Dusters is the name of the Children's picture book I produced for my MA final project.

It is based on childhood memories of time spent with my Grandmother, growing up in a small town in the North East of England.

My Grandma had the ability to transform everyday activities into exciting adventures and this story is a representation of her sense of fun and the joy she brought to my childhood.

I was over the moon to have my work for Dusters highly commended in the Macmillan Prize for Children's Books in 2012.

North Chocolates is based in Newcastle upon Tyne and produces the most amazing chocolate from great quality ingredients.

I worked closely with the founder Bev Stephenson to produce the artwork for their range of Angel of the North inspired chocolate. The aim was to represent the iconic sculpture while maintaining a handmade feel.

http://www.northchocolates.co.uk/product/milk-angel-with-smoked-salt/

It was a amazing opportunity to work on a collaborative project with Christine O'Neil the writer of Princess Imogen's Independent Day and the team from Walker books and Mumsnet in this children's book commission for The Book of Bedtime Stories.

Here's a lovely review of the story from a young reader in the Guardian!

http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/feb/07/reader-reviews-roundupa

Memories for Nan's Coffin is a lovely story written by an extraordinary women from New South Wales- Helen Snodgrass.
Although we never met in person I felt a strong connection with Helen throughout this project. Of all the stories she has written this one was very important to her and I am very pleased to have been lucky enough to help her create this picture book.

Sadly last year Helen lost her battle with breast cancer shortly before her 59th birthday. 
 

"As a clinical nurse consultant in oncology she treated patients, counselled families, trained staff, improved processes and made valuable contributions to nursing association and government committees for over 20 years.

Helen found a special place in the hearts of everyone who knew her and was a skilled 'baby whisperer'."

Her devoted, long-term partner, Vaughan.

I'm in contact with Vaughan, another special person I have met through this project and we will be looking into the possibility of having Helen's story published in the future.
 
In the meantime here of some pages from the book Memories for Nan's Coffin.

Submissions for the House of Illustration competition to illustrate Michael Morpurgo's War Horse.

These images were produced for Rocking baby a company focused on providing good quality products for babies and young children.

The aim was to capture the joy of childhood while incorporating Rocking Baby's colour palette and a hand drawn, retro feel to the website.

I worked with The School of Health and Social Care at Teesside University to illustrate a comic strip about coping with persistent pain. The aim of this particular strip was to encourage people to express their own descriptions of the pain they live with on a website called the Pain Toolkit which aims to inform and support people who suffer from a range of issues surrounding persistent pain in their lives.

http://www.paintoolkit.org/news/article/living-with-pain-is-like

Part of the project was to design a character to represent pain itself. I really enjoyed finding a way to bring such an intangible subject to life through my illustrations. 

I always make sure I carry a sketchbook, just in case.

These are examples from a few of my sketchbooks. Some of them are research for commissions, many of them are from just being out and about, traveling to work or waiting to pick up my kids. 

I love looking at other people's sketchbooks- see what you think!

To create one ink drawing every day during October. 

Created by Jake Parker in 2009, Inktober has grown in size every year since.

 http://mrjakeparker.com/inktober

This was the first time I had joined in with Inktober and it was a lot tougher than I expected. The drawings were usually more involved than my daily sketches, I took longer over them and usually went with the suggested theme of the day.

I didn't manage to create a drawing every day but I really enjoyed being part of a larger project.

Will definitely do it again this year!

One sketch a day for 365 days, (well 366 actually it's a leap year).

Here are some of my favourites, to see the full project click here.

The first snow fall of the year is an exciting time!

These Christmas card designs are based on spending time with my children as they find joy in all things of the season.

I look forward to adding to this collection as there are always so many new experiences to draw and develop as we move through the year.