coming soon in my store, brand new wearables! ;)

 <3!

Finally in one collection, The A Cuter Universe pictures can now be obtained as a ready-to-frame 5"X7" print pack. You get six small prints that will fit a standard frame for an instant wall collection, or to hang up in separate rooms, or hey get some ideas here for art display.

(Incidentally the winner of that giveaway was Blue Eyed Night Owl - realised I never posted the results! :))

Enjoyed designing the little tags for these too. Even though they won't be staying in their packaging long... hopefully anyways. Prints don't like to be pent up... I think...

;)

check them out here folks!

So, yesterday I turned 29 (which means I am now in my thirtieth year of life, I love to specify this :P...)

I love birthdays. In my family it was always the most-celebrated of our feasts. Some families make a bigger deal of yuletide or easter.. not us. For the Falzons birthdays were the biggest deal!

I still like to make a fuss of mine.

Wanted to share what my Highwayman brought me as a birthday tithe... a cameo gift, no doubt spoils from his roadside robberies. And it is perfectly authentic and vintage and beautiful and LARGE and it has Venus and cupid on it.. What's not to love?

I've been collecting cameos slowly over the years, I've loved them quite a while now especially the ones with little scenes like these. This is by far the best in my collection.

photo of me taken by Lau

Look at my belt! :D I'd ordered this belt from belt-creator extraordinaire, ContrivedToCharm some time. It finally arrived, right on my birthday too. So it was nautrally integrated into my birthday outfit. I recommend taking a peek round Tiffany's belt shop.. they're very finely made precious things, I want to collect them all really..!

A number of people asked me if I was wearing a superwoman outfit.
They're F-Holes, you fools! People can be a bit thick :P
I enlightened a woman to the fact that they were f-holes, and she incongrously huffed and replied 'well you've obviously never had children'.

...?

Granted she was somewhat in her cups though. Like most Irish revellers after 10pm. :P

Inebriated Sailor boy on the left is somewhat of an old creation.. felt an urge to draw him a mermaid mate lately, also suitably emaciated, with lotus-eater eyes... I think this pair are so right for each other that baby, it's just wrong... 8D

Here's the siren all by herself...



They're both available in my store, separate or as intended, in a pair.

Meluseena's had a bit of a jetsetting start to 2012..

I happily got to swing from the tail end of January to leave my Cork eyrie for a bit and land visits first in London then Berlin. While I'd been several times to London and as ever the city delivers delight, I have to admit I was absolutely smitten with Berlin, where I'd never been, and am quite determined to live at some point.

Chinatown in London was all prettied up for the Chinese New Year. Enter the Dragon! London feels so familiar to me I don't do the tourist thing with the photos... so this is the only one I managed to get!

Did a lot of walking around in the cold in Berlin. The gulf stream that keeps Cork so temperate in Summer and Winter had stamped out the memory of the bitterly cold Paris I used to live in, so the cold of the continent shocked me and I kept forgotting to wear enough layers or leave my hat behind. The sky was this beautiful sapphire, crisp with no hint of haze.

I'd not been to a town that does dingy so elegantly in quite this urban way before. It's rundown but still beautiful, never slummy. In a way it reminded me of the beautiful decay you see in Venice.. only in Berlin it's a kind of urban 'decay'. I don't normally like graffiti....

.. but something about the graffiti in Berlin streets captured my attention. There were some really stunning displays of street art too, huge wall artpieces that I sadly took no shots of, having opted to shield my fingers from the bitter cold rather than take snaps. The eye on the bridge I snapped above conveys the general mood though.. a graffiti more mystical symbolism than ugly vandalism.

Lots of red-brick churches soaring up against those blue skies too. I found I walked and walked and walked entirely by myself and felt so happy because there was always something pretty to notice. I almost managed to forget the cold!

 
Berlin had some really tasty victuals on offer.. and eating out was so affordable, compared to other cities in Europe! Snapped a shot of the above cheese bonanza (my mouth waters at the memory) at this very pretty Alpine-themed cafe called Eidelweiss, in Kreuzberg where we were staying.

Berlin! Our affair has just begun, I know it! Now, to learn German... hmmm!

As it happens, I illustrated the cover of Gnien Tad-Dmugh next to it, too! So I feel very represented in this little  'Other Languages' shelf box in this corner of London :P

 
Arkeepers covers created for the first 4 titles of the W. J. Madsen series.
Design and interior spot illustrations by Holly Burgess.

These were so much fun to do! And I have to say the stories are quirky and clever and fun just perfect for the 9+ age group, the kind of books you can read out loud to kids that'll make them laugh and guess at the mysteries. Very fond of the talking animals in these stories, personally. In fact my favourite cover to work on was the one pictured top left, i.e. Book 4, with the protagonist's talking cat Rex holding the magic magnifying glass.

Can't wait to get the printed versions in the post now, they've only just been published so I hadn't time to see the hard copies yet.

You read more about this series and get them from Amazon, here

This Memory-Palace so smoulders -
that her thoughts run molten down her scalp and neck and shoulders.

Another Meluseena image, now in the store

Above is a picture of my framed postcard The Peckish Moon :D

While it works beautifully as intended - to write little notes on the reverse of and post out to your secret lovers, dear friends or paste ransom notes onto - pick up a whimsical frame, such as the one I got for myself here from a local homeware store, and you have yourself a very cute small print to brighten up dull corners in your home.

It's easy and inexpensive to become an art collector with places like Etsy that allow illustrators and creators to get in touch with their audience on a personal level. Or you could even make a very swish-looking gift for someone, frame a postcard or small standard-sized print in homeware frames and to give it away to a friend to make it their first collection piece, or add to a growing one...

.... speaking of giving stuff away...!!!

I may have thought up a fairly forward display method for my postcards here... putting them in a frame is hardly reinventing the wheel... :P but tell me, what's your favourite way to display art?

Pick a piece from my shop and let me know, or tell me how you already decorate. Anyone can be an art collector.. and coming from a treasure-hunted, I'll confirm that it's addicting!

Any especially creative ideas? How do show off art around your house, or if you don't, why not and tell me all about it.

Leave me the answer in a comment below - no right or wrong answers, but if you have pictures or want to explain in detail please do so. The winner will receive...

A precious, signed and dated Brewing Stars With Ursa Minor Giclee print!

The print comes mounted as in the picture above to the lucky winner :)
It's in a 5"X7" mount and is ready to fit into any standard frame, so homing it will be easy!

My archival prints are printed inhouse on a professional printed and they're very fine, high-grade creations in inks guaranteed against fading for at least 100 years. So they're quite a little investment and I'm happy to be able to offer one free to you guys who are so dear to follow my art! Giclee prints are the more collectable older posh cousins of regular matte or lustre prints. Though both are beautiful, the giclee are more resistant to age and sun. Also the ones I offer come ready-mounted to fit standard frames! :D

.... and look how dapper these mounted luxury prints look framed! This sample photo houses my Moth and Moon archival print.

Giveaway rules:

1) One comment per person please!
2) Giveaway entries until: Wednesday 25th January at 12pm (GMT)
3) Giveaway question: In case you are a skimmer, it's above in BOLD! Read and answer :)

Winner will be picked by a random number generator from the comments.
Share this giveaway in your circles I'll be sending you <3 for sharing Meluseena love :)


Good luck! :)

 

Finally, mounted and ready-to-frame archival prints will be available at my store :)

These are deluxe gicleé prints - archival ink on archival paper, thicker than normal prints and signed on the reverse by me. They're precious prints that will not fade and are resistant to water damage.. but what's more they're very detailed, beautifully colour-saturated, extremely accurate reproductions.

These prints will come mounted on matting, (or passepartout), ready to pop into standard frames removing the headache and hassle that framing custom prints can sometimes be.

★

Want a special gicleé print of my artwork that you don't see offered in my store's Luxury print section? Just ask, I'll have one done for you especially at no extra cost :)