Ali Hansen at live event in London
PETAL PORTRAITS EVENT FOR M AND S
Back in March I attended the Mothers Day brunch for Mums and Daughters at The Ivy in London. This was a private event for bloggers, journalists and influencers and their mothers. The event was thrown by Marks and Spencers to celebrate Mothers Day with some beautiful petal portraits. Some of the mums were journalists and writers too, so it was great to see the creative baton being passed from mother to daughter. The event began with drinks and a bit of a mingle with all of the influencers. All of the M and S marketing team were there too and it was so interesting to talk to them all. I had already drawn 38 of the bloggers before the event. Normally I provide live illustration at the event itself but this time M and S had asked me to create line drawings beforehand that everyone could then decorate with beautiful dried petals.
The impressive frontage of The Ivy
The beautiful place setting for the event, complete with portraits
Decorating the petal portraits
After drinks and a bit of mingling, I was asked to give a talk about the line drawings at each place setting and explain how we were going to decorate the drawings with the colourful dried flowers. Normally as a live illustrator I would draw at the event so it was quite nice for a change to manage a workshop where I could help people decorate existing line art. I think everyone found it very therapeutic and relaxing and it was actually quite a nice bonding experience for mums and daughters. Here are some examples of the petal portraits in progress.
One of many line drawings I created for M and S
I created 38 line portraits for this event, all ready to be decorated
Almost finished, just need to add a few more dried flowers
I love the red lips on this portrait
I loved this portrait in sunny yellows
I love this flower arrangement in her hair
Afternoon Tea followed the petal portraits
After we had all completed the petal portraits above, a beautiful afternoon tea was served. Then we were all treated to an interesting talk by M and S skincare experts who had created all of the amazing skincare products we received in the mothers day goody bags at the end. The petal portraits were then framed and included in the goody bags. I thought they all turned out beautifully!
The portraits looked beautiful framed
Are you interested in a live illustration event?
Live illustration can really add excitement to any corporate event. Increasingly I am being asked to serve as a live illustrator at private corporate blogger and influencer events. It’s a great feature to have at an event and lots of the images then get shared on social media which of course is great for brand awareness. Have a look at what I offer in terms of live illustration here. Please also have a look at my instagram feed, @alihansenart and please do drop me a line if you are interested in hiring a live illustrator for your event. My e mail is alihansendesign@gmail.com.
