Julious is the talented artisan who makes all of our beautiful Kenyan wall hangings. All of the designs we sell in store and online have been designed by our Co-founder, Amy, before being expertly hand crafted by Julious in Kenya. Throughout the pandemic he has seen a significant decrease in his orders, which is causing him concern for his and his families future. We have continued to support Julious over the pandemic, never cancelling orders and always paying him fairly for his hard work and expertise. Julious loves a creative challenge, and so our team member Nicola decided to ask him to make her a very special piece indeed! Based on Nicola's own drawing, Julious brought her creative vision to life. We asked Nicola a few questions about the process & here's what she had to say...
Nicola's original design & the finished rug by Julious on the loom
What was the inspiration behind your design?
My home is full of animal decor which I have slowly collected, and have yet to add anything with any primate on it! I would never say I have any specific favourite animal, but primates are favourite in general. I have always adored Julious' work and planned on buying one to hang on a wall in my living room. I had asked Bee & Amy if I would be able to send over an idea to get made into a rug and they said yes!
What appeals to you about Julious' work?
His pieces are so bold and beautifully made- there is nothing else like them!
How was the design process?
I found it very hard - I prefer to draw very detailed and on a small scale. I knew this would be a challenge to create something that would work well in his medium. I sketched out a rough idea of my mandrill, then redrew it again and again, simplifying and tweaking it here and there until I was happy with the layout and with his beautiful face!
I then had to work out colours and background - I had to paint it quite big as I found it hard to envision my painting on a large scale. My final painting was actually a fair few layers as I kept on changing my mind on colours and leaf shape, until I eventually got my final design! Julious has swatches of all of the colours of wool I could pick from, so together we picked the closest colours he had available to the ones in my painting.
Are you pleased with the final outcome?
Yes so happy with it, I cannot wait until it gets here and I can get it up on the wall! I will treasure it for life - Thank you Julious!
Our Tiger and Sun Mask wall hangings designed by Amy and made by Julious
If you'd be interested in having your own design made into a wall hanging by Julious, you can contact us on hello@artisansandadventurers.com to discuss the details. We also offer a full design service, please contact us to find out more! If you'd like to shop Amy's designs that we have available, click
here.
