Artwork

On a mission…

What a busy week. My mind has been buzzing with ideas for next month’s Art on the Street so I spent the day yesterday working on that. Mostly looking at old house pictures I’ve drawn and playing around with Photoshop, great fun. I’ve realised I need to be structured with my time, so Thursdays are my day for art stuff and nothing else. It really works. I also feel like I achieved a lot this week – I managed to book a summer holiday (what a relief!), squeezed in lots of exercise and even did a bit of gardening.

This week I thought I’d share with you some drawing commissions from last month. They were in the same order but very different – one of an old land rover and one of a very nice big house in the countryside in Herefordshire.

The land rover was drawn in ink, then coloured in Photoshop and giclee printed on lovely textured paper. I found a lady in Maidenhead who does art prints from her house very near me which is great and saves lots on postage. So I hope to do more of this in the future. That’s the plan. Drawing the car was a bit of a challenge as the real one is in pieces at the moment, thank goodness for Google!!

Land rover mark 1 drawing commission

I drew an old Volkswagen car a while ago with the same kind of effect – see it below.

gilhoolie car drawing commission

The house was just drawn in ink, then cut out and stuck to a patterned sky background. Not such a clean finish but I think people like them for that reason.

Here they are together, in their mounts, ready to be wrapped in tissue paper.

Get in touch if you’d like to order a house (or car!) drawing commission, or come and see me on Saturday 17th June at Art on the Street in Maidenhead, not long now…

Artwork

Gotta love a camper van…

I love drawing commissions and this is my second vehicle (see the first one here). You see, it’s not all about houses (although they are my favourite!)

I completed this drawing a couple of months ago but couldn’t post it on here as I didn’t want to ruin the surprise (it was a present for someone who loves their camper van, Jerby!) Ideally I would scan this into the PC and colour it in but this was requested as an ink drawing with the gilhoolie patterned sky background so here it is.

Now I’m starting my own commission(s) – my plan is to draw my favourite buildings in my area. There are so many beautiful old buildings, it could take a while, but if I can complete a handful I’ll be very happy…watch this space (and let me know if you have any suggestions!)

Artwork

Happy new year!

Well, it’s a new year and I’m feeling good, I hope you are too!

Why am I in a good mood? I’ve been thinking and I put it down to:

  • A break in the rainy weather (the sun is shining even if it’s cold out there!)
  • I’m a big fan of starting something new and I love the fresh feeling that a new year brings
  • I’ve discovered yoga! Well, I’ve been going to yogalates for 6 months or so but I recently signed up to a 30 day yoga bootcamp and am on day 5 now. It’s with ‘Yoga with Adriene’ – who was recommended in an Instagram feed of a Swedish fabric designer I follow. Watch the introduction video on YouTube here. She’s great – young, pretty, relaxed and fun too. Luckily, I have a part of the day when I’m kind of ‘in limbo’ – kids home from school, too early to cook dinner – so it’s the perfect time to ‘get on the mat’ (if I had one!) for some yoga. I fully intend to make it to the 30 days and am going to treat myself to a mat and a nice yoga outfit at the end – something to look forward to! (It’s the small things you know!) 😉
  • Finally, I adore my boys but it’s good to get back to some balance in my life after the school holidays – I have totally made the most of my freedom this week (including wandering round the shops yesterday and some serious clothes shopping today, as well as some much needed exercise, cycling to work, oh and the yoga every day of course!)

I don’t really have any new year’s resolutions but there are definitely some things I want to do more of (drawing, having fun, traveling, relaxing and generally doing things that make me happy, including buying new clothes, made a good start on that today, watch out credit card!) Plus some things I want to do a lot less of (stressing about silly things mostly).

So, that’s my start to the year – the kids have been back at school for a week, I’ve been back into work and everything is back to the usual routine which is refreshing for me after 3 weeks of lazing around (which was great too, feeling very chilled now!)

I thought I’d share this drawing I was asked to do last year as a commission for a couple who got married somewhere a bit different – a big teepee! Drawing commissions are my absolute favourite – it’s so nice to be asked to draw something by someone who likes your style (I had previously drawn the client’s house for her). We’ve never met but she found me on the web and trusted me to draw the wedding venue for her friend as a present, no pressure! Anyway, here it is, with my signature patterned sky print. Happy New Year everyone! 🙂

Lampshades

Lampshade commissions…

I have a feeling I won’t be posting many updates over the summer so I thought I’d better get one in quick before the schools break up and the holidays begin. I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with the family but I’m sure I’ll find time to sneak away and make something at some point. Here are some shots I took at home last week of a lampshade commission for an Interior Designer. I’m hoping to get some photos of it in situ soon so I’ll add those separately.

gilhoolie lampshade commission
gilhoolie lampshade commission

This large lampshade is for a floor lamp; the bottom ring measures 22″. The exterior is a woven plain fabric from Designers Guild called ‘Shima’ in a rose colour. It’s thicker than the dress-making cottons I would usually use so I fitted it on the bias. The interior is a balloon lining in 100% silk. The trim is a looped rouche from Osborne & Little called ‘Kediri’.

Kediri trim
Kediri trim

That was last week… this week has been equally busy, with two birthday parties to organise, along with all the other end of school activities. However, in between making a birthday cake and running errands I managed to make this lampshade today for a client. It’s made from wallpaper, with bias binding trim and has a clear backing giving it a translucent quality when lit.

stripy wallpaper lampshade
Wallpaper lampshade

stripy wallpaper lampshade closeup
All important careful packaging and gilhoolie tag

Well, hopefully it won’t be too long before I post something on here again. Have a brilliant summer everyone, the sun is going to shine soon I’m sure of it!…