It's a small world after all

On a recent visit to London, we stumbled across the National Guild of Toymakers annual shop/exhibition and there we saw some wonderful things. Inculding a cut out and make red paper dragon and the amazing teeny, tiny automata toys of St Ledger Autmomata.com.
http://www.stlegerautomata.com/index.html

These miniscule painted metal figures are only around 1 cm tall but when you wind their handles, they start to move and come alive and tell short, humorous tales. Brillant. Personal favourites, were the wizard, the dentist, the levitating lady and Samson the strong man.

Invention

Here you can see, my initial sketch for the storytelling machine and a photo of the finished article. It has now been sent up to the museum in Shetland which will be opening sometime in the new year.

Sailing home

Lily Ship
(30 x 15)

Things I saw in London and Brighton

Brighton Pier

Nice Horsey

An old woman contemplates facing the wild river

A disco ball weather vane

Bad Horsey

A nice little tent - what wonders does it contain?

A lone man faces out to sea and meditates on the smallness of life - or maybe he is just having a pee

Tower Bridge. Doesn't Ann look like she's having a great time in London.


The exit from the secret bunker - somewhere near Epping Forest? This is where the Government would have gone in the event of nuclear war right up until 1993.

Top thing to go see if you are in NYC Friday night

If you are around Brooklyn on Friday night then you should go visit the Riviera gallery in Williamsburg and check out the "MY TOWN IS YOUR TOWN, I LIKE WHAT YOU LIKE" show by rachel salomon, gina triplett and matt curtius. Where you will some great work by the very talented miss rachel salomon. http://www.rachelsalomon.com/

opening: friday, november 10, 7-10 pm

RIVIERA
103 metropolitan ave (718) 599-5589
www.seeyouattheriviera.com

IF: Smoke

My first entry into the weekly illustration fun and games of "Illustration Friday" http://www.illustrationfriday.com/.
I'm going to have to come up with a proper name for my wee blobby guy as I keep on drawing him. Here he is telling a lighthouse keeper off for smoking a pipe.

Boom, boom shake the room

Tonight is bonfire night in the UK, a celebration of the failed attempt to blow up the houses of parliment some several hundred years ago. Slightly odd tradition, we all gather round large fires and unskilled and untrained people start setting off small but powerful explosives into the sky.

I sat up on the roof eating a pizza and watching the events occur 360 degress around the city. All you could hear were loud bangs and distant booms, intermingled with the sirens of countless emergency vechicles zooming around. Was a beautiful but slightly uncomfortable experience, felt like the city was under attack on all sides, from a very bright and sparkly enemy.

The power of hoo doo

Yesterday was a spooky day. I foolishly read a horror story when I got home from work and less than an hour after finishing it the power cut to my whole flat. Gav and I investigated but could find nothing wrong. I phoned Scottish Power who advised they were sending out an engineer. I then sat up in bed waiting, reading by the light of a candle and trying to put the spooky sounds of distant fireworks and things on the roof moving, out my head. I waited and waited as my candle flickered and burned lower and lower, I fell asleep.

The next morning, a little annoyed, I called Scottish Power again.

"I'm sorry sir", they advised "We have no record of you calling last night. Are you sure you called us?"

I think halloween arrived a day late to Camphill Gate.