In Conversation with Lucy Sherston: joyful colour, hand-painted textures and growing things

Introducing Evermade x Lucy Sherston: a collection of greetings cards bringing together hand-painted textures, drawing and digital collage. From flowers in bloom and prize-winning vegetables to snails, sweet peas and festive feasts, Lucy’s distinctive mixed-media approach gives each design its own character.

We caught up with Lucy to talk about making work from her cabin by the sea, the ideas behind the collection, her love of flowers and nature, and how sketches, paint and collage come together in her work.

For anyone discovering your work for the first time, could you tell us a little about yourself, where you’re based, and the kind of work you make?

Hello! I live and make my work from a little cabin right on the edge of the sea, about half an hour down the coast from Brighton. I’m super inspired by where I live, the beautiful flora and fauna of this part of the coast and the changing skies over the sea. I love getting lost in the process, making things with my hands and experimenting with different mediums.

Tell us how this collection came to life. What was the starting point, and how did it evolve along the way?

It started off like all of my work does, in my sketchbook. I scribbled down ideas and drew little thumbnails of how I might lay things out. One of the things I love to draw and paint the most is flowers - brightly coloured and textured and synonymous with showing people you care. I see so much metaphor within plants and nature, I really wanted to get that across. The idea of growth, nurturing and caring for something. The celebratory and uplifting nature of flowers in bloom.

Your work has such a distinctive mix of paint, pencil and digital collage. Can you tell us a little about your process, and how these cards came together?

My work is very process driven and I love experimenting with different materials, then working out how to layer these together to bring them to life. I come up with the initial sketch and then using a light box to see the sketch, I begin building up the image using different mixed media elements. I then scan all these pieces into photoshop and begin collaging them together, tweaking the colours as I layer and build up the image.

Father’s Day cards often lean on the same familiar themes: golf, beer and DIY. Your design takes a gentler, more unexpected approach. Was it important to challenge some of those stereotypes?

I find many of those stereotype cards so inapplicable to a lot of the dads I know in my life. I definitely wanted this card to have a gentler feel and also capture the pride of growing something! I feel like that pride is reflected in the pride of being a good dad, and I hope this card is a way to appreciate and praise that.

For many people, a greetings card is their first introduction to an artist’s work. What do you hope someone takes away after receiving one of your cards?

Mainly I hope the artwork brings them a smile and little moment of joy. I’d love it if it encourages the viewer to explore more of my work and I’d hope they find other pieces that speak to them.

What do you hope this collection says about the person sending one of your cards?

That they’re fun, considerate and have very excellent taste ;-)

Do you think a greeting card can become a keepsake? What makes one worth holding on to?

I definitely think so! They’re such a time capsule of a specific moment to find and look back upon - whether that’s lovely notes written by people who are not longer with us or memories of turning a particular age, they can pinpoint a moment and it can serve to help us reflect on where we were and how far we’ve come. They can also just serve as lovely decorative artworks!

Looking across the whole collection now, what do you think ties it all together?

I think the joyful colour palettes, the use of hand painted textures and the celebration of nature tie the collection together. I also think they’re all about showing your love and appreciation for someone. I hope they feel gentle, joyful and also with a touch of humour.

Which card from the collection would you be most likely to send, and who would you send it to?

I would send the Mother’s Day card to my mum as she loves her garden and after all she’s the one who grew me! I would also send the ‘Sweet Pea’ card to all my pals to tell them I love ‘em!

Explore Lucy’s Evermade designs below, or follow her on Instagram @lucysherston.