I call the collections Mini Whirlds because each one feels like its own tiny little world, filled with twists, turns, spirals and unique details to get lost in.
The name came quite naturally in the end. I kept creating these little imagined places in my artwork, and whirls and spirals seemed to find their way into almost everything I drew. Apparently I have a thing for spirals.
So worlds and whirls became Whirlds.
They’re not real places, obviously. I make no rules about what should ‘grow’ where, which colours are supposed to sit together or whether a spiral can suddenly turn into a flower. In a Mini Whirld, it probably can.
That’s part of the fun.
Little worlds to get lost in
I’ve always liked artwork that’s bright and gives your eyes somewhere to wander.
You might notice one large shape first, then spot a tiny flower, a trail of coloured circles or another little spiral tucked away somewhere. I like the idea that you can look again and notice something new.
My Mini Whirlds tend to be built from the same visual ingredients — bold black lines, spirals, flowers, organic shapes, little trails of colour and detail — but each one develops its own personality.
Some feel bright and energetic. Some are calmer. Some contain recognisable objects amongst all the abstract shapes, while others are simply about colour and movement.
And increasingly, I think of each collection as having its own little place within the bigger Things She Makes world.
Colour, but with room to breathe
Although I love detail and colour, I also love white space.
For me, the empty parts are just as important as the busy ones. They give all those lines and colours somewhere to breathe and stop the artwork becoming one enormous explosion of everything I like at once — which, admittedly, is always a possibility.
I suppose there’s something quite nice about that idea outside of art too.
Life can get very full – work, bills, appointments, responsibilities and all the sensible things that come with being a grown-up can take up an awful lot of space.
Sometimes we need the colourful bits. And sometimes we need a bit of breathing room too.
Who says fun has an age limit?
A big part of Things She Makes comes from something I feel quite strongly about: growing up really doesn’t mean we have to grow out of fun, colour, imagination or wonder.
Somewhere along the way, adulthood can become very serious. We’re expected to be sensible. Practical. Responsible. And yes, unfortunately somebody still has to remember to pay those bills.
But, I don’t think that means we have to stop enjoying the things that make us smile.
Bright colours. Beautiful stationery. Fairgrounds. Flowers. Old photographs. Silly little treasures. A song that suddenly takes you back somewhere.
None of those things stop mattering just because we get older.
My Mini Whirlds are my way of making a little space for that side of us.
From a Mini Whirld to something you can keep
The artwork eventually found its way onto my heart-shaped tins because I loved the idea of creating something that could carry the world beyond the picture itself and because I have an obsession with tins, boxes, jars, you name it.
At first, it’s a colourful gift filled with sweets. Then the sweets mysteriously disappear. No idea how that happens.
Afterwards, the tin can become somewhere to keep photographs, tickets, little notes, memories and all those tiny things that don’t look particularly important to anyone else but mean something to you. I like that. A piece of artwork becomes a gift, and then the gift becomes part of somebody else’s story.
Still growing
The Mini Whirlds are still changing as I make them.
New shapes appear. Old ideas come back in different ways. Collections begin to develop their own little landscapes and personalities.
I’m also starting to add more tiny details for people to discover, because I love the thought of someone noticing something new after they’ve owned a piece for a while. I don’t know exactly where all the Mini Whirlds will lead yet. And actually, I think that’s part of what I like about them.
There’s always another little world waiting to be drawn.
Because adulthood is serious enough. There should always be room for something fun.
