Around the world and home again
It’s a real privilege to be asked to paint a picture celebrating a wedding. The picture must tell the story of a blossoming relationship and the adventures leading up to that very special day.
Project background
This is a satisfyingly circular story. The bride and groom were born in the same hospital, went to the same university and travelled the world without ever meeting. Both were adamant that they wouldn’t return to their home town of Sheffield. However, when Covid hit they were both forced to return, and they finally met in the Rising Sun pub. They travelled the world again, but this time together, before marrying in a beautiful forest in North Yorkshire and settling down in their first home, in Sheffield of course!
Design decisions
A circular composition seemed to fit really well with the story - it allowed me to suggest a compass, and to play around with the accompanying lines and patterns. My client (the bride’s mum) suggested including a large suitcase with travel stickers to represent all of the countries travelled. However we soon realised that this would be too small, so we had the idea of illustrating the travel stickers in a wide border. This added quite a lot of drawing/painting time but I think it was well worth it.
A few details..
As well as the travel stickers, I used two different types of dotted line to suggest the couple travelling their own paths. The dotted lines meet as the couple meet and go travelling together.
I enjoyed playing around with the different shapes (suggested by the compass) to create extra drawings describing the couples’ favourite things, from artisan beer to surfing, skiing, tennis and yoga. They have a lot of energy!
The wedding day is central, and it’s important to include all of the relevant guests. In this case the bride’s dad sadly passed away many years ago but he is represented by his favourite sunflowers, which form the corners of the design.
The wedding took place on a hot, sunny day in a forest just outside Bedale, and from the photos, it looked like a fairytale. This painting was gifted to Tom and Sarah the morning after, and I have video evidence that there were tears! It was lovely to be part of such a joyful occasion.