This year we hosted our first coaster design competition! We had some fantastic entries, but 4 winners - Parab Dhoka and Raúl de Sousa for the Young Artist category, and Gill Allen and Amy Richards from the adult category. We also have two fabulous runners up in the young artist category - William Kilmister and Anoushka Kumar. We LOVE their designs, which will all be available to buy on our website for the rest of 2022! Here's a bit more about the artists ...
Young Artist Category
Parab Dhoka
What inspired your design?
My design was inspired nature :)
Which artist has inspired you?
I'm inspired by my mother, Reena Dhoka
You can find Parab's beautiful tree design as a coaster on our website.
Young Artist Category
Raúl de Sousa
Raul is now 7 and loves all kinds of visual arts. He is a very good student at school, very serious about his education. He loves animals and already knows more about them than some adults! When he grows up, he would like to be an artist, veterinarian or an archaeologist.
His favorite artist are Van Gogh and Picasso.
He drew this Angel when he was 5, just before Christmas...under the influence of the christmassy atmosphere!
You can find Raúl's adorable angel design as a coaster on our website.
Young Artist Category
William Kilmister
We loved Williams banana coaster design - it really put a smile on our faces! Willliam is 9 and loves drawing and reading. He also enjoys colouring. He entered the competition because "he wanted to try and win and it sounded fun!" William's design was inspired by his love of eating bananas and he wanted to make his design colourful.
His Mum is his favourite artist because her designs make him feel happy and calm!
You can find William's lovely banana design as a coaster on our website.
Adult Artist Category
Gill Allen
Gill Allen currently works from her cosy studio in the beautiful Horowhenua region of New Zealand. Colour is a dominant part of her work, her winning coaster submission is painted in gouache and is taken from a soft pastel work entitled ‘His & Hers’. Gill’s subjects include semi-abstracted landscape and still life work which can be viewed on her website: www.gillallen.co.nz
Favourite quote: Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future. - Cloud Atlas
You can find Gill's colourful plant coaster on our website.
Adult Artist Category
Amy Richards
Amy is a graphic designer and illustrator from the midlands. She has a great love of animals, primarily dogs. She loves seeing the joy that animals of all shapes and sizes can bring to people.
Amy created her coaster design using a mixture of inking brushes in Procreate. She builds the layers up using different sizes of brushes and different shades of colour so she can blend them together to create a nice looking texture. She always starts with the eyes when drawing animals!
Favourite quote: “Those you don’t believe in magic will never find it” - Roald Dahl
You can find more of Amy's work on Etsy, as well as her new website www.RichartsDesigns.com
Look out for Amy's cute dog coaster on our website.
