Sweet peas and chillies

This week we had a good clean out of the conservatory and rearranged all our indoor plants.

We have sweet peas, strawberries, broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, courguettes, butternut squash, chillies and a few herbs! Looking forward to seeing them grow into big plans!!

Painting Windows!

It's so nice to be back in London from last week at Bologna's Children's Book fair, especially with this amazing spring weather!

Ash, my boyfriend, has been very busy planting all types of seeds and filling the conservatory with broccoli, tomatoes, butternut squash, courguettes, sweet peas and many herbs... I haven't been helping out much so I thought it was time to make the conservatory look nice for the BBQ season and summer parties by renewing the window display! 

Next week I will be painting another window display for Nude cafe, a coffee shop in Spitafileds Market, east London, so it's good way to get into the mood of window painting again!

I just started the windows today as a break from painting a commission.

Here are some photos of the progress...  More when it's finished!!

Hope you like it! Loving the garden in this weather!

You can see all the sweet peas displayed by the window sill, some chillies and Ash preparing our first BBQ of the year!

Bologna Book fair purchases

This last week was the Bologna Children's Book fair. It was my first time there and I was very impressed by the size of it and the amount of publishers of all around the world. 

French, Italian and Korean children's books were for me the most inspiring books. Very talented beautiful, original illustrators I have never heard of!

These are the books I bought! 

Il Leone e la Lepre. 

Illustrator: Maurizio Olivotto

Publisher: C•A•R•T•H•U•S•I•A

Fiabe dalle Gambe Lunghe

Various illustrators

Publisher: C•A•R•T•H•U•S•I•A

Nella Foresta del Bradipo

Illustrator: Louis Rigaud

Edizioni Corraini

A Come Rinoceronte

Illustrator: Harriet Russell

Edizioni Corraini

Bologna's Children's Book Illustrators Annual 2012

Un Giorno mio nono mi ha donato un ruscello

Illustrator: Aurelia Fronty

Donzeli Editore

Un Leone a Parigi

Illustrator: Beatrice Alemagna

Donzeli Editore

My Mama Earth, the Book!

My Mama Earth is finally out!!
I am so pleased with my first illustrated children's book, published by Barefoot Books and written by Susan B. Katz. Hope this will be the first of many!
If you want to order your own copy, you can do so online - just click HERE.
You will also be able to get it in most bookshops throughout the UK and USA from the 1st of April 2012!
Hope you enjoy the images!

Portfolio and promotional cards

This week the Bologna International Children's Book fair begins (Monday 19th to Thursday 22nd of March) and you will find me there promoting my first illustrated Children's Book "My Mama Earth" published by Barefoot Books - very excited!!!

The fair holds hundreds of stalls with publishers from around the world presenting their latest publications.  It is a wonderful opportunity to see all the new book releases and to meet the publishing houses behind such beautiful works.

Like many other illustrators I have been very busy over the last couple of weeks preparing promotional material and updating the pages of my portfolio with my most recent work in the hope to get the attention of some of my favourite publishing houses.   With any luck this will eventually lead to more commissioned illustrations!
To all the illustrators out there just like me, good luck and best of wishes for Bologna!

Here are some of my A5 promotional cards and some pages of my 2012 Portfolio.
Hope you like them! :)

This is my A3 size Portfolio.  It is from Muji and has a hard flexible transparent cover and holds 20 sheets. I have divided it in several sections: C.V, large paintings, illustrations and published work

Affordable Art Fair

The Affordable Art fair is on this week at Battersea park, London!

I have a selection of my paintings at the Four Walls Gallery, Stand K9.
The Fair runs from today Thursday 15 to  Sunday 18th! For more information please click HERE.
These photos are from last nights private view. The Stand looked lovely with everyones beautiful work!
If you are in the area, come and have a look, there is fantastic art all around!!

My work is hanging by Joanna Charlotte's bird cages and Lara Bowen's flowers. To see the others artist's works, please visit FOUR WALLS gallery.

Painting in process and Art fair

It has been a busy March so far!
It started with finishing a mural at Hill House Luxury Holiday Home, and since then I have been preparing for my trip to Bologna Children's Book fair where I will be promoting " My Mama Earth" my first illustrated Children's book, published by Barefoot Books.
I've also been painting a couple of small pieces to add to the already larger paintings I will be exhibiting at  the Affordable Art fair this week with The Four Walls Gallery.
Here are some images from the conservatory at our home, my desk over looking our garden and one of my paintings in progress.
If you are in central  London this week please come and visit the Affordable Art fair in Battersea Park.
A selection of my work will be at the Four Walls Gallery Stand K9!
For more information and images of the gallery, please click HERE

And for visiting hours and information on the Art Fair please visit HERE

Hope to see you all there!


Spring is on it's way!


Endangered Birds in progress

A corner of our living room

Endangered Birds. Gouache a cut out 3D paper. 29 x 20 cm © Melissa Launay 2012

Endangered species. Gouache and cut out 3D paper. 14 x 14 cm. © Melissa Launay 2012

Mural at Hill House Norfolk

In the last week of February I went to Norfolk to a beautiful and grand luxury holiday house that sleeps 13 guests. They combine all of the luxury of a boutique hotel with all of the convenience of a self catering holiday house. 

I was invited to stay on my own in this huge house but I dragged my boyfriend and a lovely friend to keep me company while I was painting a mural for one of their many many rooms.

Their long term idea is to have several murals around the house and in the gardens. 

My first commission for Hill House was to be a mural for their games room, a space full of entertainment and games but no natural light as it is on the lower floor of the house and within a converted garage.

Completely free to do as I pleased I decided to paint some windows to open up the space for viewers to look outdoors into an imaginary landscape inspired by the gardens and trees of the area.

I will be painting more murals for Hill House during the summer.

Hope you like it!

To visit Hill House Norfolk or for more information please click HERE.