My favourite commissions of 2021 & a yearly round up!

What. a. year. 

This year has flown by in what feels like one HUGE blur - how are we nearly in 2022 already?! I thought it was about time I did a summary of what I've been up to.

Small wins for this year include launching a website for in-stock paintings and working with some fantastic designers including Studio LBI, VG Curation, Sienna Interiors and Kibre Interiors to name a few. I've sent paintings to the USA and France - had a full page spread in Hood magazine, been featured on an illuminated Billboard in Glasgows West end  and for this first time this year I've introduced a wait list too which is crazy!! I'm still trying to balance work & life and find my flow with things - 2021 has been full of learning curves but I'm so grateful for all of my fabulous clients and for the fantastic projects I've been so lucky to have worked on. Every client and project gives me variety and the freedom to be creative.  

I've also been working part time with Louise and Nicole at Louise Bramhill Interiors as a designer and I'm loving it - I've always dreamt of having a career which  will allow me to have one foot in interiors and another in art, and working with Louise allows me to do just that. Her projects & clients are quite literally A DREAM, consist mostly of residential projects - I'm constantly learning and the design work compliments my art business ten fold. I'd describe myself as a people person and although I have many clients I work with through my art, I do enjoy working as part of a bigger team at LBI. I think if I was working on my own full time, I would get a bit lonely! I know many artists feel the same, so its a good balance.

But the good always comes the bad - I'm currently writing this after testing positive for COVID!! Isolating from my family this christmas isn't what I had imagined after a full on year but it is what it is. I know this year has been hard on so many so I'm counting my lucky stars that I have my health and good family & friends around me. 

My goal for next year is to launch a few more collections on my website and hopefully have a few more design  collaborations. I'd love to continue to work with oversize paintings too and merge some design projects with my art. I've always done all my photography, styling, marketing, website etc myself but this year I think I might take on someone to help me with this side of things as demand for paintings get busier. A slight re-brand might be on the cards!! I'd also love to work with interior brands and possibly produce prints. I have a thousand ideas and it seems there is never enough time to do them - but one thing for sure is that I couldn't be happier doing what I love.

Heres hoping 2022 is as busy as this year has been.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me whether that be a like, share or purchasing / commissioning a painting - it is so appreciated. 

Heres to another year! 

Christina x 

Browse some of favourite commissions from 2021 below:

Louise Bramhill Interiors - Kitchen Duo

Louise contacted me whilst she was undergoing her kitchen renovation - which she designed herself and had made bespoke in scotland. She wanted me to match colours to her beautiful stone worktop and wood units. Something peaceful and calming was needed for the space. She wanted a duo, two canvases in portrait orientation which would compliment each other and create a nice focal point above her dining table. For any more information Louise has written a blog on how she designed her kitchen, with more kitchens coming in 2022! 

Size: 100cm x 80cm​

Moodboard

Derbyshire Double Mezzanine Hall

I was commissioned to create two bespoke paintings for a double height mezzanine space. One of the paintings was to be oversize - 1.95m and 1.25m and the other smaller at 1m x 1m. The hall looked out onto a gorgeous green garden, and my client wanted me to take inspiration and colours from the view. The two paintings had to compliment each other, as they were being hung at different levels but would both been seen from the ground floor (elevation attached!). 
The final paintings brought the outdoor textures and colours in, and created a nice unique statement for the hall. Install pictures coming in 2022! 

Sizes: 195cm x 125cm and 100cm x 100cm 

Edinburgh Stair Duo

A duo created for a narrow stair space - the paintings were used to connect the ground floor and first floor and make the space more cohesive, bringing blue colours from the interior in  and silver tones in furniture through the paintings. 

One of the best things about creating two paintings is the flexibility of how you can hang them and use them in an interior; if they work as one you can use them in a huge space and they will always sing together. 

​Sizes 100cm x 80cm 

Edinburgh Townhouse Oversize Painting 

A oversize 1.95cm x 1.25cm bespoke sized canvas made to fit inbetween the panelling of an edinburgh townhouse. A grand piano would sit infront of the painting so the focal point needed to be towards the top 1/3 of the painting. The brief was to work to dark pinks, purples and navys which had been used elsewhere in the house (pictures attached) - creating a bold. colourful, contemporary piece.  

Master Bedroom / VG Curation Interior Project 

Leanne from VG curation got in touch with me to create a painting for one of her interior projects for a master bedroom. She provided me with a list of interior elements to consider before working up the moodboard -  The wall the painting would be hung on is painted farrow and ball Wevet, adjacent to this was a Craig and rose painted wall in Pullman. All wood furniture was oiled oak, with bed linen from piglet in bed. The canvas size was to be 120cm x 120cm. 

Her clients loved nature and warm  orange tones so I wanted to bring in elements of 'leaves' and natural forms. As I started working up the painting I realised I was adding more pink than I originally intended to, but I think it complimented the green/brown tones nicely. The client was happy for me to take my own steer on the painting and thats just what I did. I loved the result and Leanne and her clients couldn't have been happier either!