Why I Don't Eat Meat

I've wanted to write about this subject for a while, and seeing as its currently National Vegetarian Week, I've decided this is probably appropriate timing. Vegetarians seem to get a bad rep for being quite 'preachy' about this issue, and whilst this stereotype annoys me, I do think it's hard to talk about this without feeling like you're preaching - in the same way a bible basher screams at a passing crowd, there are people out there that just do not care about eating meat; they just don't want to know.

I think this is wrong. I don't think eating meat is wrong, although I'm not sure I ever will again, but I think it's wrong to turn a blind eye to where your food comes from. One can pass off the act of eating animals as no big deal, and something that most people on the planet do, but it's actually something that implements huge global issues - most notably environmental ones such as deforestation and global warming.

But I'm not going to talk about these issues. I want to talk about my personal reasons for avoiding meat, because actually, when I think about it, I feel more passionately about these decisions than I do about most things in life. After all, it's something I reevaluate on a regular basis - when making decisions on what to cook, at restaurants, and when eating with meat eaters. Every time I come up against an opportunity to eat meat, I think about my decision, and that decision is strengthened.

I became vegetarian about two years ago. It was my sister that got me thinking about it; she's been vegetarian for much longer than me, but I was a big meat eater at the time and never really contemplated giving it up. Here is a myth about vegetarians: we are all repulsed by meat. For me at least, this just isn't true. Quite often it's the opposite; in the summertime there is nothing quite like the smell of bbqing meat - and I will agree that nothing, no nothing, is more effective a hangover cure than a bacon sandwich.

And yet I resist.

I remember my trigger. I stumbling across a really horrific PETA video featuring undercover filming in farms and abattoirs. It was so horrific I don't think I even watched it to the end. I watched chickens being kicked across a factory floor, being pushed into crates so violently that wings, legs, necks were broken, and saw a cow dangling upside down, it's throat sliced open, blinking his last moments, in pain, in a blood stained concrete room. Men watched and did nothing to quicken its death.

I still get chills when I think about those images. I remember having such a strong physical reaction to it - my hands shook, I broke out in a sweat, my throat closed.

This video served a very important purpose. It made me ask "do I want to contribute to this?" I knew that if I continued to eat meat I would, in whatever tiny way, be responsible for this sort of cruelty. I had never properly considered the notion before, the notion of billions and billions of animals across the world being pushed into our meat-making machine. We, as meat eaters and just as human beings with a conscience, are responsible for these lives. We've created them to take them away, and yet most of us (past-me included) never think about these lives, and how horrific they really are.

This is the part where I take a breather, and try to reel in my vegetarian "preacher" tenancies. Breathe in. And out. Ok.

The main reason for writing this post is to encourage a more conscious decision. I'm not asking anyone to give up meat, because I don't believe the act of eating meat is necessarily wrong. But if you're going to eat animals, you need to be aware that your decisions determine whether you're a part of the cruelty - the cruelty incurred from farming animals so cheaply that drastic corners need to be cut.

Those corners come in the form of animal life and the quality of it. Cheap labour cuts costs, but it also cuts the throats of animals - in barbaric, unskilled, uneducated ways. Cheap shelter cuts costs, but it also cuts the beaks of chickens so cramped, bored and miserable they would otherwise peck the chickens around them. Cheap transportation cuts costs, but it also cuts the frayed nerves of animals riding to their deaths, who have already lived out a dark and harrowing existence.

Next time you're in the supermarket, and you see those neat, pink packages proclaiming "2 for £5", look beyond the bargain and think what that means for the animals that lost their lives to sit in these fridges. You have the opportunity to opt out of being a cog in the cheap meat machine. For a couple more coins you can take yourself out of the equation, you can increase the demand for quality meat, and you can improve the quality of life for animals that deserve our respect.

More information here:

The best charity: www.ciwf.org.uk

The best book: www.eatinganimals.com

The footage you can't ignore.

Watercolour Flower Illustrations | A Peony and a Dahlia

 

 

A while ago I worked on some more flower illustrations for a flower arranging book proposal. They were to join an existing pair of paintings which you can see here. 

These paintings are now being sold at the Yellowstone Art Boutique in Stoke on Trent however, you guessed it, I'm still waiting on that book deal! I was paid for my time of course (I don't work for free you know), but it would be an extra treat to spend time on a whole book. I'm hopeful about this however, and have recently been working on some more proposal images, for a different book with the same publishers. Maybe this year will be my year.

My Secret 7 Record Sleeve | Watercolour Illustrations

I was involved in the amazing Secret 7 exhibition for the second year running, and this year it blossomed into a truly special event supported by some of the best in the creative industry. So many of my favourite illustrators were involved, the launch night saw some amazing live illustration being projected onto the walls, and nearly every single record sleeve was sold - meaning a huge amount of money raised for the Art Against Knives charity. In short, a massive success. Bring on next year!

Find out more about Secret 7 here.

Have a look at my design for last year here. Which do you prefer?

Farmyard Animals | Watercolour Illustrations

About a month ago I was approached by an iconic British textile brand (which shall remain unnamed) to produce some illustrations for a summer gift collection, based around the theme of 'County Fairs'. This would include illustrated crockery, prints, printed textiles and stationary.

Unfortunately, and much to my dismay, the project got pulled. I've been left with these illustrations of different breeds of cow, sheep and chickens. I actually quite like them though, despite the associated disappointment, so I'm adding them to my portfolio and displaying them proudly.

As a lovely silver lining, I have actually been working on a new and exciting project off the back of this. I can't reveal anything about it just yet, but I can tell you that it involves SHEEP!

Some of the original paintings are also being sold at the Yellowstone Art Boutique in Stoke On Trent.

Intelligent Life Magazine | Food Illustration

It's been a little while since I've updated my blog. I'm not feeling incredibly guilty about this, I'm (not) sorry to say. I feel as though these past few months, since I've returned from my travels, my workload has been building to the point where a paint brush is never very far from my fingers. And who has time to type with a fistful of brushes?

I've been working with Intelligent Life magazine for a while now, and have a bi-monthly slot illustrating a food feature - discussing the signature dishes of the world's top restaurants. It's a fun job, and I've had to paint some pretty bizarre dishes (some of which don't exactly look edible...) but I appreciate a challenge, and it's nice to have a reoccurring commission.

Intelligent Life is a really great magazine, and working with them has been a breeze. I was really flattered to be asked in the first place; the art direction is fantastic and they're using a lot of amazing illustrators. I hope I get to stay.

My Recent Travels

After three months of colour, culture, sunshine and sights, I feel like I've been abruptly dropped back into "the real world" with a rather mournful bump. To be fair, England wasn't exactly showing me it's best side when it welcomed me home. Raindrops on the aeroplane window told me it's been one grey and miserable festive season and, whats more, it's one that looks set to stay whilst I acclimatise to my homeland again.

I have to admit that I feel a little heart broken - I feel as if I have been swept along in a three month love affair with asia, and that it ended all too soon. I'm not even sure I know where to begin, and whether I'll be able to hold back the clichés when I do. You've been warned: read on with a cynical pinch of salt.

Colourful Nepal

Firstly there was Nepal, and yes, I'm going to say it: it stole my heart. Such a spiritual land where every extreme can be found; tropical rain forests, a dusty and chaotic capital and huge, unbelievable mountains. Oh Kathmandu, I never thought I would take to you, but you swept me away in your noisy, polluted arms. I loved the narrow streets, full of music and food and shrines with incense burning and that walking them meant sharing space with baby laden mothers, holy men and cows. An assault to the senses definitely, but so so full of life.

Away from the capital, we explored hill side towns full of cheeky children shouting "Nameste!" to us and pressing palms in front of their faces and Pokhara, a town beside a huge and peaceful lake. A real highlight for me was trekking through the mountain range of the Langtang region, and waking every freezing morning in a different tibetan village, mountains looming all around.

Pokhara

A day hike in the hills.

Next we flew to Thailand. A big contrast from spiritual Nepal, as Thailand is a well trodden country, swept up in the tourism industry - and not altogether in a positive way. But we shied away from the full moon parties, and instead visited the laid back islands of Ko Chang and Ko Yao, where we slept in bamboo huts with no electricity, and found empty stretches of beaches to roam. We celebrated the Loi Krathong festival in Kanchanaburi, where I released a baby terrapin into the river for good luck and we watched lanterns and floating candles lighting up the river kwai. Oh and the food. I ate a coconut curry so good it nearly reduced me to tears - and I can't blame the chilli for that.

The beautiful island of Ko Yao.

Lastly there was Burma. Before my trip, and whilst reading vast amounts of travel blogs, I never really got why writers gushed so much about the people of countries they visited. Silly, I know (and I can hear well-travelled folks screaming "Noooo!" at me). I suppose I'm not really a people person, in crowds I keep my head down, I am shy and often inside my own head. And surely one travels to see the landscape of a place, first and foremost? I couldn't be more wrong. It is all about the people, and the people of Burma will stay in my memory forever.

Fishermen on Inle Lake

Steeped in tradition, and yet so very welcoming to us western visitors, the Burmese overwhelmed me with their smiles, their beauty and their kindness. Just as an example, my sister and I were sampling some fried quails eggs cooked on the street, and a burmese man walks over, with a cloth for us to wipe our hands, and two cups of water. A small gesture, but one that I marvelled at - would an English person ever go out of their way like that, for a complete stranger? I doubt it.

In Burma we saw some amazing sights; ancient temples, floating villages, breath taking beaches - all of which I felt so lucky to be visiting whilst tourism is still minimal.

We had this ancient temple to ourselves all morning. We climbed to the top.

Bagan at sunset.

I hope you've enjoyed reading about my travels. I tried to keep it as short and sweet as possible (but couldn't quite refrain from clichés), and hope it hasn't been too much off topic - this is an illustration blog after all.

Regardless, my travels have inspired me and inspiration is so important for an illustrator, so I'm going to post this here and say: if you are ever so lucky to find opportunity to travel - grab it greedily and say goodbye to the grey, if only for a little while.

NB: Photos taken by my very talented sister (I take absolutely no credit for them!)

Travel Journals | Inspiration

It's time to let you in on a secret I've been planning for most of this year... Next month my sister and I are embarking on an adventure, travelling first to Nepal and then on to Burma for THREE WHOLE MONTHS!

It's a long time spent away from everyday life, and I'm incredibly excited, but I've also started to consider what I will miss of my home comforts. Music will be a big one, as will be my bed, clean clothes, hair straighteners and the rest, but I think most of all it will be my work. I've come to realise that I pick up a paint brush pretty much every single day - and I'm not ready to go cold turkey from this habit.

For this reason, I've decided to give up some space in my rucksack for a mini watercolour set, a few paint brushes and a sketchbook. I'm going to be painting up mountains, looking up at temples, sitting in crowded backpacking bars - I can't wait!

Here's some collected inspiration of existing travel journals. I very much look forward to sharing mine  in 2013 :)

Michelle Allen's colourful sketchbooks.

Liz Steel

Le Corbusier : les voyages d’Allemagne : carnets / Ch.-E. Jeanneret, Le Corbusier. New York: Monacelli Press, 1995

Ella Jackson's painting from travels in Cambodia.

Sara Midda's South Of France: A Sketch Book

Illustrated Tweets | Watercolour Illustrations

I'm excited to announce I've embarked on a new self initiated project, whereby I will be illustrating my favourite tweet from every week. You can follow the project here: atweetaweek.tumblr.com

Flower Illustrations | Watercolour Illustrations

These illustrations were for a presentation for a potential flower arranging book, which may be going ahead in the near future. I enjoyed getting to grips with detail.

Festival T-shirt for Cheer Up Clothing

This is a design I've had to keep under wraps for quite a while, so I'm really excited to finally be able to share it. I worked with the super cool clothing company, Cheer Up! Clothing on a festival t-shirt design, and this is the result!

It was a bit of a challenge having to keep the items fairly 'safe' for a t-shirt design (ie. alcohol is clearly the biggest festival essential - I had to resist the urge to paint lots of beer and vodka!) Also, the idea was to keep the items unisex, which I think I achieved - although perhaps not every man needs chaps stick...

You can buy yourself a tee here, which I recommend you do quickly as it's a limited edition item. If you do make a purchase please do send me a picture of you in it (extra points if you wear it to a festival!) You can post it to me through Twitter, or on my Facebook page. I'd really love to see it in action! 

Zizzi's Plate Design Competition

Yes. I went there. I entered an illustration competition. I generally avoid these as I feel like they degrade the industry and give it that tacky X Factor feel. If you want an illustrator for your project, why not just hire one? The industry is competitive enough, without bombarding it with actual competitions.

That being said, I wanted to create some new work, and saw this as an opportunity to do so. Plus, I find the way Zizzi promotes their "fresh talent" to be very well executed, and many of the winners have gone on to carve out successful careers in the industry.

Here's my design. Sadly it didn't make the shortlist, but I'm happy with it and feel it would make a lovely plate so...there.

Topshop Commission | Watercolour Illustrations

So here it is finally. I was holding out on some better shots of my work in situ, but sadly no more have come through, so I must apologise in advance for the low quality photos!

I was asked to create a head-through-hole portrait of Marie Antoinette and a poodle for international Topshop stores, to be used as a decorative and interactive feature over the Jubilee weekend. It was fun to work with line and a few select colours - and I'm pretty happy with the results.

The boards were on display in Singapore, Jakarta, Japan and Australia. It's exciting to know my work has travelled half way across the world in physical form! But, of course, the most exciting part of this whole commission was to work with such a well-known and prestigious client, such as Topshop.

More please!

Peabody Housing Association | Watercolour Illustrations

I think I like his feet the most.

The Peabody Housing Association asked me to produce an illustration of the founder, George Peabody, to accompany a new series of documentaries involving a cycle tour around London. You can find out more about the association, and see my work being used on the site here. 

My 200th Blog Post

This is my 200th post on this blog and for this reason I wanted to make it significant. I'm going to talk about the simple matter of doing what you love.

Most people have a passion. Something that consistently interests them, and gives them great pleasure. For me it's image making. It always has been. For others it might be writing, or acting, or even playing frisbee. It doesn't matter what it is, but most people have an activity or interest that demands their attention - and I'm slowly learning that that doesn't make them (or me) special. It doesn't make me special that I love to paint, because Jenny down the road loves to play tennis every opportunity she gets, and Bob has the biggest collection of jelly moulds in the south-west. Everyone has a passion, it's in our nature to focus on things that make us happy, and shape our lives with them.

With passion, comes great responsibility, and after graduation I assumed it was my responsibility to make my passion for painting my career, and not stop until I got there. But I never imagined the great struggle I'd go through to get to the stage I am at today, and I wonder if I had thought more about my overall happiness and less about the C word (career) I could have saved myself a lot of stress.

With my 200th blog post under my belt, and with my early twenties nearly (finally) over, I feel it's about time to shake off the pressure I have wrapped around what I love before it destroys it. I now believe that if you have something you love to do, this is great, but if it's not in high demand, chances are pretty slim on making it your career in it's purest form. But it doesn't have to be your career or sole source of income, just because you love it.

I think the key to being happy, and this is nothing new by any means, is to find a balance in life. When I first started out as a graduate illustrator, there was no balance. I was ridiculously broke and constantly stressed about this. I had none of life's small pleasures, because I simply couldn't afford them. I was chasing what I thought I should be chasing - but the reality is that most people don't love their careers, at least not right away. Most people have that Sunday night dread that sits heavy in their stomachs, waiting for another working week. But, most people are happy (massive, massive generalisation I'm sorry- but I'm trying to make a point).

There's a reason we all work. Because it funds our existence. It pays for the roof over our heads, the food in our bellies, the much needed Friday nights out. This, to me, seems like a pretty good trade off. It's the small things in life that all link together to create the feeling of contentment and of happiness, and really, it's ok if your passion doesn't entirely fund this. I see this now. Because having other work that supports your basic human needs (food, shelter, comfort, a summer holiday!!!) will provide the frame of mind you need to do what you love, to the best of your ability.

Don't get me wrong, I am a paid illustrator, and I'm extremely grateful to have worked with some amazing clients this year. But I also have other work that keeps me afloat, and I've noticed that this is something not often talked about in the creative industry - are we, perhaps, ashamed of it?

This blog post is to anyone (me included) who worries and stresses and panics over their passion, and the pressure of making it your career. A drive to do what you love is a good thing, but it's important to look up occasionally, and see that life is beautiful and there to be enjoyed. For a happy few, their passion is also their career, but us day-jobbers can be happy too, we can paint part-time, and we can afford to have our cake in our favourite café and eat it.