You may have seen and fallen in love with our new embroidered wall hangings, made by Newcastle based artist Bianco Perry. We chatted with founder, Jennie, to hear more about her background, her process and her favourite things!
"I was Born in Chesterfield and Studied Fine Art in Sheffield. While I was there, I stocked some of my early pieces in Syd and Mallory's Emporium and had a solo exhibition at The Forum. If there’s one special thing about Sheffield, it’s that the people there will make you really feel like a million pound.
I met a man, fell in love and moved up to the North East. I remember coming off a train and saying thank you to someone for waiting and they said “You’re Welcome Pet” and I thought hmm I could live here.
A job transfer, followed by a redundancy, and two dogs later and here I am. Live laugh loving the North East.
I started out making embroidered hoops of celebrities that inspired me like Grayson Perry, Pat Butcher and yeah, Mr Blobby. I then started thinking about other wall art, and my fascination with Picnic Teas, Lager Shandy and Dogs Kisses. Bianco banners were born!
I wanted to create something fun and expressive for the home that people could relate to. All my banners are stitched by hand, which is important, because it makes each one totally unique.
My first collection of mini banners were made for my first ever market as Bianco, which was an Endless Love Creative online market at the beginning of Covid. The phrases on them are still very much the bread and butter of my brand now - Gravy, Mayo, Chippy Tea, Lager Shandy, Picky Tea, A Dogs Kiss.. the list goes on!
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It's too hard to choose a favourite banner, but maybe “A Dogs Kiss” because every time someone comments on it we have the best dog convo after. I live to hear about my customers dogs, I love hearing their names, the silly things they do and seeing the support that these little four legged things help us with mentally every single day. Saying that, all my banners are true to myself, and they all are an honest reflection of my life.
Since making "A Dog's Kiss" banner, I've launched a Dog School Tea Towel, which has 31 different breeds drawn onto a school class style tea towel. I love connecting with people over that and hearing about their dogs that way too!
I’ve worked with other creatives and best friends too - working with your friends is so special because it doesn’t feel like work at all yet it’s one of the most rewarding jobs you can imagine."
Everyone deserves a bit of Bianco in their home! Bellwoods currently stocks eight different banners in our collection. Bianco Perry is also stocked in Flea Circus, Newcastle upon Tyne, and takes custom commissions.