Mayo native's artwork features in iconic festive window display in Dublin
Cat Gavin illustrations have been used by Brown Thomas for its iconic Christmas window display.
The illustrations of a Mayo artist are stunning shoppers in the capital after she collaborated with Dublin department store Brown Thomas for their iconic Christmas window display this year.
Cat Gavin, a native of Belcarra working as an illustrator and tattoo artist in Dublin, worked with the Brown Thomas creative team to design the frames illustrating each scene on the Grafton Street window display.
Cat, a past pupil of Belcarra National School, Balla Secondary School and a graduate of the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), said the project was creatively fulfilling and a joy to see come together.
“It was a wonderful project to work on, the entire collaboration has been such a unique experience. It was so rewarding to see it come together and see how the other creatives in Brown Thomas worked with the illustrations,” she said.
The elements of the illustrations are all inspired by the lyrics of the classic festive tune, ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’, but Cat was encouraged to get creative with the theme.
“I was encouraged to incorporate the elements in a fun way and the overall backdrop of a theatre set meant I could sneak in as many nods to the song as possible, to play around with the lyrics,” she said.
“There were mannequin pipers to represent the eleven pipers piping but we also showed bakers piping icing onto a cake. I was also able to put in a lot of nods to my favourite wildlife, my favourite parts of Dublin, my favourite street lamps and architecture. The team gave me a lot of freedom.”
Cat said it has been a "whirlwind" since the big reveal of the window display last week.
“I’ve seen so many people online talking positively about the windows, it is so overwhelming. I really loved seeing the final illustrations printed on such a large scale. To see it all come together when you’ve seen its progress all the way through, it is great to then see the final result.”
To view more of Cat’s artwork, visit her Instagram page: @cat.gavin_tattoo.
