Ever since I can remember I have been good at colouring in, so I decided from a young age that I was going to be an artist when I grow up! Dad had huge influence as he worked as a Creative Group Head at Saatchi Saatchi and later as a graphic designer/copywriter running his advertising and design business from home - the temptation to ‘borrow’ his magic markers was just too great to miss. When I was in my early-teens we often stayed at our holiday house in Dolwyddelan where it seemed to rain the whole holiday! It was about that time that I had first memory of the Ffestiniog Railway when Dad would drop my ‘train fanatic’ of a brother and me off at Blaenau Ffestiniog to catch the train down to Porthmadog where my parents would meet us. I would take my (borrowed) magic markers with me to ‘doodle’ in my sketch book as trains were ‘boring’ in my eyes then!

Funny how now it is me who works on the Ffestiniog Railway and not my brother Matthew! And now ‘Steam Trains’ are not boring at all but rather stunning bits of engineering. How better to couple my love of art with my work and earn some extra cash at the same time?

I started work as summer staff in the Porthmadog Booking Office in 2005. I graduated two years previously with a First Class Honours in Illustration and was trying to sell my paintings in local galleries but needed a ‘proper job’ to pay the mortgage. I was selling a couple of paintings and one client said to me; “Why don’t you sell greeting cards of your art work?” That idea  stayed with me and when Dad and I were looking for a decent Welsh Greetings card for my Mum, we couldn’t find one. The concept of ‘Welsh Greetings Cards’ using Dad's and my paintings to develop a huge and visually diverse range of greetings cards, signed limited-edition prints and original work! This would give me extra income in the winter so I could go back to the Railway the following year.

It is now 2007, I am full time in the Booking Office as a Supervisor working as Sam Hughes’ Assistant. My card business has gone from strength to strength – plus I also work regularly with the Welsh Books Council as an illustrator with three published books already complete, produced the Christmas Cards for the Welsh Assembly, the Ffestiniog Railway (The LyD Card - illustrated below featuring Paul Lewin and husband-to-be, Jon Whalley plus ‘The Bessie Jones' Card - illustrated above), I completed fashion work for Fashion Designer Anne Tyrrell in London as well as major commissions for major 'blue-chip' companies like Debenhams and Severn Trent Water. I also take on board smaller commissions for hundreds of private clients from drawing people’s dogs and cats to Wedding Stationery.

I have developed a reputation for being able to draw just about anything – from Steam Trains to Wolves and to Portraits of people and horses, in any media and in any style! We print cards of 180 gram Bockingford watercolour paper to create the ‘Handmade Watercolour feel’ unique from Wales. We also design and make handmade Wedding Stationery, prints of our work, book marks and sell to over 20 retailers all over North Wales plus Welsh-speaking communities all over the world.

The fantastic thing about being an artist and working on the Ffestiniog Railway is I get the best of both worlds – I work with fantastic people on the Railway and I get to go home and do some ‘colouring in’. But best of all, I'm now totally self sufficient - no mean achievement for a recent graduate!

And not to forget the most exciting promotion I have ever been involved with ... The 'Steamy Ladies Calendar 2006' raised many thousands of pounds for the Macmillan Cancer Support charity. It also, apparently, raised the blood-pressure of most of the male rail enthusiasts across the country! There are still a few copies available if you would like to contact the Ffestiniog Railway shop at Porthmadog. No, I'm not going to say which month I am!


 

New card concepts and
specially commissioned cards:
Index page
1. Personalised St Valentines Day Cards. 2. Wedding Invitations / Stationery / Poppies & Lilies / NEW Lace Range. 3. Father's Day Cards / Watercolour Illustrations. 4. Wedding Invitations / Stationery / Spring Daffodils. 5. Christmas Cards / Handmade & Personalised. 6. DIY Birthday Cards / Ffestiniog trains. 7. DIY Birthday Cards for Children / Stylised Horse. 8. DIY Birthday Cards for Adults / Landscapes, Welsh Cobs / NEW Roses. 9. DIY Easter Cards / English and Welsh. 10. Welsh Language St David's Day Cards / Celtic Cross & Butterflies. 11. Mothering Sunday Card / Helleborus Illustration. 12. Wedding Invitations & Place Cards / Butterflies.