Step in the Picture

The Art of Creating Memories

Hi, I’m Janet, the memorial artist behind Step in the Picture. I specialise in the art of creating memories, whether it’s capturing your best memories from your big day or helping you create memories in a creative workshop experience.

I’m crazy about botanicals, they express a thousand meanings. In fact, anything can resonate memories, which is why I love to include everything, from elements of the venue, and outfit material, to snippets of your personality, after all, it’s about you. I’ll include anything… except cake, that’s for eating! It’s my job to capture your BEST memories in art.

Intro

With a brand as stripped back and as natural as it gets, my personality is colourful and playful. My biggest passion is creating memorable experiences, something completely unforgettable, drawing on every positive emotion and energy possible in everything I do and that’s what I strive to pass on through my work. If you don’t remember my name, you will always remember my colourful hair and sparkly boots!

So what inspires me? Life experiences largely, good, sad, happy and glad, being a visual storyteller I LOVE hearing your stories. But what about me, well in the mix of botanical art, you will always find subtle clues to my interest with a plethora of skulls, crystals, and fossils intertwined with books on poisonous plants and a preserved bird here and there (yes, I preserved them myself, Beatrice is always a talking point). I’m a complete history nerd, especially the Victorian and Egyptian Era and I find ‘historical artefacts’ and residual memories fascinating (can you now see where the memorial link and object attachment comes from?). My eclectic musical tastes always get me through a busy day in the studio, from 80’s pop to metal and musicals there is never a dull moment, especially when the 20’s swing and big band starts to play!

I study and work in the death industry as well as Weddings so if I am not doing that, you will find my running fun and lively clay/plaster workshops for a good old dose of stress relief or exhibiting my own artwork in exhibitions around the country.

FAQ’s

• Location

  My studios are located in a town called Leigh in Greater Manchester in a really cool heritage textile mill called Leigh Spinners Mill and you can find me on the fourth floor. I have two studios, The Potting Shed Studio is where all the preservation work happens and the Casting Studio (next door) is where I run workshops and create all the botanical cast commissions.

  On the first Saturday of every month I open my studios to the general public so if you ever want to have a nosy at my work, come for a chat, you are more than welcome. Keep a track of my social media for opening times, although I usually open 10am – 4pm.

• How does it work, what is the process?:

  I always recommend booking in for a consultation first (don’t worry, I don’t charge for this) to discuss your themes, what you are looking to capture and I can also offer you ideas on what you can include so you can collect items on the run-up to the wedding or give the important job of collecting items to a person on the day. I can tell you the boring stuff like deposits, what you need to pay for and when. The bonus about commissioning the work I do is you pay in instalments. If the artwork wasn’t unique enough, did you know you’ll be involved through the process so you’ll see your memories come alive in the artwork through updates of images and videos whilst I’m making… how cool is that!

• Do I need to book before the wedding?

  Yes! I say this because the work I do is much more involved than the average flower preservation. It can take between 6 to 15 weeks from receiving your flowers and items to completing your work so your date needs to booked in so I know what to expect and when.

• Prices

  It all depends what you want to capture. Botanical casting starts from £125, Casts can be supplied framed but if you prefer the casts set on something a little different, I can do that too.

  Flower preservation artwork starts from £225 framed.

  Workshops start from £85 per person

• How do you incorporate cremated remains into the artwork?

  I can add cremated remains to any of the preservation work, the ashes will sit in the background medium unless you specifically want them set into a certain area. I will only need a teaspoon of the ashes and any I do not use will be returned with your artwork. I can also incorporate hair or fur. People request this service as a way of remembering and including their loved ones in their special day. Alternatively, I can include other items which represent your loved ones, you would prefer not to add ashes but want to symbolise them in your piece.

  Unfortunately, I do not include ashes in any of the casted work.

10% off for all artwork and botanical casting bookings through TilDeath (Excludes workshops).

The person getting married goes free for any workshop booking for a party of 5 or more.

Testimonials

Articles featuring Step In The Picture: