I did a couple of illustrations for an online magazine in the UK, called New Fairytales.

You can find it here.

I am in the 3rd issue. You have the option to donate to a children’s hospital.

Admittedly only one can be considered a piece of writing, but it is still exciting to find your show being plugged..(Click on the titles bellow for linkys)

Silverlight travel, a blog for Berlin.

Kulturbox (In German)

I had a big day where I walked from Kreuzberg to Potsdammer Platz to Brandenberg Gate to the Guggenheim. I did this as the bike that was leant to me was of no use, as I am too short and it was too tall. Anyway, it was a sunny day and I enjoyed it very much. I think anyone who comes here should stow away a few days just to get a bit lost in the city. I think it is a necessity for every city for that matter. It is forecast to pour down with rain for the next 3 days so I thought it best to go do galleries today. So we headed out to the Gemäldegalerie. Where I got to see Durer, Jan van Eyck, Holbein, Vermeer and other such amazing artists. (I’ll write more on that later) and there was a show on about fashion illustration from the 1920′s. There were illustrations from Lotte Wernekink and a few others that were really quite startling. I usually over look the fashion shows, but then I realized by skimming over the brochure
that this was one that I really should look at, the style is really quite amazing. I also popped into the Guggenheim and left. I have more to say on that as well, but again, my brain is simply too tired to formulate a proper sentence yet alone an argument about “conceptual” art.

Above is one of the two paintings of Vermeer’s that I saw today titled ” Das Glas Wein” Painted in 1661/62.

I am working on a scene. It’s doing my head in.

That’s all for today.

WWW.LILYMAEMARTIN.COM

Oh how exciting!

Gene has redesigned this blog as well as my myspace and designed my website. The website is a little more trickier than what we originally thought.. Domain names and hosting and coding and blah. But, I am assured it will happen. Which I am really happy with as I really do not like myspace. It is FULL of advertising and no matter what you do, it never really looks that professional. Plus, they keep updating it, trying to be like facebook, and facebook does the same. It’s all so annoying, I want my own site to get away from all of that. So the only updates that happen on it, are due to my wanting it.
I’ve got all sorts of accounts everywhere and it would just be nice to have one page I can focus solely on that. It also means, if all goes to plan, that I will be moving my blog to that site. But I will still be using this blog, as I like it. I would assume that the webpage one would be for “major” things.
Anyway, I am avoiding sleep as per usual, and it doesn’t help that I am excited about tomorrow. I love having things to do. I have a commission to do. Usually, I get a little worried about commissions. They make me feel strange, it adds a certain amount of pressure… Makes me feel uncertain and I usually divert to a style that isn’t mine..as if I feel safer if it isn’t “my” style. But this commission has a different feel. I think it is because the gentleman it is for is someone who I like very much, and it is apart of a bigger project. I can’t give out details as it is all in the making at the moment, but it is very exciting. It also feels different as it has sparked 4 new works instead of just one. Doesn’t mean he will want all 4, but that isn’t the point. It means it has opened a new gate for me with my work.
My real frustration is not having a printer here. In Melbourne I had my own office at home and could do everything there. From research to scanning and printing…Now, I have to wait til stores are open and pay ridiculous amounts of money for a print. But, it is a small price to pay to be here. It’s a juggle, travel or security. I’m glad I did this, no matter how “broke” I am. Also, it makes me realize how much I took advantage of what I had.
Anyway, as soon as I get some drawings done, which should be within the next few weeks, I will post them up. They will still be in the same style. But I’m going to stop using texta and go back to ink. I will be using pens..I need to buy a WHOLE lot more now as I totally destroyed all my other pens on the last body of work for Mêlée. I think I spent £100 on pens alone for the last show. God knows the amount on paper and framing..I have stuffed the receipts into my scholarship envelope and refuse to add it all up..I’m pretty sure it’s done. Got me pretty far though and I am thrilled.
Anyway, bless the internet for letting me do my research at any hour of the day, but goddamn scanners and printers for being so fucking expensive to use in dodgy copy stores.
I’m going to go find something else to nibble on.

This is a photograph that I took of Gene today while he was playing his banjo. I think I am getting a bit better at using the camera now, much to Gene and my relief! I thought I would share it as I really like it.

My work is up on the BeinArt website, and I am fortunate enough to have the team blog about my upcoming show. Here.

The ARTer Gallery published a catalogue of their artists works to take to an art fair that was held in China in April this year. Here are my pages. Unfortunately my name is misspelt, (lol, it is really bugging me) but it is a thrill to know that these were shown in China. I am very happy.

One thing, apart from the many, that is amazing and well done by the Germans, is toys. I go into every toy story I see now….and some I even go back in to visit again because the stuff there is just SO much fun! I wish I was a kid again, but, alas, I am the strange 26 year old woman in a bright green dress buying worry dolls, colourful bead necklaces, wands…and finger puppets!!!

Some how, I get referred to as ‘Lily Martin’. Not, Lily Mae Martin, my actual name. People tend to drop the ‘Mae’ without a second thought. I don’t get it, isn’t ‘Mae’ important? I mean, that is my name!! It’s a shame. And it’s even more of a shame as I have noticed it seems to happen a lot with press. So, if there is any chance that anyone is interested in finding my work, they probably wont. I googled ‘Lily Martin’ (yes, I googled, got a question, ask google. This was a worry to me and I have to have evidence for the argument!) Guess what? Nothing! Nothing to do with me, other ‘Lily Martin’s'…None of them me..(except one image from design files, again, my name is wrong!)
So,I know it’s hard for people to not abbreviate, and drop things that they think don’t matter, but maybe ask first before doing that. We people with longer names like our longer names. If we didn’t, we would have abbreviated long ago and introduced ourselves as such. But seeing how I haven’t, and I wont, don’t drop my Mae. I like her too.

I think doing late night research on different types of fats and saturated fats in cooking oil has made me mildly paranoid and I should really just got to sleep now.

Time to catch some Z’s!!!