Needles and wool.

A while ago my mum introduced me to a technique called needle felting. Needle felting is when you use a needle tool to push into some unwoven wool repeatedly until the barbs on the tool cause the wool to be compressed and the fibres to 'knit' together.
There are loads of things that can be made from this technique. Such as, bears, broaches even hats. At the time I was a little uninterested in it and my sister took to it more than I did. She's made loads of lovely things and she's found a process that works for her using pipe cleaners to shape and secure her creations. After looking at what Megan had achieved, it inspired me to give it another go.
At the time I was trying out new things for a book that I'm writing and illustrating. I thought maybe the characters I made using needle felting could become my main characters. Here they are. The man is a tribute to my love of a bearded bloke.
I made him first, then after a few weeks thought that he was lonely and finally needed to have a companion. He's much more sturdy than her, all because I ran out of pipe cleaners by the time I came around to making the other one. So here they are. The finished pair. I decided not to use them in my book but I love them never the less.
The bits and bobs to make your own can be found in hobby craft and online.

Love Naomi x

Procrastinator

I am, like many people my age, a procrastinator. I procrastinate on the Internet most of the time, looking, ironically, at people who are incredibly motivated. And I come away from the computer screen/magazine/etc feeling like I've actually done something, I feel motivated and inspired. However when I pick a pencil up I realise how I've tricked myself and how I've kind of wasted the last five hours flicking from Facebook to Esty to blogs. I try to push myself but I'm dry of ideas at the moment. Ideas and motivation. Most mornings I'll go down stairs, before work and say to my mum 'I'm going to start and Etsy shop' and her response has become less enthused the more I do it and don't deliver.

I've finally gotten around to customising my blog and that's triggered some kind of creative butterfly inside my chest. Due to the fact I'd like to be able to post pictures of my work and be proud of showing them to the world and sending them out like my tiny little representatives of who I am as a person. Sadly most of the time I'm not that comfortable with my work but I will force myself to share. Hey! Who knows it might help me improve.

I made these whole on the phone to my friend and having a little rant, during which I spilt the ink all over my hands and legs. I think I got a tad too carried away. Never mind aye.

Love Naomi x

Let's do this and Esther McManus

I've never really been pleased with the aesthetics of my blog. It was bland and dull and just horrible. So after many a headache and a little assistance from a very helpful Padhraic Mulholland (padhraicart.blogspot.co.uk), I've finally made something that I'm pleased with. Not 100%, but almost there. I'm now encouraged to write a lot more now too boot :)

Recently I've been looking into Zines. For those of you that don't know what Zines are, they are home made magazines about any subject of your choosing. They can be a solo project or a collaborative effort. It's completely up to the makers. Any who. I'd spend hours looking online at all the places in America where you can pick up these mini masterpieces and turn green with envy because there was no where local for me to get involved. Weeks this continued, until Bam! Inspiration. Look it up on Etsy. I have no idea why I never thought of it but I was so pleased once I finally looked. There are so many different types of Zines on there. Beards. Stories. Not to date men of the Internet advice. I plan to collect them, being a beard lover that ones next on my list.

My first Zine however was made by the lovely Esther McManus, who is a illustrator printmaker who draws comics. Esther's zine is called 'Witch's hat' which is a story story inspired by ancient folklore, trips to the woodlands and The Incredible String Band. I've been waiting excitedly for this to come in the mail for a few days and texting my mum every day to see if its here yet. Today it came and I'm so pleased with it. It's lovely and so full of thought and movement. Esther even included two illustrated postcards too, one has 'Thanks Naomi' written in the back which I thought was such a sweet touch. These will be making their onto my uni walls in September :)

Esther has a website and a blog too - esthermcmanus.blogspot.com

This is a really good website if you're like me and there is no where to get your hands on to some zines - http://www.zineswap.com/ 

Love Naomi x

Two posts in a day... My my!

During work I'm constantly itching to draw. This is something I drew on one of the bins. He's the bin man :) 

A quiet start to a new year :)

Hello, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Like most people at New Years, I've started a fresh with a resolution or two. The ones that relate to art are; GO TO UNIVERSITY!! YOU HAVE GOTTEN IN! and the second is to be more involved in the art world. Talking to other Illustrators more, this involves a joint pen pal project. It also involves more blogging :) Hurrah!

In the last post I wrote that I hoped to get into Swansea University. Well I've gotten in! Unconditional. So technically there is no reason to for me not to start September. Why's September so far away? :(

I've finally got an iPad, which I'm blogging from now, whilst sat atop of the kitchen counter ;) on Christmas Day I downloaded an app called 'Paper'. If you have an iPad, this app is a must! Even though I absolutely love traditional means of creating pieces and that will forever be my first love. This app if really fun and inspiring. Here are a few bits I've been experimenting with on there.

Long time no see...

I've really neglected this blog. Opps. Well I should have gone to University this September however I had a panic and now I have a full-time job. However I've seen the error of my ways and I would very much like to go to University this September... I've reapplied already :) ...SWANSEA!!... Really hope I get in... ANNNYYYWAYYY.... Art wise I've been a little neglectful as well, however I'm really hoping to make a really good portfolio for interview (if I'm lucky enough to get one). I'm obsessed with Lino again. I like to think my actual Lino designs are good it's just the actually cutting I'm not very good at "/ to the point where I become a bit of a danger to myself *as shown in the picture. I plan to keep up with posting things, I like looking back it's really nice :) More to come....

Pencil drawing of a woman... I've been offered a space in Swansea for Illustration, so out of the Offers I've currently received it's my first choice. In the first few weeks they let you draw on the walls and I wanted to have a think of it I was to draw on said wall, what it would be I would draw... I came up with this... I think it would look pretty cool in Sharpe on a large wall :)