After the chaos, back to work.

We are in recovery, and I am drawing. A lot.

Plus, we escaped to Sydney for a minute.

Slowly, we are coming back to normal after the chaos of (in case you missed it) a Christmas Day tornado, extreme weather, disaster zone living. We have Starlink internet now and it is pretty dang good (there is still no other service available here due to the state of the phone lines post tornado.) My little family and I flew to Sydney for a few days’ break last week and it was the breath of fresh air we so very much needed. We saw Amanda Palmer’s show and had overdue hugs, caught up with friends and family, and the result is I’m feeling more positive, I have been drawing more, and I have some new things to share with you all.

This is what 100 Painted Polaroids look like.

Over the last 6 months, I have been working on a new series of these, drawing from my collection of photographs from a decade spent doing visits and residencies in amusement areas, mainly Coney Island (NYC), but also Blackpool and Margate (UK) and Vienna Prater (Austria). I wanted to contrast the brightness of some of these images with the themes at play, as well as explore some of the more worn, decayed elements in the photographs. The body of work examines the themes of the last few years in our collective consciousness

It is titled “Post Pandemic”.
It considers global events, politics, where the culture is headed.
And looks at our collective mental health in the wake of all of this.

I for one have been feeling the effects of covid – closed borders, lockdowns, health, social isolation, and becoming a parent into the mix. I have struggled more mentally at times than at almost every other point in my life. Here’s some detailed looks at the series:

A handful of these artworks are now available via Saatchi Art, and I am hoping to exhibit them at some point in the future. To see the available works, click below.

I have also been working away in the background at developing some fast drawings for live events. I will soon be launching a new portfolio with my agency IllustrationX, at which point I will be available to create 5-10 minute live drawings at weddings, parties, fashion shows, instore and corporate events. Guests at these events can experience a live sitting or be drawn from a photo and take home a unique portrait artwork to keep.

There’s something about creating rapid fire fast artworks like this that makes my style feel more fun, spontaneous, loose and immediate – and I am really enjoying drawing more freely and seeing the results. It harks back to a time earlier in my career when things looked a bit more abstract and I am enjoying that.

Drawing under these conditions definitely requires a bit of practice, so I have been joining live catch-up sessions run by the amazing Drawing Cabaret Couture in London and if you are an artist who loves fashion, I cannot recommend them more! Here’s some of the (fast) fruits of my labour – 3, 5 and 10 minute studies.

Plus more new samples for this portfolio.

I am anticipating that I may get some enquiries locally for live event drawings at weddings – so here are some samples with this in mind.

To enquire about booking me to create live portraits for your guests to keep at a wedding or other event, please click below and my agency and I will get you booked in!

I will leave you with these sketches from the incredible Maison Margiela Artisanal show a week or 2 back – drawn from the catwalk video, I loved how the show incorporated various locations and views, and the broken doll aesthetic. John Galliano is forever my favourite fashion designer.