, alongside some other brilliant projects.

Some great stuff has been happening lately though that I just wanted to share…

The little Illustration collective that I'm part of has an exhibition up at Cherryleaf coffee house in Norwich all this month. It looks fab, and i'm dead proud to be part of a group of such lovely talented and organised people. We all took a classic book, and re-designed the cover art. They've come out brilliantly and everyone has done a fab job.

Pic from Cherryleaf Website

Kellee drew us a brilliant sandwich board:

Pic from Kellee Rich

One of mine - Hansel and Gretel - All framed up - I couldn't resist seeing what it looked like in the frame.

My re-design of Hansel and Gretel

We all posed for cheesy pictures after the hanging too…

… and the Juniper tree

The Beasts

It's on until the end of the month at Cherryleaf Coffee House - www.coffeehousenorwich.co.uk
We're also selling prints of each of the artworks, along with postcard packs featuring all 14 pieces.

They're available at Cherryleaf, or online via Etsy: http://etsy.me/1nCqWAH


You can find out more about Beast! Norwich at:

Website: http://beastnorwich.wordpress.com
Facebook: BEASTNorwich
Twitter: @BeastNorwich


I'm also gearing up to take part in Clutter city on the 15th March, I've got some new bits and bobs to share with the world. … More on that soon!

Release the BEAST! (From the east...)

A lot has happened here in the past month or so, I've had my stand at craft markets, been to conferences, and have been getting out and seeing people, which makes a nice change from working at home in isolation. It's good to get out and connect with other people.

One of the most exciting things lately came from a twitter conversation and ended up with a group of us starting an illustration collective here in Norwich.  - BEAST!

BEAST! are:
Grace Sandford
Karl Newson
Kellee Rich
Mark Standbrook
David Hurtado
Me (Fiona Gowen)


We gave ourselves  a little project to get started on first, put all our names in a hat, and drew a beastly portrait of the beast who's name we pulled out. It was a super fun project, and there's some awesome drawings!

You can follow us on twitter here @BeastNorwich
We have a website HERE
and a Facebook page HERE

We've been working hard on some christmas cards, and have chosen a charity (The Hamlet Centre) to donate all the profits to. They're currently at the printers being finished off, and we should have them available to buy in all our etsy shops, and at local craft markets soon!

Hooray for collaboration!

Autumn Clutter City and Winter craft market preparations.

On September 28th, I took part in the Autumn edition of Clutter City, a local craft market held at Norwich Arts Centre. It was a fab day, and I met some lovely people, Including the super-talented Kellee Rich, and Deerly Beloved Bakery, with their tasty cakes. 

I took along a fair bit of new stock: a good few of my new little notebooks, - Mushrooms designs and Norwich themed ones - as well as a new, improved stand setup.

For a couple of weeks beforehand, I'd been preparing some screenprints of my Norwich Illustrated map down at the Stew gallery and print rooms. It's the first time in about 7 years I've done any proper  screen printing. I had a brilliant time, and learned a lot. I'm definitely going to go back and do some more work down at Stew. It's a brilliant resource for local artists and printmakers.

I've also been accepted for several local craft markets in the run up to christmas. 

• Sat 26th Oct - Pottergate Crafts - Rackheath Holy Trinity 

• Sun 17th Nov - Pottergate Crafts - Costessey Centre

• Sat 23th Nov - Thorpe Christmas Fair

• Fri 6th Dec - Castle craft fair

• Sat 7th Dec - Norwich Makers 

• Sun 15th Dec - Pottergate Crafts - Costessey Centre

The Courtyard garden centre cafe is also stocking a selection of my earrings too. 

I'm currently working on some new stock, and should have some new screenprints, cards, notebooks and earrings for sale soon.

Autumn Clutter City

The past couple of weeks, I've been getting ready for the Autumn Clutter City at Norwich Arts Centre. 

It should be a good day, with live music, and lots of stalls selling arts, crafts and lots of handmade goodies. There's always some pretty fab cakes there too. Yum. 

I've been expanding my stall a bit too, there will be lots of affordably priced illustrated earrings, notebooks, bunting and more.

Pop down and say hello! 

Illustration Friday - Robot

Just a little Illustration Friday post - I've not taken part in a while. This week's theme - Robot

I actually did this a while back for a friend in Norwich. It was a t shirt design for one of his colleagues. It features a few Norwich landmarks - the Norman castle, and cathedral, and also the iconic market awnings.

TTS Warrior ©Fiona Gowen

Shirt proposal

Freelance - A Year In

Just over a year ago, I finally took the plunge and ventured out into the big, scary world of the freelancer. 

My first batch of new business cards

Despite it being something I'd been considering for a while, the security of having a full time job kept me from taking that initial leap. In spring 2012 however, the recession finally took it's toll and I was made redundant from the little company I'd been working at. This was the push that I'd been waiting for. Rather than rush out to the job centre, I set about preparing myself for a life of freelancing. This was a fantastic opportunity and I was determined to make the most of it. Like they say, when one door closes, another opens. 

Luckily, I'd been taking on the odd freelance project in my spare time to satisfy the urge to do my own thing. So already had a taste of what to expect. 

Map - work in progress

Although I had a couple of clients already set up, one of my major fears now was that they would stop giving me work for whatever reason. I was a tad worried about keeping all my eggs in the same basket. So I set about planning how to get some more. It started off gradually, but as the year has progressed, I've been gaining more clients. Mostly my enquiries have come through social media, chance meetings, and on the back of personal projects that I've undertaken. I feel pretty lucky that I'm yet to implement my plan... though it's there, waiting, for when I need it. 

Lily the studio bird

Working from home was something that I've had to get used to. I already had my studio set up in the spare room, so taking on a rented studio space seemed like an unnecessary cost. Although It would be nice to have a space where I could see and talk to other people, working from home has it's benefits. You can drink as much tea as humanly possible, wear what you want, and listen to whatever music you feel like. Which is nice. I also got myself a little assistant too, a small parrot, (green cheek conure) who is a welcome distraction when things get a tad stressful. 

Another thing that I've had to get used to is the lack of routine. There's no-one to be annoyed if you're late into work, and no-one to tell you to go home at the end of the day. It's something I've admittedly struggled with to a certain extent, but am hoping I'm finally getting on top of. I'm still working longer hours than before, getting up earlier, and working later too. I still have to learn to put work down.

Learning crochet

My skill set has grown with every new project, in order to accomplish the wide variety of projects being sent my way. I've learned a lot more about photography, 3D illustration and much more about working in Adobe Illustrator. I've also picked up a lot of new crafting techniques, crochet, needle felting and embroidery, as well as doing a bit of woodworking too for various books I've worked on. A fair few of these are now things I now want to carry on with in my spare time.  

I've really enjoyed the journey so far, I've done some work I'm dead proud of and projects that I feel incredibly lucky to have been involved in. There's been times of frustration, sleepless nights and stress, but they're by far outweighed by the good. The best thing is that I'm now responsible for the work that I do, and that means doing every job to the best of my ability. 

I'm incredibly grateful for the people who have given me a break, involved me in their fantastic projects, commissioned maps, illustrations and who have given me the chance to be my own boss. 

My First Few Craft Fairs

At the beginning of the year, I set out to get involved in a few craft fairs.

It's been something I've been wanting to do for several years, but although I've had bits up on Etsy for a while now, I've not got around to taking the plunge into the world of craft markets. It seemed like a bit of a daunting prospect, to begin with. 

A few months on, and I've now had my stand at around four local events, with varying degrees of success. Some have gone better than others, I think that will always happen though, depending on the day, the location, and the weather. My stand has grown each time, and I'm happier with it each at every new event.

Each event has been a bit of a learning curve for me. Seeing how people react to my products, seeing what people are buying, and what they're not. It's really very interesting. 

I'm constantly coming up with ideas for new things to sell, and am gearing it all up to centre around my Illustration, maybe with the odd crafty bit creeping in, but mainly Illustration. I'm looking forward to expanding it, with some larger pieces. 

It's an exciting project, and I've met some lovely fellow stallholders, and some fab customers. There's still a lot to learn though, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

It's been a while!..

Well, It's really been far too long since I posted in here. So, quick roundup. After a busy end to 2012, working on a craft book, we had a nice, chilled out Christmas. Then January came around, and I got thrown into lots of exciting projects. Maps, Activity books and layout projects, never-ending snow, weddings and a holiday have come and gone since, and i've finally got a little time to post here.

I've also been gearing up to have a bash at some craft fairs this year. It's something i've been wanting to do for a while now. There have been a couple of Pop up shops in the Jubilee pub I've used as trial runs, which went pretty well.

Despite being fairly busy with projects lined up, I've got lots of Ideas for self-initiated projects that I can't wait to start. I think 2013 is going to be a good year.

November Roundup

A little November update, and a little peek at some of the stuff i've been up to in November (and some of October... I've been a bit slack at keeping track!)

Norwich Print Fair

I can't get over just how quickly this year has gone! It really doesn't seem a year since the last Norwich Print fair exhibition.

There were some fab artists at this years fair, and if I had more money, would definitely have bought something more than a couple of postcards, hopefully next year. There were just so many fantastic prints to choose from. There are certainly some new local artists I shall be watching out for (and saving up for).

Juke Jonah - Work in Progress

A while ago the fab 'Juke and The All-Drunk Orchestra' commissioned me to paint them an image. I took a few snaps (only poor quality phone pics i'm afraid) as I went along.

I dug out the old G4 to work downstairs

A little texture

In it's new home

After a little Photoshopping

Thanks to Juke and the All Drunk Orchestra for commissioning this, I had a fab time painting it, and I hope they enjoy it.

Exciting times....

I'm having a bit of a rebrand, new logo, new website, new work online...

New beginnings really... i'm on the brink of going freelance, and am really looking forward to it. I've been  testing the water a little lately, and have really enjoyed the work I've been getting, so it's now time to bite the bullet, jump in the deep end and go for it!

My new logo is a little bit of a re-styling of a doodle I did a while ago. It features an owl. Although I think the owl is slightly over-used at the moment; for me he symbolises knowledge and learning and seeing as I  want to continue to work doing information based design (amongst other things), either for publishers, or museums, the owl is a symbol of wisdom. I also stay up too late, and have a soft spot for birds.

Here he is:

He's sitting on a pencil too, I use a lot of pencils while sketching out ideas, so it seemed like the obvious replacement for a branch.

He occasionally appears in orange as well:

I'd love to hear any thoughts on him!

Great Yarmouth town centre mural - 2003

Recently, due to a bit of a time shortage, I’ve been a little short of any recent personal work to post up here. (Or make it look pretty...)

However, I was fishing through my old photos and found some photos of a mural that I designed and painted with the help of a couple of friends in 2003, just before my art foundation course.

Tesco had recently shut down in the town centre, leaving their premises boarded up and unsightly.


I worked in the pub opposite at the time, and the landlord had gained permission to paint the boards that covered the store windows. We felt that in such a prime location, (open to the market place, next to a car park, and viewable from most of the major bus routes) having such a large area boarded up, especially at the height of summer, with many tourists about, gave a very depressing view of the town.
 

We were given free reign to do what we wanted with the four boards. So I chose to do a brightly coloured abstract pattern. I didn’t want to do anything too complicated, due to time constraints, (and the cost of paint) and swirls are fairly inoffensive. 

To our amazement, throughout the time they were up, there was only one, very tiny piece of graffiti!

So... this is it...

I have finally entered the world of blogging, inspired by so many interesting blogs. I thought it would be a great idea to make my own, share with people my inspiration, illustrations and showcase my work.

I'll share links about art, design, craft, and growing my own... amongst sneak previews into what i've been up to, and the work i've been producing.