The Artist Returns......

So in my new found freedom (I say freedom...it sounds more glamorous than unemployment) I was lucky enough to be commissioned to paint an enormous mural for a sensory room (I was recommended by a dear friend of mine, for which I will be eternally grateful!) Within 4 days of meeting the client - an absolutely lovely lady, with two fantastic sons, a house full of crazy dogs and the patience of a saint - I had the sketches done, colours picked and ready to start.

The original idea was to go with an underwater theme (traditional sensory room theme), but Ronnie decided to make it a proper "boys room" - so we set upon turning it into the Stadium of Light, home of their favourite team.

These are the preliminary sketches;






A bit rough, as you can see! The room was just over 6 metres long and nearly 5 metres wide. Pretty huge really.

Monday morning arrived, and I headed over to Alton armed with a projector, spirit level & a tonne of other stuff. Drawing was all finished on the first day - not that you could see the sketches any further than a couple of foot away.

If you follow me on twitter (which you should, because I actually remember to update that - @cakediddly) then you will have seen the daily updates.

I shan't bore you with the everyday details, suffice to say that I ended up with a dead arm (hilarious) & wearing a lot of paint over the following 8 working days.

The clients were a little unsure at first, but once it started coming together they loved it. The highlight was when Kieran - their 16 year old disabled son was brought in, and he was gazing round smiling and whooping...it really touched my heart! Another delightful moment was when Stephen - their younger son - ran in, pointed at the wall and exclaimed "That's awesome!!"

9 long days of hard work later, these are the finished results;




Panoramic shot of the whole room




Spent lots of time getting the perspective just right - definitely worth it












My favourite area - the changing room (yes, Campbell is spelt wrong and I'm going back this weekend to fix it...it was the end of a very long day)



3D effects....











Just to give you an idea of scale, here's me working...




And yes, I paint in socks - so that I know instantly if I've stepped in paint. Which I did.




Taddaaa!

And very excitingly, I'm returning after Christmas to paint Stephen's bedroom (another football theme) and Kieran's ceiling (space themed).

Even though it was extremely hard work, I thoroughly enjoyed it & really hope I get the opportunity to do more!

Well Hello Stranger....

I know. Sorry. It's been far too long. So how've you been? See much of the Olympics? I had the most horrendous summer (no exaggeration, worst few months of my life - apart from when both my parents were seriously ill in First Year. But that's another story) 

But life is seriously on the up!After leaving my job in September (having left the sculpture garden in June) I went to California, which was incredible and inspiring, and just what I needed. Coming back to the UK was, well to be honest, it was a massive come-down. I started the hideously arduous task of applying for new jobs (absolutely nothing yet, not even a poxy interview) and have got back on the cake-train (ooooooooooo wouldn't that be good! Might need to invent that) So, here are some cakes I've done recently;

Corfe Castle cake





Tennis doubles cake




Another of my ever-popular gooey chocolate cakes, with hand painted detail




And another. I did quite a few of these over the summer.




Hand painted dance cake




Large vintage style birthday cake




Cath Kidston inspired tea-party birthday cake



So there we go.

A Bit of Press Attention....

Now, where was I?
You may recall a while ago that I mentioned that a photographer came to the Oxford exhibition from the Oxford Times. Rather embarrassingly, they used a very large photograph of me to illustrate the piece (I say piece, it was about 4 sentences).

And you may also recall that one of my cakes was the prize in a county wide competition from Surrey Matters. Well, the winner turned out to be a rather lovely journalist from the Surrey Advertiser - and he very kindly included my in a large feature in the Business News Extra (also read in North Hampshire) about start-up companies. I was very nervous - especially after my slightly traumatic experience with the photographer coming to my house (awkward to say the least!), but it was a really lovely article and hopefully it will drum up some more business :)

Oh, and here is a better photo of the cake in the article;


I rather like this one.
And there we go.....

A rather fun cake........

Ok, yet again I've neglected you. Im sorry, ok?

I thought you might like to see some pics of a cake I did just before I went on holiday (yes, I've been skiing *heaven*)

This was for a 50th birthday - the receipent plays golf, loves her two cats, collects pigs and loves tea.

So here is is....

Golf Bag...

Golf clubs, with a piggie driver cover, sugar teacup and butterflies (all handmade and handpainted by moi, of course)

Close up of the teacup. I was very proud...

Her two kitties (copied from a photo to get their markings as accurate as poss!)

And then I went to Italy. 

Whilst I was away, Love Food Surrey held a competition to win one of my cakes.....it closed on Friday, so hopefully I'll find out how many people actually entered! Quite exciting really.

And that's about it.

"Yes, I am not Jam"

Today was the private view of our exhibition. A MASSIVE thanks to Amy Waters for all her organising. Space looks fantastic, & we even had the press rock up to take some photos for the Oxford Times & Oxford Mail. Check us out: exhibiting at the Jam Factory, Oxford until 5th March.



Exhibition space - Amy & James' work.



Looking other way, James' & a peek of mine.



Amy having her photo taken.



James posing for photos.



Toni trying not to laugh.



Thankfully no one saw me having mine done as I was first! It was embarrassing to say the least.



Amy with her beautiful work.

So yes, there you go.


And if you're reading this because you came to the exhibition - THANK YOU!! And please let me know what you thought.

Location:Oxford

A rather arty expedition

Yesterday I had a rather splendid afternoon at work. 


I say at work... Hannah took me to see the David Hockney exhibition "A Bigger Picture" (named in reference to one of his most famous pieces, "A Bigger Splash". But I'm sure you realised that) at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.


I am a bit of a pop art fan, although I do sway more towards Lichtenstein than Warhol. So when I heard that David Hockney was doing an exhibition specifically for the RA I was thrilled and determined to go. Part of the draw was his latest works - made with his iPad. For such a well established (old..) artist, I admire his courage at exploring a completely new medium for his work. I admit, I was rather sceptical at how good they would look....and was it a bit of a cop-out? Hockney openly says that he enjoys the speed at which he can create art - and to have an entire room at the RA (indeed the largest) might seem rather lazy to some. But the pieces were FANTASTIC. The whole exhibition focuses on Hockney's fascination with changing seasons within nature, and the huge room which houses the iPad paintings (and the largest painting of the collection) shows the journey through the year. Each painting is dated, and hung in numerical order. The paintings themselves have a very "painterly" quality, but as one looks closer one recognises the slight pixelated lines and familiar marks that we can all recognise from mucking around on Paint or similar computer programs. 


The whole effect is fascinating. Some are highly detailed, as one would expect from a Hockney - others just have a few lines and marks to represent the subject.


I could ramble on forever.....


I would highly recommend this exhibition - his subject matter is beautiful, his processes fascinating (not only does the exhibition show his finished pieces, there are also dozens of charcoal sketches and working drawings to accompany the finished articles) and overall the exhibition has a very tranquil feel to it. 


Word of advice - book your ticket in advance (even if you are an RA friend..) The queues were VAST.