Figgjo Fajance AS is a Norwegian porcelain manufacturing company, founded in 1941.

It was based at Figgjo in the municipality of Sandnes, Norway. The company took its current form in 1968 following the merger of Stavangerflint AS with Figgjo Fajanse AS. The company has a factory, museum and factory outlet at Figgjo. It specializes in vitrified china for the domestic and professional catering markets and was founded by entrepreneurs Harald Lima and Sigurd Figved.

Lotte was a popular pattern, several designs with people were available in a stylized manner.  The company made bowls, cups and dishes, as well as wall plaques.

The company was called Figgjo Flint until the production line at Stavanger closed down in 1979, today they mass produce dishes under the name of Figgjo, but somehow I’m sure that it’s their mid century designs that people will remember the most.

So I got to thinking about other dog stamps that have been produced.  Here’s a few to highlight Animal Rescue saying ‘Adopt a shelter pet’ and some rather colourful offerings from Paraguay.

In 2008 the Royal Mail launched a series of stamps to celebrate the roles performed by working dogs in the UK.  It was then 100 years since the first British police dogs were introduced.  Another dog gets USA recognition for it’s devotion to the US Mail and then the Danish government tried to encourage it’s residents to clean up after their dogs.  Great idea but do we really need to see it on a stamp !

Offerings from Walt Disney and the UK’s very own Wallace and Gromit in a rather festive collection.

Some rather nice Russian stamps from 1965 and not to forget all the ones designed to celebrate the Chinese year of the dog.

And whilst we’re talking about Russia, there was a whole host of stamps produced inspired by Laika the Space Dog’s trip in Sputnik 2 in 1957.  Rumours have it that Laika died a few hours into the mission from overheating, when the booster rocket failed to separate from the spacecraft.  We’ll never be sure, but one thing we know for certain, the little stray made history by being the first dog in space !

There may be more animals in space soon as I’ve been creating some drawings, inspired by just that.  Watch this space !

All Comments welcome. All images copyright of  F I S H I N K.

photo © Claire Lloyd / Domenica More Gordon

It’s almost a year ago that I first wrote about Domenica More Gordon and her beautiful needle felted dogs here.  Since then her range has broadened into greeting cards, dog kits and cut outs. Domenica uses a process called dry felting, she says ” It is very simple. You use wool in its basic form and a series of different sized felting needles. The needles have tiny hooks on the end and as you stab the needle in and out of the wool, it begins to take shape. The longer you work at it the firmer it becomes. The challenge for me is to get the feel of the dog right, not just how it looks but how it feels in your hand.”  Some of her most treasured wool comes from the sheep who graze on St Kilda and was collected by friends who picked it from the grass where the sheep graze.

Her fascination with her creations began with a desire to recreate a toy that could generate the same intense connection that she felt for some of her toys as a child.  With a painter for a father and a textile artist for a mother, it’s hardly surprising that Domenica’s talents hadn’t been realised earlier.  In trying to describe what it is that makes her work so widely appreciated she says “ I am not sure what the secret is exactly.  Looking at things, I mean really looking at something is part of all that…..also attention to detail, down to the finest point and the determination of capturing the feeling you are looking for no matter how long it takes “

Domenica has also started illustrating books for Bloomsbury and has just signed a 3 book contract, all about a dog named Archie.

Wonderful to see the developments from last year.  If you can’t afford one of Domenica’s personally made pooches then you can still buy your own Dog Kit here on her site and take a look at some more of her woollen canine creations.

Sir William George Gillies 1898-1973 was born in Haddington, East Lothian.  His interest in art was encouraged by his uncle, William Ryle Smith, an art teacher and watercolourist from Broughty Ferry. He enrolled at Edinburgh College of Art in 1916 but after two terms was called up to serve in the war in 1917, resuming his studies in 1919.

Assisted by a travelling scholarship, Gillies studied under André Lhote in Paris in 1923 and he went on to visit Italy in 1924. For a brief period after these experiences he worked in a cubist manner, but would later revert to a more traditional style. His cubist influenced works are typified by the 1933 still life, Two Pots, Saucer and Fruit. The arrangement of the objects, which are close together on a tilted table top, are influenced by Cézanne, whereas the understated colours and textures are reminiscent of Braque and Picasso.

In 1934 Gillies attended an exhibition of Paul Klee’s work and was impressed by the childlike qualities and imaginative use of colour that he saw. Klee’s influence is clear in Gillies’ 1934 work, The Harbour, which depicts the harbour at Anstruther. Gillies has created a grid-like composition, using bold blocks of contrasting colour emphasising the vertical lines of the buildings and the ships masts. This is balanced by the use of rippling horizontal brushstrokes.

Although he experimented with portraiture in his early career, Gillies concentrated principally on landscapes and still lifes, frequently depicting the Lothian, Fife and Border regions. Both in his prolific output over the course of his career, and in his 40 years of teaching, Gillies influence on Scottish painting of the twentieth century has been profound. A couple of my favourites here.

The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh is hosting an exhibition, William Gillies, Landscapes and Still Lifes which runs from the 11th January – 3rd March 2012. more info on their site here.

Many thanks to National Galleries Scotland, Bourne, Aberdeen Art Gallery, The Scottish Gallery, Royal Scottish Academy, Duncan R Miller and Louise Kosman for use of images from their sites.

This bird is a colourful sight, it’s sheer scale is impressive for a start, if you want to see more about spraying with cherry pickers then look below.

More bits ‘n’ bobs with encouraging suggestions.

The Hilton Tower and Deansgate in late afternoon sun.

And then time for some well earned, great food, from Odd Bar in the Northern Quarter, Hmmmmm and a day well spent I think.

Her beautifully crafted pictures are created by acrylic paint and collage. She loves colour, paper and pattern. This decorative style has lent itself perfectly to children’s book illustration.  Mique’s style has an international appeal and My Village, a project for Gecko Press, was selected as one of the 250 outstanding new international books for Children and young adults for the White Raven Award 2009. Her work was also selected for the 2009 prestigious Illustration Exhibition at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.

You can find some lovely felt toys in the shop Into The Woods as seen below and there’s more of Mique’s work can be seen here, on her blog and on Flickr too.

Kumi Obata was born in Kanagawa and now lives in Tokyo, Japan.  She began creating etchings in 2000.

I’m never quite sure what it is about etchings that often capture my attention. Could it be their often stark black and white lines, their scratchy, slightly uneven textures or perhaps the small splattering of fine marks like iron filings spilling out onto the paper surface.  I do find some of them quite intriguing, and they often have a ‘slightly precious’ quality to them.  If that makes sense ?

Kumi’s current activities include calendars, illustrations, matchbox and book covers.  Lovely delicate art.

Italian Simone Rea is an accomplished artist and illustrator, born in 1975 in Albano Laziale where he lives and works today.

After studying at the Fine Arts Academy in Rome he showed an interest in illustration and participated in special courses organized by the Foundation Sarmede in Treviso. This way he started his artistic career by developing his characteristic 2-D graphic style. He creates surreal atmospheres, fantastic creatures, half human and half animal, represented by a subtle delicacy that is nearly melancholic.

His passion for art history and the world of illustration is reflected in all his works. The artists he likes most are Hieronymus Bosch, Toulouse Lautrec, Marcel Duchamp, Carll Cneut, Beatrice Alemagna and Lorenzo Mattotti.  In 2006 he was selected at the competition Figures Futur in France with two illustrations inspired by Alice in Wonderland. In 2008 he was selected for the exhibition of Illustrators at the Bologna Children Book Fair and again in 2011. Last summer 2011 he had his personal exhibition entitled “Humans and other Animals” at La Casina di Raffaello at Villa Borghese in Rome.

There’s an interesting article from a site called Le Figure dei Libri here about the technical side to Simone’s work that I’ve translated from Italian.  He explains how he builds up the textural surface of his work by painting a thin wash of acrylic. Then he rubs bitumen into the surface, removing most of it with chloramine and then rubbing it with sandpaper, before working back on top with paints.

Some creative and inspiring work.

Jim Field was born in Farnborough and always wanted to create cartoons from an early age.  Studying at Hull School of Art and Design and graduating in 2002, he started his career in the animation industry by working as a director for Partizan in London.  Whilst also working as a freelance illustrator for editorial publications.

His first childrens’ book commission came about from a self promotional mail-out of five stinky fish landing on the right desk at the right time at MacMillan.  His first picture book Cats Ahoy! written by Peter Bently won the Booktrust Roald Dahl-Funny Prize in 2011 and has been nominated for the Kate Greenaway award.

Jim lives in London with his girlfriend, three bikes and a good sense of humour.

And following on from my last posting about smiling more …. I saw this on Anke Weckmann‘s site and following it through to the pics of the rabbits (pictured underneath) also made me laugh out loud, top tip Anke.

The first smile came from a recent visit to Cobham in Surrey to stay with a friend’s parents. I came across Chatley Heath Semaphore Tower which is one in a line of towers that were used to send messages from the Admiralty in London to the navy in Portsmouth. It was used from 1822-1848, and restored by Surrey County Council in 1989. Such an unusual and beautiful structure.

Cobham itself is a lovely area, albeit a little ‘plummy’ and posh, but you can’t help but revel in the age and beauty of it’s architecture.  I’ve never seen so much fresh mistletoe growing in circular bunches in the trees, and they also have a host of parakeets which squawk and twitter from the treetops everywhere you go.

Another lovely building was Cobham Mill, and I was lucky to find it in such amazing early evening light.

Another factor that been making me smile are the clouds, I took this on my way back to Manchester, what a great mix of colours and shapes.

Some of my Christmas and birthday presents also brought a grin to my face.  It’s sadly official that I’m getting old when people are buying me socks, slippers and warm PJ’s and I’m liking it …. well who would say no to some Paul Smith socks like these lol.  I even loved the Collier Campbell paper they were wrapped in.

Also this lovely rug, from the house I stayed in at new year, and a fun ceramic pot from some dutch friends, but bought from Rossoramina, Lucca, Italy.

A lovely smile maker start to the new year came out an idea from an old school friend of mine who now lives in NZ.  He suggested that four of us gather our personal Desert Island Discs (8 fav tracks of our choosing that we’d select to take to a desert island with us).  It was a hard decision to find just 8 tracks and mine, turned out to be … This Is Your Life, Banderas.  Nho Antone Escaderode, Cesaria Evora.  Downtown Lights, Annie Lennox.  Fearless, Cyndi Lauper.  Groove Is In The Heart, Deee-Lite.  The Only Living Boy In New York, Everything But The Girl.  Still, Great Lake Swimmers.  And Dream Of Sheep, Kate Bush.  My friend Chris, totally surpassed us all by creating a fab CD case and cover, taking most of the pics himself. It’s been wonderful having 4 new cd’s of friends music to listen to.

Last but not least, I smiled about 5 minutes ago at the sunset peeking at me as I typed this post. Pinks and oranges like I’ve not seen for a while.

What has made you smile this year ?