Category: Artwork

Artwork · Creative Courses · Sewing projects

Something new…

Julie Gardner

Okay, last night, unlike most nights when I go to sleep as soon as my head hits the pillow, I really struggled to switch off. My head was buzzing. Firstly, because I just watched the brilliant Great British Sewing Bee – and then promptly booked myself on a course led by Tilly Walnes from tilly and the buttons (who was on the show). It’s in June and is being held at Lauren Ghani’s new shop in Birmingham – guthrie and ghani, which opens on Saturday 27th April. Usually I have to think about these things for a bit but I decided to give it a go; I need a new challenge and making my own clothes will definitely be that!

Secondly, I took a look at guthrie and ghani’s fabrics (dangerous!) and decided to order some Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy fabric. Not for dressmaking, but for some big lampshades (what else?!)

And thirdly, after my attempt to get back into drawing yesterday, I had a very strong urge to draw flowers today and was dying to get on with it. Not any old flowers either, foxgloves, don’t ask me why, I think I like the shape of them. It’s a shame there aren’t any around right now, so I had to go by photos on the web but it was fun to draw something that isn’t in my kitchen for once.

So a day for being bold today, and going for it, learning something new, not bad eh?!

wot no teapots?!
Artwork

Let’s get creative…

Julie Gardner1 Comment

I would love to say I do lots of creative activities with my kids in the school holidays but…. well, I don’t know about anyone else, I just find it hard to be creative when there is any kind of chaos around. I did have a go at portrait drawing with my youngest over Easter which was fun, but put it this way, I won’t be showing anyone my efforts any time soon!

So today, when the not-so-little loves are back at school, I thought I would have a go at putting pencil to paper again, it’s been too long! I really like drawing, but I have always struggled with finding things that I want to draw (hence all the teapots!)

But hey, this one’s a Poole chocolate pot I bought from an antique shop a while ago, another one to add to my collection of retro teapots and teacups!

Anyone for hot chocolate?

I also thought I’d add some drawings I did a couple of months ago, for a company called Simply Sewing. Louise wanted to update her website and Facebook page and asked me to come up with some drawings that might work.

My first idea was an embroidery hoop, but as Louise is very talented and makes gorgeous curtains, blinds and soft furnishings it wasn’t really suitable (although I liked the end result!)

One of my first attempts

So we decided a curtain heading would be more appropriate:

Simply Sewing curtain heading

I also helped Louise with her new logo and now her Simply Sewing website has a fresh new feel. It was great fun to be involved; although it made me realise how difficult it can be to come up with something that’s so personal to someone and I really need to work on my PhotoShop skills a bit more!

Logo to match

So it is brilliant to be creative again, maybe I’ll do some more tomorrow… what to draw though?….

Artwork

gilhoolie house pictures gallery…

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A lot of these drawings were completed before Christmas, and were bought as presents so I couldn’t publish them on here until now. There’s a few older ones thrown in too, can you spot my house?!

Retro sky
gilhoolie house picture with blue pattern print sky
gilhoolie house picture with blue pattern print sky
House drawing with gilhoolie pattern sky
gilhoolie house picture with purple pattern print sky
Do you like the butterfly?!
gilhoolie house picture with blue pattern print sky
Gemma’s anniversary present
Embroidered sky house
Our house with blue mosaic sky
gilhoolie house picture with blue pattern print sky
gilhoolie house picture with blue pattern print sky
gilhoolie house picture with blue pattern print sky
gilhoolie house picture with blue mosaic sky
gilhoolie house picture with green pattern print sky
Court Gardens, Marlow
Artwork

I don’t just make lampshades you know…

Julie Gardner3 Comments

gilhoole house portrait
gilhoole house portrait

I have a handful of orders for house portraits to complete at the moment, so not so much lampshade making going on at gilhoolie (still a few though, don’t worry). It’s a good job I love drawing. Yesterday I was listening to the radio (it has to be BBC Radio 6 Music during the day; I love the live music, interviews and friendly banter) while drawing a picture of a lovely Victorian house with beautiful sash windows.

I thought it would be good to write about the house portraits on here; including the process, the options available and what to do if you’d like to order one yourself.

Well, it all starts off with a good quality photo of the front of a house, taken square-on. I also need lots of close-ups of any details such as:

Victorian window
windows

doors
doors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

brickwork, chimneys etc, the more the better.

I live in Maidenhead so if it’s of a house not far away I usually take the photos myself – which is great but can be a bit nerve-wracking, especially if I’m doing it as a surprise present for someone and the house owner appears at a window which is what happened this week! I don’t think they saw me sitting in my car taking photos, well I hope not anyway…

Once I’ve drawn the house from the photos (usually omitting foliage but sometimes included if I think it adds to the picture), I start on the sky background. There are two options for this:

collage sky
collage sky in blues and turquoises

gilhoolie pattern sky in duck egg blue printed on paper
gilhoolie pattern sky in duck egg blue printed on paper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both options can be made in different colours if you prefer, just let me know when you order. The collage sky is made from magazine cuttings; I knew those magazine subscriptions would come in handy one day! The gilhoolie pattern is a retro design I came up with a while ago, when I first started gilhoolie. They both go well with any style of house, it’s up to you.

I also add a message at the bottom of the picture; usually along the lines of “The Gardner Family, 1 gilhoolie Road, Maidenhead) 🙂 but it can be whatever you choose.

Some of the house pictures are Christmas orders so I don’t feel comfortable posting them on here, just in case – you’ll have to wait a few months to see the finished artwork I’m afraid!

If you’d like to order a house portrait for yourself or for a friend, just get in touch or visit my etsy or folksy shops. They come unframed but in a 12″ by 10″ mount and backing board. Oh, and don’t forget, they make lovely wedding presents too, just send me photos of the happy couple’s wedding venue instead…

Artwork

Dib dib dib!…

Julie Gardner2 Comments

It was so nice to have a break from it all in half term last week, shame about the weather but at least I had a chance to lie-in and spend some time with the boys and friends.

The only thing I had to do was draw this picture of our local scout hut as a present to Akela from some cubs (do they still say dib dib dib?!)

Back to lampshades this week though, not a bad thing at all…

scout hut
Dib dib dib!

Artwork

Lampshade decisions…

Julie Gardner1 Comment

Oh dear, another dilemma at gilhoolie! This time, what to cover my big antique lampshade in. I’ve been trawling the internet since I stumbled across my lovely lampshade and base in an antique shop and finally made a decision today, hooray!

You know when you have an idea in your head and you just can’t find the right combination of pattern, colour texture etc? This was one of those occasions…

I decided to go with something quite traditional to match the base and even though I’m not much of a rose person, I really like this antique rose floral bouquet on beige by Lecien, from Cool Calm Collected. I hope it’s as beautiful in real life, that’s the only problem with ordering fabric, or anything else over the Internet!

Lecien antique rose
Lecien antique rose

I’ve also been thinking about ideas for a machine embroidered lampshade and as butterflies and bugs seem to be in at the moment I sketched a dragonfly last week and had a play around with it in Photoshop. I’m not sure how it’s all going to look in the end but it’s fun experimenting and a good excuse to have a go at some machine embroidery again later this week hopefully. It couldn’t be more different to my antique lampshade but it’s good to mix things up a bit!

Dragonfly
gilhoolie dragonfly

Artwork

Very British…

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Its-Pimms-timeOkay, so the sun isn’t shining but I had in my head that I wanted to draw something very British this week, seeing as we have the Queen’s diamond jubilee and the Olympics coming up (when, hopefully the sun will be shining!)

I was inspired by some artwork by Naomi  Avsec that I saw displayed at Liberty in London last weekend.

What could be more British than Pimm’s on a beautiful summers day? With fresh fruit and mint of course, hurry up summer! I was thinking I could make this into a machine embroidered picture, as I’m in need of a bit of a challenge and it would be good to produce some artwork rather than tea-towels for once. I’m not too sure about the colours, (looks more like HP sauce than Pimm’s!) so I’ll have to have a play with those, let’s see what I come up with!

Hopefully post some pictures on here soon, as long as I’m happy with it that is. I wasn’t trained at the Chelsea School of Art you know!…

Artwork · Textile Design

Inspiration at Liberty, London…

Julie Gardner3 Comments

I had the best day out last Saturday in London with my husband. We started off by catching the train and sitting and chatting with a cup of tea, very civilised and bliss to have some rare, quality time on our own. We were on our way to meet some friends for drinks and dinner just off Oxford Street so decided to take a trip to Liberty for some inspiration. I used to walk past the building all the time when I was a student, on my way to trendy Carnaby Street but believe it or not, I had never stepped foot inside. Now I have I’ll never walk past it again! Anyway, here are some photos of things that caught my eye.

First, of course, lampshades (what else?!) I really liked the birds on this lampshade and we happened to be on our way to meet a very talented friend Ella who draws the most beautiful pictures of birds and makes divine stationery so I had to take a photo. The one on the right on the shelf in the background is a lampshade from Lush Designs in Greenwich. I remember seeing their lampshades when I first started out and would still like to have a go at printing my designs onto parchment paper and making them into lampshades, I will one day.

Libertys bird lampshade
tweet tweet!

Aren’t these tube lights pretty? I love the intricate designs too…

Liberty tube lights
Lovely tube lights

Hmm, I’m not sure I’d be able to make one of these just yet, better get practicing!

Traditional lampshades
Traditional lampshades

And these teapot lamps are just for fun but I was also really in awe of the building that you can see in the background, you don’t find many shops like it do you?!

Liberty tea pot lamps
Cup of tea anyone?!

Of course I spent a good amount of time browsing and looking at fabrics too and these pictures by Naomi Avsec caught my eye so I had to include them on here. Her appliqued and embroidered pictures are quite quirky and there’s so much detail involved. I have an idea for a picture I’d like to do after being inspired by these, more to follow soon…

Naomi Asvec
Naomi Asvec

Artwork

Everyone loves a wedding… gift!

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I love weddings but I find wedding presents really difficult to choose. Buying something from a wedding list at a department store can seem way too impersonal but then again buying something not on the list could be disastrous.

This portrait of Notley Abbey near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, with a mosaic paper sky is my latest gilhoolie wedding venue commission. It’s handmade, unique, original and (will be) personalised with a message to the bride and groom. You can order them from my Etsy shop or get in touch with me for details…

Notley Abbey wedding portrait
Notley Abbey

Notley Abbey, by the way, was purchased by Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh  in 1945 and then restored and decorated with the help of decorators Sybil Colfax and John Fowler. I for one would love to go back to that era and see this amazing building and grounds, it looks so romantic…

Vivien and Larry
Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier

Artwork

Looking for the perfect wedding gift?…

Julie Gardner1 Comment

Court Gardens, Marlow
Court Gardens House, Marlow

I’ve been meaning to draw a wedding venue for ages and finally got round to it this afternoon. These will be personalised with a message, like my house pictures, and would make a lovely wedding present.

The house is actually where we had our wedding reception nearly thirteen years ago – Court Gardens House, by the river in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. We don’t have any photos of us outside this impressive Georgian mansion so I thought it would be a good one to practice on!

I’ll put them on my folksy and etsy shops next week, along with my machine embroidered tea-towels if I don’t sell them all at the craft fair in Stokenchurch tomorrow (Longburrow Hall, 1 ’til 4pm)…