As I'm sure many of you lovely readers will know, I do a regular post,
(well, regular-ish, lets call it reoccurring posts, if you will...)
on super nice etsy shops I come across on my travels around the internet and blog land,
and whilst I'm going to carry on doing just that, I thought it would be nice to get to know some of those shop owners a little better...
So, first up, is Jo Chambers who owns the shop
Studio Legohead,
producing greeting cards, art prints, postcards and many other lovely items, featuring beautiful floral felt tip doodles and plenty of our beloved four legged friends in her pet portraits.
I came across Jo's work some time ago and have admired it ever since, so here she is answering a few questions for loveprintstudio and all you lovely reader folk.
Enjoy getting to know her, and why not pop on over to her shop once you've sat a while with a cuppa...
1. Can you tell us a little bit
about you and your background...
I’ve always as far back as I can remember loved
drawing, painting and creating. Apparently as a child I was always sketching
something.
This led to me going to college, where I had fantastic tutors, real
artists that taught us how to draw, be observant, and interested.
I feel very
grateful to have had this grounding straight after school.
I then went on to study a Creative Arts degree in Art
and Textiles at Bath Spa University. The course enabled me to work in two areas
that I really couldn’t choose between, and I’m so pleased to have had the
combined disciplines, as I never felt restricted.
A few years later whilst studying my MA there I was
asked to teach embroidery to first year BA students, which although was
daunting at the time, as I had no real teaching experience, I snapped it up and
loved it.
7 years later and I’m still a visiting lecturer there.
It’s such a
pleasure to work with the students and see them develop over the course of
their degree.
After my MA I went into a bit of a creative block,
after years of drawing/stitching florals I wanted a change.
I saw a dog in a
bowtie online, loved the character it conveyed and began to draw. Before I knew
it I had sketchbooks full.
During my MA studies I was introduced to the Irish
Singer sewing machine, a free hand embroidery machine, which is like drawing
with stitch, my new drawings and this machine combined led to a series of embroidered
dog portraits, which then led to an exhibition.
I produced some greeting cards for my show that sold
really well.
So after I opened an Etsy shop and began e-mailing blogs and
websites to try and get more press. 3 and a half years later, the dogs are
still with me, as well as the florals, and I’ve had the best time ever.
2. What books/ magazines are currently on
your coffee table?
I’ve got to admit, I’m pretty terrible on this front.
I’ve never been much of a reader!
But the items currently on my coffee table
are – Maria Kalman ‘Various Illuminations (of a crazy world)’ the Guardian
weekend guide and Focus, Science and Technology magazine! I so admire the work
of Maria Kalman,
but I think what I find more intriguing is the creator
herself, open, honest and immensely talented.
The Guardian guide speaks for
itself,
and Focus is my partners but it had a great article on Sleep!
I’ve also a fascination with psychology and human
behavior and much prefer to read about the working of the human mind and real life
than fiction.
3. Tell us about a typical day for you...
My typical day, starts at 6am.
I get up and do a
workout, at least 4 out of 5 working days.
After that, breakfast and if I’m
working from home, a walk around the block/to the shops before I settle at my
desk.
I find it really important to get back home and feel like I’ve arrived at
work,
it’s something I’ve always done.
Then it’s normally admin and e-mails for a bit before
I get cracking on commissions, orders that need posting and occasionally the
odd interview questionnaire to answer!
4. Can you give us an insight into your
creative process?
If I’m working on a portrait commission then I always
ask for a biog of the canine or feline in question.
I like to hear as much
about the character that I am trying to capture,
as I want the final image to
be as personal to my client as possible.
I began drawing dogs because I liked to imagine them
as human characters and what there quirks would be.
Working on a commission is
always random,
I never know what breed of dog I will be working on,
what there
human friend might want them adorned in and this is what always keeps it fresh
and I can honestly say I never tire of.
When creating pieces for myself I’m always drawn to
vintage ornaments and memorabilia. I adore colour and pattern, but I also love
white spaces, hence my Mantelpiece Meet-Up series and the prints I produce from
original sketches.
I draw, collage and colour in.
A little cleaning up on the
computer and I’m usely done.
I prefer to do as much as I can by hand.
5. What inspires you?
I’m inspired by lots of things, but I guess the main
inspiration for me was my Nan.
She is sadly no longer with us, but she left me
with a curiosity for the kitsch, tatty and slightly odd things I now love.
Her
home was filled with objects.
Looking back they certainly weren’t glamorous or
expensive, but as a child visiting her home I was always transfixed by the
amount of colour, the mixture of pattern and textures and selection of
collected/hoarder objects.
She was a wonderful lady who was never shy of
clashing colours!
Inspiration also comes from my friends and partner,
who I must say are a creative and talented bunch, and all varied in their
interests and disciplines that they work in.
I love hearing what they are up to
and what their next project has in store.
And more recently inspiration came from my trip to the
Picasso Museum in Barcelona. I’ve always been a fan, but seeing the work he
created from the age of 9 years old till when he died was a dream.
Mindblowing!
6. In three words, describe your work.....
Colourful, cheery, characterful
7. What's your guilty pleasure?
Dark chocolate with sea salt, madjool dates and
Eastenders *hangs head in shame*.
I would love to own Dot Cottons wardrobe!
8. What are your top three blogs?
Angela Dalinger is an illustrator who runs a Tumblr feed.
I love the
mixture of work, but also a lot of it has humour, which I’m a fan of in art.
What Angela says about it – “I thought
it’s kind of a nice idea to make this a blog for all illustrators, which
stay analoge in their art. Hand drawings, with crayons and marker, no graphic
tablet or how ever it’s called.”
Cush and Nooks
Because I’m a bit nosey and
love having a peek into other peoples homes.
Also there is always a great array of interior
products and art
It's Nice That
A real mixture of
illustration, graphic design, photography, branding, the list goes on. Always
current and I can get lost there going from feature to feature.
Thanks so much to Jo for sharing a little bit of her world with us!
You can find and follow Jo in various places detailed below...
(all of the above images are taken from the Studio Legohead etsy shop
and all copyright belongs to Jo Chambers)
x x x
