Festive Throwbacks

I had the pleasure of being involved in a lovely community art project last year. In partnership with the kilsby theatre boat Project, and working alongside the fabulous folk at The Parasol project, we created Festive Throwbacks

This was a deep dive into, and a celebration of the Oxford Northway estate; a living Oxford heritage, and where the Parasol Playbase sits snuggly at the foot of Plowman Tower. Working alongside four young adults from the project, they photographed buildings and locations of significance. We then chatted to long-term residents about their experience of the community past and present, gathering old photos and memories and sentimental tales.

This was a fascinating collaboration, and my task was to weave their stories into four Christmas card designs, as well as to brainstorm imaginative ideas with the Parasol team. With the team’s photos of the estate as a basis, I illustrated scenes of Northway with a festive twist. They also provided me with excellent Elf poses for character reference!. We put together our own elf factory production line during the weeks leading up to Christmas and embellished each card and wrapped them ready for distribution!.

Here are some stories behind the Christmas card designs I illustrated for Festive Throwbacks-with inspiration from Frank, Pat and Pam of Northway as well as Amani, Tom, Chris and Cara of Parasol Project.

💜Purple Card: The Northway parade of shops has seen many a chop and change, as we listened to Pam and Frank discuss the various changes of hands, iterations and life long relationships with shop owners back in the day. When doing our photography/ research into the area, it was refreshing to learn that the Parasol project volunteers were also on first name terms with the local grocers and so we decided to do a 1960s-2023 mashup of shop fronts as a celebration of supporting local amenities. We couldn’t resist adding Santa Dan of Parasol and Rudolph Sophie of Kilsby Theatre Boat to the snowy rooftops. The sleigh carries a sack of turkey baguettes (Parasol make and offer a free baguette to anyone who needs one during Thursday lunch club). You may also notice wrestler Becky Lynch gobbling a pizza (Armani’s hero).

❤️Red card: local resident Frank’s dad, a butcher, “Early 1939 John Edward Chesman arrived in Oxford by bicycle from Grimsby, a distance of 168 miles in 2 days. Travelling with my uncle they slept overnight under a bridge, they were woken by police suspecting them of being part of the IRA S-campaign”. In the background is the old Cavalier pub which was demolished in 2012. To the right elves hijack an Oxford morris-this car company attracting folk to Oxford following the war. Frank was fantastic, brimming with tales from his past!.

💚Green card: we were told stories of Pat’s childhood growing up as a Northway resident, ( now residing in a flat at the top of Plowman Tower). To the left is Pat as a young girl with her grandfather and cousins, spending Sunday afternoons tadpoling with jam jars-in the pond where the tower now stands. She described the expanse of green spaces back then, and trails leading all the way up to the JR site before the tower and the new roads were built. She spoke fondly about the sense of community, an advocate for the new community centre, and with neighbours coming together to sing carols out on the playing field. She flicked through photos of a close encounter with a hot air balloon as one swept across their balconies, from Cutteslowe park at the balloon festival. A lovely soul who was a pleasure to listen to and transform her reminiscing into pictures…..

💙Blue Card: Nobody was safe as I went in a mission to ‘Elf’ all those Parasol volunteers involved in the project!. The Play base at the foot of Plowman Tower is a fantastic environment supporting so many young people and the fact that this project had life long locals and councillors dropping by for a cuppa and a chat really cemented the feeling that a sense of community was still rife in Northway. In the foreground is Chess the mouse shivering as she waits for the bus-Chris locates his bus pass below the snow and Cara, Tom and Chris help decorate a community Christmas tree as Amani guards the tower as an Angel above. The young adults I worked alongside were very proud of their connections to this place and were an absolute joy in welcoming me into this magical Northway nook.

Here are some timelapse videos to show the inspiration and art process for each card!