My World Of Composing!

🐇 Lepus constellation art prints, greeting cards and badges in store. These are real cuties!

at Stamford, Lincolnshire

#meetthemaker Day 23: Hands at work. 👐🏻 Here are my hands doing their thing. They can draw, paint, reply to emails, sort through papers...pretty miraculous things, really, and this is just relevant to work. Aside from creating art, they can play the piano and various other instruments which makes me oh so happy and thankful! 👏🏻 #thewishbonecollective #aboutme #portiagraves #artist #designer #illustrator #wishbone #networking #blogging #instaart #smallbusiness #independantartist #stamford #northants #lincolnshire #peterborough #oundle #rutland #workfromhome #workfromhomemum #workfromhomemom

#meetthemaker Day 22: sketchbooks & lists. I’ve got a bit of an open sketchbook going on at the moment. 👆🏻Pretty much all of my sketches turn into art... I don’t usually plan a drawing, I just draw and if I like it, I’ll keep it. But I do have a plethora of notebooks and post-its and diaries and planners and paper scraps scattered throughout my house, not to mention iPhone and MacBook to-do lists and reminder apps! I actually make too many lists that I find it hard to prioritise. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I am a true scatter brain and children have added to this muddle, but I somehow do manage (with usually a great deal of stress! 😂) to follow my projects through. Can’t stand leaving things unfinished, makes me feel all jittery! I also love organising and filing things away, so the sooner I finish a project, the better! #thewishbonecollective #aboutme #portiagraves #artist #designer #illustrator #wishbone #networking #blogging #instaart #smallbusiness #independantartist #stamford #northants #lincolnshire #peterborough #oundle #rutland #workfromhome #workfromhomemum #workfromhomemom

#marchmeetthemaker Day 20. Tools & materials. Everyone knows I draw and paint but Wishbone first started with doodling onto shrink plastic with sharpies and making accessories. So I will focus on this today. If you’ve not heard of shrink plastic, it’s a sheet of plastic which you can draw on, heat up and it will then shrink down 7x the size of your original drawing, so you get lots of a detail on a much smaller scale. At first (like 8 years ago?!), I would hand draw my designs onto shrink plastic, which took FOREVERRRR! Then my husband made me a light box so my designs could easily be traced onto the plastic... (hurrah! 💡)THEN I discovered the wonder that is shrinkjet plastic, which means I could print my designs onto plastic with a simple inkjet printer, making orders faster, always THE SAME in quality and just easier in general! (Yippee! 🤗 ) What I still hate about this process is the cutting out. I really dislike cutting plastic, so fiddly. But these little accessories are so popular, I even wear them myself and I love how I can create custom designs for people quite quickly, which people seem to love! Probably my most popular product line. #thewishbonecollective #aboutme #portiagraves #artist #designer #illustrator #wishbone #networking #blogging #instaart #smallbusiness #independantartist #stamford #northants #lincolnshire #peterborough #oundle #rutland #workfromhome #workfromhomemum #workfromhomemom #shrinkplastic #illustratedjewelry #illustratedjewellery #ginbrooch #ginbadge #ginlover

#marchmeetthemaker Day 19. What I couldn’t live without. Well, apart from my sweet fam (see pic 2✌🏻❤️) these essential beauties are also very valuable to my work and my sanity! Even if I’m not working, a doodle helps to relax and ease built up tension! The fact I can now draw along side my son throughout the day makes my life very joyeous indeed! #thewishbonecollective #aboutme #portiagraves #artist #designer #illustrator #wishbone #networking #blogging #instaart #smallbusiness #independantartist #stamford #northants #lincolnshire #peterborough #oundle #rutland #workfromhome #workfromhomemum #workfromhomemom

#marchmeetthemaker Day 18. Inspiration. I loooveeee boook illustrations. Always have done. The more whimsical and magical, the better. Here are a few of my faves. From left to right. Tove Jansson, Yelena Bryksenkova, @ybryksenkova, Carson Ellis @carsonellis and Owen Davey @owendaveydraws. Some of these artists I have loved for a long time and others I’ve more recently discovered since having children. I have their books and art work dotted around my own home. I would love to illustrate a book one day! I need to get back into creating bigger works of art as apposed to just creating designs for products and printing. #thewishbonecollective #aboutme #portiagraves #artist #designer #illustrator #wishbone #networking #blogging #instaart #smallbusiness #independantartist #stamford #northants #lincolnshire #peterborough #oundle #rutland #workfromhome #workfromhomemum #workfromhomemom #bookillustration #graphicdesign #animalart

#marchmeetthemaker Day 17. Customers & Feedback. I love positive/constructive feedback (of course, I struggle with negative comments but it’s gonna happen from time to time!) but I simply adore customer’s pictures! 😍Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful photos with me! I love seeing your children wearing my clothing, men wearing my cufflinks, ladies wearing my earrings or art hung on your walls! Keep ‘em coming folks! #thewishbonecollective #aboutme #portiagraves #artist #designer #illustrator #wishbone #networking #blogging #instaart #smallbusiness #independantartist #stamford #northants #lincolnshire #peterborough #oundle #rutland #workfromhome #workfromhomemum #workfromhomemom

#marchmeetthemaker Day 16. Helper. I don’t have a helper as such, i’m a one man band, but my husband and son do lend a hand packing orders. (I say my son, but he’s not even 3, so all he can do is put stickers and stamps on my parcels and reminds me to put in business cards!) Coffee is my stimulant. My cat is my relaxant. Pinterest and Instagram offer daily inspiration. All these things help me! 😬 #thewishbonecollective #aboutme #portiagraves #artist #designer #illustrator #wishbone #networking #blogging #instaart #smallbusiness #independantartist #stamford #northants #lincolnshire #peterborough #oundle #rutland #workfromhome #workfromhomemum #workfromhomemom

#marchmeetthemaker Day 15. Boomerang. Who doesn’t love using Boomerang?! Peekaboo! 👀 Here’s my grizzly bear 🐻 cushion. I’m planning on stocking these permanently from this Autumn onwards, with various animal faces, still deciding which designs, fabric and colour. So many choices. I’m thinking rustic linen. #thewishbonecollective #aboutme #portiagraves #artist #designer #illustrator #wishbone #networking #blogging #instaart #smallbusiness #independantartist #stamford #northants #lincolnshire #peterborough #oundle #rutland #workfromhome #workfromhomemum #workfromhomemom

#marchmeetthemaker Day 14. Dreams & Plans. This is tough. I always have plans. Way too many plans, usually. But dreams, that’s a toughy. I always plan what products and designs I want to create each year but as for dreams and aspirations... I would obviously like my business to expand and get more followers and more sales. But how big i’d like to grow is undecided with my two small children, at the moment. Even now I struggle to keep up with orders. But my time management is pretty atrocious for a business owner 🙈 I need to work on that. I sometimes wonder if I’d like to have my own shop like @cathkidston_ltd @sophie_allport and various other illustrators that have made it onto the high street, because I still struggle with exposure. My husband and I have spoken about opening our own children’s store. Toys, fashion, art, books... and to host arty workshops...That would be fun, but also, stressful! Ha. We’re so indecisive which doesn’t help. But it’s lovely to have such a supportive husband. 😘 @chedchilds Either way, my plans this year are to expand my children’s fashion range, Little Wishes. I would love to push this part of my business forward and reduce the handmade goods because it’s the designing I love and the making not so much anymore as it’s very time consuming. Extremely excited about the year ahead. 👍🏻🤗 #thewishbonecollective #aboutme #portiagraves #artist #designer #illustrator #wishbone #networking #blogging #instaart #smallbusiness #independantartist #stamford #northants #lincolnshire #peterborough #oundle #rutland #workfromhome #workfromhomemum #workfromhomemom

#marchmeetthemaker Day 14. Dreams & Plans. This is tough. I always have plans. Way too many plans, usually. But dreams, that’s a toughy. I always plan what products and designs I want to create each year but as for dreams and aspirations... I would obviously like my business to expand and get more followers and more sales. But how big i’d like to grow is undecided with my two small children, at the moment. Even now I struggle to keep up with orders. But my time management is pretty atrocious for a business owner 🙈 I need to work on that. I sometimes wonder if I’d like to have my own shop like @cathkidston_ltd @sophie_allport and various other illustrators that have made it onto the high street, because I still struggle with exposure. My husband and I have spoken about opening our own children’s store. Toys, fashion, art, books... and to host arty workshops...That would be fun, but also, stressful! Ha. We’re so indecisive which doesn’t help. But it’s lovely to have such a supportive husband. 😘 @chedchilds Either way, my plans this year are to expand my children’s fashion range, Little Wishes. I would love to push this part of my business forward and reduce the handmade goods because it’s the designing I love and the making not so much anymore as it’s very time consuming. Extremely excited about the year ahead. 👍🏻🤗 #thewishbonecollective #aboutme #portiagraves #artist #designer #illustrator #wishbone #networking #blogging #instaart #smallbusiness #independantartist #stamford #northants #lincolnshire #peterborough #oundle #rutland #workfromhome #workfromhomemum #workfromhomemom

#marchmeetthemaker Day 13. Work clothes. (Please excuse the lateness of this post! My holiday took over! 😬☀️) You’ll usually find me wearing tatty casual clothing when I’m working. Anything that doesn’t matter if get paint splatters all over it. This denim shirt is my go to casual top. I usually accessorise with pigtails and glasses. Nothing fancy! Ha! 🤓 #thewishbonecollective #aboutme #portiagraves #artist #designer #illustrator #wishbone #networking #blogging #instaart #smallbusiness #independantartist #stamford #northants #lincolnshire #peterborough #oundle #rutland #workfromhome #workfromhomemum #workfromhomemom

#marchmeetthemaker Day 12. P&P. This is usually my least favourite part of my job, other times, it’s therapeutic, wrapping up my orders in tissue and sticking on pretty stickers. Either way, it’s something i’ve gotta do myself, although I do rope the husband in sometimes if I’m working into the night (especially around Christmas!) 🎄😩 I sell quite a few fragile items so the amount of bubble wrap in my studio is insane! I rarely get any broken returns, but I’m looking at getting customised Wishbone boxes for my accessories which I think will look super cute and hopefully knock off the wrapping time as I do find it very time consuming. #thewishbonecollective #aboutme #portiagraves #artist #designer #illustrator #wishbone #networking #blogging #instaart #smallbusiness #independantartist #stamford #northants #lincolnshire #peterborough #oundle #rutland #workfromhome #workfromhomemum #workfromhomemom

#marchmeetthemaker Day 11. Branding. So important. When I decided to turn my hobby into a business, a shop name and title was the first thing I created. But it wasn’t until I teamed up with @studio.cotton and redesigned my entire website that I created this logo (they’re so awesome for start up companies by the way! Check them out!) I now use it for everything! Product labels, promo signs, postage stickers, business cards and soon to be on labels in my clothing 🤞🏻 which will look super cute! 😍 Building a brand and trying to keep it growing is really tough but it’s definitely an exciting venture just with a lot of hard work attached 💪🏻 #thewishbonecollective #aboutme #portiagraves #artist #designer #illustrator #wishbone #networking #blogging #instaart #smallbusiness #independantartist #stamford #northants #lincolnshire #peterborough #oundle #rutland #workfromhome #workfromhomemum #workfromhomemom

Choreography by Jennifer Essex Performed by Louiseanne Wong, Rosie Macari, Christopher Vann, Natalie Trewinnard, Christina Blackwell, and Paul Harman Videography by Beth Brownless Music by Portia Graves Costumes by Emily Spreadborough Technical Assistant Alyssa Lisle replicasdance.com

Choreography by Jennifer Essex Performed by Chris Vann, Natalie Trewinnard, Rosie Macari, Louiseanne Wong, Paul Harman, and Christina Blackwell Music composed by Portia Graves Costumes by Emily Spreadborough Thank you to Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, Middlesbrough Council, Teesside University, Arts Council England, Stockton International Riverside Festival, Dance City and ARC Stockton for your support.