Unleash Your Niche: Worthing woman takes a leaf out of her own book to launch Made By Me By The Sea

The 53-year-old graphic designer from Worthing discovered 'you are never too old to change direction' when the pandemic hit her work creating new commercial logos.

Vicky 'used the down time' to start drawing her home town and Sussex architecture in Art Deco style and her pictures are now on sale at the Montague Gallery, in Portland Road, Worthing.

She said: "I would never have had the courage to sell my personal art and designs if it hadn’t been for the Montague Gallery owners Kim and Alan showing faith in my work."

Vicky runs Talent Within You, a charitable project for Worthing teenagers, and in 2019 she organised a series of Unleash Your Niche workshops to encourage young people to identify their passions and convert this into a winning, purposeful life. Then, during the pandemic, she was taken on a similar journey herself.

She said: "I have been a graphic designer, specialising in logo design and branding, for 30 years and during the pandemic, no one wanted a new logo because, not surprisingly, we were worried about the future and staying healthy.

"I used the downtime to focus on drawing Sussex architecture in Art Deco style. I have always been interested in architectural patterns. I particularly enjoy making buildings look the best they can and therefore use a little artistic licence here and there.

"One day, towards the end of lockdown, when shops were beginning to open, I ventured to Montague Gallery and shyly presented my portfolio of Art Deco illustrations. Alan and Kim invited me to rent some gallery space, alongside more than 40 talented artists, which gave me the confidence to keep creating more.

"Initially, I found it scary to share my personal art – it's completely different from commercial graphic design in that the designs are coming from my heart and soul, and not to a client brief.

"Customers have shared that they find my designs uplifting, which is fantastic. So for me, there is a silver lining in pandemic, in that it forced me to unleash my niche at 53 years old. I encourage other creatives to unleash their creative side, too. It’s so liberating."

Shoreham Airport, Sunny Worthing and The Prom were Vicky's first illustrations. She has since expanded her portfolio, sticking to the Art Deco theme.

She said: "Many of the buildings are not actually Art Deco in their origin, however, I think that rules are made to be broken and that is what artistic licence is all about. The sun rays, which have become my trademark, are typically Art Deco and combined with the clean architectural lines and muted colours, are a winning combination which have proved popular."

Find Vicky's art at the Montague Gallery or online at Made By Me By The Sea.