I've been working on a commission to create the finishing design touches for the Carlisle Business Centres Cafe Refurb in Manningham. Here are some photos of work in progress. There are also a set of five canvasses that I haven't photographed yet.
Cafe sign, not quite finished - It will have one of the orange wooden birds below applied to it. I was going to get a perfect elipse laser cut but ended up having to draw it out (a pain) and cut it myself (painstaking) with a jigsaw....turned out fine though. My grandfather was an artist but his family couldn't afford to let him take a place at the Royal College because he had 10 brothers and sisters and had to earn a living. For most of his life he did this as a signwriter. I did a bit myself before I went to art college - anyway I really got into this and felt very connected to him as I did it...
I've made two of these wooden faux 'window' blackboard menu boards for the cafe specials and put a shabby paint effect on them. Originally I was going to use old windows but they were just too bulky so I had to make them from scratch.
Close up of the paint effect on the 'windows'. One of these is also going to have an orange bird perched...
I sent for a wooden bird template from ebay thinking I'd save myself time and another jigsawing headache. Anyway the template arrived - it was flimsy and not even the design I'd ordered, a horrid, frilly looking thing, so delicate I broke it taking it out of it's envelope. So I ended up cutting my own from 6mm ply anyway and some chopstick legs - I'm much happier with these simple ones - serves me right for being lazy.
Anyway theres a comedy video (its very funny) doing the rounds of designers and artists about the general over-proliferation of bird motifs on anything and everything. This is my first EVER bird motif (I think)...but I have to say - whats wrong with putting a bird on it anyway?! Birds are lovely, feathery creatures, they're beautifully unisex and cheery. I may start putting more birds on more 'its' :)
