December 12th, 2017

It seems like a good time to restart the blog! Y'no after my three year nap...Lots has happened but in a nutshell I had a baby, got engaged and bought a house haha. I've still been freelancing and soon I start as an unqualified Teacher working on supply for secondary schools. After being a stay at home mum and working evenings on my illustration commissions it's going to be really strange going into a proper 'job' again, especially one with 30+ teenagers all expecting me to lead the class. As nervous as I am I'm excited for the challenges ahead and it's a great chance to learn if teaching might be where it's at for me in the future!

As far as illustration goes I have been working on a 12 month contract with a speech therapy company based in Texas. We have been creating engaging learning resources for Spanish speaking children with speech issues. I'm limited as to what you can see from these commissions due to contracts but you can see some of the children's picture book illustration I have been working on below. These digital paintings were for a narrative by Christine Reavy, and are samples to send out to various companies to promote herself as an Author. Another Xalien book is coming  too, 'Xalien goes to the farm by Michelle Path. That was a joy to work on, and is available soon to add to the collection (samples below). After Christmas production for Madeleine Goes to the Sunken Shipwreck begins, which since being a finalist in The People's Book Prize lots of people have been asking for another instalment. 

I have joined SVS learning to develop my painting and drawing skills in the direction I would like to take them. So far I'm really impressed with the quality of the courses available and excellent teaching from professional illustrators such as Will Terry and Jake Parker. It's forcing me to step out of my comfort zone, make mistakes, and hopefully develop more as an artist.  

Anyways.....brew time :)