gilhoolie 2021 round up!

January 20, 2022March 10, 2025 Julie Gardner2 Comments

I thought it was a good time to do a round up of last year, we are over half way through January after all! I always find it helpful to look through and realise how much I’ve achieved.

gilhoolie 2021 highlights went a bit like this (see images below from left to right):

My workshop was built in our garden in the spring of 2021. Oh my goodness, it’s amazing! So nice to have a dedicated space to be creative, as well as somewhere to greet lampshade customers (and store all those ring sets!)
I attended a brilliant lino cutting workshop near Oxford which reignited my passion for the craft. It’s on my list to do more of this year. Read about my day here.
I made lots more bespoke machine embroidered lampshades – this is one of my favourites, I love the yellow French knots. I have just finished a commission but will be starting some more of my own designs very soon, watch this space! See more in my shop.
As 3 above – this is the finished lampshade – colourful flowers embroidered onto a natural linen fabric, with a navy braid on the top and bottom rings.
Gold lined lampshades were very popular with clients – this one was made using a striking wallpaper, with mirrored gold lining and a dusky pink trim.
I reached 1000 followers on Instagram – quite an achievement for me, and I enjoyed embroidering this foxglove to commemorate it!
I made lots of little candle clip lampshades and particularly liked this fabric from Charlotte Gaisford, they worked out beautifully.
gilhoolie house illustrations – these are still going on in the background and I’m always over the moon when I’m commissioned to draw one. Drawn in black ink, with a printed gilhoolie patterned sky, a message at the bottom and the option to add a pet (I’ll do my best to capture a likeness!) This was of a family holiday home, a bit different from the usual requests but great fun to draw.
Last but not least, we had to say goodbye to our much loved miniature schnauzer Arthur just before Christmas. I’m still heartbroken but feeling a lot better (most of the time…)

I think I’ll write a separate blog post on my plans for 2022, I’m still going through ideas in my head, in amongst working on lots of lampshade orders!

Art on the Street…

May 19, 2017February 16, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

Very quick blog post today I’m afraid. I’m not sure where the week has gone, feel like I’m on a bit of a roller-coaster really. But I didn’t want to miss writing on here. It’s so easy to get out of the habit so I must make sure I find time.

I know I mentioned in passing a couple of blog posts ago that I’m taking part in this local art event but I thought it was worth it’s own post really so here we go.

The Maidenhead Art on the Street website says:

Art on the Street CIC is an award-winning social enterprise committed to providing opportunities for artists. Twice a year we showcase over 100 stands of fine art, prints and photography being sold direct from the artist, to a backdrop of fantastic entertainment – music, performances, free workshops, activities and street food.

I’ve been before and often found several artists whose work I really like; there’s a lot of talented people out there. I always think they have a lot of guts to stand up and show off their work in front of everyone.

And now I’m doing it too!

No big deal though; I’m sharing a stand and going to treat it as a day out, hopefully the rain we’ve been having lately passes by then! It’s on Saturday, 17th June, put the date in your diary and come and visit me… please!

Okay, so I’m treating it as a day out… but I still want to produce some really good work that’s worth showing. The idea is to concentrate on my house commission drawings this time. I’ve done an awful lot of them so I’m going to pick my favourites and try to draw some more in the next month. Then people can order commissions on the day.

I’ve also been working on some of my drawings of local buildings this week. Below is the Cliveden drawing I completed quite a while ago. I decided to add my patterned sky to see how it looked and I’m playing with other patterns too so I’ll post those another time. I absolutely love going to Cliveden; never get bored of it. My kids do though – they refuse to come now, must be all the times I took them when they were little, ah well, more scones with cream and jam for me! 😉

I’m sure I’ll write more about what I’m working on for Art on the Street so watch this space, or do come and see me on the day.

Artwork

On a mission…

May 12, 2017February 16, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

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!!

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

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

Chuffed…

January 22, 2016February 16, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

That’s how I felt when I met up with a friend of mine last week – Samantha Johnson – who is a very talented Interior Designer with nearly 20 years experience of designing amazing homes. Sam recently moved house to a lovely cottage in Buckinghamshire and asked me to draw it for her so that she could use it for her business materials. Well, I wouldn’t class myself as an ‘artist’ so whenever anyone asks me personally to draw something for them I am over the moon. Big smile inside… I love drawing but really struggle with what to draw so this takes that worry away!

As I drew Sam’s cottage last year sometime I had totally forgotten and assumed it wasn’t good enough to use – so was incredibly chuffed when Sam showed me her new business cards and postcards with my design on the front – cool or what?!

Here they are – in a gorgeous grey with a thin stripe of yellow around the edge of the cards. Since then I have decided that drawing buildings is the way to go for me – I’m always obsessed with every little detail, from brickwork around windows to pretty chimney pots. So I’m starting to put together a collection of drawings of my favourite buildings in Maidenhead and the local area. More on that coming soon…

Artwork

gilhoolie house pictures gallery…

January 9, 2013February 16, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

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?!

Artwork

I don’t just make lampshades you know…

October 3, 2012February 8, 2025 Julie Gardner3 Comments

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:

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:

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

Looking for the perfect wedding gift?…

March 2, 2012February 8, 2025 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)…

Artwork · Creative Courses

Working through my ‘To Do’ list…

February 22, 2012February 8, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

Yesterday was a bit of an admin day for me as it was the first day back at school and a chance to get my head round things again. Now I can start to work through my gilhoolie to do list (there’s lots on it after a week off!) Today I have been busy getting ready for my first lampshade workshop on Saturday – instructions – check, equipment – check, lampshade kits – check. Looking forward to it, I might even make some cakes to take along; it was so nice when our tutor brought homemade cookies to the lampshade workshop at Homemade London, nothing like the personal touch!

I have also been finishing off some drawings for an art gallery in Romford, Essex. These are all now on my Folksy and Etsy shops and I’m going to stock some for future events. Sorry about the light reflecting on the cellophane but I just neatly packaged them all and didn’t want to get them out again to take the photos.

Oh yes, and while I’m here I thought I’d put this personalised house portrait on my blog. It was commissioned by a lady called Gemma in Birmingham, as a present to her fiancee for their ten year anniversary – ahhh, this was really special to do. It’s the first one I’ve drawn from someone else’ photos and came out really well.

If the weather cheers up this week I’m going to take some photos of wedding venues near here and do some drawings, oh and there’s a building down my road I MUST draw… So lots to do, I really should get ready for the events I’ve got coming up though. I think tomorrow I will be mostly machine embroidering a pile of tea-towels!

Artwork

I love drawing, but not running…

December 13, 2011February 8, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

I’m not a natural runner, but I used to run every week, without fail, round the streets where I live. And I have to say I didn’t enjoy it much. The only things that kept me going were 1. knowing I would feel good about it afterwards and 2. Looking at all the houses as I ran past (I’d always make sure my route was down the streets with the nice houses!) Well, now I’ve given up running, (I decided life’s too short to do something you don’t enjoy and I get to walk to and from school twice a day now). But I still get to look at lovely houses, and in even more detail as I draw personalised house pictures for people. Not only that, I love doing it, I really do.

Here are some of my latest ones. Firstly, a gorgeous house with lots of windows, with my embroidered sky (including a pretty pink butterfly), in a white frame. This was for a lady who wanted to give it to a friend as a thank you gift.

And secondly, another of my favourites, a Victorian semi for a friend who lives down our old road, with my original blue collage sky, in a white frame. I’ve got some ideas for developing these more in the New Year, but first I have beanbags to make. At least my orders for Christmas are nearly done now and I can relax a bit, but I’ll miss looking at houses for a couple of weeks… Maybe I should go back to running? Or maybe not!…

Sewing projects

Just messing around…

November 28, 2011February 8, 2025 Julie Gardner1 Comment

Embroidered sky house picture — Do you like the butterfly?!

I had a go at embroidering the sky for one of my house pictures today as a bit of an experiment. Choosing the fabrics was fun and sewing them on wasn’t too bad, once I got the hang of it. I need to put it in a frame to get a better idea before I can say I’m entirely happy with it though. I must admit, sewing the clouds and sun onto the sky background was a bit strange as the needle had a mind of it’s own and straight lines are very difficult, but then clouds aren’t supposed to be nice and neat, so that’s okay (am I rambling?) What I’m trying to say is it was quite hard for a perfectionist, but I think the experience (!) was good for me too.

I had a lovely time at the school fair on Saturday by the way. Much more relaxed than last time and nice to just chat to people about what I’ve been up to. I’m looking forward to the Christmas Artisan Fair at Norden Farm (Altwood Road, Maidenhead) next Saturday, 3rd December (11 – 4pm). You might see this house picture on my stall if I can find the right size frame! It’ll be nice to meet more craft people in the area that’s for sure. On Saturday I found out an old friend from junior school makes adorable sock monkeys and peg bags – check out Rachael’s work on Monkey and Squidge. I definitely left the fair with even more ideas buzzing round my head, more about those another day…