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Elena Deshmukh is an artist, designer and frequent collaborator with the Royal Ballet and Opera Shop. Her beautiful designs draw inspiration from the works performed on our stages, and celebrate the experience of an enchanting night at the theatre. We asked her all about her creative process and inspirations to find out just how her creations come to life.
After studying at Wimbledon School of Art, I graduated with a degree in Printed/Embroidered Textiles in Birmingham and have been selling artwork since my degree show. This included screen-printed canvas washed with colour, layered with painterly embroidery and collaged drawings from my sketchbooks.
Exhibiting at New Designers in London led me for several years in a different direction, designing printed/embroidered textile croquis for international fashion designers and fabric manufacturers.
Whilst designing textiles developed my artwork, I longed to make my own handmade work. I made embroidered organza scarves for a Japanese department store, artwork commissions for restaurants and bespoke embroidered wedding stationery.
I’ve always handmade cards for loved ones and for over 25 years I’ve been making cards for beautiful shops or galleries. Always printed, embroidered and handmade by myself in limited numbers.
Some artists begin with a clear vision, my artwork is fluid and evolves over time. Developing through a process of research, often a collage of drawings and ideas. I’ve been studying printmaking for many years and find mark making, the process of layering multiple plates through etching or lithography has influenced my drawing, painting and how I construct images.
Gathering images and drawings on my pinboard, I revisit them daily often thinking of ideas whilst I’m working on another task. I always work on paper, drawing elements in pen or washes of ink, layering these with watercolour. I may follow several paths before my ideas are refined and illustrations take their own shape.
It depends upon the artwork, sometimes a story, an emotion or a memory. Like other visual people I absorb images, colours and textures from everyday life. I often look to the past at antique prints, vintage illustrations or paintings for directions or colour palettes.
In my work with the Royal Ballet and Opera, the architectural detail of The Auditorium, the experience of a performance and story of a production is imbued with inspiration. For our new Celestial collaboration for Cinderella, I had a memory of the clock from the ballroom scene.
I began by drawing antique moon phase clocks, which led me to exploring old maps of the stars, painting inky night skies and vintage star-shaped jewelled brooches. I found inspiration in the highly decorative blue/gold interiors of the House of Fornasetti, the placement of embroidery on celestial dresses and through detailed cloud engravings.
At primary school I remember our class being invited to see the Royal Ballet. Learning to play a musical instrument was affordable and the arts were valued and encouraged. From this basic introduction I was given a lifelong appreciation. I’ve seen productions at the Royal Opera House for special occasions and each one was a memorable experience.
It’s a pleasure to make bespoke cards for the Royal Ballet and Opera and I love hearing from your audience who often share their personal stories about seeing productions and send me photographs of framed cards. Bringing my artwork to life through our collaborations as fine bone china, recycled leather stationery or textiles is wonderful and something I never imagined.
All my designs have personal significance, I have a fondness for “The Nutcracker” as he introduced me to the buyer for the Royal Ballet and Opera. My first bespoke card collection included “The Snowflakes Dome” inspired by a memory of The Land of Snow, with its music and child-like sense of wonder. The artwork was later developed into “The Snowflakes” tin bauble, the only Christmas decoration I keep on display throughout the year.
I love being able to see the detail of the orchestra painting enlarged on the tote bag from “The Night at The Opera” and knowing my mum makes her afternoon Earl Grey in “The Auditorium” Tea for One. From our new Celestial collaboration for Cinderella, I particularly love the drawing of the clouds, it reminds me of my former textile prints and may be found on “Ballet Shoes for The Stars”.
In The Shop I admire the artist/maker Margo Selby’s collaborative textiles and thought process involved in creating her recent public textile art installation “Breathing Colour” from the heights of Blackburn Cathedral. An immersive experience, hoping visitors may also experience the colour that envelopes her whilst working on a loom.
Aside from your artists on stage and in the orchestra, I have great admiration for your team of artist/makers who work together backstage to create the spectacle of a performance. Being able to connect with some of them through social media and seeing their work behind the scenes is particularly inspiring.
I love seeing fabrics dyed, costumes revived, work by scenic painters, hats and wigs fitted to their artists, hand finished ballet shoes and the most intricate embroidery on a bodice or jacket. Incredible skill and detail often only seen fleetingly during a performance. A collective of artists and makers bringing the Royal Ballet and Opera to life.