That's Us.

I’m back! I feel terrible my resolution was to try and maintain this blog to the best of my abilities, but alas. It’s difficult keeping up with a million different social media platforms on a regular basis. I think I need to set one evening aside where I actually write about my current Illustration work!

I have begun to feel a bit more motivated to engage with the world and try to showcase my work more frequently. It's just like any marriage, it needs constant maintenance! It’s strange but since I have been at ECA it’s actually made me less inclined to promote my work on the Internet than I had realised.

So, where to begin! I guess I’ve done a few editorial pieces for The Skinny in the last few months and some other freelance work here and there. I also got my website up and running which you can see here: www.lauragriffinillustration.co.uk

It has a lot of my new and current work up there from the last few months. I’ve realised I’ve begun to run out of illustrated merchandise. Such as my wooden brooches which is something I want to pick up again over the summer. For my final project for third year, I’m focusing on making three bespoke Lazertran laser-cut Perspex clutch bags inspired by VHS cases and heroines from films with an Existentialist theme. I've ordered some stickers of my Existential Silver Beauties which I'll post up on my Etsy when they arrive! I'm planning on stocking my shop with lots of new prints too.

Anna Karina - Alphaville

Sean Young - Blade Runner

Nastassja Kinski - Paris, Texas

In other news, I also just got back from Berlin. I went to the Pictoplasma Contemporary Character Festival for a wee Illustration class trip. Pictoplasma was definitely an interesting experience and good to see so many people in the industry making it by drawing! Some really interesting talks and it put me at ease to think I am not totally alone in the way I research or work.

Berlin was one of the most inspiring places I’ve ever visited. I have totally fallen in love with Berlin. I can’t say that about a lot of places I’ve visited, but Berlin seems to be my calling. I’ve decided I’m going to move there if I can’t find a job once I’ve graduated. It just seems like the perfect place to be an freelance illustrator and easier to get a jobs in design or the arts than living in the UK.

I’m going to keep this post short and sweet for the time being! I’ll try and post up some images from my Berlin trip and some new work soon.

I've also created a new Facebook page where you can keep up to date with tidbits of my current and upcoming projects! I am doing a giveaway on some of prints and one of my laser cut brooches, so feel free to like and share the above image! 

MOSCA.

I have returned from my adventures in the capital of Russia, Moscow. If I had to summarise my adventure in three words - bewildering, stunning and inspiring. I have to say even though it was cold, I would definitely consider going to Moscow again although it would have been easier if I had a Russian speaking guide as the language and alphabet can be quite confusing to the silly foreigner (i.e. myself).

 I felt like a true tourist in Moscow, but it was a wonderful place to visit despite warnings of unfriendly Muscovites which is true to an extent. In contrast to NYC it was so different.

On our first day we visited Red Square and ventured inside St. Basils Cathedral –I have to say it is definitely one of the best buildings I have ever seen in all my travels. Beautiful would be an understatement. We then managed to find our way around the Kremlin to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts featuring a large collection of ancient artifacts from Egyptian to Greek culture and various others.  It also had a special exhibition of Le Corbusier’s work ranging from painting, textile, photography and architectural drawings that were really interesting also.

Our second day, we went to the Tretyakov Gallery which featured lots of traditional Russian art in a style similar to the Renaissance painters. The architecture in Moscow, I was in complete awe of - it chops and changes from beautiful decorative buildings to Soviet style buildings, each as grand of the other as their own polar opposites.

Friday - We went to the Memorial of Cosmonauts, another absolutely breathtaking spectacle of awe for myself of a gigantic steel rocket monument and a array of sculpture figures to commemorate Soviet cosmonauts. It is the entrance to the Space Museum – which features a large exhibition of space related items that I found fascinating with a certain kitsch feel to it of being in a set of a 1960s sci-fi film. It also has Belka and Strelka immortalized in taxidermy, the two space dogs which survived their space voyage and landed safely back to earth.  We also had a cycle on a two-person bicycle around the All Russia Exhibition Centre that had a variety of an odd collection of buildings and a theme park. I also visited Leo Tolstoy's house which was also filled with beautiful crafts made by his own family.

I found some lovely children’s illustration books in Izmailovsky Market – the best place in Moscow for cheap Russian souvenirs, antiques and lots of other curiosities for all kinds of tastes. I purchased a Laika postcard from 1958, Russian stamps and badges. You could easily spend a whole day there rummaging around and find some wonderful Soviet and Russian items. There are a few other places I haven't had a chance to mention but overall my trip to Moscow was a bizarre but very culturally interesting and I hope I can return again.