Hi everyone, Director Rhys here. You'll probably be hearing a lot more from me over the coming months as I've gone from directing the Getting Triggy With It stage show to helping out on other things including the recent video about a silly big number in Magic the Gathering.
For the video Matt worked with artist Tabitha Grove (you can find her online here and instagram here) to design some super cool and fun Stand Up Maths universe versions of the cards (perhaps the beginnings of a new Secret Lair drop, now there’s a crossover worth doing!) that are used in the combo. I had a chat with her about how she created the cards and her process in general and it's here for you to have a little read and browse through the behind-the-scenes photos.
Tabitha works out of her studio in North Oxfordshire whilst also wrangling an 18-month-old son. She works in block printing, collage, and textiles. She trained as a costumier at the Northern College of Costume and worked on TV shows such as Peaky Blinders before becoming a full time artist, giving her the freedom to pursue her own projects. She is currently gearing up for Oxford Arts Weeks working on fabric printing and textile creations of her own design.
Let me know if you like seeing this behind the scenes -like I say you'll be hearing more from me over the coming months with bits and bobs like this so stay tuned and keep your eyes peeled (but only as a figure of speech).
Interview with Tabitha Grove:
Tell me Tabitha, what’s your process when it comes to creating something from scratch for a commission like this?
The majority of it comes down to thinking. Lots of walking and shower thoughts. I call it planting the seed. I used to really panic if I was given a brief and I couldn’t come up with any ideas. I’d try too hard and get lost and frustrated. Now, I just plant the seed and trust that it’ll grow. It usually does. It’s like I tell my brain what I need and it goes “oky dokes, gimme a few days and I’ll see what I can do”. Well, it’s more like weeks since our little one was born, but that’s ok.
Once I’ve got my ideas, I’ll do a very quick sketch - just a map of what’s going on in my head. Usually when I get the rough ideas on paper I can see possible pitfalls as well as opportunities to explore. Collage involved a certain amount of logic - what goes where, yes, but also in what order. That’s a biggy. It’s easy to get 70% of the way through sticking down and realise a layer that’s at the top should, in fact, be at the bottom.
After that, I start to just cut and place and see. It’s very analogue and I like that. It’s just about placing the pieces until suddenly, it’s right. It’s never exactly the image I have in my mind. It’s a meeting of me and the paper, and the paper often has as much to offer as I do. I do think my background as a costumier gives me a really good eye for proportion and measure that really helps most of the time (not always though, I got a Chinese dragon very wrong with teeny tiny legs once).
Once I get them stuck down a few things might go on. Sometimes, that’s just it - piece finished. Sometimes I’ll add illustrations and lino print. I got to exercise some illustration muscles on this project - I particularly enjoyed trying to get Matt’s face just right without losing my own style. Sometimes, I’ll take a photo or scan it and add the finishing touches using editing software. The brilliant thing about it is that I can do a similar thing on my computer as I can with the paper - move the components around until it’s right.
And that’s the route I chose with Matt’s cards. It made it much easier for print and it also allowed a nice consistency across the cards.
When creating your collage what Tools do you use?
Mainly scissors! I will use any old scissors but my favourites are the scissors used for cutting bonsai (I believe?!). I dunno, there’s just something robust and precise about them. They’re pretty beautiful too. Sometimes I’ll get fancy and use a craft knife, but I like the speed and unpredictable nature of using scissors.
I hardly ever draw any shapes out before cutting them. I usually just go straight to cutting the bits out and working them out until I get the shape that’s right.
What sort materials do you use and which do you like the most?
Anything and everything. Once you start looking there is pattern and texture everywhere. And there is waste paper everywhere. Leaflets, magazines, sweet wrappers, packaging, clothes, dishcloths, I’ve even used some of my little one’s scribblings (permission asked, of course). I often save anything vaguely interesting and put it in the bits box in my studio. I also make my own textured papers. The wyrm, for instance, is mainly from various bits of the Equity Union magazine. Matt’s trousers are a picture of a cocktail that I’ve added texture to. The space suit is blue paper that I made for something else years ago and I’ve added illustration to the image. I usually keep the scraps for future projects, one of the scraps this time even made its way onto Puppino the puppet, who now, after many years, has a moustache! Turns out it does pay off to keep absolutely everything.
Did you have fun creating these cards?
I really did. Obviously it was just lovely to be asked by Matt to make something. And I definitely felt the pressure, knowing what a loyal following Magic The Gathering has. So I didn’t want to even try and copy the intricate and dramatic style of the cards - I wouldn’t do it justice. But to use my style to Matt-Parker-ify them was such a joy. It was proper fun. And, as a nearly full-time mama, it was nice to have an excuse to step into the studio between tantrums and nappies and just remind myself that my creative brain does, in fact, still exist.
Finally the life question - how exactly did you come to be an artist?
I still feel weird calling myself an Artist. Lee Miller and Barbara Hepworth were artists. They’re proper, you know? But! I am lucky enough to make an income and an impact with my art, so I guess I’m an artist, right?
I’ve always painted and drawn. Since I was tiny it has been a big part of my life. I was always the one who got excited when the geography homework was drawing the CBD structure, Y’know? I was an actor too, and slowly the two worlds converged and I made my way backstage and trained as a costumier. I worked in all sorts of TV and Theatre. That led me into set design and which gave me a chance to develop my style as I played with lots of different techniques. It didn’t take me long to realise that I much prefer using my art to work with people and communities. And I just love to create and let the mistakes take me down new and unexpected roads. So, as well as selling my work I use my time to share my skills. I run workshops and I work a lot in hospitals, mostly on renal units, and community wards, bringing craft to folks that might not ordinarily get the chance to just play. Because that’s ultimately what I’m lucky enough to do - play.