As if by coincidence we came across the artistic talents of Isobel Brown, a student at Woodlands School in Derby. Her proud Dad, Martyn, had shown us some of her previous paintings and we invited her into the Solesmith studio.
Creative products are the absolute core of Solesmith. As a small business we believe in supporting other businesses and charities and we think it's really important to have a strong ethical approach to how we operate.
As an extension of this, we like to pay forward the support we had, to create opportunities and showcase new talent. In recent staff meetings this topic has repeatedly been mentioned as we brainstorm how we could achieve this.
Once we'd seen Izzy's work we were so excited for her to come and meet us.
Izzy brought along a selection of her pencil drawings and paintings and we were just blown away by her talent. (In fact the team gathered around the canvasses and discussed which rooms at home they would hang which painting.)
The detail and her use of colour was amazing!
So, we thought what better way to showcase new talent and offer our customers something really special, than to collaborate with Izzy on an extra special gift.
With the brief as vague as “Please could you paint something amazing for our wonderful customers’, Izzy worked on a floral and came back to us with this.
Sunflowers.
According to Izzy,
‘ I painted Sunflowers because they’re my best friends favourite flowers. I did a small painting for her birthday and liked how they turned outs so I did them on a larger canvas.
My favourite paint to use is acrylic because you can still make layers and add texture like oil paints, but they dry a lot quicker so I can get my paintings done sooner.
In future I want to do more commission art for people and hopefully get my art out there more.”
This design we felt would be beautiful, printed onto a lovely neutral cushion cover, allowing the brush strokes and detail to be seen. A message to someone special can be added to truly make it a unique gift. Izzy will receive a percentage from the sales of her fabulous design and we hope to showcase more of her talent in the future.
If you would like to contact Izzy for a commission her instagram is @izzyybrownn
Fancy a go?
Following on from our collaboration with Izzy we wanted to open up the opportunity for young designers to design a fabulous new product for our website.
Whether you’re a budding photographer, illustrator, painter or want to try something completely new we'd love to work with you.
Check out Izzy's fabulous cushion at
https://solesmith.co.uk/products/you-are-my-sunshine-cushion?_pos=1&_sid=a9edf5d6b&_ss=r