Don’t know about you, but Christmas seems like months ago…was all good though.

I had a busy time of it leading up to Christmas.

John had his 50th birthday so naturally, since your man’s only 50 once,  we had to celebrate in style.

I booked a weekend at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir in Oxford and I have to say it was incredible.  The service is second to none and that’s before you’ve even tasted the food.

Gerald Hockey contacted me a couple of weeks before Christmas to ask if I could do a rush job for his wife Barbara for Christmas.  Barbara is a very good customer, so I was delighted to oblige.

Take a look at this gallery to see the step by step for this piece.

Finally I’ve completed all the pieces for Part 2 of the drawing module for my Crative Arts degree.  You can check out the results here in the Creative Arts pages.

Right, better go and update the Creative Arts pages then :0)

Take care until next time

Jilly

xx

I have just completed my Pet Portraiture Diploma with the London Art College and passed with a Distinction!

So ever the student, I enrolled on my next adventure – a Creative Arts (Hons) degree with the Open College of Art.

As part of the course students are required to keep a learning journal, so I have added new pages to this blog to act as that journal.  You can follow my progress and see the outcome of my adventures on the Creative Arts Journey pages.

Part 1 is all about mark-making and has been great fun to explore.  Since it was so in-depth there are several pages for you to browse.

Hope you find it as interest as I did and who  knows you might be inspired to give it a go yourself.

Other News…

I have been so busy with study, work and holidays that it’s been a while since I did a cat show, but that will all change next weekend (8/10/2011).

You can see me at:

The Bengal Cat Club show, North Solihull Sports Centre
Conway Road Chelmsley Wood Solihull
West Midlands, B37 5LA

Sat 8th and Sun 9th October 2011

This is a TICA all breed show, so there will be something for everyone.

Lots has happened and there are lots of things to update you with, so I will share it all over the next few days.

We just had a fabulous week in Spain andI did nothing but draw next to a lovely sun drenched pool.

I was of course drawing wildlife, a couple of snow leopard cubs from a ref shot taken at Twycross zoo.  “What about the local wildlife?” – I hear you cry…Well the fact is there was no local wildlife.  Not even mosquitos which we were surprised about, but then the neighbour let us into a secret…

The area was over-run with mossies earlier in the year.  I had to laugh because Adrian (the neighbour) said that “it got so bad the mossies were biting you just for fun!”  I’m sure there’s a cartoon in that somewhere, lol.  Anyway in their naive wisdom, the local authorities decided to draft in an army of specialise wasps to attack the mossies!  Can you feel a disaster coming on????

Imagine that  – SAS wasps! Another cartoon?

Anyway, the wasps were released – result, no more mossies………and…..yep, a plague of wasps – and not just any wasps – SAS wasps.  Aparantly, Adrian had gotten rid of two nests, at the back of the villa we stayed in, a couple of weeks ago.

I have to say we were not troubled too much by wasps.  There were four persistent individuals who visited at the odd meal time, but we dispatched the scout and they didn’t bother us again.

Snow Leopard cubs

So what a way to spend a week, Stephen Fry’s audiobook on the iPOD and a paintbrush in my hand.

I was doing some artwork for my Art degree course too, but more of that in my next update…

We just had new carpets fitted upstairs right in the middle of me getting work ready for The Painted Cat exhibition at the Llewellyn Alexander gallery in Waterloo – Glutten for punishment!

Anyway, all went well and work was submitted on time plus I now have a lovely tidy art studio. It’s amazing how much stuff you accumulate over the years.  You only realise that when you have to move it out for new carpets!

Anyway here are the step x step images for one of my latest wildlife works:

Anyway I’m back and here’s an update on my latest piece.

Panthro and Tigra

These two belong to Helena Rushbridge, or is it the other way around – I never know with cats.  We certainly don’t own Amber, we’re just casual staff!

Anyway back to the plot:

Here is the gallery showing the development of the Panthro and Tigra piece from initial images through layout options to the finished piece.

We ran through a number of options before settling on one where they were sitting close, but not too close :0)

There’s a great shot half way through where Tigra’s half rendered stripes look like PJs, and I love the light falling on Panthro’s black fur.

Hope you like it….

Enjoy!

This year I will be demonstrating and selling my artwork and taking commissions at the London Pet Show!

It’s a fantastic event for anyone who loves animals and it’s on at the National Hall, Olympia

7th & 8th May 2011

£1000 worth of prizes to be won for a mug shot of your mutt or moggy.

Magic radio 105.4 are running a photo competition called “Magic Pets” in conjunction with the London Pet Show and part of that £1000 worth of prizes is Jill Tisbury pet portrait vouchers to the tune of £275!

All you have to do is upload a cute picture of your pet to be in with a chance of winning, so get snapping and upload those pictures now!

Click here to visit the Magic Radio web site to upload a picture of your pet and have the chance to win!

Just a short update today, because the piece is finished and here it is!

I’m really please with the end results and delighted to have had the opportunity to create the piece.

Haworth Cat rescue Christmas card 2011

Christmas seems a strange thing to be writing about at the moment,especially with the beautiful sunny mornings we’ve been having in my part of the world.  Perhaps the frosted windscreens help to set the scene though

Anyway, I have made lots of progress with this piece, so I thought you’d want to see the update…

You’ll recall that the team at Haworth Cat Rescue asked if I would design their Christmas card for this year, so this is the progress story in pictures so far.

Check out this gallery to see the latest

A little bit about Haworth Cat Rescue

Haworth Cat Rescue finds loving homes for  abandoned, suffering and unwanted cats through its no-kill rehoming centre.  The independent cat homing charity based in West Yorkshire is overwhelmed with calls for help and has a six month waiting list. The region has few places for people to turn to for help and, as well as relying on public support for income, the charity is fundraising to build a permanent, significantly larger centre with 100 homing pens and feral cat sanctuary.  The new centre will provide opportunities to run educational programmes in responsible pet care and an understanding of cats and their needs.

Please help Haworth Cat Rescue give more cats and kittens the shelter, care and second chance they need.  What a difference every pound makes. Thank you.

See you in a couple of days when I hope to have a completed piece!

Take care

Jilly x

A little while ago, when I was at the Supreme cat show, I was approached by Sara from the Haworth Cat Rescue organisation to see if I’d be interested in designing this year’s christmas card for them.

What a great idea! ….and for a great cause too…

I had an idea that involved some beautiful glass angels that live in my tree at Christmas and Sara liked the sound of that, so then we chatted about the actual cat that would be the main subject.  Initially I thought about a little tabby kitten simply gazing up at the angel, but then I also remembered some shots of my cat, Amber, that were taken last summer.

If you follow this blog, you’ll know that Amber is a British Blue and was the subject of my last oil piece.  All this attention will definately go to her head

Anyway,  in readiness for this piece I was snapping away at Christmas time to try and capture an angel and a bit of the Christmas atmosphere.

Click the picture for a larger version.

Here’s the picture of Amber that I thought would be just right:

She looks a right little podge in this shot!

I think she was just being lazy -  trying to reach a leaf that my sister-in-law was teasing her with, without getting up!

In my imagination, combined with the angel on the tree, it looks like she’s had too much Christmas pud!

So the idea for the piece was born.  Here’s the progress so far, remember that this is still in the early stages and many more layers of detail have to be added, but at least you get a flavour of what it will look like when finished:

It’s all done now so click here to see the final piece!

A little bit about Haworth Cat Rescue

Haworth Cat Rescue finds loving homes for  abandoned, suffering and unwanted cats through its no-kill rehoming centre.  The independent cat homing charity based in West Yorkshire is overwhelmed with calls for help and has a six month waiting list. The region has few places for people to turn to for help and, as well as relying on public support for income, the charity is fundraising to build a permanent, significantly larger centre with 100 homing pens and feral cat sanctuary.  The new centre will provide opportunities to run educational programmes in responsible pet care and an understanding of cats and their needs.

Please help Haworth Cat Rescue give more cats and kittens the shelter, care and second chance they need.  What a difference every pound makes. Thank you.

See you in a few days with an update on progress

Jilly x

Thought you’d like to see what I’ve been up to.

You might recall that I am working towards a Pet Portraiture Diploma with the London Art College…well this is the last piece that makes up my penultimate set of work.  the brief was to create an artwork with an animal in surroundings that portrays it’s personality.

Now I didn’t think I was into animals in clothes, but I have to say I loved doing this piece.

It all started when I went to the supermarket to do the shopping.  I was in the drinks isle and I saw a wierd looking bottle.  Anyone who knows me would tell you that I’m a marketing mans dream.  If it’s in a lovely box or an interesting shaped bottle then it’s in my basket! Simple as.

So take a look at what that little bottle sparked off..

Hope you enjoyed the journey…next time I’ll be starting on a design for a Christmas Card for a pet rescue centre…

Bye for now

Jilly  x