Photo: Katie Jane Watson
By Sarah Edmonds
From Issue 41, August 2018
I meet Alex early doors, the morning after England beat Colombia in a penalty shoot out, “Stroud came alive at about 12 o’clock, there were so many revellers I hardly got any sleep,” says Alex, rubbing her eyes, smiling. It doesn’t take us long to get down to it, sipping coffees and marvelling at the whirlwind journey she’s been on in the past year, working with superbrand Gucci creating incredible illustrations. I am endlessly surprised (and strangely proud) of the number of truly awesome creatives that live and work in the Stroud valleys – per capita, we must be one of the most artistic towns in the UK, nurturing more talent than in 15th century Florence at the time of Da Vinci!
Alex was brought up in Stroud, one of three artist siblings and remembers Mills Cafe (where we’re sitting right now) and Mother Nature from the early eighties. Her mother is a self taught artist, and her father was the local vicar, “Our house was a safe place for all kinds of people to come and talk to my dad – we grew up as part of a rich and loving community.” Returning to Stroud has offered Alex the chance to pursue her creative ambitions without the crippling rent of London living. After studying Illustration at UWE she worked in Stroud for Damien Hirst, before following him to London where he opened another studio. She spent seven years as an assistant, painting photo realist work, before returning to Stroud to work for Darbyshire framers. Here she built a large team of local artists who collaborated on another high profile project overseen by Merry. It had been a busy ride and the time felt right to step back from the corporate art world and explore her own creative voice.
Stroud is a place she calls home and where she’s gathered her band (or more specifically ‘side’) of all female Morris dancers called ‘Boss Morris’ who perform locally and at festivals including Port Eliot Festival. Alex initiated the group but insists that this lively bunch of ‘strong women’ are a force to be reckoned with, organising practice meets and events as a team. She’s been folk dancing for around ten years, and is totally passionate about the art “it takes you out of yourself, the rhythm, the music. The movement is kind of trance-like and spiritual – it’s a joyful, collective experience. It really connects me to my Englishness.” She’s even danced on stage with Belle & Sebastian at the Albert Hall...seriously.
We take an interesting tangent in our conversation as Alex enlightens me about the origins of Morris dancing, “what most people see or know about Morris dancing is the Victorian version – the bells, the white hanker chiefs and sticks....when in fact, it dates back to early 1500’s when sides of athletic men known as ‘Moresques’ wore highly embellished, gold costumes and danced in palaces.” It’s true that the earliest mention of ‘Moorish dancing’ was 1448 with mention of sword dancing in a court setting and ‘spangled Spanish dancers’ performing ‘an energetic dance’ before King Henry VII. “I think Morris dancing exemplifies England today – a melting pot of different cultures. In Elizabethan times, Italy and England were closely connected – many of the dance sequences are thought to be Italian.”
Alex has long been fascinated with folk art – it’s more than a genre, it’s a way of life. It represents community based art and real skills learnt over centuries, for no materialistic gain. Folk art is more decorative, characterised by a naive style and a world away from the mass produced art world that she inhabited for so long. She sites varied influences such as artist and illustrator Kit Williams (best known for his 1979 book Masquerade, a pictorial storybook or ‘treasure map’ leading to a buried golden hare), the Surrealist painter Leonora Carrington OBE and founder of the Women’s Liberation Movement in Mexico in the 70’s and the book illustrator Mervyn Peake and his ‘Book of Nonsense’ poetry. She has an eclectic taste that influences her own illustrations.
Out of nowhere, Alex received an email from Alessandro Michele, the new creative director of Gucci asking her to illustrate a new range of monogrammed accessories. He found her paintings on Instagram via her brother James Merry, an embroiderer and mask maker who lives in Iceland and works for Bjork. “Instagram is central to any artists work nowadays. Receiving the conference call from Gucci head office in Florence was mind blowing!” Michele has been credited with moving the fashion house in a new, exciting direction. To quote a recent Vogue article, “Night and day I am trying to cause a little revolution inside the company. Fashion is about creating emotion.” His team have found fresh energy by collaborating with many relatively unknown artists as a way of promoting creativity without constraint.
Gucci have given Alex total creative freedom which has been a blessing, “I have remained very focused, determined not to be distracted by other artists. My style and methods are developing. If you look closely at my work you will see that not only the strong Gucci symbology is there, but my own too.” In researching the brand identity, which dates back to the 20’s, she drew upon the rich colour schemes of their catwalk shows, the interlinking G’s, twisted serpents, evil eye, bumblebee and their signature green and red stripe. Alex employs an inherently English catalogue of references: crop circles, tarot cards, charts with their sun, moons and stars and mythological Druid creatures. Fans often compare her careful colour palette to those of Matisse, but she insists this was not a conscious inspiration.
Deadlines have determined a fast turn around and multiple designs – some of which resulted in printed postcards for a Harrods product launch, others have been transformed into giant murals for ‘Gucci street art’ internationally.Other muralists include IgnasiMonreal, Unskilled Worker, Angelica Hicks – keep your eyes peeled for entire walls of eye catching artwork in cities all over the world! Or follow #gucciwall on Instagram. It’s clear that Alex is on her merry way, and is up for the ride wherever it takes her! The quality of her art speaks for itself and she deserves every success.
If you’d like to commission a portrait by Alex (while you still can!), get in touch through her website: alexmerryart.com. For an A4 portrait in oil, prices start at £950. She takes human and pet commissions. Follow her on Instagram and facebook @alexmerryart
Sarah Edmonds, aka Word Bird, enjoys creative copywriting in the Stroud Valleys and marketing fine art materials and workshops for Pegasus Art. @SarahWordBird @PegasusArtShop
As well as our recent project (Good On Paper TV) following Good On Paper’s current hiatus over the next few month’s we will be putting up articles from our archives for our readers to easily access and share…Community and culture can carry on in different ways. For now….