Monday, 3 December 2012

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.