Behind the scenes with Helen Nevett

Welcoming Helen Nevett to Art House Licensing! Helen has worked previously as an in-house designer for well-known greeting-card publishers Paper Dove and is now enjoying her new role as freelance designer; we are delighted that Helen asked to join our agency and we already have some exciting new projects for Helen in the pipeline....find out more about Helen in this month's behind the scenes feature...

What's your favourite design/piece of work & why? My favourite piece would be some drawings I had done of some roses and birds  for a scrapbooking company

What's been your best-selling design or piece of work to date? My best selling design so far has been my Eiffel tower design

Which part of the process do you like most? I love the initial ideas and gathering inspiration for mood boards, whether it is a bit of vintage fabric or something from an interiors magazine

Which part do you like the least?! The part I like the least is scanning in drawings and cutting the image out in Photoshop!

What would your dream project be? Dream project would have to be designing a range of stationary and note books as I just love them!

Who or what is your biggest source of inspiration? The biggest source of inspiration is from nature that surrounds us and not forgetting a wonderful find of tea cups in a charity shop or a beautiful piece of vintage fabric

Which is your favourite Art House Licensing artist & why? My favourite art house licensing artist is Kate Osborne as I love the beautiful and delicate use of watercolour

Which is your favourite Yellow House Art artist & why? (www.yellowhouseart.com – our sister site selling original artworks) I just love the work of Jennifer Collier with her use of paper and stitch to turn them into beautiful works of art

Do you have your own work at home? Yes I work from home in between looking after my two fabulous girls

When designing your studio, what was the most important factor? Most important factor for me is to be surrounded by inspiration and books! Oh and a nice hot cup of tea

What's been your biggest mistake/cock-up?! My biggest mistake has to be continuously throwing work in the bin and also stitching two pieces of work together

What's on your drawing-board/ in your kiln / on your easel / etc. right now? Right now is a drawing of a pretty tea cup and a blue tit

What is the last book you read? Marks out of 10? Last book I read was “Harry potter and the goblet of fire” I would give it 8 out of ten

What is the last exhibition you went to? Marks out of 10? Last exhibition I went to was a at least a year ago, but it was a degree shoe for Textile and surface design, I love to see what fresh and innovative designs the students produce

If you could own a masterpiece, what would it be? If I could own a master piece it would be “Water Lilies” by Claude Monet

What’s your proudest achievement? I would have to say the birth of my two beautiful children and remaining to stay creative, oh and not forgetting a sponsorship from Swarovski Crystals in my final year at uni

What’s been your biggest challenge? My biggest challenge has been to remain creative despite all the knock backs

What’s the main advantage/your favourite aspect about working with Art House Licensing? Working with Art House Licensing gives me the best of both as I am able to be creative and design while being able to be at home with my kids and no two days are the same!

It has been lovely so far as Jehane and Sue are so lovely and helpful always there if you need them

Thank You for the great feedback Helen - We are really enjoying working with you and your enthusiasm is infectious!

Behind the Scenes - Paul Thurlby

25th October 2012: We're delighted to give you a view behind-the-scenes with the hugely talented illustrator Paul Thurlby.  A London based illustrator, Paul has been a regular illustrator for the Guardian newspaper since he started full time illustration work in 2006. Paul has had some very impressive commissions from household names such as: The Times; The Guardian; The Independent; The Bank of England; The Big Issue and Orange UK.

If you don't already know his fantastic Alphabet book published by Templar....you do now! It's deservedly caused a great stir...

We're sure we are not the only ones who enjoy Paul's refreshingly honest style, in both his artwork and his answers in our interview!

What's your favourite design/piece of work & why? That’s a bit like asking what my favourite film or song is. It’s an impossible question!

What's been your best-selling design or piece of work to date? A for Awesome. The first print I sold out of.

 

Which part of the process do you like most? Coming up with new ideas/problem solving. That moment when you come up with a solution is the greatest feeling. I would be a liar if I were to say that I didn’t also enjoy the recognition part at the end.

Which part do you like the least?! Paperwork of course.

What would your dream project be? Anything where the client emails me with the line ‘please say how much money you’d like’.

Who or what is your biggest source of inspiration? Seeing great work.

Which is your favourite Art House Licensing artist & why? Steven Lenton because he seems to be a very nice bloke and I quite like the humour in his work.

Which is your favourite Yellow House Art artist & why? (www.yellowhouseart.com – our associated site selling original artworks) Jehane Boden Spiers – because I’ve met her and she’s very lovely.

 

 Do you have your own work at home? I have an A for Awesome on my wall. It’s edition 1 of 200. I kept it for myself because it signifies the very beginning of the alphabet project. So, it has a special meaning to me.

When designing your studio, what was the most important factor? Haha, I don’t think it’s been designed. I work from my room on the 2^nd floor of a Georgian house in North London. The photo of my desk was taken after tidying it up.

 

 What's been your biggest mistake/cock-up?! An early commission for The Guardian sport section where I came up with a good idea, but didn’t give the picture enough contrast in tone between colours. Result – colours merging into each other were making a muddy looking illustration lacking definition. Newsprint took a bit of getting used to.

What's on your drawing-board/ in your kiln / on your easel / etc. right now? A commission for The New Yorker, drawing Jake Gyllenhaal.

What is the last book you read? Marks out of 10? I’ve just finished reading Betty Blue. I have watched the film and found the book earlier this year in a good book shop in Balham I often visit. I would give it 9 out of 10.

What is the last exhibition you went to? Marks out of 10? I went to see the photographic exhibition ‘Another London’ at the Tate Britain. I’m always sceptical about photography exhibitions, but this was very good. I’d give it 8 out of 10.

If you could own a masterpiece, what would it be? Something that would make me smile. With Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. In my room it would feel like summer all year round!

 

 What’s your proudest achievement? Seeing all of my alphabet prints hanging up in the Tate Britain shop.

 

What’s been your biggest challenge? Moving to London when I had very little money or work coming in.

What’s the main advantage/your favourite aspect about working with Art House Licensing? Sue and Jehane are both very lovely and easy to work with. They understand illustration, which also helps.

Thank you for your great feedback Paul!