Monday 31 August 2009

The Garden of Eden...

This past weekend Mark and I have had some old friends from our days in Brighton down to stay with us and I have been playing at being a tourist in the place I live. Dining out and eating local home made cake, proper Cornish ice cream and proper Cornish pasties, paddling in the sea and peering into rock pools, lazing in the sunshine and then visiting the Eden Project again...It was good to have some time out after the manicness that has been the last few weeks for sure.

I loved these greens and greys and yellows on the beach...tiny sea landscapes!

And I loved all of the bright colours at the Eden Project too...I know I have blogged about it before but it never fails to entertain and amaze me with it's diversity. It was such a good day out again and a feast for the eyes (hence the rather large amount of images!):








Tuesday 25 August 2009

Dirty Projectors

Did I mention how much I am loving Dirty Projectors' latest album Bitte Orca? Love LOVE! I am so looking forward to seeing them again at End of The Road Festival in a couple of weeks.

This track 'Stillness is the Move' is particularly great:



I had no idea there was even a video for this track until I spied it over at pensandpencilsandpens :)

Monday 24 August 2009

Bonbi Forest out and about!

What a weekend! Mark and I have been over at Trereife Park for the Hidden Art design fair for the last few days, debuting a few of the brand new Bonbi Forest tee designs and jewellery pieces and prints. It was a very busy time indeed!

I managed to grab a few shots of the stand and you can see peeks of some of the new designs which will be available when I re-launch the Bonbi Forest store in a couple of weeks...(Which reminds me: There is only ONE WEEK left for you to shop the Indie Emporium!! Only one week, I can't believe how quickly this has come round. Don't forget you can use the code BYEBYE at checkout too, for 15% off any order over £15 until the end of the day on August 31st).

Anyways, I booked a lovely big stand this year after last years Godolphin fair stand size mishap and we had lot's of room to display everything. As usual the scarves sold out pretty quickly and the new tees went down a treat, yay! I always love taking part in these shows and meeting lots of lovely customers and other designers and am already planning the next outing...where to next? Hmm... :)

Sorry for the slightly yellowy and dull pictures. Marquee light is never very good, especially when it is a very grey day outside!





Sunday 16 August 2009

A sleepy Sunday of jewels...

Studio window reflections on such a still day!

Next weekend I am taking lots of my new work down to Trereife Park near Newlyn in Cornwall to take part in the Hidden Art Cornish Design Fair, hence the reason I have been a little quiet again on the blog...there is always so much to prepare for these things!

Today I had a jewellery catch up afternoon and did some tweaking and tinkering at the studio :)

Plus here are a couple more finished paintings from the growing collection of new bits and pieces: A golden deer and the finished whale...

Tuesday 11 August 2009

Trouvelot Astronomical Drawings

This last week has gone by in a bit of a blur and I can't believe it is Tuesday again already! I have been a busy bee preparing lots of new tee designs and paintings amongst other things, I hope to be able to show you some peeks of them here soon...Stay tuned!

I just wanted to share these wonderful astronomical drawings that were made in the 1800's by French artist and astronomer Étienne Leopold Trouvelot. I found them via the blog But Does It Float (which is a very addictive treasure trove of inspiring imagery and well worth a visit) and love the colours, and considering when they were made, the quite modern execution...

Tuesday 4 August 2009

Lauren Nassef - Illustrator

Today I came across the wonderful work of illustrator Lauren Nassef who is an illustrator from Chicago. I just love her line and the delicacy of her drawings, so beautiful.

Unfortunately the reason I came across her work because of something far less beautiful. A recent graduate from Falmouth College of Art plagiarized her work in a shocking way, and received lots of praise and even an award for work that blatantly isn't her own. I won't go any further into this but here is a good blog post over at the blog Book by it's Cover (another good find from this sad story!) if you want to read more about this follow this link: http://bit.ly/jgdKC
Plagiarism really is TOTALLY unacceptable.

In the meantime enjoy some of Lauren's lovely work right here!






Monday 3 August 2009

Time for a change...

Today I have some news for you all that is a little sad but also very exciting for me, a complete clash of emotions indeed. Sorry for all of the text, but please do read on, there is a discount coupon at the end of it :)

As of the end of August the Indie Emporium as we know it will close it's doors and I won't be selling the wares of other designers any more. I won't be shutting the Bonbi Forest store completely though, no way! I have lots of exciting Bonbi things planned and because of this it has become time for a change so I can make them happen...

I'm not closing The Emporium because of any credit crunch or recession issues either, it really is the opposite! The store has grown and grown over the last 2 years that it has been open and now has nearly 60 designers supplying their wonderful goodies. The matter of the fact is that along with the growth and it's success it has also meant that there has been a big increase in the amount of work it takes to keep it running smoothly and efficiently and it really is just a bit too much for this one designer to keep running on her own, as well as keep on making and creating new and fresh and lovely things. That's the sad part...

...but this is the exciting part!--> A few happenings lately have made me realize that being a shop keeper isn't what I want to be, and I have always believed that though it's not always easy, it's so important to be true to yourself in that respect, don't you agree? You may have noticed on this here blog that I have been drawing and painting a lot more lately and that is what I will be doing with myself once I no longer have such a big store to run, so this definitely isn't the end of Bonbi Forest! I will be re-launching in September with a whole host of new tees, accessories, jewels and art that I hope you are going to love as much as I already do :)

So: You have until the end of August to nab those treats you have had your eye on before they are gone for good! To send the store off I will be offering 15% off any transaction over £15 for the rest of the month. Many items have already been reduced such as jewellery from Yuen, little pictures from Steph Littlechild, and my remaining Bonbi Tees are reduced to make way for all of my hot new goodies in September!

To redeem the discount, just enter the code BYEBYE when prompted at checkout...Don't forget that many items in the store are one off and unique pieces, so if you find something you like in The Emporium get it, it won't be there again!!

So it just remains to say a big THANK YOU to all of my loyal customers and followers for all of your support, I really do appreciate it and I do hope you will stick around for the Bonbi treats I have planned this Autumn :)

Much love xXx

Get to The Bonbi Forest Indie Emporium by following THIS LINK!!!

Saturday 1 August 2009

Fantastic Mr Fox...

Yay! This looks wonderful and I can't wait!