Megan Bentley Illustration

It's been a while coming, but it's finally here. My new 2020 Ancient Roman Italy calendar is now available on Etsy. Last year I visited Pompeii for the first time, and I felt so inspired that I decided to create a series of watercolour paintings not only of Pompeii but other Ancient Roman places in Italy. These paintings led to me create my new calendar. The places I chose to feature in my calendar will hopefully inspire other people to visit and explore the Ancient Roman world. I chose places that are very famous but also places that are not so well known and are a bit like finding treasure. 

I discovered that there are some beautiful Roman villas in Tivoli, near to Rome. The January image features a temple from one of the villas and the April image shows a mosaic floor from another of the villas.

The 2020 calendar includes Ponte Pietra in Verona, the Pantheon in Rome, Villas in Tivoli, the Valley of the Temples, Pompeii, Sirmione, Tharros in Sardinia, Herculaneum, Fiesole and Baia. So if you are looking for a calendar for 2020, one about Ancient Roman Italy might just be the right one for you. 

So I've finally got around to remaking my popular Planet magnets. This time is colour! I completely repainted each planet and also redesigned the packaging. 

This is the front of the Planets magnets packaging, I hand painted the background and also that's my handwriting for the text which I'm quite pleased about. Sadly, I decided to retire Pluto even though he was demoted I still think of him as part of the planets. It feels so weird that now kids learn at school that there are 8 planets instead of 9. 

This is the back of the packaging, where you can cut out the rings for Saturn and Neptune. 

Here they are in real life on a fridge. I think it's really fun that you can put the planets in order and try to remember the sequence. Great for kids learning the planets at school, but also for adults who just really like outer space. 

 While living here I tried to grow a few plants, as Verona is a very different climate than the UK I found it very difficult at first and several plants died from too much sunlight. But I eventually managed to keep them alive and they are flourishing. 

 My little desk from IKEA for painting and drawing.

 A snapshot of my jewelry collection. 

My room is rented and it came with very old Italian furniture, something I originally hated but grew to like. Outside there is a lovely balcony where you can see the room tops of buildings and sometimes hear the music from the Arena. 

I shall miss my little room in Verona and I shall miss Verona itself, it has been a beautiful city to live in and wonderful place to experience Italian life. 

What is for you won't pass by you. Think about it, that job or that apartment or even that boy. If it's not meant to be for you, there is something else out there that is specifically for you. Just be patience.

You can now buy my illustration as a cute little hand mirror. A sweet little daily reminder smile emoticon

Merry Christmas! I made this little Christmassy illustration for you all to share with friends and family. Copy the image into an email, share on facebook/the internet, it's yours. Enjoy! Have a wonderful Christmas!