Front cover art
Josh Bramley is the creative talent responsible for the 2023 Christmas cover. Josh’s work is outstanding, working mainly with pencil sketches, he splits his time with his art and teaching Royal Naval trainees how to operate on helicopters.
Josh was born in Brockwell and spent all his youth in Chesterfield, he wasn’t interested in college or heading off to university, he’d always wanted to be a pilot in the forces. Unfortunately, Josh suffered from a migraine at a young age which basically cut short his military plans.
He worked at Tesco for a few years, but his heart wasn’t in it. “I went to see my military careers advisor again and we found a way for me to fly in the services,” says Josh.
“I started as an Aircrewman splitting my time hunting for submarines and search and rescue, all on helicopters.”
“I spent ten years working across the world. A typical day, whilst on deployment, would be six hours airborne at a time, in a very high-pressure environment. I was also based in Cornwall, a long way from home, especially after meeting my girlfriend, Lucy from Chesterfield.”
Josh moved to the Defence Flying Training School which he admits is a much more relaxed environment in which to work. “I’m now based in Shrewsbury during the week, I commute home at the weekends but the time on site is five days 100% in the naval frame of mind,” Josh explained how the Navy have their own lingo, everyday sayings coming from a naval background. ‘Three square meals a day’ as an example, square meals, served on square plates, easier to use and store on a constantly moving ship.
Ten years on and Josh is now married, has set up home in Hasland and their first child is on the way, due in March. In 2017 he started drawing again to switch off after a day’s teaching, it wasn’t until settling in Hasland though that he started to take his art a little more seriously.
“I put my first drawings on social media and response was really positive,” says Josh. “The first was a drawing of my wife Lucy, I posted this on Facebook and people loved it.”
“This gave me the confidence to put a post on Facebook Marketplace to see if anyone would like me to do a commission, these were priced at just £30 for an A4 drawing and I started filling my evenings in Shrewsbury drawing and sketching for people.”
Josh’s work is drawn working from photos and usually includes people or animals, he’s even created pieces that merge lost loved ones together with their family to produce images that never existed. He admits that people’s response to the finished pieces are often very emotional.
“I enjoy drawing, it turns out I’m quite good at it and I love the feedback I get,” says Josh. “It’s a great way to pass the evenings whilst away at Shrewsbury.
“I’m starting to build a social media presence, I’m not the world’s biggest fan but it’s essential to grow the business.
“It’s going to take a little more time to balance work and life when I become a dad but I’m looking forward to it, both being a family and enjoying my art, long term it would be great to make art a full time living, we’ll have to see how it develops,” Josh laughs.
Take a look at Josh’s social media feeds, below, be sure to check out his murals that he’s done at his training grounds (shown below) and locally at Ashgate Croft, where he volunteered his time to do a woodland themed commission for a student quiet room. He’s always happy to discuss these larger commissions but you’ll have to work with him as they can be time consuming, so he’d need to fit them around his time at the weekends.
I’d like to thank Josh for his cover art. I love the way he’s bought together many of the sites and artwork we pass daily, 'Chesterfield from the workman’s hands'.
Happy Christmas!
@jbramart
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