Almost finished, but so inspired...

I've been working on this lady for a while now... Probably cause there's only monotonous bits left to do. Now that she has no place in the closest exhibition (octopi not really being relevant to an Orchard) I'll come back to her when I'm not drawing my hand off!

"Octolady" (210x297) Ink on paper

I had an incredible discussion with an almost 90 year old woman, who although I met only semi-recently, has quickly become a very special part of my inner circle... She and I have conversations about parenting, animals, art, lifestyles... You'd never guess the 60 year age/social gap. It's quite awe inspiring really.
After an intense drawing day recently, I took her my book to show her what I'd been doing.
She asked me what other ladies were going to be in this series...(I guess its obvious I'm a sucker for the storylines that go with a series). I said I hadn't really thought about it yet, which led to a most beautiful discussion about the intricate beauty and fluidity in things we don't generally see as being beautiful... So what's to potentially come are Lobsters, Angel fish, Spiders, Scorpions.... you get the idea.
(I love it here...)

to paint or not to paint...?

I've NEVER used the computer to contribute to any part of my illustrations. This is neither a good or bad thing to me. I like to feel chalky pastels on my hands and mix the water/paint content in a hit and miss manner and be amazed with the results. It's like flying without substantial wings.
However, I have in my life someone who I tend to love listening to a fair bit... Who's ideas are so vastly different from mine, sometimes purely based on practicality or sensibility! Who'd have ever thought! So when I pondered out loud to this man about my predicament of whether or not to colour this lady, he said: "Well surely you'd just scan it in with the scanner you have connected to the computer you have in front of you and test it out in Photoshop to see what you want to do with it."
My reaction? "Oh my god, thats brilliant!"
He went to leave the room, then stopped rather abruptly and said to me..."Oh, you're being serious aren't you! you really hadn't thought of that? It was so obvious I thought you were being sarcastic..."

Can I just point out this person isn't an artist... But I thank him all the same...
(xox)

So... the result? I still don't know if she's going to have colour or not, but at least its in file format, not grubby, colourful fingers on the actual page...

Piece by Piece

I like to create pieces like these in stages. Sometimes I'll sit and start and finish a piece in a mental sitting, but mostly I'll draw it up in pencil, rest with it a bit, enjoy the process of choosing every individual item/expression/emotion/symbolism in the piece. When I'm ready, I take a deep breath and head in with ink.

"Penny" in progress...
Finding images of Penny Farthings was wonderful for this one... I always like to reference images if I'm going to draw something I don't see everyday.
Did you know someone's made a Penny Farthing Motorcycle??!!

Up close details for "Penny" and "Eagle in the Sky"

"Eagle in the Sky" in sketch form didn't take on too many variations... I changed her gloves to incorporate feathers (whatever I sketched out reminded me of the weird frills you'd find on cooked turkeys. Not really the kind of intimidation I was going for with her.)
The falling dead bird was kind of an after thought but its now what I'm drawn to the most.
It reminds me of laying down harmonies in a song and then never hearing the song without them...
The pencil sketch by the edge of her skirt in the second image was going to be an eagle skeleton, but with the dead bird, perhaps death overkill for a pretty exhibition...

Finding out what I Love...

I recently made a conscious decision to make a mental (or otherwise) note of the things I love. The things that inspire me - either through beauty or repulsion, intrigue or familiarity.
It seems the happier I am, the darker my art can take me...

Here is a glimpse at the process for some of the pieces I'll be exhibiting as part of Frauleins Orchard.

 "Lady She Enters" (210x297 ink on paper)
She is the first in a series of five... Each character introduced has an 'ailment'... something from the earth living or growing from them.

"Flowers and Bees" (210x297 ink on paper)
This is the second piece - Its from the other side of the door from above.
(That bee hive took me close to 3 hours... and there may be some hidden treasures amongst the flowers...)

"Penny" (210x297 ink on paper)
She is the third piece - I feel a bit strange about this one. I've never modeled an illustrated face on an actual face before, but I felt like this one wanted it. So I asked for an appropriate photo to be taken of me to draw it from - at first not for the face, but more just for the positioning of the arms and hands. As I got round  to her face I thought I'd keep looking at the photo... So out came my face.
Or so I thought it did... now when I look at her all I can see is Madonna...

"Eagle in the Sky" (210x297 ink on paper)
She is part four...She's the darkest, the strongest, the most beautiful... She has her place within the Orchard to maintain balance. Nothing can be all pretty and clean, blooming and full of life...She is the balance. (she is my favourite)

Drawing my head off...

Coming up on June 2nd (which is far few days for me to care to count) is the opening of Frauleins Orchard at Urban Cow Studio.
This is the part two of what was last year Frauleins Playthings.

 So, I've been drawing my head off... each piece is taking somewhere between 6 to 36 hours...

Ramble down an orchard lane

Climb a ladder in the dappled shade.

Pluck sweet fruit for jam, then

Lie back on lawn and listen to the leaves

 

fräuleins orchard

 

MEDIA RELEASE

Opening night, Wednesday June 3rd, 6pm

Urban Cow Gallery, 11 Frome Street, Adelaide

Exhibition runs until June 28th

After a hugeley successful first show, fräuleins playthings, the girls are back. Individually the girls handiwork has graced the pages of magazines such as frankie, Sumptuous, InsideOut, Attitude, featured in a number of exhibitions around the country as well taking pride of place on the necks, blouses, in the hands of and on the walls of sassy ladies around Australia.

A concept born from nuturing talented young female creatives in Adelaide, Urban Cow Studio presents a harvest of works from these eight nature-loving artists and designers. Working in the heirloom varieties of painting, illustration and jewellery, this collective continues to nurture one another’s ideas, cultivating a creativity that promises to blossom into a rare display of colour and beauty. The artistic fruits of the Fräuleins are ripe for the picking.

FEATURING

 

Clockwise from top left: Georgia Gabrielle Jewellery, Naomi Murrell Jewellery/Illustration, Elisa Mazzone Illustration, Katrina Weber Jewellery/Textiles, Anna Creasy  Illustration, Ruby Chew Mixed Media, Peta Alannah Chigwidden Painting, Joelie Croser Illustration

For more information contact Elisa at elisamazzone@yahoo.com.au

High resolution images available upon request.

Visit the fräuleins blog

http://www.frauleins-playthings.blogspot.com