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

Hygge & West interview

Hello!

Lots of fun projects this week in the studio, I'm drawing animals for BBC Wildlife and Petplan, collagen for Holland & Barrett and lots of flowers for a US healthcare brand. I have also had two of THE MOST INCREDIBLE architecture/ public realm projects confirmed. Either one of them would be a once in a life time/ complete dream project so to be working on both is INCREDIBLE. SO sorry to be a tease as I can't quite announce them yet but stay tuned, I can't wait to tell you and they're HUGE!!!

For now here's a shot of me working hard in the studio by the talented Jake Fitzjones Photography. It forms part of an interview with the lovely people at Hygge and West who collaborate with artists to create beautiful wallpapers and fabric. Lots of my heroes have worked with them, so it was a real honour to be featured by them. Read the full interview here

This weekend I'm off to Paris with the gorgeous Steve (Lazy Chief) we recently celebrated our 18 year anniversary, so it's partly for that, partly for Christmas but mostly to eat an obscene amount of fresh baguettes. Have a great weekend and I'll be back with lots more news soon x

Illusive Contemporary Illustrtaion

Hello! I'm really pleased to share the new book on Contemporary Illustration from Gestalten "Illusive" above. My large scale installations for Smythson and Coutts were selected for inclusion, and I'm really proud to see them in print (available now in all good bookshops!). There's so many inspiring illustrators and it's a lovely big hardback so I'm really enjoying leafing through with a big cup of tea in the evenings.

It's so great to be back in the studio after Marrakech but it's a brief manic spell of work before I head off to India next Tuesday I AM SOOOO EXCITED! If you'd like to keep up with my travels (and my sketchbook) you can follow me on Instagram here. I've now started the second year of my Artist in Residence project at Royal Holloway University funded by the lovely folk at Ted Baker (there's more info about it here). This term I'm attending the lectures and taking part in the practicals of the Developmental Biology course and it's HARD! lots and lots of studying required - wish me luck!

OK, back to a mixture of finishing off deadlines and packing for next week... next time I'll big back with a HUGE blogpost all about my Indian adventure! x

Retail Focus press

Hello and a giant belated HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I am so happy to be back in the studio, I had the most wonderful break with friends and family, but my favourite thing to do spend all my time drawing in the studio! I've got so many exciting ideas for 2015 and lots of exciting (and secret) things in the pipeline.

On Thursday I went to view Michael Landy's 12 life sized etchings of weeds called Nourishment at the Tate Prints and Drawings room. They are SO beautifully detailed and inspiring, and it was such a pleasure to have the opportunity to study them at my own pace in such an intimate way. I then managed to catch the Late Turner show whilst I was there, which was BEAUTIFUL and made me rush home and pull out my watercolours. It finishes on the 25th Jan so do visit if you can, as it's a giant, exceptional and exciting show.

For this week I just wanted to share some recent press for Retail Focus where I was interviewed about the effect of illustration within retail environments. here's a little excerpt from the article, have a great week!...

"Kerry Lemon has racked up an impressive portfolio of clients, including Liberty, Harvey Nichols and Fortnum & Mason. She was asked to create a scheme for Harvey Nichols' London flagship during London Fashion Week. This was then taken to Scotland for the Edinburgh Festival before arriving in Bristol. 'I was commissioned to create a scheme inspired by British wildlife with a slight sinister edge, achieved by the monochrome pallet and the scale of the animals next to the mannequins,' explains Lemon. 'I used cut rather than printed vinyl, and for the London scheme I spent three days in-store creating hand painted details to the windows and backdrops.'

She's just completed a huge 25m x 12m illustrated window scheme for Coutts at 440 Strand in London, which launched in December. 'I relish the challenge of these big projects and couldn't wait to see it installed!

'Lots of stores use cheap stock vector illustrations, or blown up photos from their look books, but commissioned illustration offers bespoke artwork. This allows brands to demonstrate their creativity and tap into the trend for the handmade, unique and artist-led. It allows clients to really stand apart from their competitors and create a buzz for the space, particularly when paired with a live art element and social media campaign.'"

Stella Magazine - Sunday Telegraph

Hello all! I was asked by Stella (the glossy magazine in the Sunday Telegraph) to share my 'Little Black Book' - my list of favourite places in the UK and further afield. It was really fun to think of all my favourite places and I ended up with a giant list! you can read the article on line here.

This week I finished a new illustrated museum trail for Eton Natural History Museum, I am SO pleased with this work and excited to show you as soon as I can. It was a great opportunity for me as I love museums, and even have an Masters Degree in Museum Studies, so it was great to combine my two favourite things. I've also been working on a range of linocuts as I want to create hand printed fabric ready for some new dresses (you can see what I've been up to on Instagram here)

Have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back next week with new work for BBC Antiques Roadshow x

Cosmopolitan article

I've had a lovely week illustrating new packaging for Cafedirect, I'm really excited to show you it (and will do as soon as I can!)

I was interviewed for the current (May) issue of Cosmopolitan about my job, the article is above and the text follows below.

Have a great weekend - I'll be back next week with new work for Glamour Mag x

AS TOLD TO KATE RUSSELL. 

PHOTOGRAPH KATLE HYAM S‘ HAIR AND MAKEUP VICTORIA BARNES

Name KERRY LEMON

Age 32

From SURREY

Job ILLUSTRATOR

A TYPICAL DAY

I've always loved drawing, but it never crossed my mind that I could make a living from it. I studied fine art, then took on small jobs in the art world, from giving private lessons to working at a museum. Meeting sculptors, painters and ceramicists helped me realise it was possible to have a career making artwork, so I decided to return to uni and become an illustrator.

After graduating, I wrote a business plan, secured a £10,000 grant from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust and worked hard to get my name known. I set myself a challenge to he established Within three years but, after 18 months, the work was steadily flowing in. Now I work on everything from illustrating books to designing and drawing huge window installations in places such as Harvey Nichols and Swarovski.

I got up at seven, have a shower, check my emails and take a big cup of tea into the studio in my home. I warm up by working in my sketchbook, then start on my projects. There are usually a few different things going on at once, but I have a board in my studio with dates on, so I know what’s due and W

when.

About 12,1 go for a walk and do Pilates because sitting at a desk is not good for you and I can’t risk a bad back. Although I’m alone at home, I never get lonely, as I’m immersed in my work. I’m back in the studio by 2pm and work until my partner, Steve, gets home at seven. He's an animator and I'll often FaceTime him to show him what I’m working on and bounce ideas off him.

In the evenings we sit with our cats, watching trashy TV, eating popcorn and sketching (I can’t stop!). I only put my books down if we’re watching a show such as The Killing, otherwise I end up bobbing my head up and down to see the TV!

l have to think like a business as well as be creative. I dedicate whole days to the admin side, such as invoicing and accounting, and l have at least one meeting with clients each week. This job means being organised and proactive - I don’t wait for the phone to ring. I think of things to draw and get in touch with people I think might pay for it. I’ve worked with Smythson, Boodles and Liberty that way.

Harvey Nichols asked me to do its Windows for London Fashion Week. I loved the brief to design dark, sinister British animals, which were blown up on vinyl and stuck to the glass. Seeing my work on those huge floor-to-ceiling windows was amazing.             

THE GOOD

The fact that I’m making money from my biggest passion. The bonus is I get to sit at home and do it with a cup of tea.

THE BAD

It’s potentially quite isolating as I’m working from home. I do make a big effort to see my friends though.

STILL INTERESTED?

QUALIFICATIONS 

You don‘t need specific qualifications but you need an amazing portfolio. Go to Association of Illustrators classes and talks, and read up on how to run a small business and market yourself - talent is only useful if someone knows you're there. 

SALARY 

Anything up to £70,000 a year.

KEY SKILLS

Be organised and willing to work hard. And be nice to people so they want to hire you!

and willing to work hard. 

END

I also created a short film for their digital content of me drawing in my sketchbook which you can see below:

Kerry Lemon - Cosmo Timelapse from Kerry Lemon on Vimeo.

QEST

Here's a little update on me for QEST Magazine, QEST is the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust which funds artists and craftspeople to develop their skills. The money is raised from Royal Warrant Holders (companies that feature a crest on their packaging indicating that their product is used in the royal household) and I was lucky to become a Queen Elizabeth Scholar in 2007 when I went to study illustration at ARU. QEST is the most A M A Z I N G organisation, offering life changing opportunities for creative people, I popped into their offices again yesterday to catch up with the team and they are unendingly kind and supportive of all the scholars. It's such an honour to be part of a network of very inspiring, creative scholars all over the country. 

Yesterday I was in London for lots of meetings, but I managed to squeeze in some exhibitions, I saw Silke Otto-Knapp's exhibition at Camden Arts Centre, beautiful black and silver watercolour and gouache paintings on canvas, and a wall of etchings. Rachel Howard's glossy, layered paintings at Blain Southern and the incredible Klee retrospective at Tate Modern (go go go! it finishes on Sat so be quick!) In the evening I went to 'Rhyme and Reason reflections on Climate Change' at the LSE organised by Cape Farewell and the Grantham Institute, there were talks, poetry recitals and a slam event. I really enjoyed Deanna Rodgers piece exploring the relationship between love and darkness through the question, “why aren’t London’s lights ever switched off", I think it premiered last night so I can't find it online, but she's performing it again tonight at the Albany so if you can make it GO!

Have a great weekend (I'll be at my etching class again on Saturday!) and I'll be back next week to share what I'm up to x

Retail Focus News

This week I've finished new work for Countryfile Magazine and BBC Antiques Roadshow and I'm getting close to completing the Phaidon baking book. Over the next few days I'm going to see the new Hannah Höch exhibition at The Whitechapel, Sensing Spaces at The RA and Artists Textiles at The Fashion and Textile Museum.

Above is the new article about me in the Jan edition of Retail Focus News, you can read the full text here:

Surrey based artist and illustrator Kerry Lemon is making a name for herself with her growing portfolio of large-scale retail installations.

Kerry always wanted to be an artist but never imagined it would be something that she would get into, Worried that it was too risky to ‘just study art‘. she initially signed up to become a primary school teacher before summoning up the courage at the last minute to swap courses. lt's a choice that judging by her work and accomplishments to date was certainly a good one

On finishing her first degree. Lemon secured freelance work with a range of galleries. schools and museums before going on to do a masters degree in museum studies at Leicester University and later a post-graduate certificate in illustration at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

As an illustrator and artist Lemon has been commissioned for a wide range of editorial. publishing and advertising projects for clients including Fortnum & Mason, The Shop at Bluebird, Smythson and Waitrose. She had a solo exhibition at Galerie Doux Dimanche in Tokyo in March 20l3 entitled 'In on English Country Garden‘. and has created stunning hand-painted murals and window installations for the likes of Harvey Nichols, Liberty London and Le Bon Marche in Paris‘

'The thing with drawing is that it's the process I love.‘ says Lemon. ‘The physicality of moving my pen across the page and creating my own version of the world.“ She describes her style as delicate and feminine: "I draw quite slowly and I love how each drawing serves as a record of the time it took to create" I use a very fine pen and work under a huge illuminated magnifying glass as my work can be very intricate and detailed.‘

Her very first window installation was for the Electrum Gallery on London's South Molton Street. which she describes as a terrifying experience: "I was really worried about so many things" she recalls, ‘The need to paint mirror, the daunting scale, and the fact that it was such a public situation in which to paint. But. once I got started I loved it. I really enjoyed interacting with the public and working so large and publicly."

Since then. she has completed a number of large-scale retail projects. including an installation for Harvey Nichols which won Best Window Graphic at the VM & Display Awards. "The idea was to create a dark and slightly sinister woodland" she explains, "I'd been experimenting with poured points and inks in my sketchbook and so I developed this idea to create the backdrops. I poured dark coloured inks over huge sheets of paper in my kitchen which were later scanned and printed onto canvas." The work was originally created for the Knightsbridge store and later redeveloped for Edinburgh.

One of Lemon's favourite projects however. is the permanent wall mural she created in the beauty hall at Liberty London as part or the redesign in 2011, "its such a beautiful and historic building and I still can't believe they let me draw on their walls." she says. The hand-drawn and painted mural features a peacock sitting in a magnolia tree and decorates one well of the room as well as the door of the Queen Mary treatment room

As for current work. Lemon is illustrating a new cookery book. creating wildlife illustrations for an editorial commission and getting ready to launch a new book called Fearless Drawing. That's on top of a project for a large retail and residential development in East London, "I'm creating bespoke door panels, a lift frieze and an enormous 6m x 18m wall piece for the site so I‘m keeping out of mischief!"

Wrap around Grist Cover

Here's a new drawing for Grist's Health Advisor Magazine, It illustrates an article about the new 'listening' 'programmes at the NHS engaging with patients and staff to uncover concerns.

Today's been lots of fun, I had a photo shoot for Cosmopolitan Magazine with an interview about my career. The flat was scrubbed to within an inch of its life, and the studio had a rather drastic tidy up before hand to make it all a bit more presentable! I really enjoyed getting my hair and make up done and the team was really friendly. I hate having my photo taken but the photographer was great and really put me at ease.

This week I've been drawing doughnuts for the Phaidon baking book, finishing off animal illustrations for Countryfile and zipping off for meeting about new (and exciting) projects. This weekend I am looking forward to a well earned rest! x

Elle Decoration

NAME TO WATCH KERRY LEMON

Who is she? An artist who splits her time between illustration (pictured) and creating installations for some of our favourite department stores. ‘I studied fine art at Reading University and spent a few years turning whole rooms into sculptures. My retail installations combine that with my love of painting and drawing,’ says Lemon, who went on to study illustration and now works from a studio at her home in Surrey.What makes her so special? Her drawings of everything from tigers and turtles to food and landmark buildings, and her determination in 2010, when she decided to concentrate on illustration full-time, she devised a three-year business plan, but achieved her goal of living off her art a year early. ‘I made a list of 20 dream clients and I’ve been ticking them off: I’ve only got about six left on the list,’ she recalls. 

Where can I buy her work? Direct. She is also releasing her first book Fearless Drawing: Illustrated Adventures for Overcoming Artistic Adversity in spring. Everyone can draw, believes Lemon, and this book of 22 exercises aims to help (kerrylemon.co.uk).

Here's a little article about me in the Feb issue of Elle Decoration (in the shops now) HOORAY! This week I've been working on illustrations for the new Phaidon Baking book, and I'm really excited with how they're looking - particularly the colour as it's totally different from what I would usually use.

On Monday I went to see the film 'Renoir' and loved it, yesterday I visited the Serpentine to see the Jake and Dinos Chapman exhibition and later today I'm off to see 'Twelve Angry Men' so this weekend I'll be in the studio after all this skiving off!

Have a lovely weekend!

Cheshire Magazine Article

Many thanks to Gemma Knight and the team at The Cheshire Magazine for such a lovely article! 

the text of which follows...

"If ever there was a success story, Kerry Lemon is it. Still just barely in her thirties, her intricate hand painted murals, pen drawings and innovative art installations have rocketed her into the international spotlight. garnering commissions from global brands such as Sony. Swarovski and Harvey Nichols, not to mention a host of assignments closer to home. “You’ve probably walked past her art on the way to work a hundred times and not even known it!’ her PR tells me, and she's probably right.

‘I can't believe my luck that I get to draw all day long,’ is the very first thing Kerry says to me, her happy air making it impossible not to like her instantly. ‘There is nothing in the world that I would rather do.’

She may attribute it to luck, but it seems to me that she doesn't give herself enough credit. In fact. I have the immediate feeling that this is one of those instances where the profession chose her, rather than the other way round.

“I was always drawing from being very little. I loved to draw in obsessive detail. each hair on a rabbit's fur and every tile on a roof,' she muses. as if this sort of talent and dedication were the height of normality for an eight year-old. She followed a childhood spent drawing with a degree in Fine Art, during which she spent four years working on highly conceptual installations and turning entire rooms into vast sculptures which utterly transformed their environments. 

Having begun creating art on what she candidly terms “an ambitious scale', Kerry Lemon was never going t0 be content with the limitations of a canvas. Having slowly established herself through small UK-based projects. it wasn't until last year that things really took off and she suddenly found herself creating large scale, breath-taking installations and window displays for achingly high-profile brands, among them Smythson, Liberty London and London Fashion Week. Two of her most elaborate commissions were those for legendary Parisian department store Le Bon Marché and long standing British brand Boodles - commissions which, it’s plain to see, are two of her favourites. 

‘I created all of Le Bon Marché's New Year windows in January 2013 which was a mammoth, exciting challenge' she says, showing me pictures of the life-sized ivory animal figures perched on coloured plinths, from beneath them springing the elaborately hand-drawn legs (or, in one case, tentacles) of mismatched creatures. She looks at the bizarrely beautiful scene fondly and says she's delighted with how they turned out. 

She brings out pictures of the Boodles window displays too, gorgeous wintry scenes of spindly icing-white trees peppered with line-drawn woodland animals carrying immaculately-wrapped Christmas gifts and bags of Boodles jewellery.

‘It was a wonderful commission,“ she smiles ‘creating bespoke Christmas window schemes for seven of their stores across the UK [including those in Liverpool, Manchester and Chester]. Each store had completely different sizes and numbers of windows and so they had to be individually designed. I love drawing animals, and so it was great to create the owls, robins and rabbits for this job.‘

Kerry also takes commissions for illustrations and album covers (meaning she has worked with an impressive array of newspapers, magazines and music companies around the world), and continues to teach art workshops, classes and courses, something she began doing while still a student at university because, not coming from an arty family, she admits being drawn to “people who are nervous of drawing and helping them to find their confidence by teasing out their unique drawing style.'

She's currently engrossed in her latest project, an art book set to be launched next spring, a development which seems to have taken her by surprise more than even her most ambitious commissions.

‘I'd never even considered writing a book until my publisher got in touch last Christmas, it came completely out of the blue.‘ She explains. ‘They had seen details of an art retreat I was teaching in America about drawing, and were interested in commissioning an instructional art book. I am passionate about enabling people to find their own way into drawing and making it a part of their life, and the book enables me to teach a far wider audience than my schedule allows.‘

Kerry Lemon is a contradiction. On the one hand, she is a down-to-earth freelance artist and illustrator living in Surrey with her boyfriend and two cats, subsisting on ‘pink wafer biscuits, and oceans of tea (while, no sugar) '. On the other, she is a rapidly rising superstar of the art world, in cross-continental demand and praised by some of its most eminent figures. Perhaps it is her enduring ability to balance the two which is responsible for her meteoric success - but whatever it is, hers will certainly be a name to listen out for in 2014."