It’s an illustration of a tassel. Simple, you might think. Some would use a machine to do it. But 4160 Tuesdays is an artisan perfumery. This collection’s box and postcards have illustrations I started by doing research sketches at shows. So I’ve drawn from an actual tassel. I’ve looked at … Read More
The easy way to wrap up my Tower Gallery artist residency would be to spend the last two days packing up and taking stock. But why do ‘easy’ when there is a new thing still to try and work to reimagine? Brought an envelope of ready-prepared paper (Thank you, Sue … Read More
I could tell you that in week 7 of my artist residency at Tower Gallery in East London, in my project Reading the building, I’ve been developing some work: printing from the clay blocks I made last week; making covers for my leporello of shadow tracings; drawing another panorama; sketches … Read More
In week 6 of my Tower Gallery artist residency, I’ve been doing some giant sketches, 1.5 metres square, of brick detail, drawn in graphite, clay slip and iron. These bring together the two parts of my residency project. In this big space, I’ve wanted to draw at the opposite of … Read More
Railings; doors; banisters; fittings; hooks – they’re everyday things we meet in passing. But even the most modest details have stories to tell. So on day 9 of my artist residency at Tower Gallery, I’ve investigated, in the sketchbook I’ve bound from utility papers and painted with clay grounds. Glimpsed, … Read More
Whether I’m working on design, illustration or visual art, I love delving into the subject matter. So I’ve done a lot of research for my Tower Gallery artist residency, a project about the place itself. In week 4, I’ve been reading the building, literally as I’ve taken a closer look … Read More
Goodness knows what my neighbour thought I was doing, in the garden, wearing a mask, carrying three small bottles of powder, a jar of liquid and an egg… But I had an experiment to do, making brick and stone watercolours and egg tempera to try out in the Tower Gallery … Read More
Big drawings. How to prepare? The tiny sketchbooks I carry, which I bind from offcuts and scrap are – well – tiny. So, my Tower Gallery residency project being about the building, bringing my love of appropriate materials from my design life I’ve made one big sketchbook from lining paper, … Read More
I draw like a journalist, I’m told – and finding stories has become so instinctive that I only think about it when I explain it to someone else. So it’s been a treat to chat about all things sketching with textile artist Kate Shurety on the last leg of her … Read More
An imaginary hell, earth, heaven and limbo… Blaze of Glory is my third illustration adventure with independent perfumer Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays. What you can see here is my hand, illustrating, on an iPad. But where it started was in Sarah’s studio, smelling perfumes in development and hearing about … Read More