My latest book, Spooky Furries! This project has been a labour of love for a year and I’m just so happy to finally share my book with everyone!

My new book has 24 pages packed with full colour art, cute spooky furries, ghostly poems and magic spells! With this book, I was interested in exploring a darker side to my art but still staying true to my style and love for animals and nature.

My vision was to make a comic poem book in two colour design. I went with a red and black palette which proved challenging in the beginning process because I rarely use red in my work (mostly green, earthy tones).

I’m so glad I stuck with the idea because the colours really pop out of the page in the final print! It’s also the first thing that everybody comments on when they flip through the book! That the colours in the book has a vibrant spooky feel.

If you’d like a copy of my book, you can purchase Spooky Furries from my online shop. Each book comes signed with a spooky doodle! There’s only limited copies so grab them quick!

Play my book video to see more pages inside! My talented husband filmed my video and animated my spooky characters. He’s the best!

Love
Helena/ Little Mo

Last week I finished my new book.

After Botania, I’ve been working on a few book ideas and this is one of them. It’s called Spooky Furries and it’s filled with ghostly creatures and poems written by me.

The book has a comic feel to it and is quite different from my usual work but in a good way! As an artist I’m always up for a challenge and looking at ways to explore and grow my style.

Here are some behind the scene sketches of Spooky Furries before I launch it this month.

And here are my final proof pages! Like Botania, I’m making this book eco-friendly by printing on recycled paper stock. So far I’m really happy with the colours and there’s still another hurdle to cross with the final book printing. Fingers crossed!

Stay tuned for more details about my book launch, coming very soon!

If you’re on Instagram and Facebook follow me there as I post very regularly on it. You can see more sketches and illustrations from the links above.

Thanks to the organisers from City of Mandurah, I also had the opportunity to run another art workshop at Contemporary Art Spaces Mandurah. This workshop focused on Marketing your Art to a target audience. I spent the afternoon with some talented WA painters, glass artists, sculptors, digital artists, illustrators, photographers and astrologist, talking about my story and my approach to marketing myself as an artist.

After the workshop we did a casual drawing session, which will be exhibited at their gallery space.

To be honest, I was a little nervous about talking at this workshop mostly because I don’t consider myself a marketing expert. My art and business has been self-taught and I still have so much to grow. I would say that I am lucky to have the gracious support from my fans and customers over this 6 years.

As discussed at the workshop, I’ve approached my art and business as an outlet to express myself and work on my technique. I try not to think about the numbers or what’s trendy in the market. When I first started illustrating my stationery range, I received lots of rejections and comments about my art being “too cute” and if I could draw plainer designs without my Little Mo character. I wrote about that experience in my blog post art vs art a couple years back.

Since that incident, I continued drawing my cute illustrations. I focused on my uniqueness and just kept drawing and sharing my art on Facebook and Instagram.

If you’re an artist reading this, and at times feel like you’re unsure of your work or that nobody appreciates your art, don’t be discouraged! Continue creating your art and continue sharing it to your audience. Not only will you be creating new pieces from time to time, you’ll be improving your skills, techniques and mental well-being. When you are creating “happy art”, your audience will want to share your happiness too and they will want to support you!

Lastly, thanks to all the lovely ladies who came to my workshop! They are all wonderful artists and I wish them every success in their own endeavours! Do check out some of their works!

www.ashleighperrella.com
www.handmadewonderland.net
www.marionfroome.com
www.karenbarnes.com.au
www.facebook.com/corrinerapleyartist
www.facebook.com/carmelsayerartist
www.facebook.com/AmandaJRichardsPhotography
www.facebook.com/cindywrightartistandworkshops

During the weekend, I ran a Doodle and Illustration workshop at Contemporary Art Spaces Mandurah. Thanks to CASM and City of Mandurah for inviting me to contribute to their annual Youth Art Exhibition program.

I had so much fun with the kids! During the workshop I showed them my sketchbook collection, we discussed doodling and developing a style. We also worked on some drawing activities. Just simple exercises to get their creative juices flowing because we all know how drawing on a blank sketchbook can be intimidating at times!

I think the kids brought such vibrant energy and humour to the class, I even learned some teen jokes and lingo from them! I found it really refreshing to listen to their funny ideas and see them ink it on paper. Their fun attitude made me feel at ease because I approach my art with humour and fun too!

In one of the doodle exercises, I got the class to draw a self-portrait of themselves…as an animal! I think this animal selfie rocks! They look so much alike!

This gorgeous girl drew herself as a wolfacorn!

We also did a few shading techniques to give them some ideas on how they can use it on their illustrations.

Towards the end of the workshop, the kids collaborated and doodled on some skateboard decks. We shared the decks around so that everyone could connect their drawings to other drawings on the decks.

Their skateboard decks will be added to the 2K15 Masterpieces currently on exhibit at Contemporary Art Spaces Mandurah. Thank you kids for being such champs! Remember to keep doodling in your sketchbooks!

For more photos of my Perth workshops, check out my Little Mo and Friends Facebook page. If you’re interested in having a Doodle and Illustration workshop at your premise (local shop, library, book store, art gallery, parties) please get in touch with me. I’d love to work with you! Or if you’re interested in joining my next drawing workshop please email me: info(at)littlemoandfriends.com and I’ll add you on my list!

THANK YOU to all who have purchased a copy of Botania. My Botania book launch was a success! I sold over 100 books during my online launch. Really overwhelmed by the support you’ve shown for my first book. I’m so happy and grateful to be sharing my art with everyone this Christmas. Thanks for believing in me and my work!

I spent last weekend packing up book orders and wrapping fun Mystery Art packages for my customers. If you’ve ordered my book, they should be in the mail to you, so look out for your package!

Each book comes signed with a fun doodle!

A big thanks to my husband Big Mo who helped with the mammoth task of sealing and checking all the book orders. Throughout my book journey, he’s been by my side giving me lots of encouragement and hugs and refilling my cup with hot tea on the late nights:)

For those who purchased a custom portrait with my book, I had so much fun inking the pieces and I can’t wait to see them framed up! Will share a few more in my next post.

Finally, here are a few snaps of Botania. I think my printer did an amazing job! The books are printed on recycled card and the inner pages on recycled paper stock with a slight heavyweight to it.

Really tempted to post more pictures of the book but I want to keep some element of surprise for those who are waiting to open their books on Christmas day. Will definitely share more pics after the holidays:)

For those who have missed out on my book launch and would like to get your hands on a copy of my book, you can purchase Botania from my online shop.

Feel free to send me pictures of your book and your inked pages! Let me know the pens or pencils you’ve used! I’m creating a Botania gallery to show off everyone’s inked pages and I’m also going to join in the fun and colour my copy! You can email me at info(at)littlemoandfriends.com or message me on my Little Mo and Friends Facebook page.

Once again, thanks so much! Moving onto my next book and new adventures!

Love,
Helena/ Little Mo

Hi everyone! So you’ve seen some sneak peeks of my special project in the last few weeks! Probably on my Facebook or Instagram. I can proudly share what I’ve been working on for the whole of this year!

My first book! Botania! A very detailed and playful colouring book featuring lots of nature and animals. There are 25 pages of hand drawn illustrations, all super detailed and very fun to colour in or to be enjoyed as it is!

Botania took me a year and a half to ink all the pages! I counted and there are at least 150 animals plus insects lost in lush botany! Can you spot them?

Now that Botania is completed, I’m crowdfunding through Pozible to get it printed. Please pre-purchase a copy of my book to help make this happen! Play my video to see inside the book:)

Thanks to my husband (big mo) who filmed and edited the video for me! I was super camera shy but he encouraged me along the way and calmed my nerves down! Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart. Can’t wait for you to enjoy my first book this Christmas!

Love,
Helena/ Little Mo

Hi everyone! I know I haven’t been actively updating my blog, that’s because for the whole year I’ve been working on an epic project! Yep it’s epic!

Those following my art will know that every Christmas I try to make something special for my online shop and markets; like my limited edition dolls, cushions and calendars. This year’s product hint: it is nature themed with many pages. You can expect lots of trees, animals and crazy fun!

I gave myself a deadline to finish this project in time for Christmas so that it may be enjoyed by everyone over the holiday season. And the last few months have been really intense, just juggling between work and finishing it up!

The good news is, I’ve now completed my special project! I also had a look at a sample test print at the printers and it looks fabulous:)

I’ll be launching my special project this Saturday the 18th. I can promise you that this Christmas will be so much fun! Come back here to check it out!

SEE YOU ON SATURDAY 18.10.14
STAY TUNED!

If you’re on Instagram and Facebook feel free to follow me as I tend to post there quite regularly. You can see some of my works in progress and other cute illustrations! Click on the links above to follow my art!

I recently came back from a week long Melbourne trip. It was filled with so much art and creativeness that I think I might have to share more than one post about my trip.

Today’s post is going to be just about my screen printing workshop with the Harvest girls. One word: INSPIRING….

Or make that three words:

HAPPINESS!!

FUN!!

MAGICAL!!!!

If you are considering a workshop at Harvest Workroom, or have an interest in screen printing, I hope my post will encourage you to take up a class! I chose Design and screen print your own fabric. It’s a two day workshop, run by the lovely Jess Wright.

I should confess that flying to Melbourne to attend a workshop seemed exciting at first but closer to the time of my travels, I started to feel very nervous and was even regretting my enrollment. I had no experience with screen printing so I felt out of my depths. I tried a few things to prepare myself for class:

1. Read up on screen printing, particularly fabric printing (I’d recommend Lena Corwin’s Printing by Hand)

2. Brainstorm pattern ideas and draw daily

3. Practice stencil cutting

Of course you don’t have to do all of this, in fact you might like to turn up and learn as you go! But the preparation gave me a basic understanding of the screen printing process and also encouraged me to play around with patterns.

The first day of the workshop was like a test run. We spent some time stencil cutting our patterns before applying it to our screen and adding fabric ink.

I realised quickly that screen printing requires good discipline and organisation skills because the whole process gets messy quickly: dirty screens, spilled ink, upside down images…and then back to more tedious stencil cutting!

By the end of the class, I was feeling a little frazzled because there was so much information to process and this whole world of screen printing suddenly seemed so overwhelming! I wasn’t sure if others felt the same but Jess was so patient and she told us to go home, have a rest and regroup for tomorrow!

On the second day of the workshop we learned about repeat printing on fabric. Using the swiss repeat technique, I made a confetti stencil pattern and picked colours that reminded me of candy floss and strawberry sorbet.

After my very messy day on day one, day two seemed easier as I became more comfortable in using the squeegee. There is an art to it and over time I even learned to pick up the happy sounds that a good squeegee print makes!

I love my confetti fabric!

Next I worked on my posie pattern. I wanted a two colour screen print so I mixed up some bright orange and ocean blue. As you know I’m very partial to these colours because they are my wedding colours!

Posie printing in action…

The final result!

And with all the excitement and fun going on…before I knew it the day had flown by so quickly!

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my workshop. It has certainly inspired me to do more screen printing projects at home. I’m going to shop around for some supplies and experiment with colours and different fabrics. At the mean time, I’m going to see what I can make with my fabric prints from Harvest. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them! Tea towels? Pillow cases? Let me know!

I can’t believe how fast this year has gone by! It feels like October and November slipped by so quick and here we are now…at the end of the year. December! Which also means Christmas! In a week’s time! Argh!

Well prepare yourself for a very Christmas themed post. Mostly for my mum’s reading pleasure!

I brought out my white tree branch and filled it up with bits and pieces. You’ll remember the tree from my DIY Christmas tree post. If you notice it looking skinnier…it’s because it has lost a few twigs from post-market stress, not to mention surviving a crazy Perth storm!

Then in perfect timing, a box of Christmas treats arrived from my parents in Germany! Inside are Christmas spiced cookies which we totally love and a few cute gifts…like this set of Christmas cookie cutters!

So in good Christmas spirit, we made some Ginger spiced biscuits. Well, Big mo did most of the work while I took pictures and sampled them straight from the oven! Very delicious!

Amongst all the gingery goodness…my parents also gifted us this cute gingerbread candle train, otherwise known as an incense smoker. You put a little incense cone inside the carriage and actual incense smoke comes out from its chute!

Traditionally, smokers are lit during Christmas time in Germany. But these days there are a variety of wooden smokers carved in different figurines and objects that you can light them up on non Christmas days too.

We have the train sitting on our dining table and we’ve been using it at night for our candlelit dinners. Hehe!

And finally, this Christmas time I sent off a Little Mo package all the way to Fairbanks, Northern Alaska. That’s as close as you can get to the North Pole! (Twenty minutes by car according to Google) How exciting! So if you read this lovely D, I hope you enjoy wearing your bunny pendant! xoxo

Well that’s as far as I got with my Christmas preparations here. Hope all of you are having a fun one with your own Christmas prep!

Have you visited our latest pop-up shop in the city?

My friends and I opened up our 5th Montage Collective shop in Northbridge earlier this month.

We’ve teamed up with some new and talented local designers to bring a bigger and diverse range of products to our shop! We open for 7 days till 2nd September, so hurry in for some handmade shopping before we close our doors.

If you have trouble deciding what to buy, let me help you with your shopping list…hehe:

Crochet toys for all ages! I just want to take everything home with me! These cuties are lovingly knitted by Anna Hadwin

Very funky coasters and home decor by Jimmy Lee House. A great conversation starter at parties!

Natural handmade soaps by Empire of Delight. Gentle on skin and free of preservatives.

Kitty zines for the cat lovers by Eeva Margita

Or if you’re a bunny and fox lover, these felt brooches would look lovely pinned onto your cardigan:)

I adore these beautiful letterpress stationery by Fluid Ink. I think I know where my money will be spent before this shop closes! Eeek!

And isn’t her stationery stall just divine? I’d love to take a peek in her studio and see her letterpress machine in action!

Adorable animal memo pads and bookmarks by Tall Rabbit

And aren’t these animal picture holders, just the cutest thing ever?

My stationery and art corner at Montage

Lots of animal bookplates to choose from! Perfect for book lovers:)

And a few of my hand drawn glass necklaces and brooches at the shop

So have I whet your appetite? I hope to see you at our pop-up shop sometime soon! Be quick!

Montage pop-up shop
Open 7 days till Sunday 2nd September
224a William St, Northbridge