Jane Braithwaite
I have a long history of drawing, especially the things around me. By the time I was 16 I was selling my work and taking on commissions. This was very useful while I was at university. I graduated as an Industrial Designer in 1985 and went to London to work for the American toy manufacturer Hasbro Industries. I didn't have much time to draw, though my job involved a good deal of creativity as I was part of the 'Sindy Doll' development team in research and development. I enjoyed about four years at Hasbro and in that time I had been promoted to senior designer and was also involved in the research and development of a number of different products such as Action Man, Jenga, My Little Pony and Play Doh.
I moved back up North to work for the British shoe manufacturer K Shoes /C&J Clarks. I was the senior designer in the advertising department I worked as a graphic designer and had the opportunity to produce artwork. Part of my responsibility was to produce point of sale twice a year for all the retail outlets including the franchise business.
On one of the seasons it was the companies 150th anniversary. I found some great posters and promotional material in the archives that predated the first world war. I decided to design a range of celebration posters to represent both the changing fashions and illustrative styles through the twentieth century. Some months after the range was released into the shops I was sent a copy of French Vogue with a post it in one of the pages. There I found 2 of the posters from the anniversary collection. One was an original from the archives and the other one of my illustrations that was a 1920s seaside design in the popular Art Deco style of the time. I would love to think that they thought it was as original as the other piece, but alas I do not speak French and have no idea what the text says.
I did manage to get wildlife into one of the seasons.
I designed a piece of point of sale that needed to
frame a 'featured' shoe from the autumn range. I used
coloured pencils (I had never used them before)
our supplier had the Albrecht Durer by Faber Castell
so I gave them a go! Producing that piece really got
me back into drawing. I left the company shortly after
producing this range to start my family.
I juggled freelance commercial illustration until I had 3 babies in less than 4 years and I just could not meet the deadlines anymore!
Once the children were all at school I eventually did my teacher training ....... then there really was no time for drawing!! However I took early retirement in July 2020 and now I am drawing full time.
I hope you like my work and what I've done with it.