One for the Weekend

This is a rather unusual group shot of the Threadbare gang; Madame Salve Melodious, Benevol Ant Bound and Epoch John. The nature of commission work can make it difficult to predict what kind of pieces you may be working on at any given time especially when you have a range of things that you make. Luckily I made these bugs in succession, so I was able to take a couple of snaps of them altogether before they went to their respective homes.

Two of them were going to the same place anyway, so they live side by side all of the time now.

I feel seeing them together shows how even within one concept or theme in my art work there is still room for huge individualism. I made each one of them with the person it was being given to in mind.

I go through a process of asking about or thinking about what colours are associated with that person, are they male or female, what is their temperament, is there anything in particular that I want to communicate about that person visually.

Every person is different in so many ways that what you end up with is a collection as diverse as the people they are made for.

I really do like this side of my work. To start with an idea, which is my own, then to sit and converse with someone else about a friend or a partner or a family member and then to take this information and visualise, design and actually make the thing that is in my head. Then on the day you hand over the finished piece, all wrapped in ribbons and bows, you get to experience your work in a totally new way as the person sees it for the first time. This can be a lengthy, sometimes challenging, sometimes frustrating process but in general I have found it to be very rewarding. I have often found in myself the ability to express things that are little said but often felt. To be part of something that is mostly all about the Love is true magic indeed.