Half way there!

I have passed the half way mark of the #the100day project! Woo hoo! It's pretty crazy to think that I have created 50 fairies already, and just as crazy to think that I am going to do the same again.

Phoenix fairy

As the project progresses I am learning more and more and my fairies are getting better and better. Since, I have had a bit of press too, I feel the pressure to create something good each time!

Bee fairy

Of course I want to create good work, but I do have a bit of a time limit, especially trying to fit it in around my crazy baby!

What I am loving about this though is that I feel like I'm falling a little bit in love each time I create one. It is so much fun. 

Rabbit fairy

I am also buzzing with ideas and am thinking of creating a book with my best fairies in it. That is really exciting! There are a couple of websites that allow you to create your own book, I just need to learn how to do it. 

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my latest fairies!
Don't forget to suggest a fairy for me!

Glitter and Earth in the press

So it has been an exciting week this week! We had a photographer come round to take some photos for an article in The Cornishman. I was a bit nervous, but it was actually a lot of fun and I am thrilled with the results.

We had lots of bubbles to play with and Tabitha spent the rest of the day waving her wand!

I had hoped to do a Cottingley inspired photo shoot outside and so I drew some fairies and cut them out. However it was really windy on Tuesday and so we decided todo it indoors instead!

In bloom

This time of year is beautiful in Cornwall. The flowers keep opening up, one by one, and before you know it, summer is here!

It's also relatively quiet down here at the moment, so you can find yourself alone on a beach and enjoy the wildness. The sea pinks in the photo are my favourite Cornish flower - they look like little fairy bouquets!

I've just finished these pictures and I will take them to the Roundhouse and Casptan Gallery later this week. It's a really gorgeous gallery and I'm so pleased to be part of it.

I'm looking forward to creating lots more work for them and spreading my fairy magic wherever it is needed.

The fairies keep coming!

So, I wrote before about starting the #100dayproject and doing #100fairies. Back then I had no idea how much I was going to get into it and how much time it was going to take.

What I initially thought was going to be variations of my little glitter style fairies have turned into explorations of faces and techniques.

I have started to play with Procreate, an app for the iPad, where I can develop sketches that I did earlier in the day, usually when Tabitha has some food!

These images take an hour or so to do, but they also are stories of characters that have potential to be turned into fully fledged stories.

Me and my girl

So, this is a little bit about the fun I get up to with my little girl!

I wake up next to my beautiful little girl every morning and  smile at the random comments she makes first thing. For a 22 month old, she has a remarkable vocabulary and understanding. She can identify seagulls, pigeons and crows from their calls and so she often says the name of the bird she can hear.

This morning she said 'group hug' and so we all cuddled and I marvelled at how lovely it was.

The sunshine has been making life a lot easier and a lot more fun. We walk the dogs up the field at the end of the lane where we can look at horses and plane spot, or we go to the top of Sennen where everyone can run around happily!

I really like to exercise and I miss being able to go for long walks, but I have discovered that yoga outside is something that I can do when it's warm. Tabitha tends to bimble around and this gives me the space to stretch without getting bounced on! So, this is great progress for me and I'm starting to have a much more regular practice again.

Today Tabitha delighted in saying 'abradabra, frog, frog, frog' where I pretended she had turned me into a frog, bouncing around and croaking. She then magicked me back to being mummy and hugged my leg each time! Very cute! 

This was inspired by Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom which has made a big impression. She is pretty obsessed with the fish Big  Bad Barry and talks about him a LOT! 

I try not to let her watch too many programmes, but sometimes it's the only way I get anything done. She's happy and safe and I manage to make dinner or get some painting done without going crazy.

She's a pretty lively baby and she is always on the go. To be honest I'm pretty happy when she falls asleep as this gives me a little bit of a breather. 

Some days I look forward to a little more calmness and regaining a bit more of 'me', but then the thought of this, of all the closeness, cuddles and newness, coming to an end is unthinkable!  It's been such an incredible experience that it makes me determined  to appreciate the moment. 

We go to bed early together and read stories or cuddle until she falls asleep. I'm lucky if I can slip away. She is fine tuned to my presence and wakes really easily when I'm gone. I just thank goodness for my iPad and that I can get on with lots of things! 

And, to be honest, I'm pretty tired by then too. It's nice to snuggle up and I know that these moments are so, so, precious. 

Competition winner,

The winner of my competition for the feather fairy picture is........ Lindsey Wallace! Congratulations!

Lindsey suggested that I wrote posts about my life with Tabitha and that is something that I would love to do too!

I also wanted to give a runner up prize to Sheila Sayer who wants to see a video of me doing my work. I love this idea and shall look forward to doing it! It might be a little while though as I'm going to have to learn some editing skills!

I've really appreciated everyone's comments and feedback! It makes me really happy when I see that someone has taken the time to read and comment! Thank you so much!

100 fairies

100 fairies

Well there is something about a creative project that I can't resist. Perhaps it's because it makes me feel like a student again, being sent off into the world with a suggestion and an idea to create. There is the need for discipline and also the search for a greater learning.

This is something that I love to do and so when I came across the 100 day project I was immediately inspired to join in.

The 100 day project was actually inspired originally by a teacher who tasked his students to create anything for 100 days, but that 'anything' was the same thing. 

"For years, Michael Bierut led graduate graphic design students at the Yale School of Art in a workshop that he called “The 100 Day Project.” The premise for the class was simple: each student chose one action to repeat every day for 100 days. For example, one student made a poster in under a minute every day for 100 days; another danced in public every day and made a video; another student, Rachel Berger, picked a paint chip out of a bag and responded to it in writing for 100 days."

So, last year Elle Luna and her friends hash tagged their projects on Instagram and found that the camaraderie and accountability was incredibly exciting.

The project was so successful that it is running again this year and I'm excited to have begun my hundred day journey!

Of course, it won't be exactly the same thing. After all where would the fun be in that? The joy comes in the little differences that occur, that are exploited and directed to create something new.

Of course I had to choose to create 100 fairies! And of course I don't really have the time, but my fairies were built for speed and repetition! What I am looking forward to is playing with pattern and incorporating new elements into my work.

It's so easy to reuse certain shapes or colours that are almost ingrained habits. I want to discover new shapes, new flowers, wing shapes, fairy hairstyles, fairy homes, fairy animals! It's exciting just thinking about it! It doesn't matter that I don't have the time. It's just one of those things that I will find the time for because it gives me permission to explore the things I really want to do! 

Join me on my journey at #100fairies. Discover other people's projects at #100dayproject.

Read more and join in www.thegreatdiscontent/100days