When I first started Tiny Giraffe, I was drawing maps of the places I left my heart - crisp digital linework printed on fine art cotton rag.
It first started with a map of San Francisco, a passion project born out of frustration that what I wanted on my wall didn’t exist.
Then I drew New York City — despite having NEVER travelled there — my desire fuelled by a childhood of timeless movies with Bruce Willis and Macaulay Culkin, and Sex and The City reruns in my twenties. I finally got to visit when I was 35.
Then I drew Brisbane, the place I’d called home since 18 when I moved for university.
A whole series evolved once I decided I needed more than one on my wall. And people started to request personalised maps of their own. I’m not sure at this point if it’s creating your maps or your stories that I love more.
My map artworks have evolved over the last 10 years - from simple block colours, to incorporating hand-painted watercolours.
I’m a bit obsessed with beautiful things and pushing the boundaries on what’s possible with materials and mixed media.
On my travels I love to buy from local artists and artisans. And while it doesn’t make great business sense, it seems I will go to the ends of the earth to find dedicated suppliers who care about their craft.
I spent 18 months researching how to make metallic wallpaper for my map murals.
Innovator or crazy woman?
Once upon a time, I stumbled across a bespoke letterpress studio who creates stunning gold pressed stationery, so I contacted them to see if I could create large scale gold foil letterpress artworks.
Turns out, they can print up to A1 size! (It’s still a dream of mine to create one this big).
Which led me to creating these popular gold gold foil maps…
Which leads me to tell this art commission story…
Oh, how I love LOVE stories!
My clients are a lovely couple that married in Rome and made Brisbane their home. Two cities on opposite sides of the planet, both filled with cherished memories.
I got to see beautiful photos of their wedding and their rings. I took myself on google street view tours as I drew the city streets around Chiesa di San Sebastiano al Palatino and the Colosseum.
And in addition to being the places they left their hearts, there was another special surprise…
💛 Both places are locally named ‘Palatine Hill’. What beautiful synchronicity!
💛 They wanted two map artworks of the city areas with this name at the same scale.
💛 We made church and home icons so they could identify the places they left their hearts and settled on a gold foil with lush 400gsm navy paper.
✨ How they’re made - I create a digital artwork from scratch. I draw this using a website called Open Street Map. Once I’ve traced the lines on my iPad, I play with lineweights, colours, paint watercolours (and scan them in), add text or draw icons or add hand lettering.
✨ In the case of gold foil letterpress, I send my digital file to a boutique print house right here in Australia. They use my file to create a metal diecast mold of the linework and heat stamp the gold into the paper.
✨ Gold foil letterpress is a luxury finish - the end result is a gorgeous, soft matte paper with shiny, reflective linework. The gold is debossed (indented), to create texture and depth. These artworks last a lifetime.
✨ The die cast mold is costly to setup - the cost for 1 is not dissimilar to the cost of 10 (which is why I printed these limited editions in a small print run), so this type of artwork is great for creating bespoke artwork that can be reproduced many times (such as art for hotel rooms or as gifts for many people). Once the die is made, it can be used with a variety of colours and papers and it gets more economical the more you print.
If you’ve been thinking about working with me on a bespoke artwork as a gift for one (or many), I’d love to hear from you.
I have 1 commission spot left for the remainder of the year and I am available to start from 10th of November, which may be just enough time for a special Christmas delivery (depending on what you’re obsessed with and what you’re dreaming up)!
Hit reply or drop me an email 💌 hello@tinygiraffe.co
Wishing you a wonderful weekend filled with beauty.
Love,
Kylie + Mr G x
🙏🏼A big thank you to my lovely client for trusting me with these meaningful artworks!
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