Catching up

I've been terrible. There is no such thing as spare time any more when you have a toddler, especially when juggling that with working too. I've been busy creating more Oxford Sparks shorts, and a few other bits of illustration too.

Many other things are afoot. Firstly, I am cooking up a sibling for Tilly and will be due to pop at the end of February. And at some point during or after all of this, we are hoping to move house again. Yes, I know. We didn't mean to move so soon but I am struggling to find a balance between giving my daughter enough attention whilst maintaining some kind of grip on my career, so we are decamping and moving a bit closer to my parents. We haven't sold our house yet, but we will do as soon as we can.

So it's all been rather hectic here and I've neglected this poor blog. Apologies.

Oxford Sparks

It's been a long time since I last wrote: I am sorry. Juggling the demands of an eleven-month-old livewire/child/monster and trying to work at the same time can lead to a few things being neglected. Rest assured, I am not only knee deep in baby effluent! I have also been working on a number of different projects, mostly with some lovely people at Oxford University.

Back in 2011 I was selected to direct and animate an ongoing series of animated shorts for Oxford Sparks, which is an online platform for the public to engage with the exciting scientific research that is undertaken at Oxford University. They involve the adventures of a little green chap, called Ossie, who gets himself into all kinds of trouble and thus takes us on a journey to learn about something that is being developed and researched at Oxford University. I have now made five of these films and am currently working on the sixth. Click the links below to see them:

Rogue Planet
Underwater Volcano Disaster
Another Case of Heart Trouble - I directed this but didn't animate it due to newborn baby duties
Towards Absolute Zero - I directed this but didn't animate it due to newborn baby duties
A Quick Look Around the LHC

It's been great fun making these, especially being able to make use of my scientific background - makes me feel like my brain isn't turning to mush just yet. Look out for the next one due this summer - it's a brainy one!

I'll be back later this week to talk about a couple of exhibitions I saw recently.

Sharp Suits

I came across this project today. Created by designers Mark Shanley and Paddy Treacy, it is a series of posters that they designed in response to some of the worst client comments they'd received or heard of. I wish I'd come up with this idea - any of you who work in the same field will get the joke. I spent ages laughing at them. All images from Sharp Suits. Sadly they aren't taking orders for prints any more or I'd have spent a small fortune.