Dior Illustrated - René Gruau and the Line of Beauty Exhibition. Somerset House, London.
Nov 2010 - Jan 2011

I was chosen together with 4 other Illustrators to produce a piece of artwork for this exhibition at Somerset House. It was truly exciting to be part of such a prestigious exhibition as I have always admired René Gruau as an Illustrator and loved his use of line.

The commission was great as I was given complete freedom to explore my theme - the unique bond and friendship between Christian Dior and René Gruau. It involved a lot of research and the final piece was a tricky one to do as the original is A1 in size - I couldn't afford to make a single mistake. It took 3 very long days to complete.

From the exhibition publication: 'Daisy...draws on the spirit of friendship between Dior and Gruau and their shared vision. The feathers, flowers and textures convey a sense of luxury both men loved, whilst also referring to the eternal Parisian woman of their dreams. The flowers represent the two men who were in many ways reflections of each other. 'I wanted them to look almost intertwined, twisting upwards towards the face. Orchids seemed apt as they represent luxury, beauty and strength.'

Somerset House also printed 500 copies which I signed and were sold in the Somerset House shop throughout the exhibition.

Here's an interesting piece featuring the exhibition's curator giving an insight into René Gruau's work and the exhibition.

Following the exhibition Christian Dior asked to purchase my original artwork to hang in their Head Office.

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