Bio

Biography: The Artist Gillian Long

Belfast Pen and Ink Range

Gillian studied Fashion and Marketing at UUB Belfast and after Graduation she worked for three large corporations in Design and Marketing. She designed clothing, packaging and marketing for all the major Highstreet stores, a global sports brand and an in-house Luxury brand. This meant commuting to London on a weekly basis, Europe frequently and New York twice a year. She loved experiencing travel, but it also gave her a huge appreciation of her birthplace, Belfast and the wider Irish community, seeing how the people and places where cherished abroad by all cultures. These feelings gave rise to the Belfast Pen and Ink Range. The range are prints of the original artwork.

Sea charts

Gillian's ancestry is wrapped around the history of Belfast’s shipbuilding industry. Both parents and many uncles worked for Harland and Wolff. Gillian's mother worked in the typing pool of the drawing offices of the White star Line as a secretary from 19 – 24 yr. old (now the Titanic Hotel )1946 -1951. She left as all women had to when married. Her father was a white collared worker for Harland and Wolff all his days. Her heritage has inspired Gillian to paint on large used seacharts, images relevant to the individual charts, some charts are 40 – 50 years old. This range consists of prints of the original artwork.

 

Classic Cars

This range has been born out of Gillian's own personal enjoyment and appreciation of classic and vintage cars. She has attended events for six years  with a vintage car club. This range is hand drawn and the painting are then scanned and digitally painted. Gillian launches with cars from her youth in the 1980s and 90s.