Space NK

Hello lovelies!

Here's the pig designs I created for the Chinese stores of Space NK to celebrate Chinese New Year (Year of the Pig). I really enjoyed using my new Japanese brush pen for this job and I definitely want to use it more.

SO many exciting things happening but I can't tell you about any of it yet Eeeeeek- will spill the beans soon.

Have a brilliant weekend and I'll be back soon x

Coutts Residency - in the window!

Hiya! 

I hope that you're having a lovely week, I just wanted to share some photos from my Artist Residency. This time from the period spent in the windows live painting so the public could watch. I created 4 x 2m high canvases, each depicting a different garden from the rooftop at Coutts Bank Headquarters. The finished paintings are currently on display and available to view at 440 Strand London. They are being auctioned for Coram children's charity and 100% of the monies raised will be going to them.

I'll be back next week to share process shots from the painting and the finished pieces x

PR Launch

 

Hiya

Monday was the very scary/ exciting press launch for my public art commission in Bracknell Berkshire (find out more here). I had to present the project to tv, radio and newspapers and I actually really enjoyed it once I got started! 

I've also had to do a number of photoshoots for the project (favourite photos above - please be kind!) and I've been filmed for a series of videos introducing different elements of the project (which I hope to share with you soon.) 

It's such an exciting project, creating integrated artwork for The Lexicon across the 580,000 square foot site. I was commissioned by the lovely Artscape Management in late 2015 for the role of 'Artist in a Design Team'. This meant working alongside the landscape architects Gillespies, BDP architects and the contractors Mace and Knight Highwood to enhance the plans for the town centre. 

Initially I undertook a HUGE amount of research about Bracknell, as I really wanted to create a genuine and informed sense of place. I explored the history, culture and landscape of the area, alongside the plans for the town centre, as I needed to choose a theme for the project, and select where to place the work within the built environment. I quickly realised that it was the landscape that excited me, Bracknell as nine SSI's so a hugely diverse and important landscape with a huge array of flora and fauna.

I learnt that the north of Bracknell has a predominantly clay soil whilst the south is mostly acidic. This therefore attracts different wildlife to thrive in each area. I've used the High Street in the town centre as an arbitrary dividing line to reflect this, and created 36 paving slabs from granite and brass across the centre. The paving slabs above the High Street reflect those plants found in the northern clay soil, and those below the High Street reflect those found in the acidic southern soil.

I've also created 

- 15 x gobo lights of moths drawn from the Dumbleton Collection at Reading Museum.

- 5 x large street benches depicting a birch leaf in cast jesmonite with brass leaf veins and solid brass insect sculptures.

- 6 x 1m high brass lanterns depicting edible plants found in Bracknell for Eagle Lane - the restaurant/ cafe area.

AND...

- a 5m x 6m gate created from powder coated steel and brass depicting the paving slab botanical designs.

There's also LOTS more elements in the pipeline including underpasses, cladding and a beacon and I promise to share more soon... x

Samples, samples

Hello

Just wanted to share 1 of the 36 finished paving slabs for the town centre project I've been working on launching in Sept 2017. It's part of a series of public art commissions including 3 types of lighting, underpass, gate, cladding and street furniture. I'll be able to share more soon after the PR launch later this month, but for now here it is....

Lots happening in the studio at the moment, 3 public art commissions, 2 packaging projects and 2 advertising jobs. My 'to-do' list is currently terrifying and requiring ever increasing amounts of tea in order to complete, but the current projects are SO exciting and inspiring!

OK, London bound today for more meetings... wish me luck... x

(p.s. if you're in/ near/ can get to London then you MUST see the current exhibitions at The White Cube (Anselm Kiefer), The Fashion and Textile Museum (Josef Frank) and Thomas Dane (Anya Gallaccio) x

2016 round up

Hello!

I hope you had a SPECTACULAR Christmas, have been thoroughly spoiled and eaten far too many mince pies and sprouts. I am back to work juggling a rather intimidating nine projects, but I just wanted to take some time out and look back over 2016 because WOWSER, it has been a bloody brilliant year of drawing. I've been a lucky lemon working on diverse and exciting projects and so now's the time for a look back over my favourite projects from the past year...

JANUARY
January saw me get stuck into my two giant projects (both of which are HUGE, exciting, and still ongoing.) The first is designing a block of apartments in Essex, and the second to create all the integrated artwork for a town centre in Berkshire (including lighting, paving, cladding, underpasses and street furniture). I was also continuing with my Artist in Residence project at Royal Holloway University collaborating with plant molecular scientists (more info here) and here's some of my favourite residency work from 2016...

FEBRUARY
My Valentines packaging created for Charbonnel et Walker launched, it was a fantastic open brief and I came up with a design featuring an elaborate peacock in a crown...

I also illustrated an article by Charles Foster for BBC Wildlife Magazine about his experience of spending time with his son living as a badger! It was really fun to draw their heads and I LOVED drawing the worms!...

MARCH
In March my family trail for The Chelsea Physic Garden launched. I LOVED working on this, as I have an MA in Museum Studies specialising in education, so it was great to come up with activities and I had complete freedom with the look and feel of the booklet. I knew I wanted to use stickers, and chose a simple colour scheme of fluorescent green, black and white...

and I created a new illustration for Holland & Barrett for an article about Spirulina...

I also had a fun night drawing at the QEST Gala Dinner at the V&A Museum (I'm a Queen Elizabeth Scholar for illustration)...

APRIL
My colouring book "Birds of Paradise" was published by Pictura...

I also created another illustration for Holland & Barrett about collagen...

MAY
I created a series of fashion illustrations for Proportion London to illustrate their new collection of beautiful mannequins "Mademoiselle"...

I also created some new food illustrations for Waitrose...

JUNE
In June I created some more food drawings for the lovely folk at Waitrose...

I also travelled to Providence USA to film a seven part drawing course (you can sign up for the course now - find out more and watch the trailer here). I then travelled on to New England to teach adult drawing at Squam Art Retreats - find out more about my trip here...

JULY
In July I had an important meeting with representatives from the local planning and conservation departments for the apartment building I'm working on. (I've been commissioned to design a block of apartments in Essex and I've been collaborating with a team of architects to make it a reality.) This is an ongoing project so I can't share any of the design work yet, but I'm looking forward to telling you more in 2017! For the meeting to present my ideas I created A3 handmade artist books which documented the concept and design process...

I also worked on a map for the beautiful Palace Hotel Manchester...

AUGUST
My cover design for I'm Still Here published by Hodder & Stoughton launched...

SEPTEMBER
I started to see more samples from my other major (and ongoing) project, (I'm creating all the integrated artwork for a town centre development in Berkshire, including lighting, street furniture, cladding, gate, underpasses and paving.) Here's a sneaky peek at some of the paving samples...

OCTOBER
In October my Halloween packaging for Charbonnel & Walker launched...

As did my mugs and tea towels for Marks & Spencer...

NOVEMBER
In November I was working with fabricators on my town centre project, here are some resin insects, (initially sculpted from clay and eventually they'll be cast in brass!) I also travelled to Japan to hand paint a mural...

DECEMBER
Here's the mural I hand painted at a university in Tokyo (I had THE BEST time - see more here)...

To finish off the year I just HAD to show you my gorgeous coat created by Dig for Victory in Brighton - my birthday present from Steve this year. I designed the print (you might recognise the plant drawings from the wooden cut outs from September!)

... for now all that's left is to say THANK YOU for all your support and kind comments here on the blog and on Instagram and Twitter - it's really appreciated. Have a wonderful New Year and I can't wait to show you all the exciting things in the pipeline for 2017 xxx