My Story
I am Georgie Woolridge, an artist based in Cheltenham. I aim to produce drawings that evoke the beauty of nature using black fine liner, watercolours and pro marker pens. My passion for art has been sparked by my experiences at Loughborough University and through global travelling. In addition, I love hot ribena, minstrels and sweet and sour chicken!
I attended Art Foundation at Cheltenham in 2006 where I was able to try out different areas of art including graphics, sculpture and textiles. At this point I wasn’t entirely sure which direction I wanted to go in, but when I started to experiment with my textiles I knew it had to be that. I then went onto Loughborough University to study Woven Textiles in 2007. I absolutely loved the course, as I was able to produce material from scratch. The technical side of setting up a loom was fiddly and it would take weeks to complete a set of samples from the same warp, but the end results were amazing.
I graduated in 2010 with a 2:1. Although I loved my course, I was still unsure about the direction I wanted to go in job wise. But the opportunity arose to spend 3 months on a design placement in Mumbai, India. It was for an interiors design company. I had nothing to lose so I decided to go through the interview process and amazingly got a place!
It was one of the most incredible experiences I have had but also one of the toughest! I produced hand drawn designs, in repeat, for drapery, upholstery and embroidery. I found it really challenging as my style tended to be more contemporary, whereas they had a very traditional outlook with their own designs. I remember the first time one of my designs was produced into a piece of fabric. Every designer and the manager had to stand round a large table in silence, while a couple of them held up the fabrics at the front waiting for his comments on whether he liked it or not. Mine was up next and I was terrified what he was going to think! I got through it though and I grew in confidence as the weeks went on. I managed to get some of my designs into their catalogues and for me that was all I wanted… To see my designs in fabric, which would then end up in someone’s home!
After the 3 months in Mumbai, I then went on to travel around the world. Places included Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. I think this gave me the break I needed to really think about what I wanted to do in the long run. I arrived back in England and I just started to draw.
I most identify with art that is visually beautiful. It doesn’t have to have a meaning behind it, but something that captures colour and movement especially. I enjoy working with intricate patterns. I can just put on some music and sit there for hours drawing tiny patterns with my favourite black fine liner. Most of the time I don’t realise how much time has gone by! I think my Woven Textiles course gave me a great amount of patience as I was dealing with hundreds of yarns at a time. I enjoy seeing my drawings evolve from a few tiny patterns to the finished piece.
Birds have become my biggest inspiration. Just all the different colours and shapes really make me want to draw them. India has been a big inspiration to me as well. Just walking through the streets you have all the women in their beautiful saris and even the things they sell in the markets. I have recently travelled to Morocco and the souks are an absolute cave of beauty! I am yet to draw on my experience from there, but I am sure in the future I will have a Moroccan style collection!
Professionally, my goal is to be a well-known artist/designer. I would love to see my collections translated into soft furnishings and other products. For me, the best thing about what I do is knowing that people have my artwork in their homes. I love what I do, and it makes me happy that other people do as well. So my other goal is to reach more homes around the world.