Aren’t Katy Smail’s illustrations lovely? I like that her girls look just a little bit awkward (all the best girls are!), and always well-dressed. This is a small selection of Katy’s work – you can see more here, or read her blog here. I asked her to come up with a list of her ten favourite things right now – and here it is, adorable kittens included.
1. Ribbons and bowsThe twelve year old in me doesn’t feel quite right without a ribbon tied in my hair…..black grosgain are my favourite.
2. Napping with my kittens
Since we adopted our two beautiful kitties at the beginning of summer, my new guilty pleasure is curling up in the afternoon with a good book, records playing while Rose and Posey purr beside me
3. Neue Galerie
This little uptown gallery of German & Austrian art is my favourite in New York. They have lots of Schiele (my favourite) a gorgeous little bookshop and the most beautiful Austrian Tea room – such a lovely place to spend an afternoon.
4. Dressing like the good Scottish school girl I am
The goody-two-shoes in me still loves black pleated skirts, button up shirts, brogues and black ribbons….although I am so inherently scruffy that I never look as neat as that sounds.
5. Bob Dylan
Always & forever.
6. Lillet Blanc
The most delicious nectar that has ever passed my lips! It tastes wonderful before dinner, as dessert or on a sunny Tuesday afternoon. Just because.
7. Wendy Bevan
Her photographs are everything I love about fashion, story-telling and make believe; like a whimsical Paolo Roversi.
8. Tragic Heroines
Will always be my muses; they are the subject of all of my favourite paintings, books and songs and what I always love to draw. I find them mainly in the books I read; right now I like stories by Carson McCullers, Nabokov and Anais Nin.
9. Lipsticks
A terribly addictive but deliciously seductive habit I inherited from my mum; my new favourites are the beautiful Tom Ford ones that my clever husband surprised me with…
10. Rodarte
Their black magic and tattered romance enchants me everytime; their shows are thick with the kind beautiful melancholy that casts a spell on me and makes me want to draw forever…
Readers comments:
Really lovely illos!
I also love Wendy Bevan.
Those kittens! So sweet, wish I had the wherewithal to adopt some cats. I love how they seem to be posing, as opposed to just being caught by the camera.
neue galerie – my favourite, I spent a perfect afternoon there a few years ago and carson mccullers too!