Last Thursday evening I was sipping champagne in the Louis Vuitton book department of their Bond Street store in honour of one of my all time favourite illustrators (and dear friend) Natsko Seki’s London Travel Book launch. Natsko was commissioned to visually interpret London for LV’s travel book series, a beautifully printed and bound coffee table affair, made of lovely paper. A native of Tokyo, Natsko has made London her home since 2005. She selected locations to depict in her witty collage style that she felt captured the essence of London for her, including my favourite- the Penguin House at London Zoo. Natsko’s book is available to buy at Louis Vuitton stores across the world. And here’s a video of Natsko talking about her inspiration for the project: Read more

Maria Faci is an illustrator and pattern designer based in the vibrant and exciting city of Madrid. Madrid’s thriving creative scene is impossible to miss; so how does it feel to start a creative business there? At this week’s Pattern Party, I catch up with Maria for an insight into her life and work.

The view from your studio (above) is amazing. Tell me all about it.
My work surroundings are great! I have been lucky enough to have met a lot of creative people that I have a lot in common with. I am currently sharing a studio with three friends, who are also designers and we spend a lot of time talking about our projects, sharing useful information, searching for fabrics, suppliers and courses to keep on learning new techniques!

Tell me about Madrid, so I can pitch a research trip.
I was born in Madrid, and although I live in a town on the outskirts, my studio is in Calle Gran Via, one of the most emblematic streets of Madrid. There are always a lot of things to do and see in Madrid, it has many expositions, new designer fairs, courses, beautiful shops… as well as lot of wonderful corners, parks and buildings. Madrid is full of creative, innovative and friendly people.
Your patterns have made it on to fashion items, how did this happen and did you enjoy the process?
I have learned a lot from my first collection. I have always liked to draw and have always been drawn to the patterns, but it was the studio La Casita de Wendy that pushed me to materialise my ideas and encouraged me to bring out my first collection. I was inspired by the Magritte paintings and surrealism, and from there I designed the patterns, the product silhouettes, chose the colours etc. It has been a long process, full of trips to the workshop, searching for fabrics and fighting with the website and the blog. The most emotional moment without a doubt was the first time I saw my pattern printed on the fabric!
You have been busy! What’s next?
I am currently working with a lot of excitement on the new winter collection and starting a new project called ‘Callao 15′ with three other designers. And right now I am working on my new website!

Thanks Maria! See Maria’s collection here.

Studio Fludd are artists and designers who are passionate about science and it’s people, especially English physician and all round big-clever-thinker Sir Robert Fludd. Oh and they make great jewellery too! I caught up with Studio Fludd to find out more…
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Today we offer up some beautiful books – along with a time travelling noblemen, a fascinating insight into mental health issues and a lip-smacking taste of India. Something for everyone, me thinks! Read more

Illustrator and cartoonist Jillian Tamaki has a brilliant ‘Sketchblog’ which, amongst other gems, features Jillian’s funny, colourful and surreal experiments in collage. Scroll down for some of my favourites from Jillian’s blog. It’s enough to make you tear up the Sunday supplements and locate your Pritt Stick post haste. Read more

The nice people at fashion brand Ark Clothing sent us some cool clothes to wear and write about. Check out the pics from the first ever Jackie model-style photoshoot! And read our reviews of the outfits we’re sporting. Read more

A new feature at JM – it’s the playlist. These should get you bopping your way to the weekend. First up, here’s super-crooner, the iconic Scott Walker.

HEALTH WARNING! The video below features STROBES

I am quite a lot in love with the work of Leah Goren- she paints girls, lots of girls, who are well dressed, often sitting and deep thinking in a Sunday-blues sort of way, and sometimes standing, posing, putting on make up and doing yoga. Leah is also a keen pattern designer who makes her designs into clothes and she has recently turned her hand to pottery too, creating sweet ceramic bowls. Here Leah talks to JM about her love for thrift stores, finding her friends inspirational and the best place to get Mexican food in Carlsbad, California. Read more

This week’s post is devoted to a fictional ginger cat and his creator the writer and illustrator, Kathleen Hale. As a child I was enchanted by the adventures of Orlando and his friends and as an adult I am equally enamoured. Looking at the books again I am struck by the gentle wit and charm of the drawings and their elegant compositions. I have recently been listening to Desert Island Disc’s archives and I stumbled across an episode devoted to none other than Kathleen Hale herself, recorded several years ago. She turned out to be the most marvellous old lady who before settling down to marriage and children (and subsequently creating Orlando) was  a fixture on London’s bohemian scene in the early 20^th century. I thoroughly enjoyed her tales of living it up at Café Royale in dresses she had made herself out of silk handkerchiefs. To listen to the episode go here.

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Once a year, to mark the start of summer, I will drink 1 can of Lilt. I like my insides to know it’s tropical time.  Other people like to mark the summer by participating in popular pastimes such as hula hooping, dancing around may poles and hanging around big rocks, aligning themselves with Luna phases and the like. Astronomically it’s a little early for Lilt, however, my clothes did dry outside today, so therefore it’s summer.  This week’s Pattern Party celebrates sunshine, where I’ll be sharing with you my top ten tropical Pinterest pins to get you in the mood. Pour yourself a fruity drink and get stuck in.
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Here’s something great that I came across on the web- Adam Hayes’ Make Maps project, in which people design maps (of real or imagined places) and Adam posts them on his blog.  I caught up with Adam for the lowdown on his idea: Read more

Another week and another round up of some of the most exciting and most beautiful books coming soon to a shelf near you! Read more

Aino-Maija Metsola’s work is overflowing with colours and shapes so inviting that I wish it would pour out the taps when I run a bath, and I could dive in and have a daydream about magical places where people play handmade harps in the forest…. Here Aino-Maija tells us about designing for Marimekko, jogging in Helsinki and her thoughts on talent versus passion. Read more

Ah, the joy of other people’s sketchbooks. The honesty, the sense of experimentation, the shopping lists, the telephone doodles, the big ideas and the ones that didn’t quite make the grade. Laura Heit, an animation artist and self confessed ‘sketchbook peeper’ has created Animation Sketchbooks, a juicy compilation of sketchbook pages fresh from the hands of more than 50 animators (including herself). Read more

It is a perennial joy to be acquainted with the witty and wonderful world of Matthew Hodson aka Matthew the Horse: illustrator and wordsmith extraordinaire. The lovely Matthew was kind enough to have a chat with us here at Jackie Magpie and share his thoughts about being struck by the muse whilst shopping for chinos and a the joys of bacon and banana sandwiches.

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