Diana

Grey Magazine Issue 6

Today I'm doing some more work for New York based magazine Grey - I realised I hadn't posted the work I did for their last issue, so here it is.

Grey is a magazine which combines Fashion, art and literature- it is divided quite obviously into a first section focused on fashion stories, photographically based, and then a moves into a literature section which is largely illustrated. This will be the third issue I have worked on- each new brief I find always gives something unique to explore.

For Issue 6 I was asked to illustrate two essays, entirely different in their subject matter- The first (top image), Lost and Found, by Erin Sheehy, is a wonderful piece exploring the power of sound.  In it she considers her own love of old Soul and R&B, and likens the act of listening to music to conjuring ghosts.

The second article The President on the Rocks by Aaron Ayscough, investigates certain US presidents' historical drinking habits. I particularly liked the visual of Thomas Jefferson and his love of Bordeaux.

More information on Grey and it's stockists here

Badger Fun

Photo courtesy 18 Hewett Street

Thursday's Love Thy Badger exhibition was a great success, and a great cause, infact 18 Hewett St have extended the show so it's staying up this week, have a look

Badgers

 

Here is a Badger-themed screen print I finished last week, for an exhibition opening on 21st June.  LOVE THY BADGER features work by all sorts of great folk: Matthew The Horse and Neil Fox to name just a few.  All donated to raise money for the Wildlife Trust against the recent Government Bill for a mass badger cull.

Private View Thursday 21st June, Exhibition opens 22nd-24th June at Protein / 18 Hewett Street www.18hewettstreet.co.uk

Roughs

Some roughs from a recent Financial Times commission

Updates

Some website updates: www.rosieroberts.com

Navy

                                     
The Nothing But Navy Pop Up shop has opened it's doors again,this time at Luna and Curious on Calvert Avenue, E2.

I have created some things especially for the shop: A set of screen printed 'Hat' greetings cards- 4 designs each with a different hat on (my obsession with hats and headresses continues); and a new 3 colour screen print I have been working on, 'Floris' (see below). The print is a reworking of the 'Flora' pattern I designed a few weeks ago,  adapted into navy blue tones. It is an edition of 6.

I also screen printed organic cotton tote bags; each with a navy Owl design. 

The shop opened today, until Wednesday 4th April, and is well worth a peruse, it is packed to the rafters with wonderful navy items.

www.nothingbutnavyshop.com

The Ride Journal 6

Here is another illustration contribution I made recently for the beautiful 6th issue of The Ride Journal. The piece accompanies 'Brightness To My Wheels', a poem about the thrill of cycling through a city by Helen Griffiths.

If you haven't seen The Ride Journal I thoroughly recommend a look, this issue particularly has some wonderful stories and images including a photographic piece by Frank Schott, and extracts from the fantastic photo series 'Totems', by Alain Delorme. Below are my favourite pages:

theridejournal.com

Financial Times 10/3/12

I illustrated an article for this weekend's Financial Times, Life and Arts section.  The piece was commissioned to accompany a diary piece by Gideon Rachman; an account of his time spent in China recently and, among other things his experiences of the technological restrictions and censorship there.

The piece can be viewed online here 

Spellbound (1945)

Flora

Continued development of two screen printed patterns. As mentioned before these are very much inspired by 1950s colours. I'm experimenting with combining simple shapes, created using roughly cut out paper, or thick stripes of ink with more detailed collage elements.

Patterns 2

Here are some initial designs screen printed last week- I am working towards creating a repeating pattern with them.  I have chosen quite a 50s set of colours-the pale pinks and blues remind me of Formica table tops and Bakelite. 

I'm also experimenting with over-printing to create depth- using pale, heavily diluted inks to create translucent layers which can be printed on top of the darker colours.

Pattern inspiration

From top:

Tom Wagener (Museum of Everything)/Lips, 2010

John Cage (with Calvin Sumsion)/Not Wanting to Say Anything about Marcel, 1969

Alfred Wallis/ White House and Cottages, 1930

Alfred Wallis/ Sailing ships and Two Steamers, 1932

Alfred Wallis/ White Houses, 1930-32

I have recently been doing quite a lot of research into print and patterns. I find myself drawn to patterns which are fairly random and accidental. The pieces above I think are wonderful examples of 'accidental' patterns- though they perhaps were not intended to be so.
Alfred Wallis is one of my favourite painters for many reasons: the simple naivety of his pictures and the beautiful subdued colour palette he used. In these examples,the repetition of houses and fishing boats creates a beautiful, simple pattern.

In Progress/Patterns

Screen printed simple patterns I'm working on

In Progress

 A peek at a magazine commission in progress which I have just finished- I'll post the full story when it's released.  I've been experimenting recently using screen printing to create coloured blocks and shapes which can be used as backgrounds for mixed-media collages

Also visible, my brand new acquisition -a bright red Anglepoise type 75 Mini. I'm very proud of it.  It's been making night time working a lot more jolly.

London Winter

Snow is by far my favourite weather type. Plus an excuse to wear a variety of knitwear, what could be better

Inspiration

Yayoi Kusama's work is diverse, obsessive, full of mystery.  I love it.   Having seen this exhibition earlier in the summer at Madrid's Reina Sofia gallery, I am ridiculously excited that it will begin next month at Tate.

Card Designs

On a warm (er) day a little while ago I spent an afternoon at my local park in South London drawing people.  I like that this sort of task means drawings must stay quick, simple and loose to adapt to the constantly moving subject matter.
I plan to develop some of these into a set of screen printed card designs, so here is the first

Sirius

I've recently been developing some ideas from a project I started earlier in the year into screen prints - here is the first print (edition of 6) in what's planned to be a series of 5.

The (loose) inspiration for the project came from drawings of Star Constellations. I often find I am a bit of a colour-phobe- so this will also be an opportunity to explore colour a little

Hobbs House Bakery

Last week I was commissioned by the lovely Hobbs House Bakery to screen print 250 of my navy Christmas cards for their xmas customer mailout.

I created 5 designs for the card, and each was hand printed- more photos of the final designs up soon.

These cards are also available to buy at the wonderful Nothing But Navy online shop