Under Milk Wood promotional posters and flyers...

Here are the finished posters and flyers for Under Milk Wood, at Mansfield Palace.

Looking for the Rainbow..

 

This is the very almost finished design!

Looking for the Rainbow..

I have reworked the floor, though may change it back to yellow, the model shows all scene changes, I have changed the river so it comes from up stage rather than down stage right. I have also added circular coloured mats for the children to sit on.

Opening scene, ironing in the house

The cave

The hook a duck fairground game

The River

Back at home..the Rainbow

 

Under Milk Wood..

I am working with the Mansfield Palace Theatre, designing Under Milk Wood, which is on in June, here is the first stages of the scale model.
The play centers around a small welsh village, we see the comings and going of the villages occupants over a 24 hour period, from their private dreams to their daily routines.

Dream Play

I am designing the set and costume for a play called Dream play, originally by John Steinbeck but adapted by Carol Churchill, it will be on at Lakeside in July.

The play is quite surreal and disjointed, it has many locations and a lot of theatrical challenges, for example flying children, two lovers sailing on a boat, a tower that grows throughout the play and then burns down at the end!

Here are two possible solutions for the flying children and boat scene.I think the play would work well being told in a storyteller style, with characters obviously creating small scale locations and manipulating props. Some of the locations include a cave, a seaside cholera quarantine station, stage door, solicitors room, class room, ballroom etc etc
The play is set in a dream and I would like the set to reflect the fragmented and blurred quality of dreams. Elements of each scene/location will be incorporated into many suspended square windows, stretching back into the distance. some will be practical, for example in the class room, one of these windows with have a chalk board within the frame that can be written on.

I really like the style of writing on the play, it has many great lines, here a a few of my favorites!

"Time flies while we speak. so time is something that flies while I'm speaking"

"I once asked a child whose Father was at sea why the sea was salty, and he said because sailors cry. Why do they cry? Because they are so far away. And they put there handkerchiefs on the masts to dry. So then I asked him why do people cry when they're sad? And he said because they have to wash their eyes so they can see better."

"What's poetry? It's not real but maybe it's more than real. It's dreaming while you're awake."

Looking for the Rainbow..

I am designing the set and costume for a show called Looking for the Rainbow, with the 'Big Window Theatre Company'.

Here are some initial sketches I have drawn, this image shows Mum revealing the Rainbow to Kirsty at the end of the play! It is rolled up in her laundry bag and she pegs it on the washing line, as she lets go it unrolls to the floor and a rainbow appears!

Here are some characters we meet along the way, the purple rabbit and blue fish drying on the rack! and the duck, he is a character in the story, his yellow t-shirt is collected to represent yellow in the rainbow, along with six other coloured t-shirts, one for each colour of the rainbow.
Here is the scale model I made for the research and development week, this helped the actors to understand the space they are working in and helped the creative and production team to work through ideas and how the space can be used. The design is still evolving and I will re make the model soon more accurately and with the changes and ideas that we developed during the R and D week.
The images show three of the set changes, the river, the cave and the rainbow finale!

Those magnificent men

Here are some images of the finished set during a performance.

The story of Alcock and Brown

This week i have been assistant designing for a designer called Helen Davies, I have been developing her original idea and making the scale model of the set.

The play tells the story of 'Alcock and Brown', the first men to complete the continuous transatlantic flight in 1919.

The design is complicated as everything i have made transforms into something else throughout the play. The design is based around the central cockpit, which evolves from a truck carrying all the props and set pieces for the performance, to a stage, to the interior of the plane. The wings are fabric and roll up so sit inside the base of the truck.
The different scenes and set are all achieved using props.

More Alfie..

More images of Alfie..water colour and computer coloured

Water colour and ink Alfie

Here is an image of Alfie, drawn using ink and coloured with water colour

Alfie the Aye Aye...initial idea

After recently watching 'Last chance to see" I discovered the.. 'Aye aye".
One of the most interesting animals I have ever seen. They are particularly interesting to me as they are considered (unfairly) one of natures ugliest creatures.

They have a really long spindly finger that they use to tap on tree branches whilst listening with their enormous ears for grubs and beetles. Once detected they use their long finger to claw into the holes and pull out their tasty prize.

Ancient Malagasy legend said that the Aye-aye was a symbol of death.



I starting thinking about an Aye aye character and thought it would be a really great story for a childrens book. Today i started sketching my Aye aye..now named Alfie, and these are the first images i came up with.

Perfitt's Sandwich Shop

Xmas cards, Me, Mum, Martin and Fluke..

Kelly's Monkellys!

This is the start of my new range of 'Monkelly' soft toys! Each comes with its own name and short description of its character!

Jess, and Katie with some unfinished friend..

Ideas for some new xmas cards

These are some initial ideas for a set/range of lighthouse themed Xmas cards

Illustrated cards with backgrounds

Here are some finished Xmas Cards that will make up a set

Xmas cards commission final design

Here is the final illustration for a set of Xmas cards.

Commissioned Xmas card illustration

Here are my first designed for a set of illustrated Xmas cards

Fascinator

I also made this today, using pattern paper and fabric, this is also available to purchase from Kathleen and Lily. Price £25

More items for Kathleen and Lilys

Here are some of the latest customised, decoupage and handmade items I have made, they can be purchased from Kathleen and Lily's, Mansfield Road Notingham.

illustrations..

Here are the original illustrations for the cards.

Card illustration..

Here is a set of greetings cards, stickers and writing paper I have illustrated for some friends, featuring them and their dogs, in different locations around Saltdean (where they live).

Giraffe's can't dance scenic painting

During the last week at Blunderbus I worked on Gerald the giraffe, re painting him to match the illustration from the book.

Blunderbus week Six..

This week I have been continuing with scenic painting. I have been working on the dragon for Dragon's daughter, and the ribs and a magic mirror for Pinocchio.

Insect Play performance

Insect Play set continued...

I have 6 bags of chipped bark of varying shades and colours that will be added to the floor once it has been dried out in the sun. This will blend the set into its surrounding environment and also add another sensory element to the performance.

The Insect Play set and Thoresby

On Saturday Set One delivered the set to Thoresby, here we are arranging all the set pieces.

Insect play "the Pile" continued..

Today I continued with the pile, I added open weave hessian, bunting, string, fabric scraps, pearl beads, and other props.

I also intend to add some of these fabrics into the costumes for the beetle characters.

Blunder bus week four continued..

Today I started painting the style, i decided to use 3 main base colours, all shades of brown, then spray into the base with high and low lights, I then painted more detail into the wood. I then added the flowers and grasses, more sprayed layers and glazes.

The style has two sides to it, it is the boundary between the village and the dragon world, n 'Dragon's daughter. One side is bright and inviting, the other is decayed and dead. As the puppet enters the dragon's world over the style it is revolved to reveal the blackened back.

Blunder bus week four continued..

Today I finished the tortoise and the Anteater, and sprayed more into the donkeys.

Insect play Model and Set

Here are some images of the scale model, and the full size set.

Blunderbus week four

Today I started painting the two poly carved donkeys, for Pinocchio, and finished painting the tortoise.

Insect play "the Pile" continued..

Today I added more to the beetle's "Pile", eventually there will be layers of open weave hessian, more raffia, string, props, e.g books and coins, layers of hand painted and sprayed paint.