Vicky Anne Vaughan – Made by Me by the Sea

I love Worthing architecture, and I started photographing it years ago. As a graphic designer who looks for the best in everything, I was intrigued to understand how I could add a touch of ‘Art Deco’ styling.
I also used to sit on a town planning committee and was fascinated by the architectural details that councillors, applicants and the opposition argued over or agreed upon.
The first building I drew was the Worthing Dome and have since added, Brighton City Airport, Worthing Connaught Cinema and Heene Terrace. I now have an urge to draw buildings that are less well known or are deemed as ugly – so I can transform them into swans.
I also enjoy drawing anything that has curves – you will see the Talbot Lago and also humans are making an appearance. My first love and default fallback, is to draw buildings.
Everything you see here is digital, however, absolutely everything is manually drawn. Nothing is auto-traced, or filtered. I personally perceive auto-tracing and filters to be cheating, and not art. I use Adobe Illustrator to manually illustrate the details that pay homage to the Art Deco and vintage period. Some subject matters are not truly Art Deco, and that’s my artistic licence. You will notice reoccurring emblems that are unique to Worthing and me.
Once I am happy that the designs are articulating their story, I have them printed onto posters, cards and gifts. Some building designs evolve and are reprinted because they look different each time I look at them – so what you see here today, may be the last time you see it in this current form.

I have always been shy about sharing my personal art, because it is an expression of my personal self: what I love. I’m wearing my heart on my sleeve by sharing my most inner thoughts though design and am truly thankful to Alan and Kim for inviting me to Montague Gallery.

As an experienced graphic designer, my consultancy designs are based on clients’ briefs and my professional Chartered Marketer experience. My professional design is therefore professional and not personal, although there is a degree of anticipation when you present logo and website design. I guess it’s like a dancer, working for a production company, going on stage.

Although my designs have not been in art exhibitions to date, they have been travelling up and down the UK, paraded on hundreds of bus livery, reducing energy consumption, and making travel accessible to all.

It is Stagecoach South (buses) that gave me the confidence in my ability as an illustrator when they asked me to design their livery for Coastliner 700 – before it became too corporate looking. After this, I designed bus livery for Stagecoach North East and at one point had 100s of buses driving around with my illustrations, which was a proud moment.

Exhibiting here is a very exciting stage in my journey. Thank you for reading and I hope you will enjoy my designs either via wall art, greetings cards and other gifts.

Vicky Anne Vaughan