The Design Process For 27 years Fay has used pen and ink to create pointillist illustrations.
Fay learnt ink and watercolour at 15 and studied the pointillist work of Loughborough based artist Paulette Fedarb. Fay is also greatly inspired by William Morris, the Pre-Raphaelites, The Vienna Secession, and Japanese block print artists. Fay has a penchant for 'Byobu' Japanese folding screens often finished with gold.
Fay has developed her own distinctive style across almost three decades and continues to evolve her work after travelling to her dream destination of Japan. Fay viewed first hand the 'Byobu' by Tomioka Tessai dating back to the late 19th Century. Fay is fascinated and constantly inspired by Japanese art, culture and nature.
If she was asked to describe her unique style, Fay would say 'East-Asian Arts & Craft Maximal Pointillism.'
The pointillist technique is a labour of love often taking Fay 3 days for a small illustration and 14 days for a large painting. The process involves using different sized nibs ranging from 0.01 to 0.8mm using the pens to build up shape, form and texture which often gives her illustrations a 3D effect.
Cards - Fay individually hand-embellishes each greeting card with biodegradable glitter. When choosing her board and envelopes, quality, weight and texture, are all paramount for her creations.
Paintings - After a week or so of drawing and painting, Fay then applies 24 carat gold leaf. This is a careful process, using gold size adhesive, a tipping brush and adding gold in place by hand. A soft brush is then swept across the surface to reveal a luxurious shine.
Fay was inspired by 'The Vienna Secession' to add gold to her paintings, although gilding has been documented as far back as 3000 BC.
