Mary Stubberfield Cats

Introducing our Artist of the Month for December 2015 - Mary Stubberfield - a painter whose work ranges from landscapes to animals with cats being a favourite element to feature. With a beautiful and varied collection of feline characters now in Mary's portfolio, we wanted to take a closer look. We asked Mary about the inspiration and stories behind her cat paintings which include a collection of popular Christmas cats licensed to and published by Pomegranate in the USA for Christmas 2015. We discovered that Mary really is a true cat lover...

"Having grown up in Sussex by the sea and keeping pets from a young age, I am especially drawn to cats. They are clever, independent and wonderful companions.

 

After qualifying at Bournemouth Arts University I moved to London and worked for various publishers as a freelance illustrator. It was after moving back to Sussex when I was given my cat Lucy, a young tortieshell. She was very athletic and liked to run up trees but it wasn't so easy getting down again.

I like to practise yoga and meditation and cats love to join in, especially in 'downward dog'.

Walking by the sea, being in nature and stroking a cat are great ways to relax.

I lived on a Greek island for two years and looked after many cats there. Gingers, tabbies, black and white 'Felix' cats, and a Siamese called Coco. Meal times were a little chaotic and there was the odd fracas but I enjoyed every moment. I helped the visiting vet with the annual neutering programme which was a great success. My special cat there was a Russian blue named Ellie who I raised from a kitten.

I recently volunteered for Cats Protection who do a great job sheltering and rehoming unwanted cats and kittens. They have shelters and charity shops nationwide.

I like to sketch cats in pencil while they relax and in my artworks try to convey humour and a certain smugness. I love to paint their fur in oils which gives great depth and especially enjoy creating cats in snowy scenes for Christmas"

See more of Mary Stubberfield's portfolio 

Oscar Francis for Tate

Yellow House Art brand Oscar Francis was recently commissioned to do a poster for the Tate Modern Shop - Sarah Evans, the talent behind OF naturally felt very proud to finally see the poster on the wall in the Print Shop. We asked Sarah about the process behind commissioning her artwork ...

       

Preliminary sketch and final poster for Tate Modern - Oscar Francis, 2015

"I was very pleased to be asked to collaborate on a poster for the Tate Modern. I enjoy commissions and, for me, this was a dream job. When I initially met with the team to discuss the brief I didn’t know what the subject would be so when they asked me to work on the Tate Modern itself I was thrilled. I knew that my biggest problem was going to be producing just one final artwork".

The process was the same as any other project. I compile photos of the subject. I take photos and find images in books or on the web. I usually end up selecting three or four images that I sketch from. I produced three initial hand drawn art works and some detail sketches of areas of the building that interested me. I then produced four digital artwork options from the drawings for the team to choose from. 

I had a preferred image but it was not chosen. I produced variations on a print because more often than not a client will be looking for a particular image for a reason and so I know that my preference is not necessarily going to fulfill their needs."    

Both of these pieces were also created for Tate and although not selected, we like the colours and slightly more detailed visual solution...

    

 Contact us to commission artwork by Oscar Francis

Sarah Evans is a trained architect and the talent behind Oscar Francis. Named after her twins, Oscar Francis is a London based studio creating bold graphics inspired by the city and the varied housing types that define our environment. Each building is intricately researched in both it's history & visual detail, moving from pencil sketches to final artwork. The Oscar Francis collection celebrates modernity & the real spaces in which we live.

     

Sarah Evans with her own prints and the commissioned poster on display at Tate Modern, November 2015