Ollerina

Manchester Christmas Market

I have just spent a lovely four days selling my creative wares at the first week of the Manchester Christmas Markets. It seems to have spread across the whole city and is looking very pretty and magical.

We met lots of lovely and interesting people and it was nice to meet people that enjoyed my artwork so a big thank you to everyone who liked it. 

It would have been nice to do every weekend in the run up to Christmas  but with 3 year old Ollie in tow I think it would be a bit much to feed him pannini's and babycinos for breakfast dinner and tea for more than one long weekend!

It was slightly embarrassing to have to explain that my web address was actually my blog and you couldn't buy my work on-line because I just hadn't gotten around to doing one. No excuse when my brother in-law has been offering to build one for a year or more. I shall be fixing that lack of website shortly (3 months I think/hope). 

I haven't been to my blog for so long they have changed the interface and I don't know how to work it.

I should be coming to the end of my confinement soon though (the sick part of being pregnant) so I may even post some art, I have two new pictures.

The Fairy Float

This is a sketch from a whole batch I did a while ago called The Fairy Float. I recently redrew it and soon it will be time to start painting. I had better hurry up because I have about 15 sketches yet to paint and a backlog forming in my brain. For now though I will post the revised Fairy Float.

Oh my poor abandoned blog! I think I must have a bit of creative burnout, that's my excuse anyway. I do have a a couple of pictures to post in a week or two once I've given myself a bit of a kick up the bottom.

Next week I'll be...

My second craft fair will be at the Canal side Food and Craft Market 2009, it's on the 20th and the 21st of June but I will only be there with all my art on Sunday the 21st 11am-4pm Town Wharf, Trent & Mersey Canal, Middlewich.

I've never been before but it's part of the Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival 2009 which a friend of mine sometimes clog dances at with her mom, small world!

My first craft fair

These are some pictures of my stall at my first craft fair, at The Chorlton Arts Festival craft market.
It was a fabulous craft fair with loads of great stalls. Unfortunately I didn't have much time to look around as it got quite busy. Ollie got to see Wallace and Gromit The Curse of the Were-rabbit in the scout hut with daddy, he came back really excited because the curtain fell down half way through, how exciting.

The Jewel Keepers

Monday the 18th May saw the book launch of The Jewel Keepers in Chorlton.
The Jewel Keepers Book One: Albion by E.J.Bousfield is a fantasy fiction trilogy.

Elaine is a lovely member of the SCBWI book group I attend. This is her first book to be published, I've got my copy for my summer read if you want yours it's published by Kings Hart Books 

ISBN-10: 1906154147

ISBN-13: 978-1906154141

Buy this book from Amazon

The Jewel Keepers is a magical fantasy that centers around two girls, separated by centuries of time, but united by a mysterious Jewel. The novel is set in Katie’s world, the modern world of Britain but we are also taken to Mortunda’s world – the Celtic past of Britain when people lived in tribes and believed that the world around them was alive and magical. Mortunda’s tribe is the Brigante and it was one of the largest tribes in pre-roman Britain.

I have drawn on lots of historical research to paint Mortunda’s world and although Mortunda herself is not an historical figure, there are people in the novel who are (especially in book two). The trilogy is set at the time when Albion was on the brink of being taken into the Roman Empire and explores what that might have been like for the different tribes, as well as following the story of the Jewel Keeper.

The Jewel Keepers is a tale of power, religion, war, belief and friendship.

My exhibition, Twilight Twinkle and Fairy Fun.

This is very exciting. I haven't really seen all my work in one place since my college shows. I have to say I've impressed myself I think it looks really good. I hadn't realised I had been so busy drawing and painting.

My exhibition Twilight Twinkle and Fairy Fun is at The Pottery Corner, Until the middle of July as part of the Chorlton Arts Festival. 

34 Beech Road
Chorlton
Manchester
M21 9EL

Opening Times

Tuesday - Saturday 10.00am-6.00pm. Thursday Open 'til 8pm. Sunday 11am-5pm

Contact 0161-882-0010

[email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

I really should have put some make-up on for this one.

Craft fair imminent hurry!

My first craft fair... These are a selection of pictures of the chaos in our house when I was making stock for my first ever craft fair. There were a few issues like when Ollie broke my badge machine trying to make himself a blue bunny badge but all in all I quite enjoyed myself. Although Ollie's first words to me the morning after the fair were...
"Mommy why do you do all the boring stuff and not play?"

 

Keep cutting, should have brought a cutter!
  

Framing prints.This is the Virgo in me, I can't bear to tape the back of my prints so I had to cut out hundreds of little triangles to hold them in place.

Philip Carvey, the Sebastian Darke novels.

Right it's blogging time. I've been pretty busy lately but I've done and dusted a few deadlines so it's time to clear my head of all the things I want to blog.

The last SCBWI North West regional event for 2009 took place on the 2nd May in Manchester.

It was a talk by the author Philip Carvey, the writer of the Sebastian Darke novels. I arrived feeling a bit poor but 2 minutes into the talk I had to get myself one of those books. Philip Carvey was a great speaker telling the story of how he came to write for children, which he did initially for his daughter who wanted to read one of his books, his adult stories were highly unsuitable. When he told of how at the beginning of his writing career he was so slow it took him a year to write a novel I nearly choked, I've been writing mine for about four years. I think it takes him about three months now, I can only dream. I love these events it's great to meet other creative people and learn from them. He's from Manchester too, we have loads of cool people here!

The next event is on the 7th November 2009 "The things I know now that I wish I'd known then." A Talk By Steve Hartley

Steve was at the first writers group I ever went to and gave me some invaluable advice. He was one of the winners of the SCBWI Undiscovered Voices 2008 and has signed an eight-story, four -book deal with Macmillan to publish Danny Baker, Record Breaker. Danny Baker was Steve's entry to the 2008 Undiscovered Voices anthology competition.

Tickets are £5 to book email Stephanie at [email protected]