About me

I'm a freelance illustrator and designer living and working in the United Kingdom. Lucky enough to learn my trade from the fantastic and talented Mark Manning and Peter Stanyer, I graduated in 2002 with a First Class Honours Degree in Graphic Media Communication. After which I headed off to complete an internship at Hallmark, before jumping feet first into the crazy world of advertising. I spent five years agency based and have since spent the last five years of my life splitting my time between freelance work and passing my skills on to the next generation at F.E level. During my ten years of professional practise my passion for illustration and design has not wavered. I am as determined today to create interesting and high quality artwork as I was as a junior and impose high expectations upon myself to deliver. I have also developed key skills in both the management of projects and professional relationships; I pride myself on being personable and approachable whilst ensuring a team works together to achieve targets.

My passion is creating; illustration is a huge part of my life. If I don't do any for a while, I get fidgety, irritable and feel hemmed in. I'm inspired by finding beauty in the common place; all of my work begins with my own original photography. The techniques I use are varied, I may begin with pencil and pen drawings before recreating in vector, I may play around with paints and pastels, I sometimes combine with digital techniques and could then re work with pencil and stitch. Mainly I let the process unfold itself organically.

I buy into Morris' view that there should be 'no hierarchy of artistic medium' and feel the view that digital work has no soul comes from those who don't understand that it's the creator not the medium which breathes life into a piece. For me, my Macbook is just another brush in my paint pot.

My illustrations unashamedly see the world through rose tinted spectacles, celebrating love, friendship, the comforts of home or the joy of a simple landscape. After all, in the words of Oscar Wilde 'We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars'.

P.S.... when I'm not looking at the stars...I love watching Dr Who, planning my wedding, (eek!) and pampering my beloved cat Archie...

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Skills

Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Vector Drawing, Pen/Pencil observational drawings, Multi-media illustration

Sector Experience

Internship Hallmark Cards - Illustrator, Internship Caliber Graphics - Designer, Johnston Press - Designer, The Image Company - Studio Manager, Huddersfield New College - Course Leader Graphic Illustration

Awards

Ba(Hons) Graphic Media Communication - 1st