Ysgrifennu

Buddug (full name Buddug Wyn Humphreys) is a designer-maker, originally from Snowdonia in North Wales UK, but now based in the capital city, Cardiff with her family.

Her work is deeply rooted in her Welsh upbringing through literature, landscape, and culture – which continually inspires the stories she builds into her jewellery and objects.

Her work first becomes a drawing, illustration or a collage. She keeps lots of little booklets and sketchbooks, documenting thoughts and ideas – a diary collecting words, quotes, magazine clippings, objects, images, anything that sparks her curiosity.

All her drawings and imagery is combined with her love of handwriting. She is inspired by old fashioned pen and ink hand lettering, how lettering can act like a decoration as well as the power of the words themselves.

Her illustration work becomes prints and greeting cards and other times she draws using enamel, a technique involving melting glass to metal, then made into jewellery or objects for the home.

Four Letter Studio is Carl D Jones – a Welsh, Shropshire-based artist specialising in original doodle art and abstract ink illustration, with lettering and words.

With over 30 years of experience in graphic design, his work explores rhythm, repetition and spontaneity — often inspired by architecture, popular culture, books and music.

Carl believes that language carries rhythm and emotion: ‘What do I see? I see books, libraries. Buildings, architecture. I see people. Music, vinyl records. I hear the repetitive beat of a drum, the sound of a synthesiser. And I see words. This all inspires my art and what I print, draw and create. And I’m a great believer that non-aggressive swearing is good for mental wellbeing’.

Every artwork is hand-drawn using fineliners, printmaking, letterpress and markers, making each piece completely unique.

Originally from Manchester and now living in rural Wales, Charlotte creates her colourful risograph prints alongside raising her children. Charlotte loves colour believing in the power that colour has to impact on our mood and energy. She is dyslexic and has ADHD, she describes herself as “my brain is colourful, chaotic, and always jumping ahead to the next idea, and my work tends to reflect that.” She embraces the imperfections that the risograph process can produce, each colour is printed separately, so every print comes out slightly different: imperfect, expressive, and full of personality.

Inspiration comes from phrases and Welsh sayings that she hears which end up sticking in her mind. She combines these words with retro characters, nostalgic shapes and a neon colour palette to create her prints.

Driftwood Designs was founded in 2012 by Lizzie Spikes and Becky Barratt.

Each design is created by Lizzie who trained as an illustrator and scenographer. Lizzie often fashions canvasses from recycled wood and driftwood, and collaged paper surfaces. She finds the uneven shapes, form and textures inspiring and receptive to the fluid inks and paints used.

The Welsh language often appears in Lizzie’s work, she has a keen interest in interpretating words, places and feelings to others through her artwork.

Eirlys and Mark are the partnership behind ‘Ffŵligans’. Drawing inspiration from the propaganda posters they saw whilst living in Vietnam, and Russian constructivism of the early 20th century. They combine these influences with a celebration of the Welsh language and culture in their eye-catching revolutionary digital prints.

Julie Bourner has had a long career in contemporary wedding photography and child portraiture. She now works alongside her husband Mike running their online photographic collage company ‘Fonted’, from their home in Llandudno.

Upon moving to Llandudno four and a half years ago, it wasn’t long before Julie, with her eye for detail, started photographing the signage and names of the beautiful hotels and buildings in this Victorian seaside town and across the U.K.

The names are photographed either in their entirety or in small chunks – the individual letters are then cropped to square and edited. Cracks, rust and paraphernalia are kept intact lending a true authenticity to the letters.

The images are printed onto fine art paper, mounted in deep, acid-free mountboard.

Due to renovation and redecoration of certain buildings and hotels a number of letters and names have already disappeared or changed. Julie’s photography is ensuring that these historic letters are preserved forever.

Gareth is a designer and printmaker based in North Wales, producing limited edition, hand-pulled screen and lino prints as well as decorative art inspired by pop-art, punk, fairground, and old-school tattoo styles.

Originally trained as an illustrator, Gareth has spent the last 33 years working as a graphic designer, art-editing, and designing some of the UK’s most iconic custom motorcycle magazines —as well as many other publications.

Gareth returned to printmaking in 2023 as an analogue antidote to his digital workday, but it quickly became a full-time obsession. He aims to keep his process as digital-free as possible. Prints begin as small linocuts incorporating typography from a collection antique woodblock letters. The carved lines of the lino, become more exaggerated when enlarged for screen prints, this give each design it’s own unique character.

Niki is a Welsh illustrator who has recently relocated back to Wales after living and working in Paris, New York, Los Angeles and London.

Producing highly charged, trend inspired fashion illustrations which nod back to her Welsh heritage with the use of Welsh phrases & idioms, her playful yet highly detailed style comes from a love of making life a little bit dreamier, focusing mainly on colour, quotes, lifestyle and fashion. She’s been a full time illustrator ever since graduating from university with a 1st Class BA hons degree in London in 2009.

“The balance between too little and too much, what is visually pleasing and total chaos, is something that I’m constantly playing with.”

This current body of work presents the subtle implementations of layers and loud statements of colour and form. The abstract forms are derived from my own study and understanding of my dyslexic brain.

I am a multi-disciplined visual artist based in North Wales; my work is the exploration of materials and relationships between surface and object, colour, layers, and patterns. From drawings to screen-prints, photography, video, live-art, sculptural forms and installations

Clare Collinson is the jeweller behind Story & Star.

Based in Colwinston, South Wales, Clare works predominantly in silver, printed papers and resin, every piece of jewellery is individually hand crafted and therefore unique. Inspiration for her work is drawn from illustrations, lino prints, and the many doodles and drawings collected in her sketchbooks.

Inspired by fairy tales and storytelling; as a little girl, Clare loved being read bedtime stories and her favourite books were those that had been passed down and read so many times the pages were tatty and worn.

Text used in the jewellery is printed onto recycled and textured paper, with mottled and worn paper deliberately chosen to give each piece a slightly aged and vintage feel.