Object Stories

 

 This new zine features four short stories that explain the relationship between people and objects and memory. Its one of the projects from my big ol' Master's project. I'll be sharing more of that work over the coming weeks. In the meantime the zine is here.

May Drawing Sale

So! In an alarmingly small number of days I will be handing in all my work for my Masters Degree at Central St Martins. This means that in June I'll be part of the degree show exhibition and in order to not totally disgrace myself I'll need to fork out for a tonne of printing over the coming month. So in an attempt to raise some funds for that I'm selling off some drawings and paintings.
  As usual If you're interested in purchasing anything send an email to lizzy (at) abouttoday.co.uk and include where you live so that I can work out the postage. I'm afraid I can only take payment via paypal. All work is signed and wrapped in cellophane to keep it clean. 

'Arm Chair' Pencil  £35

'Shrub Cat' Watercolour SOLD

'Swimmers' Watercolour SOLD

'Daydream' Watercolour £30

'Sit Down' Watercolour SOLD

'Gare du Nord' Ink SOLD

'Esther' Ink SOLD

'House' Watercolour SOLD

'Wrapped up' Watercolour £30

Four Days in Iceland

 Last week I spent four days in Iceland, mostly in Reykjavik, with three of my closest friends. Somewhat predictably I fell totally in love with the place (Mountains! Ice! Multi Coloured Houses!)
and am now having a proper sulk about being back in London. 

  I did a fair bit of drawing whilst I was there and the drawings are now crammed into a zine which you can pre-order here (it'll ship next week once its back from the printer.). Pre-orders come with a postcard print of this drawing from a couple of years back. 

Four Days in Brussels

I went to Brussels a couple of weeks ago and drew a load of pictures as I pottered about the city. The drawings can now be found in this 24 page zine. 

Drawing/Painting Sale

Haven't done one of these in a wee while. Below are a load of drawings and paintings that need new home. If you're interested in purchasing anything send an email to lizzy (at) abouttoday.co.uk and include where you live so that I can work out the postage. I can only take payment via paypal cos..you know...thats how the internet work I guess. 

 New Dress- Ink- £14

 Shelves- Watercolour- £28

 St Basils- SOLD

 Plant Pots- SOLD

 Climbing Frame- Watercolour- £20

 Schoolgirl- Ink- £14

 Schoolboy- ink £14

 Hat- Pencil- £14

 Great Bear- Pencil- £38

Sit Down- Watercolour- £35

Comic Book Slumber Party

 

AHOY! This wednesday I'll be talking at the Comic Book Slumber Party as part of the Bath Literary festival. I'll be talking with the excellent Philippa Rice about self-publishing and making a living from drawing pictures and whatnot. It might be interesting...at the very least it'll be distracting. There are a load of amazing people taking part (Gemma Correll, Donya Todd and Wai Wai Pang to name but three) and the whole day is totally and utterly free...which is pretty flipping great if you ask me.

You can book tickets to my talk here  and find out more about whats on here. 

Who we are and what we do

 Currently I am studying for a masters degree in Communication Design at Central St Martins. Its called 'Communication Design' but as I have no other strings to my, very, flimsy bow I'm sticking with illustrative communication because, lets face it, that's pretty much all I care about. So there are a few strands to my research but my primary goal is that at the end of the two years, which is now fast approaching, I will have a better understanding of what it is that I do.

 

I think Illustration is important. Not in a real sense, not as how I think feminism is important or social justice or the heartbreaking dismantling of the NHS, of course its not important like that. But within the culture of art and design illustration is significant, not least because it has always been here. Putting information into pictures has been humankind's way of explaining life for centuries; from cave paintings to maps of the stars to diagrams of the human body. Images can be the most powerful, concise and comprehensive way of dispensing information to a varied audience as everyone is, on some level, visually literate. We look at pictures before we can speak, we draw before we write. We know, from childhood, how to read a picture and that makes it immediately more accessible than anything written might be. I think pictures are instinctive and intuitive and, as a result, carry some weight.

However the existence of photography and film dictates that illustration need no longer be the single pictorial delivery method for factual information. Instead the illustrator's role is shifting and currently exists in a fairly malleable state in which we, the artists, can decide who we are and what we do. Perhaps we're not even illustrators anymore?

SO. What I'm wondering is what other Illustrators identify their role as being. 

• How do you define 'illustration'? 
• Do you operate under the title 'illustrator' or the more general (and increasingly popular) 'creative' or perhaps you have another name for what you do? And is ALL the work you make illustration?
• Where do you see your work fitting within Art & Design?
• What is the importance of images for you?

  
If you have the time, and indeed the inclination, I was wondering if any illustrator reading might email me their answers to the above questions. I'd really appreciate it and I think (and hope) that together we might be able to come up with some kind of portrait of what we do and why our artform deserves as much critical and historical analysis as any other artistic endeavor. 

EMAIL TO-  lizzy (at) abouttoday.co.uk 



 






 

Quiet Wilderness

The work I did for 'The Call of the Wild' is now on my website. These drawings and paintings focus on my immediate surroundings; the corner of South London that I live in. It is relatively quiet and somewhat neglected around the edges. From our bathroom window your eye can follow a tangle of hedges and fences upwards towards chimneys that stretch towards Battersea. Whilst not 'wild' in the traditional sense this place, to me, has a kind of wilderness quality found in the falling fences and peaceful streets, as though it is waiting to be discovered.

Call of the Wild

I have some new work in this show that opens in Hackney on Thursday and runs all weekend. There are a healthy handful of great artists involved so if you're in town then pop along and have a nose around!

Colossal update

WOAH. I let this blog languish somewhat eh? Oops. I'm going to catch you up RIGHT NOW. Sit tight, its about to get link heavy. 

I moved house! I can now be found hibernating through winter with talented lasses Ping Zhu and Eleni Kalorkoti and clever chap Otto Boreson. Today this is the view from my window.

I'm still at Central St Martins working on my masters degree. If you want to pitch in with some of my research visit here... or look at some sketches from the project (waaaay more to come in the future) here.

I updated my website a bit. There's new stuff dotted all over and a load of old stuff is gone. Hopefully in the coming months it'll be totally spruced up. Its good to purge the old stuff, the things that don't feel relevant. New year! 

AND FINALLY. My shop has relocated. Its here now and there are new prints and cards and whatnot  for you to peruse. There's also the option to order any of the images from my site as a print if you fancy.

And thats more or less it! There will be more stuff here in future. Perhaps in different forms than normal. Wait and see I guess..... wait and flipping see.

SHOP!

Hey. So this is a bit of shameless plea but I’m moving house and in London this costs ALL THE MONEY ON EARTH. Urgh. So I need to raise some funds in whatever way I can. SO! As a starting point- You can get 12% off in my shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/LizzyStewart?ref=si_shopwith code MOVINGHOUSEMADNESS.

Travels

The last couple of weeks I took a wee bit of time off and spent some time outside London. I returned to Edinburgh (above) for a while to catch up with friends and enjoy the Edinburgh Festival followed by a quick camping adventure with my closest friends in Dorset (below).  Now that I'm back its time to knuckle down and get some work done.

Drawing Sale

I'm moving house soon so its time for another one! You know the drill. Email me at lizzy (at) abouttoday.co.uk if something takes your fancy- let me know where in the world you are so that I can calculate postage costs. I can only accept payment via paypal at present. 

 Banjo-SOLD

 Mountain- SOLD

 Bird Girl- SOLD

 Flowery hair- SOLD

Garden- SOLD

Many Hands Olympic Collection

 (by Owen Gildersleeve) 

To celebrate the 2012 Olympics Many Hands have curated a splendid collection of Olympic/British themed artworks by a variety of exciting designers and artists. Here are a few of my favourites...oh and mine, which is vastly less good than everyone elses. For shame. It takes its inspiration from the Games' Ancient Greek origins and my favourite sport, swimming!

 (by Ciara Phelan)

 (by Lesley Barnes)

 

 (by Jenny Bowers)

(by Lizzy Stewart)