Christina Studio

I was approached by the lovely Carima from Pene Lane. Pene Lane is a interior design studio based in Leeds and specialises in rental property design and corporate interiors. 

As I have a background in interiors, I was super excited to get started and work with another designer to help create their vision and satisfy the project brief. 

Camira and myself had a skype call to chat the project through. She sent me a moodboard she had put together and some information about what the client requirements were and why the colours were so important to get right. 

As always I referenced the colours, moodboard and brand image and made a start in my studio. I knew this would be a tricky commission because the colours are so bold, to get the balance right it would take a lot of layering and manipulation of colours. I imagine a lot of people viewing my work for the first time probably don't realise the process behind it - and this is what I remind many of my clients during the working up of a painting, it is very much a process and requires some back and fourth before I'll work something up that works for both me and my client. I always working closely with the client for feedback and keep them up to date on my progress, and this was essential for this piece. This piece took several attempts to get right with the help of Carima and her vision, but I'd like to think the final piece captures the brand image of the clouds very well. Here it is, styled up in my living room before it gets sent down to its new corporate office!

I really enjoyed working this piece up because it had a very small, set brief and was a challenge - in a good way! I normally wouldn't ever work with such bright colours but I think that 1) it'll look fabulous in its neutral meeting room, and many modern offices incorporate bright colours so it'll look contemporary and fitting with its space. 2) its proven to me that I can work with colours out-with my comfort zone and thats a nice feeling!

I also loved this because working with a designer means they have their own vision. Carima was lovely and it was an absolute pleasure to work with her. I've linked her website and instagram below and will definitely be keeping up with her future projects - she's always busy working on something new!

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This month I did something a little different than my usual and asked one of my favourite interior influencers if they would like to collaborate with me - I was over the moon when she said yes. Yasmin had popped up on my feed complimenting my art work a few times, and I’ve followed her progress as an interior influencer for the past few years so I was super excited to create a painting for her gorgeous home. I've shared her grid and link to her insta below. 

  The main thing I loved about Yasmins style is how unafraid she is of colour, she makes some bold decisions and still manages to make every one look classy and sophisticated. You can tell she is constantly experimenting with her style and she has the confidence to make different decisions and not necessarily just follow trends - which I love. I also knew she would have her unique vision I could tailor her painting to. 

​As soon as Yasmin agreed to work with me she sent me over mood boards and had so many exciting ideas. She decided what room she wanted the painting to go into. She specified her dining room - I was so excited!! The painting would be tailored to her colour scheme, finer decor details and be used to compliment the room and tie all of her interior furnishings together.

The space is pretty neutral, incorporating bold blacks and hints of strong emerald green. She wanted her painting to be quite similar: kept neutral but with green accents and a green linear aspect to it. It was amazing working with somebody who had a clear view on what they wanted - she was almost directing me on the creative approach to this painting which was really exciting. She also mentioned that this room links in with her kitchen which will be getting painted a beautiful dark moss green colour. She gathered some mood images and sent them to me, and as always I referred to them during painting - some of the images I've featured below. 

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Some pics of her dining room and colour of her proposed kitchen:

A small flash of bright green would compliment the space and bring out the other green tones she has in her dining room - even her rug had a linear green accent through it so I really wanted to incorporate that into the piece! She wanted the painting to sit above her fireplace and make quite a statement. Because the wall above her fireplace is so light, I wanted to introduce black charcoal greys around the corners of the painting to give that statement contrast she was after. 

The piece was 100cm x 100cm on cotton canvas, and I used various different techniques and materials, the majority of these being acrylic paint and collage.

​I originally worked up the painting to reflect the neutrals in her space and then placed the linear green shape into the piece as I spoke about before. I always think that when working with clients, doing less and then giving them the option to add more is always a better way of working rather than going too wild! I also added some very light peachy tones which would compliment her floor finish and warm white wall colour she has on her walls. 

I then sent her photos of how the piece was looking, and agreed it could take more green. She loved the piece how it was so I made sure I didn't do anything too drastic - just added a tiny bit more of that bottle green to the shapes. View the updated painting below sitting in her gorgeous dining room! This is still to be framed and I can't wait to see it when its properly hung up.

I loved doing this for Yasmin and really appreciate how supportive she has been of my art since collaborating with me - I'm sure influencers get gifted SO many wonderful things all the time but she was so lovely and I could tell she was genuinely excited by my art. I whole heartedly appreciated it - she even sent my a gorgeous bunch of flowers. I've linked Yasmins Instagram below, please follow her for all things colour and interior inspo - she posts regularly, is super friendly and is one talented lady!