Jo's Art Blog
(and anything else she cares to vaunt an opinion about)
Mosaic madness....
 Here is the finished product at long last! 3 weeks and 230 children later - we have a result! Pictured are the artist (yours truly) and my children Lily and Archie.
Everyone is delighted with the result! Labels: Jo Walker Art, mosaic tiles, school mosaic projects
Happy New Year!
 Happy 2010 to one and all!
Phew! Have to say I'm glad the Christmas festivities are done and dusted and I can go about the business of trying to repair my liver and lose the spare tyre! Pre-Christmas was busy on the portraits front - I did a total of 13 in 2 weeks. First project for 2010 is a 6ft x 6ft mosaic piece for my children's school. I have in mind a glorious colourful collection of panels which will depict the things the children enjoy doing in school. It will involve all the children who have been asked to design panels with titles such as 'learning', 'play', worship', 'eco', 'health' and 'friendship'. We will then choose 6 to incorporate into the design, and each child will lay at least one tile. The final masterpiece will be in the foyer of school to wow and welcome our visitors!
Watch this space for our progress. We aim to be done by Easter! (Pictured left is another school mosaic project completed by Tilemagic.) Labels: affordable portraits, bespoke art, Jo Walker, Jo Walker Art, mosaics, school mosaic projects, Staffordshire artist
November News
 Good day one and all. Christmas is fast approaching - eek! and I am busy with gift orders. Especially popular are the aforementioned 2-tone portraits (see above) for the special Christmas price of £50 for a 20x20" canvas. A quick price check with organisations such as Venture and Youareart shows what an extraordinary bargain this is so hurry hurry!
I have also introduced gift vouchers so if you 'd like to buy a loved one an original work of art but are unsure of their taste - then this is the option for you! Vouchers start from £50. Get in touch on 07860 163225 or on jo@jowalkerart.com.
Finally I am proud to join the fantastic collective of Stoke Creative (www.stokecreative.org.uk) - a superb website listing creative people, organisations and events based in and around Stoke-on-Trent. Thanks guys - I am pleased to be amongst you!
That's all for now - back to the easel!
Jo xx
Labels: affordable portraits, art for Christmas, Christmas gifts, Jo Walker Art, Jo Walker Art Vouchers, specialist painter, Staffordshire artist, Stoke Creative
Latest news in the world of Jo Walker Art...
 
Well here we are fast advancing on Halloween and I'm in the middle of my favourite season. Love the trees in my garden rioting with their colour schemes and then chucking it all away! So anarchic!
Anyway, what have I been up to? Have joined Designer Products Online (www.designerproductsonline.com) an online directory of great designers and their services and products in the UK. Very proud to be amongst them!
Work done lately includes a tryptich of silver-leafed panels (see above) done for a lovely person who has commissioned lots of work from me and is not afraid to give me free rein to do what I want! The best kind of client! Here I have created canvasses with lots of different silver layers and patinas, using my specialist painting skills to create panels that change according to where you stand in relation to them, or how the light falls on them. They are beautiful and bonkers!
Other work: I have also been commissioned to design a logo for The Ruby Larks- a fantastic female duo with extraordinary harmonies and musicianship who really pack a mighty punch! I've based the logo on an old-style tattoo,(above left), bringing in the concepts of love, pain, strength, beauty, teamwork, drama. These women tell it like it is!
Other news:- I've been drafted in to teach art at my son and daughter's school on a Monday afternoon. First project has been on C17th artist Archimboldo who painted portraits made up of fruit and vegetables..... What are these curriculum setters ON these days?!!! Great results though from my 8-9 year old so far...!
Finally, my 2-tone portraits (see portrait page, click on two-tone) are selling amazingly well at the discounted price of £50 for a 20"x20" canvas til Christmas. Busy, busy,busy - book early to avoid disappointment!
Cheers art lovers!
Jo xx Labels: Jo Walker Art, logos, original Christmas gifts, original modern portraits, silver-leaf panels, specialist paint effect, Staffordshire artist
Recent Work
 Good day one and all!
I have recently been commissioned to create a large painting in the style of pop artist Peter Blake, responsible for the Paul Weller/Stanley Road and Sgt Pepper album covers. I had great fun helping the client compile images, icons , symbols and momentos personal to him and then assemble and paint them to create the above 30" x 48" canvas. Have peak at the full size image at www.jowalkerart.com/Blake.html
The result is a vibrant and totally unique work of art which will hopefully become an heirloom in years to come!
Jo x
Labels: collage, collage paintings, Jo Walker Art, Peter Blake, pop art, pop art canvas, Sgt Pepper. Acrylic painting, Stanley Road, The Jam, unique artwork
New two-tone portraits
  Hello art lovers! In my meanderings trying out new styles for the portrait listed below I have developed a two-tone modern style which is already selling like hot cakes! I have painted 16 of these for a bedroom and they have captured their subjects brilliantly. I wanted them all to be smiley, happy expressions so that the room is full of joviality! I will be uploading examples to the Portrait page shortly with a very tempting introductory price you won't be able to resist but in the meantime, here's an example or two. All I would need from you is an emailed photo of your choice and away we go! Look forward to hearing from you soon,
Jo xx
Labels: affordable portraits, cool portraits, family portraits, happy faces, Jo Walker Art, photo portraits portraits on canvas, two-tone portraitsportraits
New portrait to be done...
I have a new commission to create a large portrait - around 5ft by 3.5 ft of three children to go in a London flat. I will be working from photos mainly because as we all know, children don't like to sit still for too long! I'm thinking of using water-mixable oil paints which I have grown to love because you get the vibrancy and depth of colour of oils but not the indeterminable wait for them to dry. They don't dry as quickly as acrylics, but generally, by the next day you can work successfully over them. The painting 'Three Generations' in the Portrait section of my portfolio was done using these.
Well, wish me luck - the subjects are my own children, Rosa, Lily and Archie, and the patron is my husband! All are my best supporters and harshest critics! I'll let you know how I fare.... Labels: family, Jo Walker Art, oil paints, portraits, water-mixable oil paints
1st Post
Hello one and all, and welcome to my blog page where I will be keeping you updated on what I’m up to. This year seems to be flying by at an alarming rate – May already? Get outta here! The first couple of months of 2009 has seen me illustrating my father’s book – an amusing account of his time in National Service, with some 22 cartoons.  It was quite strange drawing my dad as a young man generally getting up to no good! Reading the book was a little like meeting him as a 19 year-old and bringing his hilarious anecdotes to life was great fun. The book is called ‘A Cherrypicker Conscript’ by Peter Walker and is at the publisher’s as we speak. Any army bods out there may find it interesting so I’ll let you know when it’s out! I’ve also been designing and making 4ft golden Bafta-style masks for a masked charity ball at Heaton House Farm in aid of Cancer Research UK. It was a splendid evening and well over £15.000 was raised. One of the auction prizes was to commission a painting by yours truly. Nerve-racking to be sat there whilst the bidding was going on but it went for a pretty respectable price (phew!) and I am discussing ideas with the lovely people who bought it at the moment. Another great little project has been for up and coming marketing company ‘Try Me Now’ for their website. Try Me Now deals with the marketing and distributing of organic products so I have designed nine little pictures depicting the simple journey of organic vegetables from the field to the mouth! Check them out on www.trymenow.co.uk Further to this is graphic design work for website designers The Simple Site Company – a great new outfit doing exactly what it says on the tin – creating effective, eye-catching simple websites at very competitive prices. Contact david@simplesiteco.com or go to www.simplesiteco.com for more details. That’s all for now folks! Feel free to contact me with any art enquiries or queries on paint products or decorating problems. Just call me the Paint Doctor! Bye for now, Jo x Labels: Cherrypicker Conscript, Jo Walker Art, Simple Site Company
Contact her at jo@jowalkerart.com or on 07860 163225
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Website by Simple Site Company. Contact david@simplesiteco.com
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Here is a new piece of work using an unusual pallette of colours. I took three different photographs and assembled them on one large deep edged canvas to depict this distinguished gentleman and his two sons. Joy all round!
