Hand painted "Art Ties"

I’ve finally set up a proper business. It’s called Art Ties and is a combination of my work as fashion designer and painter.

Art Ties are custom-made, hand-painted neck ties. As you would expect they’re pretty colourful. Below are some sample ties with ‘cities and countries’ as theme. 

The Amsterdam tie is designed from a picture that I made from memory after an art college to Amsterdam. 

The Paris tie is painted in batik style using hot wax dribbling in a drawing then coloured fabric ink colouring in. The hot wax is ironed off with paper.

Spanish tie also made using batik style. There is a dancer and bull and matador and a clear night with stars.

The Pheasant pub winning chef's hat

The image below shows our model Nathalie with my hand embroidered Pheasant Chef’s Hat, made for Jay at the award winning Pheasant Restaurant in Huntingdon. The fabric has pheasants in the print and the embroidery says "The Pheasant" in large joined up lettering in red across the front.

Two more published cartoons

This are the last two cartoons published in Vrij Nederland magazine. I got plenty more, so you'll see more of them at some point.

The cartoons are called British Home Life and Flying Low.

CEO's published cartoon

Another cartoon published in Vrij Nederland...

Aliens cartoon

One of the things I’ve been working on in recent months are political cartoons. The one below has been published by Dutch magazine VN last week.

Henry Brothers musicians at the Bally shoe factory in Norwich

Below are some 'spontaneous drawings' I did of the Henry Brothers musicians, who played at the opening of the Norwich Fringe Festival about a week ago at the Bally shoe factory arts space.

The Henry Brothers have a myspace, which you can find here.

Year 2000 Calendar "Centre for Women's health " (4)

And finally October to December...

Oil pastels on paper

October 2000 - Respect NAIDOC. This was a parade a parade I was involved in. The image shows ribbon dancers and the people are wearing lyrebird hats and masks - both symbols of the local Aboriginal tribe.

November 2000 - A pregnant woman dropping her baggage out of a hot air balloon and flying higher.

December 2000 - A family Christmas on the beach. An Australian tradition of making the whole family wear the same coloured clothes on the beach so they are easy find and look out for. Here the family are wearing purple and with green spots. The tree in the background are called Norfolk pine. 

Year 2000 Calendar, "Centre for Women's Health" (3)

Here's July to September...drawn in oil pastels on paper. Printed for the year 2000 in Australia.
Creating positive outcomes and futures focusing on strengths.

July 2000 - Women happily together and at peace with the world together outside the centre.


August 2000 - A single mother speaking out of there problems, to politicians and other people in high up places instead of thinking that would never happen. Training in public speaking creates the ability to help towards the right changes in society.




September 2000 - Women embracing a woman who has dropped all the baggage she collected along the way and is on the path to freedom.

Year 2000 Calendar (2) Centre for women's health

Here are some more images from my Year 2000 Calendar...done in oil pastel on paper.

April 2000 - Creating new futures. Everyone is working together creating a more beautiful and vibrant community.

May 2000 - A woman coming out of a black hole of despair.

June 2000 - Woman having a sing-along around the piano.

Year 2000 Calendar, Centre for women's health

In 1999 I worked at a women’s health centre in Australia. The centre focused on the needs of women suffering from domestic violence and took calls from the whole Southern Hemisphere. They offered counselling, aroma therapy, meditation, public speaking training and much more.

I was brought in to teach art. It was very moving to see how the women turned suppressed feelings into art. They produced brilliant work, which was exhibited in a prestigious city gallery. This raised lots of money, so that I could continue my work at the centre.

I was asked to make a brochure and a range of cards that summed up what domestic violence is about. The cards were then turned into a calendar. The first three months are below; the rest will follow in the next couple of days.

I think being creative is what we should hold on to and do. We shouldn’t let anyone stop us. The centre is the only one like it in the world, which I think is a shame. There should be one in every town.

January 2000 – Women under a waterfall letting all their negative emotions wash away.

February 2000 – A woman hugging a tree surrounded by nature.

March 2000 – Women smelling the roses. When in despair we rise out of our real selves. Touching a plant and smelling flowers brings us back to earth and relieves the pain.

Kath Ellis wire work lamps

Kath Ellis is a good mate from Australia. We met at Ranwick Tafe on a woodwork course for women and double whammy, I went to work one morning and she turned out to be my kitchen hand at Badde Manors café. We always had a good laugh together and went on working on enormous art projects.

Kath’s work has excelled. She was trained as a jeweller and graphic designer but specialised in making huge wire sculptures. She teaches jewellery and also makes these delightful lamps.

Replacement Daddy Dolls

I invented these wonderful Replacement Daddy Dolls for children and adults who have a daddy that works a lot and isn’t around often and for people who have a daddy they don’t really like.

I made this Replacement Daddy Doll for the naming ceremony of my cousin’s little girl. Her daddy owns The Pheasant restaurant in Huntingdon.

I have come up with a many other possible "Replacement Daddy Dolls", such as the office worker, builder, trucker, pilot and fireman. I might branch out with mummies, granddads, brothers, sisters etc. Or I might even start making life sized dolls. The possibilities are endless.

Clown costume for circus workshop

I’m preparing a circus workshop at the moment. Workshops are always more work than you had expected, but they’re also fun to do. This is me disguised as clown :)

Claire Freer the artist

I popped down to the Goldsmiths’ Building a couple of days ago to see the work of my friend Claire Freer. The show was called Playing in a Mindfield and Claire’s work reflected the feeling of London (lots of, steel, electric wire and plastic) and Oz (a kangaroo).

The skyline of London behind her art work of steel kangaroo's

The people are joining in the conversations that the kangaroo sculptures are having.

Scrap plastic pieces creating a building development landscape.

Paola Jeanette Talbert a brilliant photographer, turned up from Australia to see Claire's final MA exhibition standing on the right.Claire freer is in the middle and I am on the left in my hand painted dress.

Chicken eater painting

Would you eat a chicken if it still had its feathers on?

I am happy to say after decades of people giving up there time to protest against the cruelty of battery hens, there is finally new laws that will eliminate battery farms and create free range farms and most people tend to pay a bit more for a free range egg.

The cruelty of other animals around the world is still there like ducks, pigs, dogs, cats, minks, etc.

This need a lot of cash to change the laws and thinking on a global scale.

So I would like to sell this painting get these changes happening on a global scale.

£4840,987,003.00

Smoke her, painting

I thought this would be a nice topical picture for today…

The painting is for all the people who enjoy smoking. Our need to smoke all stems from

    the days when we use to sit round an out door open fire and completely get smoked out

       when the wind changes and blows in your face.  

This painting is for sale and the cash from

     the painting would go towards growing vegetables on tobacco plantations instead of tobacco.                This would reduce the famines in country's where they grow tobacco.

                                   Price: £5689,000,000,001

Railing Art

My Door Snakes and Punch and Judy Puppets have all been evicted from the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital and have found refuge at St Gregory’s Church on Pottergate in Norwich.


St Gregory’s Church is the home of Railing Art, a new community arts centre. It is run by Rosamunde Woods, who used to sell art at the top of St Giles Street – those of you who are from Norwich will remember the paintings hanging on the railing of St Giles Church on Saturdays.

Railing Art is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 10pm. Do visit if you can. If you can't, you can always have a look at http://www.railingart.org.uk/.

Mick Hardy music (2)

My dear web guru Robert just told me that GM Song by my mate Mick Hardy has been listened to exactly 149 times, so I thought I share another one of his songs with you…

This one is called The Burger Song / Shit for Brains. Enjoy!

The CD is still for sale – ten tracks for only six pounds. Please visit http://www.eloiseohare.co.uk/ to contact me if you would like a copy.

"Tiny" the rowing fundraising champion! pastel drawings

I found some more photos of old work. Below is part of a 360 degrees oil pastel drawing on paper I’ve made of the Alexandra Tavern in Norwich.

I made the drawing for Tiny Little, the publican of the Alex, after he had crossed the Atlantic in a rowing boat to raise money for the Davonport Trust, a charity helping young people who suffer from depression.

Puppet family Portraits

When I came back from Australia to cold and grey Britain in 2002 I made lots of puppet portraits as Christmas presents for friends and family. This weekend I found some of the photos when clearing out the studio…

Verily Anderson is my eccentric author-granny. RIP 1915-2010

Emma Jarvis is my singer-songwriter neighbour.

Marian O’Hare is my artistic-flower-arranging mum.

Dan Hillman is my Irish hobby horse creator friend.

I’ll soon be doing puppet portraits again, my new website.

Mick Hardy musician

Here is a song by my friend Mick Hardy.

Mick is a fellow actor, gardener, alchemist and philosopher. I met him while being an extra in the Brothers of the Head film a few years ago.

Mick writes political songs and performs them all over Norfolk and at festivals. He has busked around Europe most of his life and has a band called Sitting Down.

The track GM Song comes from his CD Beautiful World. The CD only costs £6 – please contact me via http://www.eloiseohare.co.uk/ if you would like a copy.

Swan and fish paper hat workshop

A couple of years ago I designed these hats for a group campaigning against animal cruelty. We were going to run a workshop at Glastonbury, but unfortunately the workshop was cancelled.

A real pity – I think a sea of swans and fish would have looked brilliant on the festival.

 I then went on too make the hats  with children when I did a hat workshop for a festival in Southwark, where the kids absolutely loved it.

Rebecca Hillman

Rebecca Hillman has been a lifelong friend who has recently started living the good life. Several years ago I helped her with the foundations of her farmhouse in rural Ireland she lives in. She now lives the crafts and farm life.



She is in particular very good at making felt, looking after goats and entertaining her children with exciting craft ideas.


Meanwhile her husband Dan is either in the woods with the free range pigs or making hand crafted hobby horses in his cow shed.



Rebecca has blogged her way through the good life and is showing the world how you can be free. Her blog is very interesting, you can buy her books from the book shop on the right hand side of my blog.

Up date: Since this blog was written Rebecca and Dan are not together, but Dan still makes hobbie horses and Rebecca still runs her small country farmhouse, makes art, writes and does shiatsu health care. Rebecca uses her maiden name Allen.