toadinmyhole

Little Cropper

Of an illustration coming your way soon :)

Dancing Nudes Cushion Cover

Am getting pretty enthusiastic about using my sewing machine these days, spent a very long time painting this illustration on some fabric (I don’t have the luxury of fabric printing facilities) and then turned it into an envelope cushion cover. Hurrah! Saturday well spent.

The Colonel

Watched a really interesting/inspirational film t’other week called El Topo, it’s described as an ‘Acid Western’ and contains lots of surreal scenes and imagery that really get the creative tickers in ya mind going. I’ve been wanted to have a pop at doll making for a while and made this guy based on one of the characters in the film, called The Colonel. He is a bit mean and nasty in the movie, luckily my doll is super nice. 

My Ride

…Here is a photo of my bike! I bought her from Ebay but she is originally all the way from Holland, she is a single speed which is a bit of a bastard nightmare sometimes around the streets of Bristol. You may be looking at the photo and shouting “But Mary! Where are the brakes?!” Fear not I am not that much of a moron, you have to pedal backwards to brake, its fine once you get used to it. 

Recently I have been giving her some treatment for a bit of rust, if any of you out there are keen cyclists and have an old bike that is now a bit rusty then I HIGHLY recommend you buy this. Its bloody amazing! Today I also fixed my brand new Basil WIcker Basket on the back and this made me really happy. My bike is called Birgitte, after Birgitte Nyborg in Borgen. 

The Rationalist Association

Here’s some little previews of some work I’ve just finished for the charity organisation The Rationalist Association. Will post the complete images in the not so distant future…

Made in Cheltenham

…Been a while since I blogged,  shame on me. This is a big mural I was asked to do for the Cheltenham Spa Topshop Store. The Hare and the Minotaur is a statue in their town centre that I think is unique to Cheltenham, so decided to make that the centerpiece of my painting. ”Made in Cheltenham” is obviously a clever play on “Made in Chelsea.” Har har…

Whilst I’m at it….

I added a bit more to the painting that leads to the fitting room downstairs in the basement of the store - here’s a little montage of the the completed painting. 

Ahoy!

….Next Generation Flagship ahead! I was asked by Topshop in Bristol to create a large mural for their back of house department. The company have coined the term ‘Next Generation Flagship.’ Which basically means the stores aim is to display considerable advantages over their competitors! Not only against other brands but also against other Topshops!

They wanted the writing to be teamed with something that was relevant to our store and gave it a sense of individuality; they decided on a Bristol themed mural would work best, as whats more relevant to the store than the city that it’s in and the customers it sells to?

This photo shows the mural very nearly finished! Got an hour or two left to do on it but I just couldn’t want to wait any longer to post it! 

Spooky/Sexy 

….Halloween is upon us and so I did this little trickster on a broom because being spooky is cool but being spooky/sexy is the coolest, don’tcha know? 

Sneaky Peak!

Here are some tiny clippings from an editorial project I’ve been working on this week! Will post the whole thing once issue is out and about on da streets. 

Porn vs Mayo

….Here is a mock editorial illustration I did in response to the article 

Is sex really so disgusting for women? Only when it involves mayonnaise

Basically a group of psychologists in the Netherlands did an experiment to test the theory that women can only get passed the disgustingness of sex because they are aroused, and being aroused means we can ignore all the icky gooey stuff that would normally make us want to don some marigolds or run a mile and hide in a pile of cushions and bunnies and cute stuff! 

The article was written by my new girl crush Naomi McAuliffe who is a feminist writer and what I’ve read thus far is right good. Plus I hate mayonnaise, plus anyone who uses the word ‘turd’ in an article definitely gets a thumbs up from me.

Close Up

…Little snippet of my favourite part of the wall - I might use this vines and floating lines idea in an Illustration…