Check out Selfridges window for inspiration behind The Art File’s Jo Scott range launch
If you want to check out one of The Art File’s new ranges before its PG Live launch, then take a wander past Selfridges’ windows in London’s Oxford Street.
Dogs are part of the iconic retailer’s Obsessions theme for spring and summer, and paintings have been used to decorate the window – with two of the six on show from artist and former greeting card publisher Jo Scott.
And her two artworks in the window are also part of The Art File’s upcoming Hounds By Jo Scott collection which will see nine designs being launched at PG Live on 3-4 June, slap bang in the middle of the four-month display at Selfridges, which runs through to July, giving great publicity for her first collaboration after shuttering her own publishing business to concentrate on herself for a while.
Ged Mace, MD at The Art File, said: “We’ve always loved Jo’s work and are thrilled to announce Hounds By Jo Scott, all square format cards. Each hound is named on the back of the card, and our favourites include James, Elsie, Walter and Fred, and we’re also producing a Hounds calendar for 2027.”
After almost a decade of designing cards and juggling freelance illustration and commission work, last year Jo hit the pause button: “I was tired and a bit creatively stuck plus, in 2020 we’d packed our bags and were spending six to eight months a year travelling around the UK and Europe in our motorhome. It’s exhausting running a business while travelling so I decided to take a step back, see what I could tweak and dive into a couple of personal projects I’d been shelving for years.
“This was not carefully planned! It might sound like I confidently scheduled all this, but I think I was perhaps on the edge of burn out and I just started to listen to my own intuition and focus on the work that felt important to me.”
From that break came Conversations With My Dog, Jo’s new collection of 15 paintings capturing the quiet, knowing exchanges people share with their pet pooches, having ditched watercolours for oils and acrylics, and progressing into digital oil painting so she can work from anywhere, free of the constraints of a physical studio space.
“I wanted each piece to feel like a dialogue, open to interpretation but deeply personal,” she explained. “The response has been quick, I launched the first few at Crufts last year and they all sold out. I shared this work on Instagram and LinkedIn, and it caught the eye of The Art File, who licensed several pieces for greeting cards and a calendar.
“Then, in January, a surprising email landed in my inbox – Selfridges’ senior window designer wanted my work for their iconic Oxford Street display choosing two prints from the collection. I had to read the email several times to convince myself it wasn’t a scam!”
After popping up to London to check out the display for herself where the window is labelled: “Dogs – A popular companion and ultimate plus-one often photogenic. Typically has an acute sense of style,” and shows the six paintings each with a set of doggie accessories themed to the artwork, Jo then went straight off to Brighton where the Helping Paws charity held the Down To The Bone 2 fundraising exhibition featuring another pair of her artworks, and she offered live dog illustrations, painting dogs on the spot in exchange for donations, which was a hit with visitors and their four-legged companions.
She added: “I’ve supported them for years, donating old stock, portrait commissions, and even creating a rescue dog card range. I can’t cope with the pointy end of dog rescue, but I can certainly give them my time to help those that do!”
While gearing up for the Hounds collection PG Live launch, at London’s Business Design Centre on 3-4 June, Jo is also getting ready to dust off the paints and canvases at her physical studio as part of the FarOpen Art Trail in the Forest Of Dean throughout July, following a stop at the Edition Dog Live event on 6 July at Stoneleigh Park near Coventry, and she can also be found at The Travelling Artist newsletter, where she share updates from her travels with husband Dean and beloved pooch Thomasina, stories behind her paintings, interviews with other artists and hosts a monthly online open studio for artists.
Jo laughed: “While I’ve avoided galleries in the past, I probably just haven’t found the right one to work with, seeing my work displayed in central London has made me reconsider. I don’t think I can accurately describe the feeling but if you’d have told my seven-year-old self this would happen, I think she might have wet her pants just a little from the excitement!”
