Meet the Artist

Hello my name is Corinne nice to meet you – I am an artist, designer, mum of two – founder of Powder Butterfly; a design studio that creates a range of British contemporary homeware gifts.

I was born in London but moved to the North East in 1998 as a student. After studying BA Hon photography at Northumbria University and then a Masters in Photography at Sunderland University, I knew I wanted to use my creative skills in a distinct way.

I’ve always loved mixing new technology with artisan techniques. And I wanted to create products that shared my love of different locations in the British Isles. British landmarks seemed like a good place to start, when I couldn’t find any high-quality souvenirs to buy for a friend of mine, I decided to create my own. The first product I created in 2012 was my Flying Angel tea towel, which celebrates the Angel of the North and a variety of Newcastle and Gateshead landmarks.

Having moved to Newcastle the same year the angel was built (1998), it felt fitting for me to begin with that particular landmark. This item was so popular that I created a whole Newcastle collection, adding the iconic Tyne Bridge, The Sage Gateshead, The Baltic Flour Mill and the Millennium Bridge to my distinctive range of designs.

I searched the country for manufacturers who shared the same ideals as me and over the last 12 years I have built an exclusive supply chain that I am very proud of. All of my products are designed in Britain, using only the highest quality materials. everytime you buy one of my products you are supporting multiple small businesses many of which are local to me in the North East of England. 

The next collection I developed was London – my hometown. Having moved around Britain myself, I know that people often have connections and affinities with different cities and places. This made me explore my hometown through the iconic architecture and tourist attractions of the capital. The reaction to the London gift collection has been incredible and I feel that it offers a true taste of British-made gifts for the gift and souvenir market.

I have now developed 12 collections:

• Brighton - where I lived for two years before I came to the North East
• Durham - with it's iconic cathedral
• Edinburgh - This was one of the first cities that I visited with my now husband back when we were dating. So of course I think it is one of the most romantic cities for me.
• The Lake District Authors - a place I love to visit for family holidays.
• London - I had to create a collection that was a tribute to my home town
• Manchester - my daughter moved there so I had to create a collection for this vibrant and creative city.
• Newcastle - the very first collection that I started to produce, and it was the beginning of my post souvenir journey. I will be forever grateful for this

• collection. It also features landmarks from Gateshead where I live. 
• North Tyneside Coast - a favourite destination for me to walk, get fresh air, take a dip & support the small indie business community. This is a celebration of Tynemouth, Cullercoats, Whitley Bay & North Shields with a special nod to Sam Fender on our china mug.
• Northumberland - I have loved creating products that celebrate the history of Northumberland Castles and the iconic and sorely missed Sycamore Gap
• Puffin Farne Island Gifts - celebrating these wonderful birds that live on the Farne Islands.
• Whitley Bay - this was my first coastal collection and it is still as popualr as ever. 
• York - a wonderful city that is an hour away on a train from Newcastle. Somewhere that I have visited multiple times and love the magical charm of the Shambles and York Minster.

Collections that are on my wish list to be working on are Liverpool, Oxford, Cambridge, Teeside, Bath, Canterbury, Glasgow. Let me know if you would like me to work on a different location - I am always keen to get feedback from my beautiful community of shoppers.

I come from a photography background and while I do free hand drawing of certain elements of my designs. Tracing has recently become a way for me to pull out more detail from my photography so that I can get the best quality image. This helps me to meet the needs of the varied manufacturing processes that are used to create my products. I discovered this technique as I was frustrated withe the old digitisation processes I used, this old process meant that lost a significant amount of detail. And this was not the finished look that I was aiming for. This process can take up to 6 hours per landmark for me to create and the level of concentration I have to use can be pretty exhausting. As each collection could have between 5-8 landmarks in it this is why a significant amount of time needs to be dedicated to the design process. I feel like there is a whole blog post that I should dedicate to my process. Let me know if you would lie to know more.

The above image is from my Manchester collection and it is of the Science and industry Building which was an absolute joy to draw. 

I am proud to say that alongside Powder Butterfly I also have regular corporate clients that I produce bespoke gifts for you can read more about this work here. I love what I do and I can’t wait to share my creative journey with you all.

There are a few ways that you can engage with and support my work as an artist. Buying my products would be wonderful but I also appreciate any support that my community gives me, I have listed these below.

You can buy product from me online or I now have a permanent market trader stall on the Quayside in Newcastle upon Tyne. The winter months have been quite a challenge but I have learnt that there is no bad weather just bad clothing!!

You can engage with my social media on multiple platforms (Instagram • Facebook • Pinterest • X & you will find my TikTok account as The Dyslexic Designer too) and share my products with your friends and family. Perhaps make a gift list for house warming, future birthdays, graduations, overseas trips and the festive season. 

I create products in small batches and a lot of my products are limited edition so you will need to grab them while they are available.