Gill Button handpaints plates for Dries Van Noten

Gill Button has gone crazy for ceramics. The British illustrator and artist, who last month created a series of hand-painted plates for Dries Van Noten, said she plans to do more. “I really enjoyed the medium and the whole process. I’ve always been attracted to ceramic painting and this has really amplified that for me.”

Button was commissioned by the designer to create plates for a celebratory lunch at Club21 in Singapore last month. The Belgian designer has recently been hosting events at his stores worldwide to launch the book “The Book of Dries Van Noten.”

The London-based artist created 35 designs for VIP clients to take home as gifts and looked to Marchesa Casati, the Italian heiress and early 20th-century patron of the arts, for inspiration.

“This was continuation of the theme of Dries fall collection, to echo the feel of the book,” said Button. “[There were] looks from the show, as well as some more directly inspired by the Marchesa herself. I had never painted on ceramics before, so initially I was a little unsure how it would work. To create paintings in such a completely different medium and to make them feel in keeping with the rest of the work seemed a little daunting to be honest, but an exciting challenge.

“I had a play around on some old plates at home, sent some photos of the tests to Dries and we just decided to go for it,” she added.

Button began working with Van Noten after the Belgian designer discovered her work on Instagram last September. She worked with Van Noten, creating ink paintings of Casati and the Italian author Gabriele D’Annunzio that were hung in his showrooms in Antwerp, Paris and Milan to accompany the previews of the collection.

She also hand-painted 1,200 invitations for his fall 2016 show in February, and contributed work that was later included in the designer’s book. Button has also worked with other companies such as Gucci to promote the launch of its Gucci Blooms pattern.

Button, who studied illustration at Kingston University in England, started her career working on commercial projects. She created illustrations and digital works for advertising campaigns and companies before focusing on painting. She has collaborated with several publications including Vogue, Vanity Fair and WWD, where she created an illustrative portrait of Raf Simons for the July 20 weekly magazine.

Button’s work is currently on show at the Parisian gallery Less Is More Projects. “The Divine Marchesa” is a range of paintings that references Casati, the inspiration for Dries Van Noten’s fall 2016 range.