Jina Gelder Illustration & Wildlife Art

This week I have a work experience student from Biddick Academy working with me. Peter wants to run his own art business one day. As part of his experience I suggested he went to visit some of the other artists here at The Hearth to see what they get up to in their creative process and running their businesses. Here are his thoughts.... I’ve gone to visit the other artists in the studio that have been in this week to talk and see what they work with. Every artist is different

This week I have a work experience student from Biddick Academy working with me. Peter wants to run his own art business one day and is getting an overview of what that means with regards to my Jina Gelder Illustration. I thought it might be a good idea to let him take over social media for a little bit so here is one of a couple blog posts Peter is writing... Day 1 Of Work Experience Day one was really fun I spent sometime ripping some cards with prints on them for Jina then

Last Autumn I was delighted to work with Barbour and offer a competition to celebrate their AW17 Coastal campaign and the launch of Barbour Dogs. Part of this also entailed an interview with me at my studio with my own dog Tara and that blog post can be read here. I had a great time and I love how Tara was none too impressed with having her photo taken. The competition asked people to send in or post pictures of their dogs at the beach and even though I only got to see a sele

January marked the end of a wonderful two years for me on the Allendale Forge Studios Young Rural Entrepreneurs scheme. I had the pleasure of receiving support and a fully funded studio for a fabulous two years during which I got to meet lots of new customers, made fabulous networking connections and draw on the support which the Forge and Amanda offered me to grow my existing business into the shape it takes today. The studio gave me a retail outlet but also a space to try o

I wanted to carry on a little from the last blog post. 'Winging It...' was largely about the creative side of the business and how I personally went with it. However, I wanted to do a post solely dedicated to one person who made it all possible, my Mam (which is Geordie for Mum, Mother, Mom etc). A few sentances didn't seem enough. When I was in school she taught me to sew and supported any dreams I had to be a poor artist and when I finished university in 2011 I moved back h

A lot of my customers seem interested in how I started my business 4 years ago. I think a lot of the time this is because I look 17 and indeed if I do an event with my Mam or Granny along to help, more often than not they are addressed by people assuming they are the artist. I think this is because you have to be crazy to try and make a living as a full-time artist. The majority of fellow artisans I know are in business as a hobby; to supplement an existing job or they are re