proszę słonia

"do as the elephants do - when they're unhappy, they just disappear." (à bout de souffle)

today, i was sitting around, contemplating elephants, and had a passing thought about polish children’s book author ludwik jerzy kern. my first elephant experience was in the form of one of his books, which was read to me when i was very small. in russian it was called listen up, elephant... and i still have the same old copy in my collection, as well as a german version, my elephant is called dominik (which has the same cover illustration as the original polish edition). the 1967 book is about the adventures of a boy named pini and his friend, a porcelain elephant.

i mention jerzy kern because as the thought of him drifted into my mind today, i absentmindedly looked him up and suddenly found that he had passed away yesterday, in krakow, at eighty-nine years old. goodbye, goodbye, and to every elephant that ever vanished: goodbye. you always seem like the last, but a new one comes ambling along when i least expect it.

wah nails

illustration for matt bramford's article in amelia's magazine about the barbican centre beauty party (part of the exhibition "future beauty: 30 years of japanese fashion") featuring wah nails, a nail art boutique in london.

also, it looks like i am one of the thirty illustrators who will be showcased in amelia's compendium of fashion illustration! on tuesday morning i gave a brief skype interview about my work to amelia gregory, which will be posted online as a supplement to the book sometime in early 2011.

north, two

north, one

the first two spreads from my "north" sketchbook. more coming soon!

"elephant dream" at urban outfitters

"elephant dream" is now available at urban outfitters, printed on 12 x 12 inch stretched canvas. the wall art is available for purchase here at urban outfitters online and will be appear in stores as well! in other news, i am cozying up to the digital world by jumping on the bandwagon of iphone users and those who tweet. click here to follow me on twitter.

consolation prizes

i found quite a collection of beautiful things on my trip. arctic cloudberry liqueur and marimekko from finland, dala horses from sweden, norwegian wool. i love wonderful objects. i surround myself with friendly items and books the way i do with wonderful people. they all come through and save me in moments of sorrow and despair.