View from the Zoo

I do relate to this bear who seems ready to hibernate. With shorter days everyone could use a bit of light therapy and a caffeine boost. The illustration was published this morning in La Presse (Montreal) on the cover of the health section accompanying a couple of articles on the effects of the time/season change and how to deal with the four o’clock energy slump that many of us suffer from.  I rather enjoyed doing the tribute to fifties’ designer George Nelson’s sunny Ball clock and figuring out how to draw the cabin-chic wood panelling in the background.

This puzzle design that I submitted was selected as a finalist in Tigerpint’s children’s puzzle competition this week. See the winner here!

With a name like this how could I resist? Hotel Fox is in Copenhagen, Denmark and has 61 rooms, each one decorated by one of 21 artists in styles ranging from street art to Manga to fairytales.  Here is one room that I like a lot for obvious reasons (animal-themed) and also it brings back memories of camping out in the backyard. A wonderful inspiration for a playroom. Room 121, Sleep Seasons, design by Rinzen, the Australian collective. See all the rooms on Hotel Fox’s website. Judging from the mixed reviews on tripadvisor, it sounds like a great place to visit but not sleep.

The beer mug I did for their Seidelbier line shows a bar scene in the woods. The raccoon seems to be a tad worried sitting there between the two larger animals. One of the aspects of Ritzenhoff that I particularly appreciate is the possibility of using gold and silver in the designs. I try to use those colors whenever I can – in this case the color of the beer and the crowns – because they give a luxurious quality to my cartoon inspired animal characters. I think it is a bit like pop art, elevating the everyday to another level.