I was commissioned to create three Yorkshire Air Ambulance notelet card designs following on from the success of the paper cut card design I donated to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance last year.
This original design features a Yorkshire Air Ambulance yellow helicopter with a black paper cut of woodland animals and birds looking up at the helicopter. It has proved to be a best seller.
This year I was inspired to create the three following Yorkshire Air Ambulance notelet card designs. These are:
'Yorkshire Butterflies and Yorkshire Air Ambulance Helicopter'
Inspiration for this card design came from the colour of the yellow Yorkshire Air Ambulance helicopter blades as seen from above. I had always had it in mind to design a notelet featuring butterflies as I think there is something so special and spiritual about them. Butterflies are always popular on greetings cards, so I chose common Yorkshire species of butterflies to fly around the magnificent yellow helicopter. I used Windsor and Newton artist's watercolour on a flat hot pressed Sanders watercolour paper with a tiny miniature brush.
‘Yorkshire Air Ambulance Helicopter landing in a field of flowers’
I have always loved Liberty London, the famous shop off Regent Street stocking wonderfully tasteful merchandise. I used to be the buyer for fashion accessories here and have always loved their Tana Lawn fabric designs. These usually feature miniature flowers and animals Having taken a trip to Liberty London I once again acquainted myself with the designs and on the train coming home came up with this design. It took me hours to complete this card design using a miniature brush after sketching the flowers in pencil, then adding the odd rabbit and bird and finally the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. I used Windsor and Newton paint on Bockingford watercolour paper.
‘Yorkshire Air Ambulance following a line of dogs’
I love dogs as so many people do. It is reminiscent of the pen and gouache I designed twenty years ago when I had my own card business and it aims to be quirky and fun. In those days I created 30 different animal cards which sold in 120 shops. Hopefully, the viewer has a smile on their face when looking at the yellow Yorkshire Air Ambulance hovering over this line of dogs carrying a bone.
As a Yorkshire artist, I absolutely loved creating these designs for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance which is such a worthy charity and one that we could all need the help of one day.
The cards are available to purchase from the Yorkshire Air Ambulance online shop.
My background to painting outside stems from early childhood. No matter what the weather - I'll always try and paint outside of my studio to capture the subject matter be it animals, landscapes or as is often the case - a combination!
Beautiful autumn colouring this year inspired me to capture the cherry trees on the stray in Harrogate - slightly windy conditions made the outdoors challenging but well worth the effort - !
Had a fabulous time at the gardens of Monet in the tranquil village of Giverny. Made all the more exciting when a massive storm hit the village the evening we arrived - ended up eating my Sea Bass in a plate full of rainwater..... as the restaurant got deluged!
Anita Bowerman
Author