About Us
About Story
This is a photograph of Jean Tori’s studio in Umbria. This is where the magic happened! My mother Jean Tori, who passed away in 2024, was an incredibly talented artist who painted professionally for 60 years.
Our creative collaboration started after teaming up to work on a series of children’s books. Jean moved her focus to painting illustrations (she called it changing careers at the tender age of 70!), while I (Anthinula) wrote the stories, and both of us designed the books. This is how our start-up adventure began and Jean Tori Design Ltd. was originally created.
Our Projects
We have four books published: Bettina Creates a Garden, Leo's Birthday Adventure, The Wizards and the Whale, and Elliot and the Perfect Wave.
Alongside the books, we’re also developing design products using Jean’s original and pattern-filled artwork. There are lots of projects in the pipeline, so please sign up for our newsletter.
-
Jean Tori
Jean, a British artist, painted for all of her life after graduating from the Portsmouth College of Art in 1958. After numerous exhibitions in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong, where Jean used to live, she then moved to Italy, where other shows were held in Rome, Bologna, Umbria and Tuscany. Jean often painted with Tempera on hand-made Mulberry paper screens and canvases, which she made herself.
-
Anthiunula Tori
Half British and half Italian, Anthinula is a writer and a designer. After living in Asia, Europe, and USA, working in filmmaking and design, she now lives in Umbria. Along with creating children’s books and following the development of the Jean Tori Design business, Anthinula also writes kitchen-crime mysteries, travel novels and ghost stories, and collaborates on creative books, design projects and workshops.
Artistic Process
Jean’s creative process was a combination of bold imagination, technical skill, vivid use of colour based on colour theory, ability for storytelling, observation and sense of humour.
One of the reasons Jean’s paintings are even more unique is that she often made her own paper canvases. By applying multiple layers of mulberry paper with a water and flour glue (like papier-mâché), drying each layer, she would build up the layers, transforming the canvas into a paper screen. This surface also has a rich texture upon which Jean could paint. First of all, however, Jean’s pencil drawings were finalised and then traced onto tracing paper. The pencil tracing was then transferred onto her paper canvas and once in place she painted using tempera (gouache) that dries matt.
We're in the process of creating videos that captured both Jean’s paper making and painting process, soon to be viewed on YouTube.
