We spend all of our time extolling the virtues of North Wales -
when that place is your home and is as varied and beautiful as
North Wales is, it isn't a hard job! However, we can get a
little tired of our own voices….so I was thrilled to discover that
Jennie Maizels,
the successful illustrator and founder of the Sketchbook Club is
also a huge fan of the area.
So don't just take our word for it….here's why Jennie loves this
corner of the British Isles!
Loving North Wales
Jennie's family hail from Menai Bridge on Anglesey - in fact her
grandfather, Glynn Jones, was a long-serving Mayor of the
town:
"North Wales feels like my spiritual home. As a child I
spent every holiday in my grandparents' cottage on the banks of the
Menai Straits. I now stay in my Mother's house in Llangoed
when I visit, where my two teenage daughters are obsessed with
White Beach - we have spent days there! "
Jennie's mum, Maggie
Jones Maizels has also had a successful career illustrating and
lecturing: "The only time we can't visit is when my mother takes
part in the Open
Studios for Anglesey Art Week, when she fills her house with
her beautiful paintings of Welsh cottages on slate."
"It is so rare to get isolation and peace in this busy world.
Anglesey still offers incredible beauty without the crowds.
Our favourite places are Penmon Lighthouse, Beaumaris
for it's shops, cafes and fish and chips on the pier, Red
Wharf Bay and surfing in Rhosneigr.
It has also become a tradition that we climb Snowdon at each visit,
the views from the top are so stunning. We love eating out at
Dylan's in Menai
Bridge after a quick drink at The Gazelle to watch the
sunset.
I love to paint and draw around the island, the light is very
special, so it is no surprise that so many artists have chosen
Anglesey as their home."
Dylan's Restaurant in Menai
Bridge - a favourite with Jennie & her family.
All About Jennie
Jennie was born in London in 1970 and, rather excitingly,
her first commission was to design and make the window
displays of Harvey Nichols department store as part of London
fashion week! She also created displays for The Body Shop and
Dillons Bookstores, before her interests in working in 3-D lead her
to creating pop-up books.
After leaving college, a chance introduction to Kate Petty, a
talented children's book writer, proved to be the beginning of a
long and fruitful partnership - a total of eight books over sixteen
years. With over a million copies sold worldwide, it's no
wonder I already had a copy of one of her books, in this case 'The
Global Garden' on my own daughter's bookshelf!
In 2009, with 20 years of pop-up books under her belt, Jennie
turned her creative talents to iron-on patches - with two young
daughters, and not being able to sew, she was looking for something
fun & pretty she could iron over any holes that appeared in
their clothes. At the time, the only patches that were
available were rather dull and tucked away in haberdashery
departments.
Having re-invented this simple product, the
iron-on patch is now everywhere! With stockists including
Liberty and The Conran Shop, and a growing distribution network
around the globe, Jennie loves seeing how creatively people are
using the patches - from personalising pencils cases to customising
Converses.
Most recently, Jennie has been keen to get others enjoying her
passion for illustration and creating wonderful sketchbooks -
something that she always does when on holiday. The Sketchbook
Club was born.
If you have an urge to be creative, but don't know where to start,
or as Jennie puts it - "have a fear of the blank page" - then the
Sketchbook Club is for you. Jennie talks you through how to
start, and introduces techniques and skills to help you along the
way. You can either subscribe to Jennie's on-line modules, or
head along to one of her workshops.
Jennie lives in Hampshire with her husband Marcus, daughters
Millie & Rosie, a clowder (yes, that is the collective noun….I
just had to look it up!) of cats and a dog called
Dotty.
Visit Jennie's website
for further details of those wonderful iron-on patches, the
Sketchbook Club and much more.