bonjourhi

The idea for this drawing came to me while reading 'One Hundred Years of Solitude.' I can't remember exactly how Gabriel García Márquez described the Buendía family's gramophone (or if it even went by the term phonograph), but somehow it conjured the image of a band of musicians, there inside the music-making machine, putting their hearts and souls into the music that emerged from the large flaring horn.

I am British and my boyfriend is Canadian; sometimes this leads to issues relating to accents and words can get confused. One morning I thought he was asking me if I was going to have a lion. Which is even more confusing now I think about it, because apparently it’s a sleep-in not a lie-in.

I made this poster for the band Night Jar, for their first official gig in Montreal. Nightjars are funny looking nocturnal/crepuscular birds, but I chose a particularly impressive example for the poster - the lyre-tailed nightjar!

This drawing was inspired by the songwriter Patrick Watson's lyrics "you put a big bird in a small cage and he'll sing you a song." I chose the Tui as my big bird, a highly intelligent New Zealand bird that has a wonderful song. 

A couple of years ago I designed a series of monogamous animal themed Valentine’s cards, and last year I translated the two most popular cards into French.

When I found a bunch of coloured pencils in the stationery drawer at home, it only seemed right to do a portrait of Natasha Khan, AKA Bat for Lashes!

These bow-tie wearing animals were commissioned as a wedding present. Everyone knows penguins and giraffes make the best couples!

This drawing was done for a breastfeeding clinic to advertise a course on baby-led weaning. I was hoping to give this fella a pensive look!

This watercolour painting was inspired by Lyle Lovett's song If I had a boat - "If I had a boat, I'd go out on the ocean. And if I had a pony, I'd ride him on my boat."

This is a self-portrait - I’m not sure exactly why I drew myself as medusa, but it was fun drawing the scaling skin of those snakes!

These musician squirrels were commissioned by probably the best supervisor in existence, for her four talented students.

As dusk arrives in the woods, you might hear a frantic, metallic tapping sound. Almost like someone typing away fiercely on a little typewriter. If you follow the sound you’ll discover the origin – a small trap strategically placed on the forest floor. Tempted in by the peanut butter smeared on the entrance, a disillusioned vole is now desperately trying to escape, unceasingly rattling the trap door as he/she attempts to pry it open. In the drawing, the vole is typing the words "SOS" over and over on a miniature typewriter.