New look for Facebook Banner

Thinking of rebranding and working on the new websites in the last couple of weeks I have added a new banner in my facebook page that shows samples of my lifestyle collections.

For updates and discounts coming up soon you can like my page here.

Celebrating Late Spring

Finally we have spring here in UK! The fabulous sunshine, gorgeous colors and lovely sounds of birds in the backgrownds is making everyone happy and working less painful.

Over the last week I have taken the opportunity to photograph the amazing flowers in season for various licensing projects.

They can also be purchased in my shop here as prints, posters or canvas.

I hope the sun is shinning where you are :-)

If Celebrities Were an Average Joe....

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

 Danny Evans, an artist from New York has created a series of photographs using photoshop creating them as ordinary people. We see them here how they could potentially look like  if they didn't have the lifestyle that makes them as superstars with the help of personal trainers, diets, dentists,  surgery and all the help they get to look the way they do.

The images are not flattering at all but apparently the celebrities themselves are OK with the photos and even find them amusing. You can see more here
Which image do you like best ?

David and Victoria Beckham

Sarah Jessica Parker

Madona

Jennifer Anniston

Johnny Depp

Tom Cruise

29 Ways to stay creative

Via: visualgraphic

If you are stuck this working week for some creativity some of these tips might help ! Personally 4, 9 and 11 work for me :-)  

Which ones work for you?

Kitchen wall decor coming soon...

Over the weekend I stopped by the local farmers market...

Living on a plant based diet I stocked up on tons of wonderful looking fruit and veg as I have been vegetarian for over thirty years,  I'm now making the transition to a vegan diet- which is another story...

With the lovely looking produce in my kitchen basket I couldn't resist to use the opportunity and take some photographs for my upcoming collection of images including kitchen wall decor on my new online webshop opening in April. 

Thinking Ahead....

OK..So on Friday I posted winter images and today it is the most glorious, gorgeous and beautiful sunny day! It has uplifted my mood and I'm now thinking of summer  afternoons in the garden, travel holidays and short weekend getaways by the ocean.
I found this image through my archives that I find most inspiring and peaceful at the same time. This photo was taken on the beginning of our European road trip last summer. Now available in my Etsy shop- Soon it will also be available on my new online web shop! Watch this space!

Thank You Good Homes Magazine!

A couple of months ago I got an email from Emma Clayton, decorating editor of Good Homes Magazine requesting to borrow one of my abstract paintings and poster for a photo shoot. I was sooo delighted to see in the newsstands that it has made it to the front cover of this months issue! 

The poster bellow is one of my bestsellers in my Etsy shop. I also wrote about it a couple of months ago when i sold it to Obama.com in this post here.

Sold to OBAMA.COM! Here is the story...

Being an independent artist of any kind has its drawbacks... it can be lonely at times in the studio, you can go through severe months of mental block where NO inspiration seems to come your way and the worst part - speaking for myself - is self promotion !!! OK, so now we are at an age where social media dominates and it is easier to use those tools i.e; Twitter, Facebook, Blogs...but believe me I find it VERY hard !! Yes I have a great platform to expose my work and talk about my success but I do find it cringing at times! Us independent artists need to promote ourselves; if not, no one will know about our work.

Six months ago I sold an image and to my surprise it was to the address OBAMA.COM ! I've hardly told any of my friends or family except when I have had the courage with a glass of wine!! I didn't want to seem as gloating but I was ecstatic inside !! I'm not implying it was for Barack Obama himself and I didn't dare to ask the buyer whom it was for, but the address made me just happy!

With the American election today, this has been going through my mind all day so I thought it was time to share it with you and not be so shy; time to be proud and tell the world! :-)

Ps. The print is also on my Etsy shop  and Not on The High Street

Sunday Afternoon

I hope you are all having a lovely Sunday wherever you are. This afternoon I've been taking photos of Matt and our cat Woody- This one made me smile :-)

Lets make it no 1 song!

Tweet from- Lawrence Dallaglio ‏@dallagliocycle

Wellington teacher Jimmy Higham sadly died of cancer at the age of 26 download his song to raise money for a bursary help make it no 1!h

/itunes.apple.com/gb/album/isnt-she-lovely-single/id580686040 …

New York Prints in my Etsy Shop

NEW Prints in my Etsy shop. New York prints and much more. You can check here.

I hope you are all having a great weekend ;-)

Back from New York!

Back in England after an eventful couple of weeks in USA! Now editing my New York photos - Watch this space for offers in my Etsy and online shop coming soon!

E- Postcard from Bruges !

Since I last wrote here was from Belgium. I had envisaged to carry on writing my E- Postcards from our travels, but somehow it didn't go to plan. Trying to find time to write, take photos, edit them and the find a place that has Wi-Fi is quite a task in itself ! So I opted out for chilling out and embracing the beautiful surroundings.

                                                              Antique Market by one of the canals

Now back in England it is all back to work deadlines! At the same time I've been decorating our home and building a new studio ! So today Saturday I sit here with my windows open facing the garden and looking back to our holiday photos ! It seems so long ago now, but only a mere four weeks have gone by !

                                                         Venice of the North
When we arrived to Brussels we did a day trip by train, which only took an hour with amazing train service .
Brugge ( Bruges ) known as the Venice of the North, still has the beautiful medieval charm surrounded by canals, cobbled streets and interesting ornate architecture. I loved it but I think next time I would like to visit at Christmas time , known for the xmas markets.

                                                                 Ornate architecture everywhere

E-Postcard From Belgium !

Mini European road trip planning in our Belgium holiday farm house

Today as is the first day of the Olympics in London and here we are away from it all in Belgium!! After a good few years of not having a holiday due to little things that life throws at you, we finally have been able to have a break from work and daily routine and leave the country for a couple of weeks.

The old Ferry across the channel to Belgium-  NO one in sight !

Initially we were going to rent a cottage in Suffolk, then it was France, but after exchanging forthcoming holiday travels with numerous friends, most of the people I talked to were going to France!!  Since I was a kid (my Mother would very much agree on this one!!) there is always a part of me that wants to do the opposite to the others...so I mentioned to Matt ‘Why not turn Left and visit Belgium and Holland instead for our mini European road trip??? Matt got excited about the idea too, so within 48hrs we were   doing our research through the net, looking at maps and travel books   ! One worry that I had to deal with was our cats Kato and Woody!!!  Who was going to look after them??  How would they cope?? Somehow it all worked  out like magic and through mutual friends Glen and Judy our new friend appeared on our doorstep as we were leaving reassuring me over and over that it was all going to be OK, so thank you Holly  for putting my mind at rest !!

Matt looking very pensive on our departure from England...

Having crossed the channel many times in my life with the ferry over to France and used to seeing many travellers on board I was amazed to see that we were NO more than 20 passengers, the boat was nearly an antique and there were only two crossings scheduled a day instead of one every hour; it made it all more delightful adventure!!  On our arrival to Belgium we did a two hour car journey to the beautiful area of Wallonia, where we are staying in a gorgeous 250 yr old farm house in the rural village of Eprave.

The lovely house and rural village in Eprave

Wallonia is a beautiful part of the country surrounded by mountainous landscape, river streams and tinny little stone built villages.

Local villages and interesting architecture 

The villages are immaculately clean and consist of your local amenities together with a couple of beer gardens, French fries fast food shops, boulangaries and pastisseries with amazing eye candy as their essentials! We are certainly the only tourists with a foreign  car number plate to go through these places which is very refreshing and what I have seen of Belgium so far has enamoured me with the country with a certainty of our return!

Country walks beckon in our local village surroundings

Tomorrow we depart our stay in the rural countryside whilst we take or journey to Brussels, Bruges and Ghent followed by Holland! Aux bientôt  ! Until the next e-postcard !

Jubilee & Olympic Greeting Cards - The Story Behind The Photos !

When I received an email from The Great British Greeting Card Company with the exciting opportunity to produce a photograph for the London Olympics 2012 and Golden Jubilee, I was thrilled and very daunted at the same time! The brief was sent to me and other photographers, but I was determined to get my image through the selection process! The email also mentioned it had to be themed as English afternoon tea and the Union Jack flag had to be displayed in the image - so it was a bit of a challenge!!

I didn't know where to start initially then as the ideas developed in my head I contacted two fabulous local bakers to see if they could help me out with the project.  I commissioned  Lisa Rossiter Kidd ( from

 Vanilla Rose Cakes) a couple of cupcakes using the Union Jack flag. I then asked Ryan Wilson, head Chef from Wellington College if he had any afternoon cakes I could use and he ended up giving  me a great selection to choose from! They both came to my rescue immediately with amazing creations.

Above is Lisa Rositer - Kidd from Vanilla Rose Cakes in the weekly Stall in Wokingham market.

Don't her cakes look delicious ?? !!

Then it was all  work at Le Petite Studio which  went on for nearly a week taking endless photographs, selecting and editing. Finally I posted a large selection of my best images and wished for the best! A couple of months later I received the email I had been hoping for from Nick at The Great British Card company saying they had selected two of my images!! I was so thrilled and so were Lisa and Ryan ! It is a great privilege to be part of such historical events here in Britain 2012 :-)

The Cards are on sale Nationwide or you can contact here to purchase Wholesale. 

Bellow is Ryan Wilson, Head chef From Wellington College and the amazing looking and delicious strawberry pavlovas he provided shown above.

Great Picture Tweeted from Boston !

My friend Dan and his brother are currently traveling through the States. Dan has just tweeted me this awesome picture from Boston !!! Ahhhhhhhhhhh !!!  I love spontaneous creative moments !! Thank you guys !! :-)

Jubilee and Olympic Greeting Cards!!

I was sooooooooooo pleased to know two of my images were selected by The Great British  Greeting Cards Company for the Jubilee and Olympic Theme to be sold Nationally !! I will tell you more about the story behind the images in a couple of days when I have more time.

 In the meantime I hope all of you are having a great weekend wherever you are. I'm off to The Malvern Hills to visit very good friends for good wine and food, catch up and country walks !! Bliss :-).