World Book Night

It's World Book Night tonight! I can't make it to any of the events unfortunately (they're all too far away), so to celebrate I made this quick poster - hurray! Books are just the best, aren't they?

Something very exciting!

Hi guys! Earlier this week I got some HUGE NEWS! 

I've been selected as one of five shortlisted entrants for the Design Week Rising Star Award!

Yup, I certainly did jump around like a loon - what a brilliant surprise!  The Design Week awards are the biggest creative awards of their kind in the UK, and the Rising Star category looks to pick out the creative industry's fresh up-and-coming talent. (It makes me feel a little dizzy to be included. What an honour!).

There's some increeeeddddibly talented names in the full shortlist (that you can see here, congratulations everyone!), I'm pretty sure I'll be feeling a little overwhelmed at the awards ceremony in June! It's such a huge, huge honour to be nominated (especially by such an esteemed panel of judges!) I really didn't ever expect to get shortlisted, but wish me luck (and a good dollop of nerve-calming support) for the final pick! x

Shelterbox Auction

Late last month I headed down to Cornwall to visit my family, and luckily well timed it to attend the Shelterbox Charity Art Auction in Plymouth that I had donated one of my signed prints to.  It was a great little night organised by a couple of my friends, featuring a really diverse range of paintings, print, jewellery, photography and illustration.  Absolutely all the funds raised from the auction went straight to Shelterbox, a really great charity who provide emergency housing and lifesaving support for people around the world - so people certainly weren't shy with bidding!

Hannah Jump (organiser) w/ Martin Jump's work - Samuel J Pidgen (my brother)'s photography print - My donated print.

The auction raised over £600 for Shelterbox and there were a lot of happy faces going home with some lovely artwork! There will hopefully be more of these auctions in the future, so I'll let you know in advance and you can all get involved. Nice nice nice.

Blank Media Collective - Chris Haughton talk

Last month I headed over to Manchester for Blank Media Collective's 'Masterclass' talk by illustrator Chris Haughton.

Chris is an Irish illustrator, widely known for his 'A Bit Lost' and 'Oh No, George!' picture books and his venture into illustrated fairtrade homeware with Made By Node.
It was a cosy affair - with a ton of illustrators snug on floor cushions, basking in candlelight with glasses of wine and cocktails in mugs. I even scribbled down some notes in my sketchbook.

Chris gave a really good talk about his illustration work, writing process and adventures across the world setting up Node.  I had a nice chat with Chris after the talk too, it's always great to get to know other illustrators when you can! Currently Made by Node has 18 very talented illustrators who have each designed a simple illustration which  was handwoven into a gorgeous fairtrade rug - very pretty, and a really great ethos!  There's some fantastic designs, including one by the very talented Lesley Barnes who I exhibited with in the Enchanted Forest show last Winter! You can find out more by taking a look at www.madebynode.com