Recap - November 2024
A zine, an art therapy and a thief
I don’t like emotional ups and downs. I prefer to hike on gentle rolling hills rather than mountains and valleys, metaphorically speaking. But November was a bit of emotional rollercoaster for me.
Emma
As I wrote in my previous newsletter, I finally finished a personal project called Emma after eight years. It’s a zine for YA+. It’s very personal and I’m generally not good at talking about my feelings (unless it’s annoyance and rage) so I’m still nervous about sharing this zine with others. But I’m doing it! I’m selling some copies at the Illustrators’ Fair among other more cheerful and Christmasy stuff (see below for more info).
Getting the zine made wasn’t as smooth as I had expected. I used a printing company called Mixam. Their design software was fiddly to use, and I was gutted when the first batch arrived - they printed all the copies in totally wrong page order! The company swiftly rectified the issue and send me a whole new batch with no extra cost, but they gave me a moment of panic. I must say I’m happy with the paper and printing quality. The illustrations are literally very dark with a lot of black but they came out nicely. Let me know what you think if you come to the fair and drop by my stall. I’ll be sharing it with my friend, Rachel Bone.
Talking of the fair, I’ll be selling a few new items so I’m excited! Some of my books will be available to buy too. If you buy a copy or two (or more), I’ll be more than happy to sign them with personalised dedications :)
Art Therapy
One Friday I had a lovely lunch and tea with my friends in the busy city centre, but the day ended very bitterly. I got pickpocketed. I was “lucky” to realise my wallet was missing from my rucksack relatively quickly (probably within 5 mins after it was stolen). I still had my phone with me so I could cancel all the stolen bank cards on the spot (thanks god for the banking apps!).
But what’s the most upsetting was that I lost a photo of my parents I was carrying in the wallet. Luckily I had it scanned so I have a digital copy but it’s not quite the same. Also, I lost my “indefinite leave to remain” visa card. The card will be obsolete from the new year and I’ve already transferred it to E-visa so the card was technically useless. But it was a memento of one of my biggest achievements (it took me nearly 10 years to get the visa).
I’m a sucker for things with sentimental values. I was still upset about the loss on the following day. To distract myself, I went to a Christmas card making workshop run by my friend, Olga Waller. It couldn’t be a better timing. Each of us designed and created own Christmas cards using stencil and gold leaf. As I focused on using hands, my negative thoughts faded. It was so therapeutic. I loved stencils (I should incorporate stencils to my artwork in the future). Gilding was tricky. I definitely needed more practice. But nothing is more stimulating than trying new things. I was happy how my (surprise, surprise) cat-theme Christmas cards turned out. The workshop was exactly what I needed.
Olga is a multi-talented illustrator with amazing sense of colours and chic style. You can subscribe to her newsletter for future workshops here.
Project Update
Almost all the roughs for a book I’ve been working on were signed off by the publisher at the beginning of this month. I got three months to produce the final artwork but you know December will be busy with end-of-the-year social gatherings and, before you know it, it’d be Christmas and I have a big trip coming up at the end of the year, so I put my head down and tried to get as many spreads as possible done this month.
There was one rough I didn’t get a thumbs up from the publisher. They were right. The more I thought about the spread, the clearer it became that the initial idea wasn’t working, but I couldn't come up with a new idea... Lucky for me, wonderful Sharon Davey invited me to her co-working session. I told others about the spread and we bounced off ideas and I got a new idea! Actually I changed my mind on the following day but the co-working session really helped me unclog my brain and get creative juice flowing. I came up with another completely different idea and the publisher gave it a green light! I highly recommend co-working with your friends when you find yourself stuck.
When I actually started sketching out the new-new idea, I realised it could be a pretty complicated spread (it involves a massive crowd of cats and mice)… I need to think how to simplify this. Let’s see how it goes!
Recommendations
King Winter’s Birthday by Jonathan Freedland and Emily Sutton (Pushkin Children’s)
Ever since Emily Sutton posted some sneak peeks on Instagram, I had my eyes on this book. I love Emily’s beautiful work, and this book isn’t an exception. Her signature classic style with passion for nature is a perfect fit for this fairy tale inspired by an unpublished story from German-Jewish author Ulrich Alexander Boschwitsh. In this story, King Winter gathers all his seasonal siblings for his birthday party, but it sends nature to chaos. This is a cautionary tale and its environmental warning is sadly so timely (my mum told me that people in Japan were still wearing T-shirts in November). We all should ready this book and contemplate on the importance of nature’s rhythms this holiday season and think what we can do to restore the balance in the new year.
The Imaginary Institution of India at Barbican Centre
This fascinating exhibition centred around two transformative events in India’s history: Indira Gandhi’s declaration of a state of emergency in 1975 and the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998 was a pleasant surprise. I knew almost nothing about Indian art and history so this was both educational and inspiring. I particularly liked works by female artists. My favourites were Nilima Sheikh’s dreamy Before Nightfall and immersive Shamiana.
That’s all from me this month. I can’t believe there’s only a month left this year. Have a wonderful December. Just be careful and watch out for your belongings in busy places!
Speak to you next month!
Momo x
UPCOMING EVENTS
The Illustrators’ Fair - December 7, 2024, King’s Cross, London
Once again, I’m taking part in the UK’s largest free illustration fair. Over 120 illustrators participate, selling a range of illustration and illustrated products. I’ll be selling my books, prints, cards and more!
Beautiful handmade cards and I love your ceramic dog design too!
Sorry to hear about your wallet being stolen, that sucks. But I'm glad you had art therapy on hand to help you through it.
So sorry to read about the pickpocketing and the loss of those precious sentimental items! But the stencil/gilding workshop looks like it was a lot of fun. Great to hear your tips for getting unblocked too!