My brother and sister-in-law are total art lovers and wherever they travel they pick up a painting by a local artist as a souvenir.  I think this is such a lovely way of remembering your travels and combining your love of art.  They always try and buy an original because given a choice I think anyone would opt for this over a print and very often you can get your hands on originals for not a lot of money.  While there is a lot of great original art out there, it’s not often that I come across cool original paintings for kids and so when I saw these by Adriane Duckworth I had to share.  The art is delightfully simple yet striking and I love the uncomplicated nature of the drawings.  My favourites are the black and white animal paintings and I love the black clouds too but there are some bright coloured ones available as well.  While Adriane’s style is minimalist and modern, it has plenty of warmth and cuteness too!  You can visit her online store ADOP to see more or checkout her selection at Society 6.

Before I started writing this blog I never knew about the wonderful world of kids art.  I knew there was art for kids but I thought it was all about the over-cutesy kind of stuff that I totally shy away from.  When I discovered the range of art on offer I realised how wrong I had been.  I felt like I had stumbled upon a secret world, a world only open to parents in the know.  In this world I found imagination that knew no bounds, illustrations that were a feast for the eyes and magical drawings that were sometimes happy, sometimes poignant and sometimes just plain funny.  Recently I stumbled across Society 6 and found the largest collection of kids art in one place.  I spent ages browsing and found art for every taste and budget.  Society 6 have gathered together a huge range of artists from across the globe that produce work not just for kids but for adults too.  They have so much choice and variety that it’s impossible to choose a favourite.  So, I’ve picked out a few blue-green coloured prints that I was charmed by but there’s a whole load more for you to explore.  I think from now on Society 6 will be my first port of call when I need some art for a child.

One of the most fun parts of decorating a kids room is choosing something for the walls.  As there is so much wonderful art out there, picking isn’t always easy.  I’m still trying to choose something for my daughters room and I’ve already been looking for a year now!  But my problem isn’t not finding the right prints, it’s finding too many that I love.  And this is my latest discovery… how adorable is that circus elephant?  I’m also drawn to the simple palette of mainly black and white with touches of colour.  Just lovely! 

These kids posters are created by Kerry Layton, an illustrator from North London.  She is a mama of 2 who recently re-discovered her love for drawing which resulted in her setting up a little boutique to sell her prints.  Called Seventy Tree, the shop sells mainly prints and postcards but there are some super cute pocket mirrors too, all adorned with Kerry’s drawings.  My favourite is the elephant but I’m also drawn to the close up of the bear whose shifty eyes are making me wonder what naughtiness has transpired.  Favourites aside, they’re all quite wonderful.

Introducing Corby Tindersticks… a new British brand full of quirkiness.  Corby Tindersticks has been on my radar since they launched a few months ago and I’ve been meaning to share ever since.  They create hand made soft toys, felt posters with embroidery and some tee’s too.  It’s their first collection but it stands out from the crowd with it’s sense of humour and it’s uniqueness.  Each character has a story to tell… the tall one with the long dangly legs is called ‘Pick n Mix’ and he’s renowned for his sweet tooth as well as his rather ungainly legs while the chubby one has eaten far too many nuts and ended up with a small head and a big belly.  This collection draws on the very British sense of humour but has bags of appeal for anyone with a sense of fun.  Corby Tindersticks is quirky, it’s cool and will bring a smile to the faces of kids and adults too.

What a heart-warming collection of prints these are.  There is something so sweet, so warm, so charming about these bear families.   Apart from the emotions that these prints evoke, I love the monochrome treatment and the style of the illustrations too.  This artwork for kids is by a Kiwi mama called Helen Acraman who is currently based in Toronto.   Helen offers a range of wonderful prints and posters in her store but for me it was these bear family ones that really captured my imagination.    These prints, sold at Helen’s store Zukzuk, would add charm to any baby or kids space.

Apart from posters and prints, you don’t often find art for kids.  So when I discovered these animal shaped paper sculptures, I was quite delighted.  They are bold and bright and come mainly in the form of various different animals but there are also words/kids names ones for hanging on a wall.  Polka Dot Sundays is the creation of Jaina, an artist who worked on kids TV where she discovered the magical possibilities of newspaper. 

Jaina hand makes these colourful sculptures from her London studio and all of the sculptures start life as a scrunched up ball of newspaper.  But with Jaina’s creativity and her unique sculpting process, each piece ends up being original and delightful.  I can picture one of the beautiful birdies perched on a kids bookshelf, or even on my bookshelf.  While many of the sculptures are aimed at kids, I think they are great eye candy for any age.  Visit Polka Dot Sundays where you can see the entire collection and you’ll also find a link to Jaina’s shop.[nrelate-related]