As Christmas is creeping up...

Last month I happened upon a little competition to get my teeth stuck into. I have been a fan of the Cornish company Seasalt for a while now and their website, clothing, designs and window displays are always brilliant! So they had a Christmas card competition running in aid of a charity called Fishermen's Mission, the theme was a Coastal Christmas! I initially thought that this theme was quite a tricky one ..but I reckon I was over thinking ideas. So one night ten minutes before bed I decided to just blast some ideas down on paper, it worked a treat and after those ten minutes I had numerous ideas! So i'll be sure to use that technique again :) and so the fun began.....

As you can see, I don't think I could have fitted much more on my desk if I tried! Can you spot the Seasalt bag I was using as inspiration for colours? 

I went for a quite conceptual idea in the end and made a departure from printmaking, using acrylics to paint my design. But texture is still an important part of my work, in any medium. Here is the finished work:

Unfortunately I never met the deadline. But I still sent my entry. I'm not sure I would have got anywhere with it anyway as all of the winning designs were more decorative and Christmassy! My design was more coastal with a nod to Christmas :P However I was pleased with the outcome and idea behind mine. An improvement I would consider making would be to try and make the sand castle more prominent against the background. But it was a great little brief to keep my creative mind going....

I recommend checking out the company Seasalt and the winning entries here:

http://www.seasaltcornwall.co.uk/blog/10/2012/winning-christmas-cards/