Stuff Claire Makes: DO NOT DELETE THIS - IT MANAGES THIS SECTION

Cards

Claire Richards — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:36:03 GMT

My cards are positive, colourful and humorous. I use watercolour and digital collage to create the designs. Quaint expressions and things kids say inspire the words on the cards. I turned old metaphors, like ‘Cat’s Pyjamas’, ’Bee’s Knees’ and ‘best thing since sliced bread’, into unusual terms of endearment in the ‘you are the’ series. These cards can be ordered oversize and signed by a group of people.

There are more than 50 designs in the collection. I have designed cards that are versatile and unique cards for special occasions. There are cards for birthdays, mother’s day, weddings, babies, farewells, and Christmas. All cards are blank inside and come with a colourful envelope.

If you know a saying or expression that would be cute as a card send me an email.

Handmade

Claire — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:00:00 GMT

I am constantly experimenting with crafty things. I hand painted porcelain and made dinosaur softies for a while and then I found this fluffy pink fabric that reminded me of Koala ears. I made a Mama Koala, Dada Koala, Matilda Koala, and a Little Fella Koala . The toys are about 25 cm tall and I try and make them baby proof. I don’t use buttons but please supervise kids under 3 years old. The toys are hand made with denim, corody, new and vintage print fabrics. They can be hand washed but please don’t put them in the tumble dryer as they get dizzy. My sewing machine exploded and so I am not making Koala's at the moment.

One of my latest handmade exploits has been putting string and paper through a knitting machine and joining in on the vertical garden craze. These are some instructions I made for the australian zine called mixtape. The plant paintings I made are actually looking a bit sad from not getting enough water.

Here are some crochet seagrass I exhibited in the 2012 Brighton Jetty Classic Sculptures Exhibition. It looks like there is a dolphin or shark in the background but I zoomed in and it's a boy floating on a boogy board.

Books

Claire — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:00:00 GMT

I have illustrated five books that have been published by Scholastic, Omnibus and Potoroo Publishing.

The first book I illustrated A little Bit, is written by Christine & Peter Maniaty and is a 2009 CBCA Notable Book.

I painted two books in the Aussie Gems series. The series is australian versions of folk tales and rhymes. The Wheels on the Ute, is about a holden driving wombat who finds friends all around Australia. I enjoyed painting all the fluffy ears for Goldilocks and the Three Koalas by Kel Richards.

For the book launch of The Eleventh Sheep written by Kyle Mewburn the Burnside library brought two real life lambs into the library. They jointed in reading the story when Sian's sleep sheep bleets.

The Five Senses of Love written by Janet Parsons won a 2011 Moonbeam award. There were so many people in this book, brothers, sister and grandparents I had to draw a family tree to help keep track of who was who.

Imagine We Were is coming out in 2012.

Picture books are created collaboratively. The writer sends a manuscript to the publisher and then the editor finds me (the illustrator). I do life studies and sketches lots of drafts. If I am having trouble drawing a character I make them out of clay. I paint the final images with watercolour, coloured pencils, and crayons. The wax in the crayon resists the paint and makes interesting shapes.

Portraits

Claire — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:04:19 GMT

I enjoy painting portraits in watercolour. The portraits are in my ‘big head ‘ style so they are not realistic and everyone looks about 3 years old. I try and capture what the sitter is wearing and a little bit of their personality. I often paint them doing their favourite thing. I get great inspiration from conversations I have with kids while painting them.

I do portraits of children, grown ups and pets. If you would like me to paint, you a portrait come along to a market or contact me to arrange a sitting. The sitter does not have to sit still. A quick A4 and A3 portrait takes less than half an hour but I can do more detailed portraits on canvas or framed quality paper. I used to paint from photographs but I can't keep up with orders and I miss out on meeting great kids.