I have loved making things
from an early age.
After buying/selling and restoring antiques (mostly junk to be fair) in my early 20’s and working in a theatre in the evenings, I got accepted to go to an art foundation course and a drama school at the same time. I chose the drama school.
After graduating, I toured and performed, ‘rested’, did a billion other jobs for years, always making “homemade’ presents in the meantime. Eventually I started getting asked to make more and more presents on behalf of other people and as my ‘resting’ times got longer and longer and hence almost by accident, I found myself here.
Firstly, I mostly made ‘worlds’ in bell jars and vintage boxes using pages from old books of poetry, papers and ephemera I found in antique markets. These worlds were inspired by animals, flowers and often a sense of the absurd or other worldliness. Mostly they were commissions for wedding presents or gifts for loved ones, and the pieces encompassed trips and memories that had been made together. I once made a bell jar that travelled as part of the dressing room set for a rapper when he was touring. Some of them, carousels, had lights. It was and is exciting to make a whole new one off creation. But as they could take weeks or even months I started to make word pictures too, as they were less timely to create.
My pictures, however, are not prints but totally handmade, so do take quite a lot of time and patience to create too. They are inspired by song lyrics (David Bowie is so often my inspiration) or words and lines that amuse me. I also make commissions. Family mottos. A one line insult. The name of a child or business. I have made film ‘wrap presents’ presents, pictures to decorate rooms in hotels and restaurants as well as homes.
Mostly I make them to suit a particular frame. I find these in antique fairs, I buy them from my brilliant frame dealer and also, have bespoke frames made at my local framer, or a ready made shop frame if required. If a frame is a beautiful antique wreck, then I may choose to make it into an exhausted ‘I danced all night’. If it’s more modern and bespoke I might make a circus font picture like ‘Fabulous”, I like them to take on a personality.
The next stage is to choose a paper for the background. Most I choose are Italian, Japanese or contemporary papers, or plain bright book cover material from Shepherds London bookbinders. But some are vintage linen rag papers or stunning Jemma Lewis hand marbled one off pieces or vintage music sheets. I choose a paper that will suit a particular frame and then I choose a font that will suit both paper and frame. If the font is delicate, the pattern on the paper has to be even more delicate otherwise the words will get lost. The same applies when choosing the colour of the glitter words.
Sophia Langmead.
Photo credit © XXXX
Photo: Photographer Name/©
(revised text to follow):
I have loved
making things
from an early age.
After buying/selling and restoring antiques (mostly junk to be fair) in my early 20’s and working in a theatre in the evenings, I got accepted to go to an art foundation course and a drama school at the same time. I chose the drama school.
After graduating, I toured and performed, ‘rested’, did a billion other jobs for years, always making “homemade’ presents in the meantime. Eventually I started getting asked to make more and more presents on behalf of other people and as my ‘resting’ times got longer and longer and hence almost by accident, I found myself here.
Making
Firstly, I mostly made ‘worlds’ in bell jars and vintage boxes using pages from old books of poetry, papers and ephemera I found in antique markets. These worlds were inspired by animals, flowers and often a sense of the absurd or other worldliness. Mostly they were commissions for wedding presents or gifts for loved ones, and the pieces encompassed trips and memories that had been made together. I once made a bell jar that travelled as part of the dressing room set for a rapper when he was touring. Some of them, carousels, had lights. It was and is exciting to make a whole new one off creation. But as they could take weeks or even months I started to make word pictures too, as they were less timely to create.
My pictures, however, are not prints but totally handmade, so do take quite a lot of time and patience to create too. They are inspired by song lyrics (David Bowie is so often my inspiration) or words and lines that amuse me. I also make commissions. Family mottos. A one line insult. The name of a child or business. I have made film ‘wrap presents’ presents, pictures to decorate rooms in hotels and restaurants as well as homes.
Frames
Mostly I make them to suit a particular frame. I find these in antique fairs, I buy them from my brilliant frame dealer and also, have bespoke frames made at my local framer, or a ready made shop frame if required. If a frame is a beautiful antique wreck, then I may choose to make it into an exhausted ‘I danced all night’. If it’s more modern and bespoke I might make a circus font picture like ‘Fabulous”, I like them to take on a personality.
Paper
The next stage is to choose a paper for the background. Most I choose are Italian, Japanese or contemporary papers, or plain bright book cover material from Shepherds London bookbinders. But some are vintage linen rag papers or stunning Jemma Lewis hand marbled one off pieces or vintage music sheets. I choose a paper that will suit a particular frame and then I choose a font that will suit both paper and frame. If the font is delicate, the pattern on the paper has to be even more delicate otherwise the words will get lost. The same applies when choosing the colour of the glitter words.
Composition
When I’ve chosen the paper, font and colour the sizing is the next thing. It takes quite a lot of time to decide whether the lyric or phrase should fill the frame or sit quietly in the centre.
Cutting
Once all that has been decided, I hand cut the letters, double glitter them with loose glitter (which gives the letters the depth that wouldn’t happen with a print) colour their sides and then centre them on the background with has been reinforced and glue them with the correct kerning (the space between each letter) as if I get that wrong, the whole word looks completely nonsensical.
Glass
Finally I get glass and backings put on the antique and vintage frames or they go off to the framer’s if they are going to be bespoke (I work to a template frame even if it’s going to be a bespoke frame). And then they are finished.
I only sell on instagram these days, by word of mouth, though interior designers and repeat customers. But I’m based in the heart of Primrose Hill, North London NW1 and you are very welcome to come visit me in my studio.
Sophia Langmead.