Meet a fellow lover of fairies and pixies! Her name is Claire Maraldo and she has a great blog called ELFIE AND ME. Since I began blogging, I have met many wonderful people. Once...and a while... you feel like you have known someone a really long time! Claire is one of those people. She started a movement with a logo that says it all.
I just love her work! Take a look at how talented she is!
I asked Claire to write a little about herself so I could share it with you. There is something about her that makes me feel like I have known her forever!...........
"I worked in magazine publishing for years. I used to do layout and then graduated to styling photo shoots and doing the odd illustration. I was kind of a jack of all trades. When I had my son 7 years ago, I had a re-think and decided that the long slog up to London was no longer for me. I went freelance and started to do drawing just for me. I am quite a solitary beast by nature and I fit my work around family life. All my drawings just sat on my hard drive for years, then I discovered blogging in late 2006 and liked the community and the way it keeps on growing. I feel I've finally found some like-minded people scattered all over the globe.
I've always loved the illustrators of the early 20th century, in particular Arthur Rackham, Margaret Tarrant, Mabel Lucy Attwell and Cicley Mary Barker. I love Art nouveau and the Arts and Crafts movement too. I like vintage styled homes too.
My son is perhaps my biggest inspiration and my first thought when I saw my newborn was how much he looked like a little pixie! As I first held him it was like a stranger that I already knew so well. Does this sound strange? As I got more involved the world of motherhood, I came to the conclusion that children are very otherworldly. I notice it very much when children are in natural surrounding such as the woods or beach.
Like your son, Alexei had lovely curly locks which he wore long and he used to get loads of attention because of it (which he loved!) But it had to go when he started school (sob!). Little boys are just so beautiful and have you noticed that in the media they are totally overshadowed by girls? So a small part of my work is to celebrate boys!
I work digitally and I make no apology about it. Lots of people think that the computer does the work for you . . .if only. I draw on a tablet using Freehand. I then import my drawings into Photoshop and fiddle around with composition and colour but as a rule I don't use filters. I've wasted too much time doing this! I love this way of working as it allows such a lot of artistic freedom. Good if you're indecisive! "
In my working life, I feel very much I'm at the beginning of a long road. I've just started getting my work out there . . .a very small beginning. My web site is going to be up and running later this summer. I did quite well from the Country Living Show this Spring and have had a lot of positive comments about my work but I've got a long way to go. I'm excited about the future but somedays I wonder why I'm spending my time doing this. These are the bad days. But I guess we all get these.
My studio is a tiny room full of stuff. It's a lovely room in that it has a stained glass window and big sash windows looking out into the garden. Oh, and a flowery cushion on the ugly swivel chair and usually a slumbering cat on top of a teetering pile of papers! Some people look at it and think it's a complete mess, Others think it's a treasure trove! I suppose it's how you want to look at something.
The "Buy Handmade" logo . . .well, this was a creation which came about via the rants I have made on my blog. If you read these 2 posts, you will get the general idea. The comments fellow bloggers have made will give you some idea of how we are bucking the trend against mass-marketed stuff and cheap foreign imports. Unfortunately, people often vote with their wallets and don't support the makers of handmade items.
I guess the reason why I draw is, I want to create. I want to make my mark, however small. Becoming a mother made all these thoughts come to the forefront of my mind. I'm lucky that my circumstances allow me to do this."
Be sure to visit her Etsy shop too.
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