Enamored of Enamel
Jess Grimsdale is a signwriter and illustrator based in Bristol, U.K. Trained as an illustrator at Falmouth University, she found herself drawn to the vibrant folk art of sign painting found on the canals and roadways around Britain, and has since made it her life’s work to help keep this artistic tradition alive.
For her Zócalo Sketchbook, Grimsdale painted five pieces of enamelware with roses and scrollwork traditional to British “canal art.” The roses Grimsdale depicts were commonly seen on 19th-century working boats. This was “a time when the canals …
