Wonder Meyer Illustration + Cupcake Richard

Here is a quick post about what I've been up to recently.
I was contacted a while ago by the lovely folk at Cupcake Richard, a start up bakery headed by a tiger enthusiast and maker of all things good and sweet. She initiated a wonderful little project in aid of tiger conservation, and have commissioned myself and 3 other local illustrators to design a series of postcards. 100% of the proceeds will go to the tiger conservation effort, and this project is backed by the prestigious World Wildlife Fund organization. Its not often that you come across passionate people who are willing to fully fund a project on behalf of a charity, and I'm so happy to be a part of this great initiative.
It was a really fun little project to work on, with an open brief (the only prerequisite was that the design had to involve tigers) and best of all, super sweet and easygoing people to work with (not to mention the bonus cupcakes that were part of the deal)!

I have been a long time follower of Greenpeace, pretty much ever since I had the opportunity to climb aboard the Rainbow Warrior in Panama when I was 9. How I got into that position is a fairly long story involving a childhood spent travelling around the world on a boat, but let's leave that for another post. Anyway, the point is that the declining population of wild tigers has been on my radar for a while now, thanks to daily updates from Greenpeace. But because of this project, I got to do some research on the topic and delve a bit deeper into the subject. I was suprised to find that loss of habitat was only second on the list for reasons for the rapid decline of the wild tiger population. Much like our Rhino tragedy here in South Africa, tigers are being poached for their organs and body parts for an Asian market that believes them to contain magical and medicinal properties. 
Its estimated that we have lost 97% of the wild tiger population over the past century. ?? And that 3 of the 9 of tiger subspecies are already extinct. I had no idea. To learn more about the threats to tiger populations and to see what you can do to help, have a browse around the WWF  or Greenpeace sites.

The title of my illustration 'Up in Smoke' refers to the rapidly declining numbers of the current tiger population, and also references the ghosts of the already extinct species. I started out by painting some foliage at the bottom in burned hues, then faded into barren branches and eventually smoke towards the top. This alludes to the destruction of habitat caused by overpopulation and the growing Palm oil industry in particular. For some or other reason I enjoy making cards in oval formats, so I continued to do so in this drawing and I think it worked out just fine. Sir Richard Parker himself solemnly sits in the middle with his monkey-face and dainty paws. I used watercolour and coffee stain for this painting..more like ingredients that mediums..I think I had cupcakes on the brain. 
I can't wait to see the full series of postcards which will be released on the 16th of May- I'll do another post to let you know how and where you can get your paws on them so you can do your bit for these stripeys.

                                                                                       x

Because Stickers!

Any kid that grew up in the 90's  knows the joys of these tacky delights. I used to spend hours pouring over my sticker book collections full of wonderously puffy, fluffy, scented, glittery goodness, and occassionally allowed myself to part with a few in order to swap them for coveted glow in the dark Lion King numbers owned by other little sticker collector friends.
In a moment of poor judgement or nostalgia ( I prefer to put it down to the latter), I designed a couple of fun little sticker sheets for Design Indaba with peach (above), mint and grey accents and they sold out, yay! So relieved there is still a healthy appetite for these items! Each little image tears off individually from the A5 sheet, so you can make your own little compositions with them. Or just sticker-ify arbitrary household objects like in the days of our youth....queue reminiscent sigh...

Cards and such..

Bunny Illustration for Miss Lee

It was a very special little someone's 3rd birthday not to long ago, and she got her very first illustration to hang in her bedroom. Hope you like your bunnies Miss Leano!

A Kitty Card

Sooo...It was me and Pants's birthday week not too long ago.
Our birthdays fall in the same week so we get to be the same age for a whole 5 days!
This may seem trivial to some, but not me, huh uh. This is actually rather a big deal because, except for those 5 short days, I'm a year older than my boyfriend, and lets be honest, this  bothers me.
"The Man must be older!" - (to have any effect whatsoever that must be read in a booming patriarchal voice, yes?).
He is supposed to go forth and see what that age has in store, and experience all the pitfalls so that when you get there he can warn, commiserate and comfort you because he's been through it already. And also you get the be the young little minx and who doesn't want that, right? But I am just a bit silly about that. I should be used to the fact, seeing as all of my relatives (on my mothers side at least) are in relationships where the woman is older..aunts, uncles, cousins grandparents, e v e r y o n e.
Maybe it's hereditary?...hmmm.
But I digress.

If there is one thing you must know about Pants, its that he loves cats. He will spot one across the street, lying on the pavement and lure it towards him with his magical cat-speak. Many a time have I caught him in deep conversation with his own cats and referring to himself in the third person. Yes he does.
I am not a 'cat person' myself, and for this I blame my father, of course. Shame, it's not really his fault that he's allergic, but what are parents for if not to make them the root cause of all our shortcomings? So, for this reason I never grew up with cats around the house and had very limited interactions with them in general. I don't really understand them, to be honest. They kill things when they are not even hungry despite being domesticated for easily a kajillion years. They don't listen to you, in fact, they have no interest in you whatsoever unless they are hungry or itchy. They eat smelly food and they only cuddle on their own terms, namely on your face. At six in the morning.

Come to think of it, I have had some pretty bad experiences with cats. There was Billy, my housemate's cat who would frantically start humping the blanket as soon as you settled down on the couch to watch Oprah with a hot cup of tea. If he was hungry in the morning he would not hesitate to draw blood from anyone foolish enough to walk into the kitchen with their legs exposed. Then there was dear Basil, who's greatest joy was to sneak into my room and prance all over my freshly painted..paintings. And Asterix, who headbutts you in your face continuously until he gets stroked. And Fat Tummy Tommy, the only cat I have ever loved, will let no man close enough to hug his fat fluffiness.

However, I have come to realize that perhaps not all cats are like this, and maybe one day in the not-to-distant future Birthdaypant's dream will be realized  and we will find a seriously fluffy, squashy faced and emotionally dependent little kitten to come share our flat. In the mean time though, I made him this card. Thank you, that is all.

Oh Happy Day

Yes. It has truly been an age since my last post. But now that the rain is steadily pouring down outside and the fire crackling happily beside me, this afternoon is asking for a ramble. 

My dear mother, and most other people I know for that matter, are summer lovers. They're all palm trees, humidity, salads and white wine. Which is great for a while, sure, but then there's Winter. How can you not love it? I am undeniably a Winter person. I love the cold. I love depressing grey clouds for days on end. I love the thought of hiding out in a snow-coated cabin in the mountains. Chilly weather goes hand in hand with all my favourite things, like

• waking up to the sound of rain on your window
• snuggling with Pants for at least and extra 20mins before being dragged out an impossibly cozy bed
• consuming vast quantities of delicious, steaming beverages throughout the day, washed down each time with an assortment of rusks and cookies
• roadtrips to catch the snow in Hogsback
• boardgames and port by the fire
• books and soup
• blankets and series
• toasted coconut marshmallows
• thats probably enough,I'm sure you get the idea..

But lately, it also seems to be wedding season..
It appears I've reached that age where all my friends start to get married.. which is super awesome, except for the fact that I'm 22 guys. Ta-wenty two. Which just makes it awkward? I'm sure this phase should only start happening what, a good 6-7 years from now? Anyhow. With all of these impending celebrations, I decided to make a little congratulatory print that I could give to my friends (apparently when you are an artist, everyone expects hand-drawn cards..). The idea here is that you write your message on any coloured A5 paper and pop a little bulldog clip on top to attach it to the print.  That way the recipient can easily detach your message and frame the print as a keepsake without having to worry about scribbly writing showing through the paper..
I also have another version which says 'congratu-flipping-lations' in the bubbles, or the text can be left out completely so that you can write your own personalized 3-word message.

I really had fun doing this nonsensical little drawing and I'd like to create a few more cards for other occasions.