Beautiful Buildings I Love and Draw ...

February 18, 2024

One of the things that brings me joy is the opportunity to discover amazing architecture through my art. Most of my work is created to commission by retailers around the world, and my curated portfolio of licensees then print the art onto sustainable and stylish souvenirs, homewares and textile products such as tea towels and tote bags. I love these creative collaborations!

 

Last year I created this cute illustration for the Holburne Museum in Bath, which was a key location for the TV series Bridgerton. I adore the architecture of Regency Britain with its grandeur and elegance. This is resplendent in the spa town of Bath and the long, curving, Royal Crescent, which features in this illustration, is a favourite of mine.

I have worked with Liberty of London for many years. They are an iconic retailer and textile manufacturer and I love their fabrics as much as their Tudor style building in the West End of London. Here it is on my London illustration that they commissioned me to create, and which decorates cute tote bags with my iconic red/white/blue stripe handles, and more within their store.

Fairytale style palaces amid forested mountains? We must be in Sintra! My brand has sold in their gift shops for almost a decade and it's always a thrill to see my work on sale around the world and to get the opportunity to visit where I have drawn. I will always remember wandering around the palatial rooms on a hot summer's day in Portugal, grateful for the cooler, mountain air.

A different type of palace ... Caesar's! I love Las Vegas for its brave attempt to replica the magnificence of ancient Europe and Africa. Pyramids sit next to Renaissance Italian style villa architecture, within which pin ball machines rage and roulette wheels spin. I love drawing the faded glamour of the casinos, to which I remain an observer, preferring to gamble on my business than a noisy machine.

 A world way from the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas is the northern, industrial heritage architecture of Halifax. Hailing from the north of England, I love industrial buildings and stories and none has more to tell than that of Halifax, in the heart of West Yorkshire. Victorian woollen mills reach to the sky like cathedrals, and the Piece Hall, where merchants came to trade their wool and wares, has a dizzying number of arches around a central courtyard, where generations of farmers and traders met and shook hands over centuries. 

Closer to home, The Star Inn in Alfriston, Sussex is a beautiful, resting place dating from the 15th Century, where I love to call in for a cream tea or spot of lunch, when hiking the South Downs. I was commissioned to create the illustration of The Star as part of the Polizzi Collection and VIP guests get to go home with a tote bag printed with my illustration when staying here or at one of their sister hotels.  My work also adorns the cute, beechwood hotel room door signs ... so you will see my handwriting when you want to Do Not Disturb or Clean My Room!

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