Christmas Card 2023 – a ‘stained glass’ tag

Scrolling through my photos on my phone, I came across some I’d taken of the cards I made for Christmas (now last year). As they’ve all been sent, received and recycled, I can share them here. Featuring a ‘stained glass’ design, the tag is removable and designed to be kept and used year-to-year. Making notes follow…

Removable handcrafted 'stained glass' tag Christmas card
Continue reading

Commission: Token Boxes and Tower

It’s always lovely to be asked to make something, and even better when given relatively free rein! The brief was to make boxes that were suitable for holding board game tokens, roughly 3-4″ by 1″ deep in size. The rest was up to me… Here’s what I came up with:

token boxes

Continue reading

Commission: These Boots

Building on my recent commissions, I’ve had another commission to do a further painting. This one is to distract from the side of a cupboard installed in a boot (utility) room. The picture will be face-on as you enter the room from the kitchen area.

So when it came to subject matter, it seemed obvious to use the boot as a theme. Wellingtons aren’t particularly in keeping with the area, but being on the edge of Snowdonia, walking/hiking boots seemed very apt. I’m fond of the recent trend toward including typography in images, and a classic lyric popped into my head…

commission: these boots

Continue reading

Commission: Castle Series, no. 1, Caernarfon

I’m having fun in the Studio, actually playing with paints and canvases for a change. It’s also been a little while since I have had any commissions. This is the first in a series of six canvases, each requested to feature a Welsh castle. The main colour of the room is grey, and the accent colour is purple.

I’ve loved the ‘purple twilight’ type photo treatment, and there’s nothing more striking (I think) than a castle’s silhouette. It gives a much more solid appearance, and given most castle’s prominence on the horizon, a real immenseness.

Caernarfon CastleMy first is that of Caernarfon Castle. It took me a couple of tries to get the tonal shades right – my first go didn’t have enough contrast between the grey and black.

Continue reading