Market Season!

Hello hello!

I'm pleased to announce that you'll be able to find Louise Wright Design across Derbyshire and Sheffield this summer for some fantastic events!

First up we have the Summer Market at the Roundhouse in Derby. Back for it's 5th year this one is looking like a blast! 

You can check out which other exhibitors will be there too now using this pinterest board!

I will be showing off lots of new products including brand new prints and cards! Here is a quick sneak peek at one of my new cards from the 'Fruit Loop' range ;)
 

Photo by Holly Booth Photography

More news to come very soon!

Lou xx

Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015!

I'm finally back at my desk and settling into the new year and after taking a little time looking back over last years planner before it goes in the bin, I've realised how far my little business has come in a year. Since I've enjoyed reading other people's posts about their achievements I thought I'd share mine too.

2014 saw me; giving up my part time job, licensing my first card designs, doing my first trade fair, hiring a professional photographer, joining Not On The High Street, working on my first book, celebrating the Business's second birthday and having my products sold in Etsy house! 

After a busy January working like a mental person to get new products ready I exhibited at my first trade fair in February (Spring Fair!!) and shared a few valuable tips about my experience of it.
This was a huge learning curve for me and I learnt so very much, not only from chatting to buyers, but also other exhibitors, and even attending some of the seminars.

Just before the Spring Fair I picked up my first international stockist in Switzerland after being featured in Country Living magazine which was amazing, and I'm still waiting for a good excuse to go and visit!

February also saw me begin an awesome partnership with the super talented Holly Booth Photography. Based in Derby I had spent a lot of time enjoying the work Holly had been doing with other creatives, and I won't lie...I really hate taking product photo's. I can't get the lighting, there is no nice space in my house I can use, things fall over, look messy and I get fed up. So I knew I had to bite the bullet and I'm so glad I did. 
Holly has done all my photo's since and I've never looked back.

Design by Louise Wright
Photo by Holly Booth Photography

In March market season kicked off again and I spent my weekends in Leeds, Loughborough, Beeley and Leek selling my work to the public, which kept generating a fantastic response (Thank you so much everyone!!)
I also traveled to Sheffield one very rainy day and gave a presentation on myself and my work to an art group there, which I was very nervous about, but they had tea and biscuits and they got so involved and interested in my work that I soon settled down and it went really well.
Phew!

April saw me exhibiting at BCTF in Harrogate, then along with lots of lovely wholesale orders, the commission work started coming in and things got rather busy!

My stand at BCTF

The summer and autumn blur together in a wonderful work filled haze, I spent my weekends selling at markets, the weeks illustrating, and the realisation that I was being able to support myself through the business was truly brilliant. - I still feel like it might of just been a lucky break and it might come to end at any point!

July - A Glimpse of my stand at the Fabulous Places Summer Market.

In November I'm really pleased to say that my products were selected for the fantastic Etsy House Shop that opened for one weekend only in Covent Garden. The shop got so busy people were queuing outside to go in!
In between markets and Christmas orders I handed in my first black and white illustrations for a fiction book in December which I'm really pleased with and I will show you more when I can.

I would like to say a massive thanks to everyone who has supported my business over this last few years, it's never been easy but I so love being able to do this, and you all make it possible <3

2014 thanks you were a blast and I hope 2015 can compare!!


 

Make Art That Sells Week 5 (final week!!)

Hello hello!
As you may know last week was the final assignment for MATS (sad face!) but Lilla was determined that we should go out with a bang! The mini threw me a little (a lot) this week,  Lilla told us to document a collection of ours. Now I don't really collect much that I could use so I put off doing it which was silly because I didn't have the full week to work on it since I was taking a much needed weekend off to celebrate my birthday!
The main assignment came round and to be honest I freaked out about this one a little bit. Aimed at the Gift market we were to create a 'hyper lush' zipper pouch design!!
I've never really thought of my work as hyper lush and lots of the examples showed use of real flowers in there and these beautiful, busy works. I felt really out of my depth....
Not leaving myself enough time to play I started working on something I wasn't having all that much fun with but I didn't have enough time to throw away and restart and I really didn't want to not submit for the final week!
So I'm going to show you what I submitted and I'm doing this with my new found confidence from the course, I'm showing you art I don't like!
Based on my little collection of elephants bought back from India..

There it is!
I put it out of my mind for the weekend but when Monday rolled around I knew I had to go back and make it better haha.
So I started again from scratch and had fun with the work I was creating and it's amazing what a difference it made to how I felt! Fun art!!
So here is my new hyper lush design based on my small collection of animal figures dotted around my desk.
What do you think? :)

I've not long watched the final video from the course and I'm sad and elated at the same time, I feel like a different person for doing it and my work feels very different too, very sad to be done on my little journey though.
Into the big wide world for me now! 

Louise x

Make Art That Sells Week 3 & Art Market!

Hello!

Well it has been a super busy week! And as ever I've promised I will do a blog post about it and so I've taken 5 mins away from all of the work with my cup of tea to reflect...
First up, week three of Lilla's course! Picture Books!
The mini assignment was to draw snails and practice hand lettering of 'The snail and the rose tree'. Wanting to get stuck in and not have to worry about the big assignment until Wednesday I (like most other people in the class) did not rush out to go read the story. Instead we focused on drawing snails, and some veryyyy cute snails were appearing in the facebook group! 
I had never really thought to draw snails before and so this was a bit of a challenge for me, and also you know how fond I am of my dot eyes on my characters, lilla said there was to be none of that, eyes needed to connect with the children reading it.

- A few cheeky photo's of my sketchbook!
Then Wednesday rolled around and the big assignment was set - to illustrate a front cover or inside spread for 'The snail and the rose tree' and the text was provided.
My god it was a tough first read, I think it shocked us all a little bit. Lilla urged us to interpret it in whatever way we liked and suited our styles. 
During this project I had told myself I wasn't going to use photoshop but instead go back to my collage style and work with that. I didn't have very long due to other commitments that weekend (The art market) so I got stuck in. Stopped. Freaked out. Started again, created a double page spread. Looked on the facebook group at all of the amazing work that was being produced. Started again!
It was a stressful week for me because it took me such a long time to get over the initial challenge that the text set.
In the end this is what I submitted to the flickr group (and Lilla reviewed it in her video of the works!! - I feel so honored!)

It's something I will be coming back to after the course to have another look at though!

Now, last weekend I was of course at the Art Market in Holmfirth, a market I've heard a lot about from other traders, and one supporting affordable art. I took 100% original work with me in the end, I never really get the chance to do that so I couldn't resist! ;)
I wanted to make my (3 meter!!) stand look as good as possible and so I got hold of some wood for the sides so I could hang artwork from them too!
Turns out painting that took forever, and it rained outside so I had to do it inside haha (I do have some bright ideas don't I?)

So, wood all painted, car loaded we set off Saturday afternoon down the market, set up and traded between 8-10pm.
The venue was lovely, as were all the people who stopped and chatted to me!
Here is a photo of my stand :)

Can you spy some originals in there?
Early Sunday morning we came back to the fair (I say early, it was 10am so late for me!) ready for a full days trading and I had a commendation waiting for me on my stall!!
I didn't see it to begin with haha, another trader had to point it out to me- It really made my day so thankyou Victoria at the Art Market for making me feel so welcome! Also its really nice that all the effort I put into getting set up got noticed and appreciated.

All in all the Art Market was just lovely to attend and I will be applying for the November one so I might be back you never know Holmfirth ;)
I was also interviewed because of my award so watch out for that beauty! haha. Never was any good at having my photo taken let alone being filmed!! 
I have new work to share with you too but this is a very long blog post so I'll wrap it up here tonight and I'll be back soon :)

Night!
Louise x

Large Summer Totes Are Here!

Heading down to the beach, or needing to carry that little bit more around with you? (I know i do!)  Well I've got just the thing for you! An 100% organic cotton large summer tote bag. 
Each of these are designed to compliment your outfit and add a splash of colour for those lazy summer days :)

I use mine for popping into town for bits of shopping, carrying books and sketchbooks around in and packing for picnics - even my blanket fits in!
They are priced at £12 each and you can purchase from my Etsy Shop.
What would you carry in yours?
Louise x

Back to school!

Hello folks!
So I've got some exciting news to share with you all, I've gone back to school! :)
As an early birthday present I've started on the fantastic Lilla Rogers 'Make art that sells' course, it all ties in perfectly with the AOI event I visited in London a week or too ago based on image licensing. I now know what direction I need to be heading in and the course run by Lilla is helping me to get there. (Fingers crossed!) 

It's just been 2 weeks of the course and although I was away for the first week the whole thing is already so so inspirational, the classroom is FULL to the brim of talented and supportive creatives and I just love being a part of that.
I never want it to end!
Each week of the course focuses on a different area of the market and this weeks has been Home Decor, we were set an assignment to use a more modern take on floral and translate it into a circular plate design. 
To begin with I began with LOTS of sketches and drawings using different materials, here's a teeny snippet...

I started with inks and pencils and brush pens because I didn't want to get too bogged down with colour, instead focusing on the shapes of seed pods and unusual shapes.
I then scanned in and played around ALOT on the computer with them (I think me and Illustrator are slowly becoming friends)
and I wanted to share with you some final plates and what a collection might look like....:)

Squee! What do you think??
I had such fun with this assignment, and I can wait to start this weeks work...Picture books! 
I'm still messing around with plates so some more might sneak in ;)
Louise x