Map Of Iceland

The map of Olaf's country!

Horse Friend + Country Fish pattern

some new pattern work based on the Country one I made last year,
and a friendly horse I know.

A new state

New Hampshire - never been there but from what I gathered - mountains, lakes, no income tax, apple orchards and an overall outdoor feel - it does sound good to me!

Available as a print in my Etsy store!

Olaf from Iceland

Olaf is from the land of volcanic ash, he's a good storyteller and has got a few other surprising skills like ice-skating!

Chief Anton from Switzerland

Chief Anton is into wood-carving and hiking of course.
Part of a few character pieces I'm doing at the moment. I'm also starting work on a new kids book today!

Happy 2011!

Happy New Year! I'm back from my snowy winter break and ready for 2011,
starting with new DesertFriends desktop calendars! Here's January, hope it's gonna be a good one!

For you to download to use as a desktop wallpaper calendar.
Please note that this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Happy Holidays - DesertFriends Xmas card

...well, almost!
You can print + use this card as your Xmas card if you want.
Private use only. (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported)

Iowa, Indiana and Utah

Greetings from three new states!

WIP 50 States

Here's a quick snap of my 50 States painted postcards project. There are certain states that I know nearly nothing about so this is a bit of an educational project for me...the western states were relatively straight forward as I could draw on experiences I made there myself but I didn't want to wait 'til I have visited all 50 states to carry on with this, so I have to continue reading and looking up on more interesting or quirky facts or myths about all other states - nerdy stuff, but I like it.

Thanks for recent blog features and mentions about my work to these guys:
seriousplay / frohlockend / cutelittlelife / lanastepul / Poppytalk / designi1 / waysideviolet / suzysarcastic / Design Crush /

Other good news is that my work got selected to be in the AOIs Images 35 book, which will be out in September 2011.

St Nikolaus

Today is St Nikolaus Day in Germany, which is kind of a big deal if you're a kid and like sweets, much like Trick or Treat over here. I went dressed as an angel once with clingfilm covered wings and silver-blue snow boots, that was in the eighties.

December DesertFriends desktop wallpaper

So 2010 is over - again, I can't believe it and this time I mean it! ;o)

For you to download to use as a desktop wallpaper calendar, every month of 2010. Get the whole set here.

Please note that this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

***Featured on Poppytalk - thank you, Jan!***

Here's a review of the whole year:

Straw Stars

The ones we had in the early 80s, they're back!

Rocky Campground

One of my latest oil pastel on wood artwork

Xmas patterns

2 colour versions of this year's Christmas designs!

Unwanted Dogs Pattern

The kind of dogs you'd find at a dog rescue home.

Painted Postcards work-in-progress

Hello there!
Here's a quick update on my painted postcards, I'm working on the lettering for all the 50 states right now. Western states are the most fun - had all my US road trip pictures for inspiration on handlettered road signs and cowboy saloon lettering - Yeehaw!

Studio Insight

Studio Insight features studio info and pictures of me at childrensillustrators.
Here's me on my non-comfy studio swivel chair. I'm thinking of getting a gym ball to sit on.
This picture has notes if you view it on Flickr.

There's also progress for the US postcard project (see desk 2): I painted all the 50 states and now drawing details and writing stories begins!

November DesertFriends desktop calendar

One of my top favourite months is almost over,
so here it is - the November calendar!

For you to download to use as a desktop wallpaper calendar, every month of 2010. Get the whole set here.

Please note that this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Q&A at Proxart

There'a a little Q&A feature on the Proxart Blog with me talking about suburbs and 'An Ideal World', click on the picture above to read it! Thanks to Gia at Proxart!

Illustration Friday - Spooky

I got bad news for you, said the ghost.
You know, when you're having a campfire on your own and then things like this happen.

Spooky Prints, iphone / ipod cases and skins are available to buy via Society6:

Sketch + Features

Big thanks to these sites for blogging about my work this week:
Meet Miss Jones
Mo Pie, Please
Poppytalk
Illustration Design & Stuff

October DesertFriends desktop calender

Happy spooky October!
For you to download to use as a desktop wallpaper calender, every month of 2010. Get the whole set here.

Please note that this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

New oil pastel pieces + new website

These are two of my new oil pastel + pencil pieces that I had at the Inkygoodness 4 Play show, HeartBreak Lodge and Ex Tennis Pro, plus a detail of the guy from HeartBreak Lodge.

There's lots more new stuff on my updated website which I re-built completely using Indexhibit, check it out -> DesertFriends.com

True Up - Digital Fabric of the Week

A while ago some of my fabrics designs were featured as Digital Fabric of the Week on the True Up blog - for the fabric obsessed. You can read it here. Many thanks to Kim!

Digital Artist - Successful Illustration

I answered some questions about my children's book work in the current issue (11) of Digital Artist.
My pictures feature my recently illustrated books Grow & Recycling and Ooh La La Polka Dot Boots.
Thanks to Poz Watson and April Madden!