Byron Bay Exhibition and Artist Market

August 8, 2023

Written by Clare Duffy

August 8, 2023

Written by Clare Duffy

There have been many exciting things happening behind the scenes for Hound Town lately. A new more affordable pet portrait option, some t-shirts in the works and a hand-made artist book for an exhibition at Gallery 3 in Byron Bay.

A couple of months back I took part in ‘Take Stock’ an exhibition at Byron Bay’s Gallery 3. The exhibition featured both hand-made artist books and a range of artist zines. I submitted an artist book that I collaborated on with my Mum who has been into paper-making and book-binding for some time now.

A rotating gif of a hand-made artist book showing various detail shots of the paper, cute dog illustrations and stitching.

A girl in a studio cutting the cover for book binding using a craft knife and metal ruler. An old artist's hands cutting and preparing a cover, part of the process of book binding.

Girl in cool retro 80s cartoon jumper and checkered pants stitching a hand-made book, part of the book binding process.

It was such a cool project and quite the magical experience learning how to create a book using Mum’s hand-made paper. We gathered the signatures, pasted out the covers and stitched it all together. Here are a couple of videos of the result.

The launch night also coincided with Gallery 3’s first artist market event in which each artist got a little space to show their work and engage with the community. Here is a little video of my stand.

It was a lovely evening and a nice push to get some more products together. I featured my playing cards, my 'A Pocket Full of Happy' zines, a test print of my Davie the Dingo children's book, my NEW Quick Pet Portraits and some exciting new merch! Soon to come.

On the topic of merch - I came back from Mexico in May full of inspiration for new t-shirt graphics, I even managed to pull some together for the market and will have to put them up on my online store as soon as I can get a photo of them on a body! Here is one you can get a sneak peek at now!

A ghost image of a black stonewashed AScolour t-shirt with a white washed out artwork on the front which features warped dog faces and Hound Town written below.

T-shirt graphic with 7 warped dog faces and the words Hound Town written below in a similar psychedelic style.

But I thought I’d let you all know about the latest addition to my website which you can order right now!

It is my new custom pet portrait option, I've called them Minimal Pet Portraits - they were inspired by the style of my daily dog drawings I’ve been doing since January 1^st this year. To find out more view the product page here.

A square white frame featuring a custom pet portrait of a white fluffy dog wearing sunglasses in a cartoon illustration style.

Minimalistic and stylised, they aim to capture your pet’s character in a clean digital illustration, Hound Town style of course.

Framed custom pet portrait of a white fluffy dog wearing sunglasses in a stylised cartoon illustration.

You can choose to buy the digital file only and print it yourself (for personal use only). Or you can choose to have it printed on archival quality paper using artist grade giclee inks and framed. The artwork is inside a 15x15cm square and you can include up to 3 pets. To find out more details click here.

A square white frame featuring a custom pet portrait of a spoodle (spaniel cross poodle) with pastel blue shading in a cartoon illustration style and with the name 'Benji' under the illustration..

A square white frame featuring a custom pet portrait of a black fluffy poodle dog with a cool haircut in a cartoon illustration style with the name Neo below..