New book cover out for 66th

Here I am at Open choosing a present for a friend - they have a great
selection of 66th's books.
Eccomi da Open, dove hanno un'ottima selezione di libri
66thand2nd, e io sto scegliendo un libro da regalare!

thanks Ivana for the photos/grazie Ivana per le foto!!

Lovely things Gianluigi Bodi says about me - thanks Gianluigi!!
http://senzaudio.it/il-comandante-del-fiume-ubah-cristina-ali-farah/

Galleria Nuages/Giovanna Durì tomorrow/domani

Do come and see Giovanna Duri's wonderful illustrations
tomorrow evening, 6 o'clock, Nuages in via del Lauro 10. She's also
invited friends and colleagues to interpret the cat them,
so there's a group exhibition too - nice idea!
        Venite a vedere i disegni meravigliosi di Giovanna Durì domani 
sera, ore 18.00, Galleria Nuages, via del Lauro 10. Poi ha invitato 
colleghi e amici ad interpretare il tema gatto, quindi c'è anche 
una mostra collettiva - bell'idea!

Milan this Saturday/Milano questo sabato

There's a one-day exhibition in Milan this Saturday at Lo' Show-room 
in Foro Buonaparte organised by the Galleria ex-Macelleria.
There's some of my work together with photography by Colin Cuthbert of
Kitchen art print, illustrations from Tiziana Romanin, artists' books by 
Pulcinoelefante and lots more. 
It's open all day from 10.00 til 7.00 pm and for anyone who'd like to 
drop in for a chat, I'll definitely be there between 5 - 7.
A part of the proceeds will go to Selam Etiopia.

Negli spazi di Lo' Show-room in Foro Buonaparte, a Milano, si installa 
per un solo giorno la Galleria ex-Macelleria. Sabato 22 novembre, dalle 
10 alle 20, ritroverete una selezione di mie illustrazioni in compagnia dei 
disegni di Tiziana Romanin, i libretti di Pulcinoelefante , le foto di Colin 
Cuthbert di Kitchen art print e le opere di altri artisti. Se avete voglia di 
passare per un saluto io ci satò sicuramente dalle 17 alle 19 - vi aspetto!
Parte del ricavato delle vendite sarà devoluto all'Associazione Selam Etiopia.

A chat with Ciao Lunigiana

More for English speaking friends:

http://ciaolunigiana.com/julia-binfield-graphic-artist/

Tapirulan calendar competition 2015 "X marks the spot"

Pirates saying this was what continued to go round in my head when I heard that the theme for this year's calendar was X. Probably rather obscure in Italian and the way I've treated it hasn't done anything to make it clearer, but that's what I enjoy about this calendar moment -  you can let your mind wander and see what comes up.
Pirati che pronunciano questa frase era quello che continuava a girarmi in testa quando ho sentito che il tema del calendario di quest'anno era X. Probabilmente piuttosto oscuro in italiano e il modo in cui l'ho trattato non aiuterà a chiarire, ma è quello che mi piace di questo lavoro - puoi lasciare andare la mente e vedere dove ti porta.

David Austin Roses

This was for Gardenia a couple of years ago/Questo era per Gardenia un paio di anni fa.

My mum was a great fan of David Austin, her garden was full of his roses and there were
always several copies of his catalogue in the house, which, of course I have kept! From
time to time I've used them for commissioned work for Gardenia or my own stuff and I recently
decided to use up the whole collection, from 1993 to 1999!
I also emailed DA this summer and they very kindly put 2 of this year's catalogues in the post.
I was delighted and very surprised to see that they had arrived, yesterday, 1st October - 6 weeks
later!!
Of course I had completely given up on the idea of ever seeing them. Wonderful, like a present!
_____Mia madre amava David Austin, il suo giardino era pieno delle sue rose e in casa nostra 
giravano diverse copie del catalogo, che ovviamente ho tenuto! Ogni tanto li ho utilizzati i per 
lavori commissionati da Gardenia oppure per i miei progetti e recentemente ho deciso di fare 
fuori l'intera collezione, da 1993 a 1999, usandoli per i collages.
Quest'estate ho sentito DA via mail e, molto disponibili, mi hanno subito spedito un paio dei 
cataloghi 2014. Ero contentissima e anche molto sorpresa quando ho visto ieri, 1 ottobre che 
erano arrivati, dopo un mese e mezzo. Non ci speravo più. Meraviglioso, un regalo!

Studio 26/08

A week later and after a brief trip to France, (more about that later) the flower
theme is gelling for the exhibition in Milan this autumn.
Dopo una settimana e un salto in Francia, (dettagli tra poco) il tema 
dei fiori si sta definendo per la mostra a Milano questo autunno.

Studio 14/08

Finally getting going here in the studio - the weather's perfect,
my local bar is still open, I've bought paper and the rest,
here goes!
Finalmente mi sto avviando qua in studio - il tempo è perfetto, 
il mio bar è ancora aperto, ho fatto la scorta di carta ecc., 
mi butto!

numbers + words = special present / numeri + parole = regalo speciale

A recent commission which will adapt to lots of different situations; maybe 
this could be another print edition... Un recente lavoro commissionatomi che 
potrebbe adattarsi a situazioni molto diverse, magari a un'altra 
edizione di stampe...

Cats in Pontremoli, now! Gatti a Pontremoli!

A group exhibition dedicated to cats on at the moment in Pontremoli,
at the Ex-Macelleria gallery.
Una mostra collettiva dedicata ai gatti in corso in questi giorni a 
Pontremoli, alla galleria Ex-Macelleria. 

Volevo anche dire che qualcuno mi ha chiesto di aggiungere i commenti 
in italiano, e quindi inizio, sperando di non fare degli strafalcioni 
troppo grosse!

Lunigiana print edition - edizione di stampe Lunigiana

The prints are done - an edition of 25 - the first ones have already been delivered
and anyone interested can contact me in the studio, or Giulia at the Ex-Macelleria
gallery in Pontremoli. The format is 30 x 40cm, slightly larger than A4 so they fit
comfortably in the A3 Muji frame that I often use!
L'edizione di 25 è stampata - le prime stampe sono state consegnate e chi è 
interessato mi può contattare in studio oppure acquistare direttamente da Giulia 
a Pontremoli nella galleria Ex-Macelleria. Il formato della carta è 30 x 40cm quindi 
molto adatto per la cornice Muji A3 che utilizzo spesso!

Gardens de-constructed at Villa Pavesi Negri

A one day exhibition near Pontremoli in what looks like
a rather wonderful villa.
These are the collages I did for Cristiana Serra Zanetti's
garden proposals in Gardenia magazine.
They're quite fun because they mix flowers and vegetables
in a way that's reminiscent of that most wonderful French
garden, Villandry. I remember falling in love with idea when
I visited there a few years ago, driving through France on
my way to London.

Help I'm lost - Tapirulan exhibition in the Violin Museum, Cremona

"Aiuto mi sono perso" in Italian is worth a visit; it's an exhibition about the
province of Cremona featuring the work of 52 illustrators.
It's on until 18 May, open every day 10.00am - 6.00 pm. Organised by the
Tapirulan Association www.tapirulan.it, it's accompanied by a catalogue
which is also a guide to the province of Cremona, and an extra bonus is
that the exhibition is in the Violin Museum in Cremona http://www.museodelviolino.org/.
If you can organise to see a concert in the recently opened Auditorium, even better.
A circular stage and curvy shapes have been built into the existing rationalist building
by the architects Arkpabi and the accoustics are meant to be fantastic!
This is my map of the Province, some incredible names here, but not much
help for getting around, so as the organisers say: "Bring a compass or a navigator"

Yesterday's Repubblica - Niko Romito at Reale, Italian star

Repubblica has been restyled and I did this illustration
for the first Saturday issue. The 8 Italian chefs with
3 Michelin stars sit down to cook and eat together.
Congratulations to the latest addition to the list, Niko Romito
at Ristorante Reale in Abruzzo, an area that's definitely worth
visiting for a variety of reasons. By coincidence this area is also
the subject of this week's food map, now moving to Wednesday's
"Viaggi" insert after the restyling.

Only for Italians - graphic designer Silvana Amato talking about her work

I've been working with Silvana for a few years now, after a joint exhibition
we had in Milan in 2008.
Here she is talking about her work and saying some lovely things about me
too, but I'm afraid it's only in Italian, so you'll just have to trust me!

 http://omnimilanolibri.tumblr.com/post/78642064437/silvana-amato-
 sogna-copertine-bianche-ad-uso-del

illustrations for 66thand2nd, Alain Mabanckou's Black Bazaar

Ponte Lambro - leaf printing workshop

My partner in crime at Ponte Lambro! Another Giulia!
This is the result of the workshop we held in September.
20 kids printed these pictures with leaves from the riverbank
It was a bit chaotic, messy and lots of fun.

Ponte Lambro

Just back in the studio after the second part of the presentation this morning at the primary school in Ponte Lambro. We're working on two themes with 4 classes - history with the 5th years and nature with the 4th years. I have made a basic map which each class will work on, adding the information relevant to its individual research. At the end of the project we'll compare the 4 maps and see the different routes that each class has taken. First job is adding where each person's house is. This morning I delivered the maps, we learnt about soap and then made some - great fun! We're meeting up again next Monday to talk about the history of Ponte Lambro its launderies and washer women and men.

Latest commission

Another wedding present featuring trips all over the world
with a fabulous house in via Malpighi, to come home to.
Known as Casa Galimberti, it was designed in 1905 by the
architect Giovanni Battista Bossi for the Galimberti brothers.
It's in an interesting bit of Milan, around Porta Venezia, where
some of the best Art Nouveau (Liberty in Italian) buildings are
to be found. These sprang up at the beginning of the 20th
century when the "Lazzaretto", the hospital complex that dealt
with suffers during frequent outbreaks of the plague was
almost completely demolished. 
As Shakespeare so neatly puts it,
"Journeys end in lovers meeting".

Thanks Will!

2014 in Piazza Leonardo - think B I G !

Starting the new year with exciting developments
in Piazza Leonardo here in Milan. You will now find the box
(which you can see here in the photo), with the map and key
explaining the "1000 cose da fare..." project in lots of shops
and bars around the square.
Everyone has been so enthusiastic! Many many thanks to all
the people who have accepted our invitation! Here they are,
near the faculty of Architecture:
Valentina Stefanoni at the Cortina bookshop and Luigi Antonino
at La Dolce Sosta in via Ampère, and the very helpful but very shy
man who runs the newspaper stand on via Bonardi.
On the other side of the square in via Pascoli:
Tiziana Cortina and Sara Caruso at the Cortina bookshop
Alessandro Vendola at New Brand Cafè, and
the gang at Matricola.
We'll be going along in the next few days to see how they're
getting on. Please pick up the map from one of these places if
you use Piazza Leonardo and give us your ideas.
The success of the project hangs on the number of people
who participate and it's a great opportunity to think B I G -
you have nothing to loose!