So don\u2019t just take our word for it. Here\u2019s why Jennie loves this corner of the British Isles!<\/p>\n
Loving North Wales<\/h2>\n
Jennie\u2019s family hail from Menai Bridge<\/a> on Anglesey. In fact her grandfather, Glynn Jones, was a long-serving Mayor of the town.<\/p>\n \u201cNorth Wales feels like my spiritual home. \u00a0As a child, I spent every holiday in my grandparents\u2019 cottage on the banks of the Menai Straits. I now stay in my Mother\u2019s house in Llangoed when I visit, where my two teenage daughters are obsessed with White Beach<\/a> – we have spent days there! \u201c<\/p>\n Jennie\u2019s mum, Maggie Jones Maizels has also had a successful career illustrating and lecturing: \u201cThe only time we can\u2019t visit is when my mother takes part in the Open Studios for Anglesey Art Week<\/a>, when she fills her house with her beautiful paintings of Welsh cottages on slate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is so rare to get isolation and peace in this busy world. Anglesey still offers incredible beauty without the crowds. Our favourite places are Penmon Lighthouse<\/a>, Beaumaris<\/a> for its shops, cafes and fish and chips on the pier, Red Wharf Bay<\/a> and surfing in Rhosneigr<\/a>. It has also become a tradition that we climb Snowdon at each visit, the views from the top are so stunning. We love eating out at Dylan\u2019s in Menai Bridge<\/a> after a quick drink at The Gazelle to watch the sunset.<\/p>\n I love to paint and draw around the island, the light is very special. It is no surprise that so many artists have chosen Anglesey as their home.\u201d<\/p>\n Jennie Maizels was born in London in 1970 and, rather excitingly, her first commission was to design and make the window displays of Harvey Nichols department store as part of London fashion week! She also created displays for The Body Shop and Dillons Bookstores, before her interests in working in 3-D lead her to creating pop-up books.<\/p>\n After leaving college, a chance introduction to Kate Petty, a talented children\u2019s book writer, proved to be the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership – a total of eight books over sixteen years. With over a million copies sold worldwide, it\u2019s no wonder I already had a copy of one of her books, in this case \u2018The Global Garden,\u2019 on my own daughter\u2019s bookshelf!<\/p>\n In 2009, with 20 years of pop-up books under her belt, Jennie turned her creative talents to iron-on patches. With two young daughters, and not being able to sew, she was looking for something fun and pretty she could iron over any holes that appeared in their clothes. At the time, the only patches that were available were rather dull and tucked away in haberdashery departments.<\/p>\n Having re-invented this simple product, the iron-on patch<\/a> is now everywhere! With stockists including Liberty and The Conran Shop, and a growing distribution network around the globe, Jennie loves seeing how creative people are using the patches – from personalising pencils cases to customising Converses.<\/p>\n Most recently, Jennie has been keen to get others enjoying her passion for illustration and creating wonderful sketchbooks – something that she always does when on holiday. The Sketchbook Club<\/a> was born.<\/p>\n If you have an urge to be creative, but don\u2019t know where to start, or as Jennie puts it – \u201chave a fear of the blank page\u201d – then the Sketchbook Club is for you. Jennie talks you through how to start and introduces techniques and skills to help you along the way. You can either subscribe to Jennie\u2019s online modules, or head along to one of her workshops.<\/p>\n Jennie lives in Hampshire with her husband Marcus, daughters Millie and Rosie, a clowder (yes, that is the collective noun\u2026.I just had to look it up!) of cats and a dog called Dotty.<\/p>\nAll about Jennie Maizels<\/h2>\n
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