I have several strands of work. And sometimes they overlap, bringing things from one area of work to a project or activity in another. Here are just a few examples from 2025: I’ve brought my experience in breaking down information to a plant labelling workshop at art, heritage and ecology … Read More
A recce. On foot. With a sketchbook. Surely not, when the brief is to produce a simple sketch map and we have search engines? Well, it’s not as overdone as it seems… There’s good practice – I can’t use an image for illustration reference that may be in copyright. And there’s … Read More
Rubbish sketchbooks – a surprise hit in a trio of activities for Cody Dock’s Lea Way Celebration, part of Open House and Totally Thames… Made from waste and originally an approachable add-on to a sketch walk (nobody need worry about doing a bad drawing on materials destined for recycling) they … Read More
Design and illustration are often portrayed as desk work, and good service as being available on-demand. So in what’s both Creativity and Wellbeing Week and Mental Health Awareness Week, I’ve been thinking about the value of a screen break. The best design tutors I’ve taught with have a lot to … Read More
We’re busy… There’s a lot to do. Even in the creative industry, taking a break in the working day can feel impossible. We even apologise for it (or maybe that’s just me…). But leading a lunchtime sketchwalk for The Trampery on the Gantry, I encouraged chat about what getting outdoors … Read More
Sent anywhere, I will find time to explore… Thus, travelling to Taunton to be a mentor for Ideas Foundation’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant workshop day at Bridgwater & Taunton College, I travelled early to enjoy the luxury of looking. People-watching at Paddington station. A wander to French Weir Park just because … Read More
Weird year: new insights… Well, 2020… over here, the entire pattern of studio life was thrown into disarray. But I was brought up by parents who had to adapt countless times, decades before pivoting was a thing. So in the silence of the first lockdown, I started rearranging things. New … Read More
Why personal projects matter… I’m a big fan of making my own work as well as work for clients. Why? Well, think of it as an R&D playground. At the start of the London lockdown, working from home, I decided to report from my garden in place of my daily … Read More
Why mucking about matters… Art. It’s one of the things keeping us going in the current crisis. But people don’t necessarily have a room-full of art materials – so in my lunchtime workshop for The Trampery, I wanted to show how to get creative with stuff we happen to have around … Read More
I bring the same curious-minded approach to illustration as I do to design. So when I was asked to run a Zoom workshop on flower drawing for East End WI, we found ourselves looking at – well – looking! Drawing a flower is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with it and … Read More