Kate Lindley Art

*Rosemary & Kieran*

Creating portraits has never just been about drawing a face, for me. As much as I love that part of it - it’s always about creating a beautiful image and piece of art as well as a lasting memory of a loved one, feeling, moment or place in time. It’s always in the details.

In this piece: the window, curtains, foliage, flowers, grasses, hair, jewellery, jumper, shirt, glasses and hand over the shoulder all told part of the story; this couple’s story on a sunny day outside, smiling and squinting in the sun, his hand around her shoulder, big grins, big glasses, big shadows, big prints, big colours.

Even the slightly ‘over-bright’ tones are something I kept on purpose as a reminder that this was originally a tangible, printed photograph - the type you used to get from an actual film camera and that you would stick in a family album or a frame when you’d collected it from being developed. God I miss those days of collecting your photos from Klicks and realising your thumb was over 3 of them, you’d accidentally taken 2 photos of the inside of your camera case, that sunset picture did NOT turn out well, and you have no idea why you took a photo of the fruit bowl (probably to finish the film quickly so you could take it to town to get developed THAT VERY DAY!) Maybe you’d even splash out and pay an extra fiver for “Your photos in 1 hour!”
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Jeeeze I’m feeling old now 😆

📸 Photos: Awesome
🎨 A bespoke Kate Lindley Art acrylic painting of your special photo: Also pretty awesome 😉

*Anya & Klara*

2 of my favourite mini humans right here 😍 (and a hand/arm of one of my favourite adult humans too 😆). Look at the joy on Anya’s face at getting to hold her baby sister for the first time 🥹

I’ve been working on this piece for a friend for a little while and it felt so good to finally hand it over at the weekend. It was nice to be back working in pencil after my last 3 pieces being acrylic (and my next one is too!). Not gonna lie, those mittens almost pushed me over the edge though 🦚🪶✍️😵‍💫😅…

*Beautiful Bindi*

I was lucky enough to have known this giant ball of hair. Bindi was such a daft, loving and gentle dog belonging to a family friend, who loved nothing more than rolling around on our kitchen floor with my Dad as he fed her brisket and gave her tummy tickles 🤗 Understandably, she is still so missed by her family and hopefully this picture can bring a little happy memory of her back into their home.

I wasn’t originally going to add the background but felt it needed the context of Bindi loving life on her balcony, with the fairy lights and winter trees of Rivelin in the background of her snow day ❄️

It’s always nice when I get to frame a piece up for a customer and see it in it’s finished form before wrapping and sending it off 🥰

🍊 Oranges & Vases🏺 (better name to be decided!)

Well this has been maybe my biggest challenge to date and something slightly out of my comfort zone (aka, it doesn’t have a face!).

A friend’s parents commissioned this for her 30th birthday (a bloody honour when she could have chosen any artist!). I worked form her specific requests regarding style and colour and also from her beautiful photograph. I love a great reference photo but this one was next level!

The detail and tones in her photograph I could work from were SO good and there was something extremely satisfying about filling all that black space, it felt like a reward at the end for all the intricate detail of the rest of the piece 😅

Super happy with how it turned out and the fact Chloe has had it framed up and on the wall in just a few weeks is testament to how loved it will be in it’s new home 🥰

(Get yourself friends who will commission you to paint satsumas for their wall-they’re the best 😆)

*Tilly & Teddy*

Look at these 2 grinning faces, painted for a special birthday gift 👧🏼👶🏻 And the first swing I’ve ever painted 😆!

So lovely to get painting again! Not going to lie…it took a while to get back into the flow of it after having not painted properly for a year, but once I started, it felt great to mix it up and get some colour on the page 🎨

Also great practice for the next (slightly bigger!) piece I have coming up…🤫🤔🫢

My Dad, who never got to see Kate Lindley Art happen and who would be chuffed to bits that I get to call art a passion and a job. Yesterday marked 10 years without him, and he’s on my mind a lot 💚

He is with me every time I sit in the studio.

He’s in the pencils I still use that he bought me, the pots of his I store pens and brushes in, the can of his fixative I had turned into a plant holder, his toolbox with his name written on in his writing, the drawings of his I kept, and in so many other physical bits and bobs I have of his that I use in my art.

But mostly he’s in how I see each piece. He influenced my love of art and drawing and seeing the beauty, interest, detail and intricacies in every thing and every face. As an art teacher, he was always helping me to see ways I could improve my work and the perfectionist in me has a lot to thank him for!

Neil Martin Robinson. Dad. Thanks for the guidance, the lessons and above all else, the love. Xx

P.S - Soz I went with ‘Lindley’ over ‘Robinson’ - no hard feelings, right 🤷🏻‍♀️!?

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Happy Birthday to me…and happy WHOPPING discount day to you!!

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Today I’m 34 🥳🥳 and in celebration I want to give you a little (actually quite big!) gift, so am offering 20% off any order made today or tomorrow! Offer closes at midnight on Friday 19th May.

(I made it a 2 day offer as I’m blummin’ busy today and want to give you time to enquire and me time to reply! The joys of running a 1 woman business 😅!)

You don’t even have to have the exact photo you want ready yet, we can sort that later! A 50% deposit needs to be paid by the end of Friday 19th May and that’s all you need to do to secure your booking!

1. Enquire today or tomorrow with your commission interest and size/number of subjects required

2. If you have a photo ready-awesome! If not-don’t worry, you have plenty of time to send one over before I start!

3. Pay the 50% deposit by the end of Friday 19th (payment details will be sent separately)

4. You’re all done!

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T’s & C’s: Offer applies to any A5, A4 or A3 Kate Lindley Art commission. Postage remains at £8 for any order. Comission request must be made on 18th-19th May and 50% deposit must be made by end of 19th May to secure offer. Exact photo choice can be decided at a later date. Offer cannot be used for vouchers. Bookings will be completed at soonest possible date but waits are possible due to current commission commitments.

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*Riley & Leo*

Having these 2 staring up from my drawing board has made it practically impossible to not feel like smiling the whole time 👧🏼👶🏼☺️ I mean-would you just LOOK at those cheeky little faces 😍

And who doesn’t love drawing fluffy Pikachu’s 😆!? I can feel the love radiating between big sis and little bro here and am so pleased with all the detail captured from the original photograph 📷

She’s gorgeous (if I do say so myself 💁🏻‍♀️) so she deserves a little photo shoot 😍🌿📸

Here’s a little styled shot of how your commission will arrive (minus the eucalyptus, sorry 😝) 🌿 Green is my favourite colour and I always wanted to incorporate it into my packaging, but I equally fell in love with the navy and neutral tones brought into the branding from . Who says you can’t have it all!?

Simple, classy and perfect for any occasion - you’ve ordered a special portrait, you deserve special packaging!

AND it’s always included in the price of your portrait-so what’s not to love!?

Always nice when Instagram decides to randomly not post to Facebook, even though that’s what I’ve set it to do 😤 Grr!

Anyway, here’s a li’l link to my latest drawing for those of you who have Insta! Say Hi to George 👋! X

*George* This little cockapoo is on A5 and is a great example of how much detail can be included in a smaller piece. I got to draw him just chilling in the snow…when it was snowing outside my window IRL ❄️🐕‍🦺☃️🌨 What a poppet! Given as a wedding gift, what a lovely thought that this picture gets to be part of a couple’s new chapter in life 🥰 (Swipe for a close up of the ‘pencil sheen’ ✏️😀!)

*Phoebe & Toby*

Can we just appreciate the total newborn squidgy-ness of baby Toby in this picture 😍 And Phoebe’s super proud smile at getting to hold her new little brother 🥹 Another gorgeous moment captured and turned into the gift of art 👩🏻‍🎨

(Arty waffle: A little bit of editing 2 photos together so that Toby’s face wasn’t covered by Phoebe’s hand was needed here 😆. I also altered the background slightly to even out the image, straightening the sofa and bringing the cushion from a different shot further into view to create better balance in the image 👌⚖️)

P.s How cute that the print on show from the blanket is a little heart 💙 No way was I editing that out 😍!

*Phoebe & Ian*

The 1st of 3 pieces I have had to keep under wraps until they were gifted (still not allowed to show the others yet 🤫!)

There’s something about this little A5 piece that I just LOVE 💜 Maybe it’s because I’m used to working from front facing photographs and this composition is quite different. Maybe it’s the caring old hands next to the squishy little toddler hands, or Great-Grandad’s eyes closed with laughter and the little girl’s joy at sharing a giggle with him. I think I just generally love how this image manages to capture all those little details that happen in a precious, fleeting moment 🥹 It’s a real moment captured in time and I am HERE for that 😍

And all that…on a dinky little A5! 🙌🏼

🚨2-4-1 PORTRAIT OFFER ALERT!!🚨

I’m on a quest to get some prints of my original work made this year. As this will be a new process with me trying out a few different copy and print methods and print shops first, I’d like you to help me with the process and also benefit from it!

I am offering anyone who makes an order for ANY size portrait (single or multiple subjects) a FREE quality print made of their piece. So you essentially get 2 drawings for the price of 1!! It will give me the chance to get a quality print made without it going to waste…and it even comes beautifully gift wrapped, just like the original! 🎁🎀🏷💌

This would be perfect for someone wanting to keep one portrait for themselves and gift the other one, or to gift to 2 separate lucky people 😍😍

Simply message me if you would like to make the most of this offer 🤩 First come first served! X

All you have to do is:
✨ Follow this account
✨ Share this post to your stories
✨ Contact me with your request

Limited time offer so get booked in soon folks ☺️!

*The 3 Musketeers*

It’s my gorgeous nephew and his 2 equally gorgeous gal pals, just hanging out, baby style 👶🏻👶🏼👶🏻 I love it when I get to draw for family and was honoured to not only draw this for my brother & sister-in-law, but also to make copies as gifts for their friends so they could have their own hand-drawn pictures of their baby besties all together 🥰

The quality of the prints from really is impressive..if anyone is wanting extra prints with me-just ask! It’s a great way to gift affordable, bespoke art work to multiple loved ones!

(2nd image is one of the prints, check out how it hardly loses any detail!)

When Insta doesn’t post to Facebook like it’s supposed to…🤦🏻‍♀️ We copy and we paste 😆!

It’s never a bad thing to have to post lovely faces like these two more than once 😃 Swipe for a little vid of some close up detail of the pencil work texture ✍️

*Ely & Rosemarie*

The original photograph was really far away so zooming in was the only option, but this lost most of the detail 👁👂🏼👄👃🏼 However the customer loved this photo of her folks and as I’ll always try to make an image work if possible-we went with it!

Can’t speak highly enough of the app, which brought out so much lost detail and allowed me to create the portrait the customer really wanted 🥳

I just love how happy and in love these two look. The fist pump, the arm hug and those big grins are everything 😍!

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(More detail coming in the next post as Insta just can’t do justice to portrait and landscape images in the same post apparently 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️)

Imagine my excitement when I received this delivery just before Christmas 🤩🤪🥳

Here’s a teeny snippet of what the HUGE box contained:
💚 Stickers
💚 Artwork care instructions
💚 Thank you cards
💚 Business cards

I can’t wait to show you what they look like all together with the rest of my packaging, but let’s just say anyone who orders a commission from me now…well…your hand-wrapped art work now looks even more gorgeous (if I do say so myself 💁🏻‍♀️)

Big shout out to Leanne for her branding and for not getting mad at my million questions and tiny changes we made along the way 🙌🏼

I don’t often get to see my work out there in the wild, so when a customer/old friend sent me this photo of her piece hung in a new re-styled area of her house..I just HAD to share.

Also, any time my work gets displayed somewhere that involves:
💚 green
🪴 house plants
🪑 vintage furniture
it makes my heart happy 😊 (bonus 🍌 are always fun too 😂)

Thank you for sharing a snippet of your beautiful home x

(swipe for close up of original detail, and don’t forget-I do pen too guys 🖊😉)

*Edward* 🍑

The last of the Christmas commissions. Did I save the cutest till last!??…You decide!!

Another of my besties babes (the human variety this time-not the dog variety!). This adorable little peach has been sick in my kitchen 3 times in the space of ten minutes…but with a face like this, he can do what he wants and I’ll forgive him every time!

*Doris*

Can you believe it’s taken me THIS long to post this absolute BABE up on here!? Doris belongs to my one of my besties Beth and I have had the privilege of hanging out with this mad little ball of fluff on numerous occasions (and Doris too..WAHEEEEYYYY!) 😂🙄🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Doris’s fur is TOTALLY black so getting a decent photograph in natural sunlight was a must to get some lovely highlights and her beady little eyes shining through. (If you saw 2 women trying to photograph a little fluffball outside Wilkos in Hillsborough just before Christmas-you know it was us 😆!)

*Stephen & Ruth*

A portrait drawn for a customer to gift to a friend who lost her father and loves this photo of them together 💛

Sometimes there is a lovely part of a photograph that I try so hard to keep in but the composition won’t let it. I tried to keep the holding hands from the original image, but had to compromise this in order to get both faces side by side and avoid a load of white space and their faces being so far away.

I made sure to keep Ruth leaning in to her Dad to keep the same closeness and love that beams through the picture 🥰. These little details make all the difference to how a picture feels 😌

*Mary*

How lovely is it that I was asked to draw 2 decorations to gift together-Barry and his wife Mary 🥰

I was asked to add matching blue forget-me-not flowers to the calligraphy on both Barry and Mary’s portrait as a symbol to show those who suffer from dementia that we understand, support and remember them. Such a thoughtful sentiment to add for a couple and family who have lived with the reality of dementia 🌸💙

*Barry*

How lovely is it that I was asked to draw 2 decorations to gift together-Barry and his wife Mary 🥰

I was asked to add matching blue forget-me-not flowers to the calligraphy on both Barry and Mary’s portrait as it is a symbol to show those who suffer from dementia that we understand, support and remember them. Such a thoughtful sentiment to add for a couple and family who have lived with the reality of dementia 🌸💙

*Dorothy*

When you find out that the printers don’t offer the same ‘copy and print’ service as before, but you’d already promised the customer 2 identical decorations…you draw the exact same thing twice 😅 (whole new levels of patience and extra cups of coffee required to pull this one off just before Christmas 😳!)

Drawn for a customer to gift to 2 family members at Christmas to remember a treasured Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother ❤️

*Wilf & Harvey*

There’s something about Boxers that is just so goddamn gawjus to draw! And my first Frenchie was a little treat to draw as well. 2 beautiful reference pics to work from was a nice early Christmas present for me too 👌.

Something about this image makes me think of the 2 of them as some kind of nightclub bouncers you wouldn’t mess with 😆 Or maybe a good cop bad cop duo in a crime drama 👮‍♂️👮‍♂️ It could be called ‘(Who’s a) Good boy/Bad boy’ (I’ll wait for the Netflix offers to come flooding in…📞🤔🙄…)

Anyway 😆😆..

Thank you to my lovely pal for trusting me with this one. Also for messaging me before 8am on Christmas morning to tell me the gift had already been opened and had caused happy tears 🎁🥲👏

*Mable*

A perfect little miniature drawing of Mable the border terrier. The first decoration of quite a few this year (well-last year 🙃🤔😵‍💫 my brain still isn’t quite in 2023 mode yet!)

Sadly this little lady passed away the month before Christmas at the grand age of 15, and my customer wanted a really lovely little dedication to her on the back of the drawing ✍️❤️

Thank you to the customer for the first photo of the decoration looking right at home on their tree 🎄

*Archie*

What better way to start the new year than with this smiling happy chappy 😀😃😁

A portrait drawn for a customers family member at Christmas, it was a pleasure to draw this handsome fella, proudly sporting a Cubs uniform and looking like he’s off on a great adventure 🐻🏕!

*Starbucks*

Hearing what a huge and unexpected loss losing this pup was to his family makes it feel even more important knowing I could help bring a little bit of his memory back to the family for Christmas with this portrait. This was a smaller A5 piece which will look extra adorable when framed, bringing a little reminder of Starbucks back into the home ❤️🐶🏡

So here I was, with a post ready to go telling you I only have 1 space left for commissions in time for Christmas…and it’s gone before I had chance to post 😆🤦🏻‍♀️😲!

SO…here is my new post telling you that all my portrait commission spaces are now full. There is still 1 decoration space left for Christmas, but when it’s gone that’s it folks so please DM ASAP to book in!

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Very excited to announce that I will be offering a limited number of decorations again this year!

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£42 includes the gorgeous glass and metal hanging frame, single hand drawn portrait on one side (blank on the other), festive gift wrap AND Sheffield collection/delivery! Calligraphy can be added to the back for an added £3.

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I can also offer delivery outside of Sheffield for the added cost of £10. They will be securely packaged and sent by Royal Mail first class special delivery (please note that I cannot take responsibility for any unlikely damages that may occur during transit).

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I only have a limited number of these so please order soon if you would like one in time for Christmas! Speaking from customer feedback from last year, they really do make the perfect gift 🎁💝😍

A special memory of a Father and Son outside the one and only Wembley Stadium, off to see their beloved Sheffield Wednesday play 💙🤍💙🤍

It’s the little stories behind the pictures that I often get from customers which mean so much. I was so happy to capture this precious moment between Gordon, his son Andrew and their shared love of their team..just look at those smiles ☺️!

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I was also very happy to make little changes such as evening out the height difference between the 2 men slightly, removing crowds from the background, moving the ‘thumbs up’ hand in and centralising Wembley…little subtle changes like this make the most important parts stand out so much more 😍

Sometimes I get sent a snap of Kate Lindley Art out in the world…and on a very few occasions I have had the privilege of watching them be gifted or seen them framed up in homes in real life.

It never gets any less special 🥰

But I think this might be the first time I’ve actually been able to photograph the recipient with their framed up piece (also thanks to my cuz for the sneaky pics of the unwrapping process 😉!)

P.S - Yes I know they’re standing the wrong way round in the photo 🤦🏻‍♀️ The perfectionist in me is not okay with this, but they look happy so it’s all good 😅!

Check out the forever young Valerie and Jono 👰🏻‍♀️🤵🏻‍♂️ - my Aunty and Uncle who recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and 70th birthdays, what blummin’ incredible milestones to reach together 🥰!

And what a beautiful picture I was given to work from (good old bringing out details from an old photograph which are often lost when working from originals 📷 ). I love working from old photos for the nostalgia vibes, but I do need the clarity of a lovely crisp digital snap to get in all those scrummy details that bring your photos to life!

Oh yeah - and getting to be there as they opened their gift from the family was pretty special (pics to follow!) 🥹 If you’d all like to invite me to watch your loved ones open their Kate Lindley Art pieces from now on that would be awesome, thanks 🤣😉

Another pup portrait has travelled overseas! This is Cooper, a beloved family pet who sadly passed away earlier this year. So happy his portrait safely made it all the way to Brisbane 🇦🇺😍

I’m told this photo was taken at the vets (which is never a nice time for pet or owner), so it was a pleasure to remove all the background and blanket (giveaways of a trip to the vet!) and make Cooper’s gorgeous happy face the focus here 😊

Arty thoughts 🤓🤔: That black was a challenge 🖤! Still experimenting with charcoal pencils but nothing beats pressing REALLY hard with graphite 😅💪

Oh Hey there gorgeous gift certificate 🤩😍💁🏻‍♀️

A slight facelift on the old design. You can choose ANY amount for the perfect gift to suit your budget 😍

These make the perfect last minute (but also extremely thoughtful!) gift as they are e-mailed straight to you to print or forward to the recipient…I couldn’t make it easier if I tried 😉!

Kate Lindley Art is smartening up.

With the help of

Watch this space xx