A POPULAR Irvine artist has started a novel new business under lockdown painting lovely log gifts.

Face painter Pauline Tremble started her new Ayrshire Log Art venture after the COVID-19 lockdown kicked in across the country.

Pauline came up with the new idea with the ongoing pandemic slowing things down in the facepainting trade.

Irvine Times:

And since then orders for the logs have been rolling in, with her ably assisted by 17-year-old artist Eve Truss in the project and husband Andy Tremble out cutting logs.

She said: “It got started purely by chance. Andy had come back with some logs and asked if I could paint a ‘Lest we Forget’ log because it was coming up to VE day.

“We had put it up on Facebook and people were asking how much would they be - they were only for our firepit.

Irvine Times:

“So I painted them all and sold them and the orders just kept coming in. We went back up to Andy’s mums for more logs and painted them. More and more orders were coming in and people were asking for different things.

“I started thinking that it could make a wee business as that was me unemployed as a facepainter. I’ve got a girl working for me on a self-employed basis helping paint as well.

“People are asking for different things and it’s very emotional doing them and have cried a few times.

Irvine Times:

Some of the things people ask you for is still born babies or a baby who has just died after birth as people have memorial gardens. There’s also personal ‘Lest We Forgets’ for family who have died. It can be very emotional.

“There’s often an emotional story behind it and when people come to pick it up they tell you. It’s quite an honour to be able to help with something that means so much to people.”

“Because everyone is so special to them I don’t want to rush any of them and a bit of a perfectionist anyway so don’t want a production line of rushing them out.

Irvine Times:

“Andy went away and bought all the gear and couple of chainsaws just to help. If it wasn’t for him I couldn’t have done this as they need to be sanded, plained and undercoated, and we want to keep prices as low as possible.

“It’s more a labour of love than a business, I don’t expect to make a huge amount of money but it’s a bit like the facepainting, I just loved the kids and artistic aspect.

“I’ve always liked art and always painted, but its quite difficult to make a living from. In all thre years the log painting is the first thing that seems sustainable the order keep coming in and can do as many as I can with a waiting list with help, but I don’t want to be churning them out I want them all to be special.

For more information just visit the Facebook page here.