dancing seagulls

my first spoon

2012-01-23T17:30:00.000-08:00

from a branch, with an axe, with love.

2011-12-16T15:17:00.000-08:00

I've been working with some fantastic designers and makers to develop 8 puppets for the Young Vic's production of Wild Swans. I don't know if we're allowed to release any photographs yet so for now here is an amazing carved barn owl puppet by Jan Zalud, who I've had the pleasure of working with for this project. Check out more of his wonderful work at janzalud.co.uk.

Also A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, the current christmas show at the Little Angel Theatre is receiving some amazing reviews! Its's on until January 29th, so please go and see it!!!

Here's a shot from the performance ....

making a plague

2011-10-25T08:49:00.000-07:00

More photographs showing the making process of the puppets and props for the Little Angel Theatre's Christmas production of ....
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

Inspired by the short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The plague of crabs is destroyed by Kansas the Dog (above) and the townspeople celebrated with a delicious victoria sponge cake!

Check out the Time Out listing here!

Claw hands

2011-09-08T14:56:00.000-07:00

My hands are covered in little cuts and are cramping up, claw like. Over the last week or so I have been learning how to carve, and whenever I close my eyes I see a little chisel cutting a spiral of smooth wood. Extremely satisfying, like pealing paint. In the workshop at the Little Angel Theatre, puppets are coming to life for their Christmas show, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, a collaboration with Kneehigh Theatre.
Part of the set is to include a fishing net with crabs caught up in it, and it is my task to carve these crabs... 40 of them! Its a fairly simple shape (bit like a pasty), repeated again and again, so its quite a good starting point for me to work out some techniques.

This is an incredible and inspirational film about a puppet maker from the Cast Iron Marionette Troup,
based in Portland, Oregon. Just simply fascinating.

tshirt designs

2011-07-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the quiet blog time. Summers been happening which means I'm often away from my computer (a good thing?) I worked on the Kids Field at Glastonbury this year and above is the design that went on our t-shirts, which were printed in a very spangly gold on neon pink, Oh yes.

U1 Artist Collective Exhibition

2011-05-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

[The plane is over the Andes]

Susana Parrado: Oh, mama, look at the mountains! They're beautiful!

Eugenia Parrado: Don't make me look at the mountains, Susana. The mountains look like big teeth.

Quote from ‘Alive’ (1993)

Photos and flier from the U:1 Artist Collective current exhibition at the Arts Centre, Plymouth. Incorporating installation, video projection, illustration, photography, painting and sculpture. Its a fun, eclectic, interactive exhibition responding to the theme of sublime, and the blurring boundaries of harmony and horror. Basically I made a den out of sticks and blankets.

"To look to the skies and to know your place... or what little consequence your existence will have. The harmony ? Or horror?"

quote from a painting by Helen Manley

The Plymouth Post newspaper came to our private view. The exhibition is open all week until Friday from 10am - 5pm, so if you haven't already been down then please do!

2011-04-26T02:53:00.000-07:00

Hand painted Cajon drum! This was made for Lion Drums who are based just round the corner from my house in Plymouth.

2011-04-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

Just finishing editing the footage from our Bristol Exhibition, with U:1 Artist Collective! We'll hopefully be bringing some of this kinetic art to Plymouth soon... keeping eyes peeled for empty shops, squats and spaces at the moment.
U:1's next exhibition will be opening on Tuesday 2nd May, in Batter Street, Plymouth Art Centre. We will be exploring the theme of "Harmony and Horror" by creating small environments and microcosms, atmospheres and environments. More info to come....

2011-04-14T04:59:00.000-07:00

Book covers, projected animation and puppets! These are some old photos that I just got off my madre's camera from my degree show in 2010... As if it was nearly a year ago...

2011-04-02T10:06:00.000-07:00

She started with The Universe. Then she wrote The Galaxy, The Solar System, The Earth, Europe, England, Felling, Our House, The Kitchen, The White Chair With A Hundred Holes Like Stars, then her name, Margaret, and she paused.
   'What's in the middle of me?' she asked.
   'Your heart,' said Mary.
   She wrote My Heart.
   'In the middle of that?'
   'Your soul,' said Catherine.
   She wrote My Soul.
   Mam reached down and lifted the front of Margaret's T-shirt and prodded her navel.
   'That's where your middle is,' she said. 'That's where you were part of me.'


   from a short story by David Almond

2011-03-31T09:37:00.000-07:00

> > > 'Party in Your Eyes' - a U:1 Artist Collective Exhibition < < <

2011-03-31T09:19:00.000-07:00

Birds made for 'Party in Your Eyes', a U:1 Artist Collective group exhibition in Broadwalk Arts, Bristol. This is a kinetic art window installation which is up until 9th April. Please join us for tea and cake to celebrate the exhibition closing party on Saturday 9th April 11am- 3pm. We will be selling small works and zines.

2011-03-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

Left to right- Sophie Stocks, Amber Donovan, John Roberts of Puppetcraft, Jonathan Street, Libby Quick and Emily Swann of Clockwork Moth. With our baby Hugh!

2011-03-10T05:38:00.000-08:00

A Play by Carl Grose as part of the National Theatre Connections Festival -
March 15th, 16th, 17th - 7:30pm at Studio 31@ DAPA (Aller Park, Dartington Estate) and March 29th at the Drum, Theatre Royal, Plymouth
Tickets available from pmorrow@kingedwardvi.devon.sch.uk
Or contact me and I'll get ye some!

x

2011-03-06T17:10:00.000-08:00

Here's a sneaky look at some of the puppets we are creating for the play Gargantua! It will be showing at Dartington on 15th, 16th and 17th of March and on 29th at the Drum, Theatre Royal Plymouth as part of 'Connections Festival'. If you'd like some tickets please get in contact or visit the Theatre Royal website, here!

Puppets for Kneehigh

2011-02-05T14:15:00.000-08:00

So these are some puppets that I had the great joy and luck to help make. I was working with John Roberts of Puppetcraft, putting the finishing touches to these large puppets for Kneehigh's upcoming show 'The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'. They have now been sent to the Little Angel puppet theatre to be painted, clothed and wigged and used for rehearsals. Whey.

2011-01-08T07:17:00.000-08:00

I have these four framed prints in an exhibition at the B-Bar, Barbican Theatre in Plymouth, in collaboration with the U:1 Artist Collective! Each are about A3 in size and they're for sale at £35 each. Its up until the end of Jan so please pop in and have a perusal.

Happy New Year to all !!
Just so I get them down somewhere solid here are some resolutions for the big TWENTY ELEVEN

   get a cajon drum
   draw more
   blog more
   adventures
   join an ultimate frisbee team
   read as many books as I can as fast as possible
   plan my land/ sea trip to Bhutan
   go to the Lake District and Scotland
   buddies and woodcraft


   xx

miow

2010-12-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

2010-09-27T17:46:00.000-07:00

x ~ 'The Middle of the World' by David Almond ~ x

2010-09-17T07:03:00.000-07:00

2010-08-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

Photos from a meditation garden I helped create in the middle of a field of tall grass on a farm/ retreat in the south of
France. Using a massive scythe is great fun and here are some of the stones that we painted to make a calm space for
everyone that visits.

2010-05-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

this is a collaborative piece of work which forms the colourful chilly month of October. It was produced for a 2010 calendar made by students in my year at UoP. The Leaves image on the left is by Sarah Bartlett.

o o o o o

2010-04-28T17:17:00.001-07:00

what's in the middle?

2010-04-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

These are some rough sketches for my new project, which is going to be a picture book for young readers. I'm illustrating a short story called The Middle of the World by David Almond. He's a fantastic writer, check out The Savage with drawings by Dave McKean, big likes.

2010-04-26T19:05:00.003-07:00

2010-02-24T13:54:00.000-08:00

this is a drawing inspired by Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road

This is a great book! Read it read it read it. Boring cover though (?)

owl man bird man

2010-02-23T05:42:00.000-08:00

Why the Whales Came from Amber Donovan on Vimeo.

Narrated by Hannah - double click to make full screen!

2010-02-14T10:26:00.000-08:00

'October was in the chair, so it was chilly that evening, and the leaves were red and orange and tumbled from the trees that circled the grove. The twelve of them sat round a campfire roasting huge sausages on sticks, which spat and crackled as the fat dripped onto the burning appplewood, and drinking fresh apple cider, tangy and tart in their mouths. April took a dainty bite from her sausage, which burst open as she bit it, spilling hot juice down her chin. "Beshrew and suck odure on it," she said.'

2010-02-13T08:11:00.000-08:00

2010-02-12T17:06:00.000-08:00

frozen woman with her icestruck fingernails. clutching her gloves and her stoney umbrella. to catch the crystal hail fall.

snowy minolta

2010-01-26T11:01:00.000-08:00

2010-01-12T10:23:00.000-08:00

2009-12-08T12:20:00.000-08:00

mmm charcoal

I'm working on another Morpurgo book- this ones called Why the Whales Came. Its set on the Scilly Isles in 1914. Its a really good book! For my current uni project I'm trying to think of it being made into an animated film... So making some puppets of the characters.

Why the Whales Came

2009-12-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

This is the birdman. "Hello Birdman".

2009-12-08T12:10:00.000-08:00

Dirty Scav

2009-11-25T06:02:00.000-08:00

Some logos I designed for THIS BAND
I think they're great and are going big places!

2009-11-25T05:45:00.000-08:00

These are two alternative book jackets for 'The Last Wolf' by Michael Morpurgo.

Boy and wolf on a pirate ship fleeing 18th Century Scotland through stormy seas!

2009-11-25T05:41:00.000-08:00

2009-09-01T18:23:00.000-07:00

Flutter Bye

2009-09-01T17:52:00.000-07:00

An editorial cover story for the G2 magazine about the demise of butterflies in British countyside... are they becoming extinct!?? This was a factual story but unfortunately this illustration was only for a uni project (not actually published). I did the old primary school trick of splodging down loadsa paint and folding the paper then opening it out to see what you get, very fun! And then I challenged myself to create something from it using photoshop.

sploge

2009-06-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

hopscotch

2009-06-15T07:18:00.000-07:00

Screen Prints!

This is me and my siter Cassie, worked from a photograph.

My baby cousin CALLUM! He's grown up a bit since I made these screen prints. Still as gorgeous though. I really want to get back into portraiture- just drawing and painting the people that are close to me. I need to fill this summer with things like that.

Repeated design with posible potential for wall paper or something?

MOO FROG!

This is the first stencil I ever made, I think it was in 2006. I was really interested in street art at the time, and researching it for my 'contextual studies' project- an extended essay, sort of like the A Level answer to a uni dissertation on 'Wall Art'. So I was influenced a lot by stencil artists like Chris Stain http://7323674.blogspot.com/

Take it back to ' 93

2009-06-15T07:14:00.001-07:00

This is a photogram I made during my foundation course at Camberwell College of Arts in South London. I also think its really fun to find old negatives and redevelop them in the dark room to see what comes out! This is an image, below is of my sister and me, when we were small and the sea was oh so big. I love how that will never change.

I've still got all the old holiday diaries that we had to write for school in the summer holidays. Its amazing to reread them, find out what kind of icecreams we ate and all the funny details. In this project from my foundation I was looking especially at nostalgia and British holidays, and I ended up taking a much more personal approach. Fusing old photographs with text to give them a more solid narrative.

'Seed to Sick' - Stop motion animation 2008

2008-10-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

2008-10-06T07:56:00.000-07:00

..do you remember that day?

2008-09-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

I'm currently attempting to sort out a lot of stuff that has accumulated in my parents house. I've inherited the hoarders gene from my mum so its slow going... Its led me to start picking up a lot of my old sketch books and here's a few of my findings. Most of these sketches are just of my family which I did a couple of years ago.

gravity of beverage... one more perhaps?

2008-09-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

Its not all bad. Although it does seem half empty this time.

I started developing this guy from observation and imagination into a 3D character called Bert. This time Berts made from a lino cut.

These are from a series done at uni about my local pub the James Street Vaults in Plymouth. Although its not really an unhappy place at all. Some of the gloom is imaginary.

monster chucks

2008-09-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

These are some strange collages I did using photocopies and ink. I don't know what they are but some day they might come true.