Hi! I’m Gillian, the illustrator and printmaker behind O What A Feeling! I founded OWAF in the summer of 2015 and work on it full-time out of The Yard Studios, a shared artist studio here in Winchester. I specialise in creating cheerful stationery and quirky surface pattern designs for functional goods that all begin with good old-fashioned art materials like pencils, dip-pens, India ink and gouache paint before being scanned in and manipulated with Photoshop and Illustrator. Our paper goods are printed locally and I try to do as much production in-house as possible, including making badges, binding our notebooks and screen-printing our textile goods myself.
I graduated with a BFA in Textiles & Fashion from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) in Canada, followed by an MA in Textile Design at the Winchester School of Art in 2014. When not beavering away in the studio and running to the post office to post orders, I can usually be found doodling in a sketchbook, pulling weeds at my allotment, baking sourdough bagels, watering my 30+ houseplants, looking at dog videos on Instagram and learning how to rollerskate.
Sustainability
I believe that you shouldn’t have to compromise on style & quality when it comes to protecting the environment! Our cards and calendars are printed onto luxuriously thick FSC-certified paper in small batches by Sarsen Press, an independent print shop here in Winchester. We use 100% recycled envelopes and mailers and our cards are individually wrapped in biodegradable cello sleeves. Our badges are printed and assembled in-house and we also do our own screenprinting, using eco-friendly waterbased inks and organic & fair trade textiles. I purchase all of my greeting card, badge and screen-printing consumables from UK-based suppliers.
We love O What A Feeling’s Pronoun badges and we hope you do too! Available in citrus, mushroom, cherry, bicycle and leaf prints.
Available now at StudioPips
At Studio Pips you will find an array of eco friendly, plastic free products which are ethically made by small businesses. From vegan soaps and eco friendly gifts to handmade jewellery. Diverse and inclusive children’s books to fabulous wall art. Everything we stock has been made by real people paid with a fair wage.