A Guernsey artist has created a pair of artworks based on the London Underground map, featuring local pubs and restaurants.
The maps, by St Peter Port resident Michelle Schofield, feature routes like the ‘West Coast Line’ and ‘Bridge and Vale Line’ – as well as iconic Guernsey venues like The Rockmount and the Renoir Tea Gardens.
Michelle has lived on the island for 15 years, but grew up in London and was inspired by Harry Beck’s iconic map of the ‘Tube’.
“It’s always been one of the most classic pieces of design for me,” she told Express.
She started selling the maps online before Christmas and they proved popular, especially with parents of UK-based students, who would “send it to them for their wall”.
Michelle said the popularity of the maps was largely down to nostalgia as “people can point to places on the map that mean something to them”.
Like Beck, Michelle has an engineering background, having studied product design at Brunel University, but has painted for pleasure for several years.
However, her art business took off when she started painting local pubs and restaurants after joining the St Peter Port Sketch Club during lockdown.
She said: “I was painting buildings like Elizabeth College, the Little Chapel and some of the lighthouses.
“People started asking if they could buy them or buy copies, so I just started selling a few, did a few markets, and sort of built it up from there.”
A former teacher, Michelle said her art is “all inspired by Guernsey”, adding: “This island’s got so many great locations and they’re really easy to get to, as well as lots of stuff that’s interesting.”
She normally works in a variety of mediums, including sketches, watercolours and oils.
However she created the maps on a computer using Adobe Illustrator after sketching ideas for several months.
“I decided I wanted seven or eight lines,” she said, “I always knew I was going to have a West Coast Line and Northern Line – and I wanted an Island Hopper Line too that featured Sark, Herm and Alderney.”
There were several venues that could have gone on either the ‘Pub’ map or the ‘Food’ one, so Michelle went through several iterations to get the balance right.
Michelle said: “Once I roughed it out a little bit in my sketchbook, then it was just playing around with it – moving them around until I was happy with them.”
She’s hoping to create a third map in the future, based on Guernsey’s beaches and tourist attractions.
The maps are available on the Piccalilli Designs website, with prices starting at £25.