I find that the best results are so often produced by collaborations. In the case of this web site, there are two separate strands on the path to the finished results of T-shirts and prints. The front of house, as it were, is simply myself, Chris Down artist and illustrator, the heavy lifting behind the scenes is done by Teemill.<\/u><\/a> The latter host this web site and are responsible for production, printing and shipping. While the former does the design side and is responsible for the creation of the web site, once an order is placed, it is over to Teemill. That gives me more time to create new designs and expand the range. Technology is allowing an artist to do what they do best, create the art.<\/p> Beyind technology, there is an ethos to what Teemill do which has a strong appeal to me and why I wanted to work with them. It is a simple ethos; produce T-shirts in a sustainable way. There is, of course, a lot more to it than that and Teemill do a great job of explaining it all themselves. I would recommend their web site as the best way of learning about them if so inclined. What they do is really is very impressive. A large number of creditable environmental organisations use them to produce T-shirts. Which, in itself, is a good testimonial.<\/p> What Teemill say is: \u201cEverything we make is made from organic materials, using renewable energy, and designed from the start to come back and be remade when it\u2019s worn out. This is the Circular Economy for fashion, and with Teemill technology now anyone can be a part of it.\u201d<\/em> Which is where I come in, having a fair bit of art waiting to be used.<\/p> I was first commissioned to produce art for a book in 1994. It was \u201cThe Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom\u201d by John and Caitlin Matthews and published by Element Books. Along with Element, I have produced art for Thorsons\/Harper Collins, Llewellyn Worldwide, Blandford Press, David & Charles Ltd and Chicken House amongst others.<\/p> In the early 2000\u2019s over a two year period I produced some 700 illustrations for books. Out of that flurry of work came two books in the \u201cCrafter\u2019s Design Library\u201d series for David & Charles Ltd. Celtic being the subject of the first one and why they approached me, having seen my previous work. Those two books sold tens of thousands of copies and were reprinted both as paperbacks and a number of foreign editions.<\/p> Just over a decade later, from early 2014 to the end of 2016 I worked on the Celtic Tarot for Llewellyn. This was published in 2017 and to date has sold over 30,000 copies of the English edition. There has also been Brazilian, French and Russian editions. The Celtic Tarot combined my Celtic Art with another strand of my creative output.<\/p> In 2005, I started producing figurative fantasy paintings as the main strand of my work. Some of which are available here as large canvas prints and fine art prints. It was around this time that I started taking my art to festivals and events across the country. This opened up new avenues and led to meeting people who ended up in the paintings in general and the Celtic Tarot in particular. Some of this work along with some of my Celtic Art are available as a number of giftware options from Moondragon<\/u><\/a> as retail and Needs to be Seen<\/u><\/a> as wholesale.<\/p> Now my Celtic Art is available on 100% organic cotton T-shirts and I find myself looking to what is next.Commissioned Work<\/h3>
Figurative Fantasy<\/h3>
Chris Down
May 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