Art swag

My bookcase has been graced with new treasures.

My lovely friend, the cartoonist Paul Cemmick, is moving house and in the process, has offloaded some books about my favourite artists to me.

The Big Three are here – Schiele, Klimt and Mucha.

I'm seriously looking forward to switching off the phone and spending some time with these guys!

Pearl 

Magical rebels

Walking into town, I found myself following some kids covered in paint.

My guess is that is this was a bunch of school-leavers, on their final formal day of school. On closer inspection, their shirts were covered with good luck messages.

I was reminded of Alexander McQueen's Dress 13, which was sprayed with paint by two industrial robots during a catwalk show.

And I also thought of the spring Hindu holiday Holi, or the Festival of Colours, where people throw paint over each other in a free-for-all celebration of good triumphing over evil.

I love how paint and colour have been used in these instances to break the rules, to signify victory, celebration or rebellion.

It made me think about how art and creativity is all about breaking the rules.


Go, go, rebels!

Pearl 

May flower

It's another flowery one today, folks. 

 
But I love this time of year - May is my favourite month. 

All around, lushness and gorgeousness is bursting out. It seems wherever I look, I am dazzled by beauty. 

Those long, hard winter months have been worth it - the flowers have survived. They were just sleeping all that time, and now they have exploded from the darkness with enthusiasm and joy. 

It's good to remind myself about these cycles of life, magic and creativity - things don't often happen on a smooth trajectory. You have winter, and then you have summer. You low creative energy, and then you have inspiration.

Pearl  

A hat trick

Everybody knows I love my hats.

I saw a homemade keyring in a shop the other day – it was a little creature fashioned in flowery fabric, with two horns coming out of its head. I was reminded of the little horned icon-logo for the 90's jazz-pop band Jamiroquai (who's lead singer Jay Kay is another hat fanatic). 
 

And then today I had lunch in the beautiful gardens of Glyndebourne opera house... et voila!

Pearl  

Walking past magic

I walked past a tarot reader in the street this weekend.

She looked amazing – tumbling black dreadlocks, long flowing maroon robes and bright silver eye-makeup.

She caught my eye and smiled – I smiled back, but I was too shy to ask if I could take her photo. I walked on, and when I glanced back over my shoulder, she was still watching me.

I expect she will certainly turn into a painting at some point.

And she if she were reading your cards today – and anything you dreamed could come true – what would it be?

Pearl 

Pirates' plunder

Sunny days often draw me to Brighton beach.

I love to spend time trawling through the beachfront shacks and stands. They sell everything from rainbow sticks of rock and plastic spades through to fine art and high end fashion. A few fortune tellers and performers are thrown in for good measure, too.

I like to lose myself amid the colours of acid pink, saccharine yellow and solvent lime green.

Sun-bleached, rust-stained and paint-peeling textures juxtapose with freshly-dyed plastic, polished glass and jewel-coloured candies.

The crowds that mingle and stroll along the seafront are filled with characters that I mentally stow away into my vaults of inspiration...

A lovely kind of magic!

Pearl  

Lion heart

Courage – what does it take to just dive in?

My lovely friend Jan, a fellow artist, came round to my studio to talk about art today.

We talked about mediums, materials, processes... how to get started with something, how to deal with challenges.

Jan and I have very different styles when it comes to artwork, but as I always find with creative types, its amazing to discover how much we have in common.

There is always this idea in the back your head that everyone else knows what they're doing while you're just muddling through.

But to a degree, everyone's bluffing – you just need to find the courage to give things a go.

Personally, when it comes to creating a piece of art, I've never been too bothered if something goes wrong or doesn't come out right. I just try it again, knowing that I will have learned something along the way.

'And that's when the magic happens, isn't it?' said Jan.

Totally.

Pearl 

Where is the sandman?

Ahhh! Here's how I'm feeling after a night of insomnia and an early start! Ugh...

Magic kit

Who needs magic wands when you can get a Bic pen from the corner shop for 70p? 

 
I won't deny that walking into a studio that's stuffed with delicious art equipment is an exciting feeling...

But tomorrow I am heading back to my summer night job at the opera house. 

To be honest, I can't wait - but it will mean less time with my art. 

However - I will be packing my stealthy mini art kit for when I can grab a minutes to draw. And here it is - a ball-point pen and a 99p sketch book. 

No excuses, people! 
 
Pearl  

Glitter girl

I was sitting in a cafe the other day, when the music caught my attention. 

 
I rushed off to find a waitress, to see if she could tell me what it was. 

But no, the music was just on a loop and nobody knew what the tracks were. 

So I dashed back to my seat, grabbed my phone, and began to download Shazam, an app that can help identify music. 

Of course it took ages - but fortunately, the app loaded just in time before the track ended, and I was able to identify it as Hooch, by the singer Kelis. 

I used to listen to Kelis a lot was younger, and it reminded me of how important music is to me when it comes to inspiration. 

The track kicked off this illustration, Glitter Girl. 
 
Pearl  

Voting is lit

Hi guys, sorry for the delay with this one. 
 

The drawing I am working on is not finished yet - I was going to share another work in progress pic, but I think I will wait to show you the thing when it is completed. 

Meanwhile, here's another piece I have done for a campaign called 'Voting Is Lit'. The organisers are looking for ways to help get young people registered for the up-coming election in Britain. 

I remember only too well the feeling of utter hopelessness and the sense that voting would be a complete waste of time - but as an older person I kind of want to say, give it a go, regardless. 

So anyway, this image is going be used as part of a big social media push, so hopefully it will go towards achieving something. 

Have a fab weekend,

Pearl  

The 'flow' state

You hear people talking about this mysterious 'flow' state. 

 
Where you're working on something that you love, and the hours just fly past and you don't even notice. 

This happens to me when I draw. 

I get started, and then I just can't stop. I think, ok. In twenty minutes' time I'll pack up. But the next time I look up to check the clock, an hour and a half has gone by. 

So, I'm sorry this post isn't more interesting, but I was working on this drawing! 

I'll try to get it finished tomorrow so that I can share it with you. 
 
Pearl  

The magic bus

One of the most magical moments of my life happened to me when

It was about ten years ago in London.

It must have been around this time of the year, because I was sitting at the front of the top floor on an old Routemaster double-decker, looking at all the cherry blossom wending its way past the windows.

We were precariously weaving our way through the crooked streets of Stoke Newington, when I suddenly had the feeling that some kind of invisible sunshine had broken through and was shining on me.

Looking around, I could see that everything – everything – was a miracle.

It wasn't an out-of-body experience, but I did have a momentary appreciation for everything that was happening around the planet at that moment.

I thought about people in far away countries who have zero awareness that I exist, perhaps also riding on a bus... and it somehow made me feel happy.

I don't often spontaneously have moments like this, especially when I'm wrapped up in worries or frustrations. But perhaps it's something that can be cultivated :)

Pearl 

Flower nymphs

The persistent chill in the air is misleading.

 An abundance of gorgeous blooms bursting out all around us suggests that winter is (should be) well and truly behind us.

A bit of time in the park today has sparked the exploration of a couple of flowery nymphs...

Pearl 

Calm waters

I stood on the beach this weekend, and looked out to the horizon.

 The sky was huge and moody. There was a chilled edge to the breeze that blew in from across the water.

But here and there, the sun broke through the clouds in rays and shone on the glass-smooth surface of the sea.

It was beautiful and magical. 

I shall remember this scene, for the next time when I need to feel calm!
Pearl  

Mystical magical town

Is this a fantasy town? 

The houses look as though they have been cut from a sheet of cardboard. Wire trees stand behind them, and everything is lit with a torch, or even flickering candlelight.

Or maybe these are miniature houses for elves, fashioned from pieces of snail shell and mouse skull, and standing amid towering clumps of moss

Or maybe these houses are on a human scale, and inside them are writers, doctors, marketing experts, cashiers or sock designers...

Pearl  

Treasure uncovered

My brain is always primed for inspiration.

It's something I learned while studying with brilliant tutors at Brighton College of Technology (now City College Brighton & Hove).

Every day, we students were churning out a huge volume of work, and constantly encouraged to scour the world around us for sparks of visual inspiration.

Almost every day now, I'll spot something that catches my eye.

Here is a yesterday's find – a piece of brilliant blue plastic nestled amid chalky stones.

I'll file this away in my subconscious, but as yet, I'm not sure what it will re-emerge as.

A mirror into another universe, perhaps... the missing piece to the princess's crown... a love amulet that got lost on the way to its rightful owner... hmm!

Pearl 

Your playful heart

Jim Carrey came up in conversation today.

 Zany, goofy, keerrrayyzeee.... and spiritual?

He is, in my opinion, an artist who has struck gold when it comes to discovering the magic of wisdom.

Here's five minutes of Jim Carrey-style inspiration for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sIg4wVNqoM

Pearl  

Childish things

I used to hate Picasso's work.

But then an ex-gangster took it upon himself to educate me. 'You can't call yourself an ahh'ist and not like Picasso,' he snarled. And so he introduced me to the Picasso museum in Barcelona.

Picasso is famously quoted as saying, 'It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child',

This weekend, my nephew invited me around to his new house for tea. The house was in the countryside, and the views from the front windows were lovely. He offered me several kinds of unusual tea, including strawberry, which is what I opted for. We also had orange and chocolate cookies.

Then the neighbours - a pair of flies – also popped round to join us for tea. Turns out, these fly neighbours have their very own tiny toy diggers that they love to play with.

Well, you've guessed it - my nephew is just three years old, his house is a tent in the garden, and everything (apart from the flies) was effortlessly spun from his imagination.

It's interesting to take a moment and have a think about what we are aiming for, when we try to create magic.

Pearl 

Little treasures

E.H.Shepard was one of the first artists whose work came to my attention.

I can remember sitting on my bedroom floor, maybe aged two or three, poring over his illustrations for A.A. Milnes' Winnie the Pooh books.

I was so enchanted that I even wanted to be called Christopher Robin.

Yesterday, I found a little book of poems by Georgette Agnew in a junk shop – printed in 1927.

It's illustrated by E.H. Shepard, and the drawings are wonderful. The lines are elegant and beautiful – 'aesthetically pleasing', shall we say – and yet they are also full of such sweetness, humour and magic.

It was lovely to revisit his work - sometimes it's really worth it to take yourself back to your earliest sparks of inspiration.

I'm going to take the bank holiday Monday off. So I look forward to checking in with you again on Tuesday! I'm wishing you all a lovely spring break with plenty of chocolate.

Pearl