My creative journey
I started creating handmade greeting cards from my drawings under the name Alykat Creative around 2006, after I studied graphic design at Sydney's CATC. My first Limited edition print run was of 50 and originally created as a submission to the 2012 Semi Permanent and Curvy books, titled "The Horses Will Play". To my surprise it was published in both books that year and featured and sold at the Curvy exhibition in Sydney. All 50 signed and numbered large prints are now sold out!
After receiving so much interest in my one and only print, I realised this was something I wanted to do more of! I really wanted to draw animals, but animals in slightly different environments doing slightly odd things, and I created the Animal series. Five limited edition prints of just 20 and launched them displayed in vintage ornate frames in a bar in Melbourne.
From this, I met a lovely girl who owns a lovely little shop (www.thedesigncourt.com.au) in Melbourne who started stocking my work. These were received really well and I eventually created some more animal themed prints, this time with a bit of a story behind them. Escape from the Circus featured another 5 limited edition prints of 20 and all relate to animals fleeing from a life performing on demand in a circus. These were met with a really great response from my now growing supporter base.
I then took a financial risk to hold my first Alykat Creative stall early in 2014 at Melbourne's contemporary graphic art fair, Supergraph, where I amazingly sold out of a lot of my prints! It was such an awesome experience to have so many people supporting and interested in what I do, it was definitely a highlight in my creative career.
I think the adrenaline and thrill of Supergraph, along with a number of other things going on in my life at the time, awakened my urge to put myself out of my comfort zone. So I decided to finally take advantage of my grandparent’s English and Scottish roots and moved to London on an Ancestry Visa. Although it has been an absolute roller coaster ride and an amazing 2 years, it has definitely knocked my creative mojo about. Finding the time and having the motivation when starting from scratch and there's a whole other side of the world to explore, is somehow a lot more difficult than I anticipated. So after having lost some of that momentum from the buzz of Supergraph, I finally pushed myself to pick up the pen and watercolor and just get started!!
I went to part time at my day job (Macmillan Cancer Support) so I could focus more on my creative work which was such a nice feeling. I then saw my dream job advertised, lecturing graphic design, and just had to go for it. A year into it at Shillington College, and it's a whole nother challenge in itself. Finding time for my own creative ventures is proving to be the hardest it's ever been, but it just means putting the extra effort in over the holidays!
I love to meet people and get involved in the creative scene where ever I can, so be sure to get in touch and say hi x
