Author Archives: Clare Mackie

Let’s face it Sandi Toksvig is hilarious and Good Housekeeping an excellent magazine, so without hesitation I accepted to illustrate her column on their back page every month. This month she tackles phobias and, along with Augustus Caesar, Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Benito Mussolini – Julius Caesar too had no truck with cats. Pussies.

On the 5th February I headed to the NEC Birmingham to attend the Spring Show there. It’s insanely huge with everything you can imagine being sold to Trade buyers from around the world. There are about 20 halls in all, each the size of a large supermarket with hundreds of stands in each. Thankfully The DRH Collection were in Hall 1 – easily found – and they launched two lines of ceramic products I’ve been working on last year as well as their other really lovely products. This photo shows you the bulk of the Herb and Cheese lines but I forgot to include the herb plates.

They had a tiny kitchen in the background and baked camemberts using various recipes which were utterly delicious and they’ve won awards for their ceramic camembert bakers and include a recipe booklet inside so anyone can launch forth and create such delicacies that were seducing their buyers! To see the full Cheese and Herb ranges (pages 32-35) and indeed their full 2012 PDF brochure inside please go to www.thedrhcollection.com and press the button that says “expand” – also what happens to ones waist with too much of the baked camemberts too….

Freshly launched at the Atlanta show California here are some visuals of the embroidered work Peking Handicraft Inc have created. Think they’re only available to buy in the States but if you are interested, please do send me a mail and I’ll forward it on to them. They’ve also produced a large selection of Guest Towels, Christmas Tree Skirts, Stockings (Christmas variety…) – not quite a must for this time of year but you never know!

A very busy month so far with the build-up to Christmas and putting 2011 to bed. Am working on a new card collection, finishing off details on the packaging for the ceramics, Country Life has another two My Week columns before the year’s end to be illustrated, March’s Good Housekeeping just handed in, cards to write, presents to sort….. the usual chaos for all of us I’m sure! Hope you’re having a good run-up to the Festive Season and may you have a wonderful holiday and an exceptional 2012!!

Hilarity afoot as am taking part in the Brighton Artist Open Houses and the divine framers I use here (www.framing-studio.co.uk) have set themselves up as a venue in their small but perfectly formed shop. I decided a 7 foot Christmas Tree was just the thing, so a mammoth rearrangement took place and lo there was peace. A large green frog adorns the spot where a fairy would have been more fitting and camp decorations placed on the branches of Homebase’s finest. Mugs, calendars, notebooks & co from Doricmor are usually on sale there anyway and all looks cheery and festive. Poor Laura isn’t a fan of Christmas and drew the line at playing Sir Cliff on the loop – it finishes on the the weekend of 10/11 December I think… or the following weekend.

All very busy with Country Life as have illustrated all the windows in their advent calendar cover, painted a double page spread written by the funny Kit Hesketh-Harvey and attended the launch of their new book called “Country Life: Curious Observations A Country Miscellany” which compiles quirky and fascinating stories from their archive. It is a must for every loo around the country for a happy leg-swinging time!

Have always found Sandi Toksvig a very funny woman and therefore rather pleased when I heard from Good Housekeeping’s art director asking me to illustrate her back page column. The first illustration I’ve done appears in the February 2012 issue and shall look forward to a laugh every month before thinking up a design for the page. Very cheering, also illustrated a piece for Tescos Magazine to appear next year too… I think…. have been a bit vague about when that’s to appear….

In late June this year my beloved sister was diagnosed with an aggressive, but contained, breast cancer. It is an intense journey back to health which is stretching and changing us all very deeply and her cheery and fighting spirit is quite breathtaking. A lovely cousin of ours’ gave her Ronald Searle’s book “Les Tres Riches Heures de Mrs Mole” recently as a gift and it sings of his great love for his wife Monica and touches the heart. I found the article below (by Frances Hardy) on the internet which you may or may not have seen, but thought it moving and wanted to share it.

Ronald Searle has long been a hero and, to me, is the most exceptional illustrative talent today. His work has amazed and inspired me from early childhood and I had the honour of sharing his New York agent, John Locke, for several years and took great pleasure in seeing his original art on the walls and hearing stories about him – very fittingly over champagne and dainty biscuits. Having been brought up on the the hilarity of “Searle in the Sixties” (ensconced in our loo from its publication on), the discovery of harrowing drawings from Changi, where my Great Uncle Sid was also incarcerated, were a shocking revelation. My Great Uncle was so effected by his time there he could never talk of his experience in the camp itself and having seen those drawings all became perfectly clear. He too had a great love in his wife Jean and they remained utterly devoted till her death.

Monica must have been an incredibly strong and brave woman, and the tenderness of her husband’s drawings, that are infused with his love, are so touching and healing to us all.

Again, as I’m the new girl with Peking Handicraft, Inc and a late arrival, I have been busily preparing for next Year’s Christmas lines. Having sent through artwork earlier which had been discussed, tweaked and approved, embroidered samples of Guest Towels, Christmas Tree Skirts, Stockings, Cushions etc have been sent back to me for approval via email. As my sleeping is going through a dodgy phase it’s been nice going through my emails at strange times of the morning to see what they’ve been coming up with. Am a tad excited about seeing them in the flesh but will have to be patient – am esp keen to see how one of my images has been translated as a “hook cushion” – v popular in the States, but I don’t really see them over here. Perhaps it’s just me cruising the wrong shops? Who knew.

Happily(though strangely knackering too), have been painting a more complicated piece for Country Life for a double spread and here it is…..