Hey, you look cool! Do you mind if I draw you?

Is something that I’ve said quite a lot this month.

Only a short while ago I never would have dared to approach a stranger to ask them anything, but my new career change has given me a whole new lease of life. I’ve lost count of how many cool people I have seen and approached this month, only a few have slipped through the net!

A few months ago I wrote on Substack about one of my fashion illustration heroes, Tony Viramontes. He used to draw people continuously- people he liked the look of, he just couldn’t help himself, reaching for his charcoal and paper and hashing out his passion-fuelled drawings.

I wondered if I could do the same. I started off very cautiously at first - when I spotted a fashion student named Cara at the Fashion and Textile Museum. I drew her, posted the drawing on Instagram, received a very favourable response, and now I’m on the lookout for candidates all the time!

Here I am at the Paxton Centre on November 7th, scouting for models!:

Here I am working as a live fashion illustrator at the Paxton Centre, Crystal Palace, for the launch of their November exhibition, The Art of Architecture.

The event went so well, that I am returning for launch for the next exhibition, coming up soon on December 4th!

Here’s a brief rundown of what else is included in this month’s review, I’ve been dabbling gleefully in many things:

My debut at the SoCro Art Fair; my introduction to Croydon Makers and Creators; my exhilarating live illustration at Stanley Arts; my fabulous encounter with Anna Sui at the F&T; my live fashion illustrations at the brand-new Croydon Creative Enterprise Zone... and a word about Pam Hogg.

Here are my images from So Cro Art Fair, which took place at Coombe Wood School on November 9th. It’s a fantastic Art Fair, with lots on offer- I was so busy (hooray!) that I didn’t get to see very much of anyone else’s stall (shame).

On the 18th of November I spent the evening at Stanley Arts, South Norwood. I absolutely loved it, such a fantastic atmosphere. The emphasis was on Freedom and what it means. People were encouraged by Shaniqua Benjamin to change places and meet new people. The whole event was a great success- the hall was packed! At the end of the night everyone wanted to hang around chatting with their new friends. There was a big crowd taking photos of my drawing and chatting with me.
I was drawing nonstop for 3 hours- without knowing what was coming up next and I loved every minute of it.
Big thanks to Stanley Arts for inviting me to record the Community Supper Social hosted by Shaniqua, who is Croydon’s first Poet Laureate.
South Norwood Community Kitchen provided delicious food and there were performances from Choir On the Hill, Beejadance and Roots to Roots.
The festivities are all part of Stanley Arts’ Our Freedom project in collaboration with Future Arts Centres.

I think you can feel the atmosphere through these pics:

The following evening was even more exciting!

I had an unbelievably fab evening at the Fashion and Textile Museum, (my spiritual home).
I was there to listen to a talk by the legendary Anna Sui, one of my heroines. I can’t believe how fast the evening went! Another heroine, Dame Zandra Rhodes, was there too. I was in fashion heaven.
While Anna Sui was speaking, I was drawing her and writing down her quotations. I showed her my drawings at the end, and she loved them!
She kept the drawings, and her wonderful comments totally made my day (and many more days to come!)

Here are my drawings from the evening, plus my bonus drawing of the wonderful Meg, another fan who was in the queue with me to meet Anna Sui. Meg is proudly displaying Anna Sui’s book, The Nineties.

Another highlight of the month was being asked to illustrate live at the new Croydon Creative Enterprise Zone. It was exciting to meet, or to see again, many of the movers and shakers of Croydon. Earlier in the month I had already met Croydon Makers and Creators and it was a pleasure to see them again and capture them in a lively fashion illustration!

Croydon Creative Enterprise Zone has been a long time coming, and the mayor, Jason Perry was also there at the launch to give support. The CEZ kicks off with a Christmas Market right up until December 24th, and then it will be open for Croydon’s many creatives to make use of after that! Can’t wait!

Here we all are last Thursday night:

And finally just a word or two about Pam Hogg. She is a designer that I absolutely adored and I was totally inspired by her when I was at college in Derby at the end of the eighties, doing my HND in knitwear design. My collection at the end of the course was heavily inspired by her, I created knitted corsets and a knitted leather biker jacket (I knitted it from strips of suedine, which is like fake-suede.) I also managed to incorporate silver leather and studs (though I had to knit some of the studs!) Pam Hogg came to our final show which was at the Africa Centre in Covent Garden at the time- and she said she liked my “leather” jacket. Swoon.

Last year I went to see the exhibition Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of 80s London at the Fashion and Textiles Museum- which is where I met Cara the fashion student for the first time and asked if I could draw her. See how things come full circle?

As well as drawing Cara, I also created these drawings of Pam Hogg’s clothing that were on display there. All the silver leather, the corsets and the studs took me right back.

RIP Pam Hogg, the fashion legend.

Line drawings of designs by Pam Hogg in the 1980s, on display at the Fashion and Textile Museum in 2024

And just in case you’re wondering, here’s Cara and her friend from the same day.

Fashion students visiting the Fashion and Textile Museum- they always dress like this, every day.

Throughout November I was focusing on Pitching and Marketing, and I think I made a lot of progress there but it takes time and patience to see results!

In December my focus is on my website shop- I’ll be setting it up to process bookings for commissions and live events, as well as including Gift Vouchers in my website shop. (well, that’s the plan, look out Squarespace helpline!!)

I have some events coming up and a few spaces left if you would like me to come and illustrate at your event- or if you need a last minute portrait commission for a loved one I can fit in 2 more, but you’ll need to be quick.

On Friday you can catch me at the Paxton Centre again, and on NYE I’m creating live fashion illustrations at a private party in Oxfordshire but that’s all I can share with you for now.

Have a lovely party season, especially if your idea of partying is putting on a fancy frock and snoozing on the sofa with your cats.

See you soon,

Zoe