In Conversation With: Jan Erika

Taylor Howes recently completed a project in which we got artist Jan Erika to commission a bespoke artwork for our client’s entrance hall. We asked her for some insight into her design journey for this project as well as her career.

Jan Erika is a multi-media artist who creates bespoke artworks and design for any surface – from a canvas to a jacket, a chair to an entire swimming pool – she has embellished and left her unique & colourful mark on just about any type of surface you can think of.  Her success has taken her to paint live in Fortnum and Mason (first ever live in-house artist), The Royal Academy of Art and Kensington Palace. Distinguishable by a unique blending of art, design and idealism, Jan Erika Design works to use visual communication as a tool to transcend style and time.

When commissioning a piece the main thing  Jan wants people to feel is joy; she likes creating work with bold colours and strong shapes that make you stop, stare and feel happy. Art is so subjective, but her goal is to create broad pieces for everyone to see some kind of beauty in. This could not be more true for the artwork she created for our clients entrance hall in Holland Park. The bright and vibrant artwork seats the scene for the family home, in which they wanted it to be symbolic of their family and evoke a sense of fun and luxury. Jan details below the commissioning process with Taylor Howes:

My process is loosely based on botanical shapes and the balance and form of nature.  The commission by Taylor Howes was originally based on a smaller piece they had really liked which sat perfectly within their interior scheme.

All elements of the commissioned artwork were bespoke. At the start of the commissioning process l was sent the colour palette of the interior scheme and pictures of various accessories such as lamp bases and fabric samples. I then began the painstaking process of carefully matching the colours to exactly suit the scheme and fabrics. Working with the Taylor Howes designers we went back and forth to determine the exact right colours for the artwork, which was to set the scene for the rest of the home, and we came up with the beautiful colours you see in the final piece. Once the final colour palette was signed off by the client I began to paint.

When painting the artwork, I painted it in various stages by applying each and every colour individually. Once a colour was applied to the canvas I would send a picture back to the Taylor Howes team to make sure they liked the way the colours blend with one another, this is because a colour can dry a little different on a natural canvas. By being meticulous in the commissioning process I am able to ensure that the client is happy at the end of the process. I was very happy with the end result as was the client. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the Taylor Howes team to create this piece.

To find out more about Jan Erika visit her website here.