Who or what made you want to become an illustrator?

I think it was on my art foundation course when I was 18. I had imagined myself pursuing a career in textile design and so chose that as my specialism but after a few weeks it became apparent that this wasn't the best fit for me.  I'll never forget one of the tutors saying to me 'you are a drawer', which was a bit of a lightbulb moment, and helped me to realise that drawing is what I really love to do. So I switched to the graphics/illustration room, discovered that there was such a job as an illustrator, and never looked back.  I would quite like to have a bash at some sort of textile design again now though.

Did you attend art school or undertake any other formal artistic training?

Yes, I studied Graphic Art at Liverpool School of Art. Where you could specialise either in graphic design or go down a more illustrative route. I had pretty much already set my heart on becoming a children's book illustrator so concentrated most of my projects on developing my style with that in mind.

I so loved the three years I spent in Liverpool. It is such a characterful place and the hustle and bustle was such a contrast to rural East Yorkshire where I had grown up.     

Was creativity part of your childhood?

Yes I would say so. My Mum is a creative person and she would always be sewing, and making curtains or clothes. Or we would be making things with salt dough or baking together. I can remember knitting with my Grandma and sewing, or making pictures out of scraps of fabric. Rehersing and putting on shows and plays with friends and cousins.

 Also my Mum has beautiful handwriting and I can remember being mesmerizing watching her write and practising my handwriting to try and get it to come close.

I have always loved to draw and can remember having a little drawing folder where I stashed my masterpieces. I seem to remember there being lots of drawings of Baloo and Mowgli from The Jungle Book in there, and little stories that I had written. 

Have you always loved to draw?

Definitely! I have always loved to draw, and art was always my favourite subject at school. 

I never really knew what I wanted to do growing up but I knew I didnt want to stop being drawing and being creative so I made sure to follow that urge.

Where do you currently live and where did you grow up?

I live in East Yorkshire, close to the Yorkshire Wolds. It is rural, beautiful, peaceful countryside. This is the area that I grew up in and I have a strong connection with this little corner of the world, I couldn't really imagine living anywhere else. 

Which books from your own childhood really stand out?

The remember loving the Richard Scarry Busytown books, with Huckle the Cat and Lowly Worm. I really enjoyed the diagramatic cross sections of houses, and boats, and different things like that in his books. His pictures were so much fun to look at and spot all the little details.

The Milly Molly Mandy books stick in my mind particularly the illustrated village map at the start of the books. 

And Beatrix Potter books. I still have my childhood collection of Beatrix Potter stories, which just seemed so magical. Mrs Tiggywinkle, and the Two Bad Mice were favourites. I would love to visit her Hilltop house in the Lake District some day.  

What was your first commission as a professional illustrator?

My first commission was the first picture book I made called 'Dear Miss' with Meadowside Books. After finishing uni I submitted my work to several different publishers as you do.  Sarah Andrews at Meadowside really liked a project in my portfolio of illustrated letters I'd written to my boyfriend whilst at uni.  We came up with the idea of a boy writing to his teacher with flamboyant excuses of why he couldn't go to school, and this became 'Dear Miss' which was shortlisted for several awards, and winner of the Cambridgeshire Children's Book Award.    

What is your favourite medium to work with and why?

Collage. I just love to snip and stick bits of paper. I love the thrill of finding the perfect piece of patterened paper that will work for the brickwork on a building, on the pattern of a dress. 

Take us behind the scenes and describe your studio / workspace.

I fell very lucky to have a wonderful studio space at home in our garden. When we moved into our house the building was a very tumbledown old outbuilding/log store. My husband has worked wonders to make it into a lovely light, bright space to work. 

On my desk I have a lightbox that my husband made for me (he's very handy!) and computer. Under the desk are lots of drawers, some to carefully store past or current artwork in, and the others are jam-packed full of collageable papers - old envelopes, bits of packaging, any bit of paper of a nice colour or pattern that I can someday recycle to feature in an illustration. The floor is always a huge mess, due to all the snipped up paper!     

Which 4 words would you use to describe your illustration portfolio?

Colourful, playful, naive, and lively!

Do you have a favourite soundtrack you listen to when you’re working?

The radio. I couldn't be without it. I love a listen to Woman's Hour on bbc radio 4. Or if I want a bit of a tune to bop or sing along to then it's usually bbc radio 2.

Which project are you most proud of?

I am very proud of 'The Story Of' series of books I have worked on with Frances Lincoln. They have involved alot of research and have really challenged me to draw all kinds of different subject matter.

Book number 7 in the series 'The Story of Dinosaurs' is due to be published in a few weeks (August 2024). I have worked on the artworks for the books throughout some of the most challenging years of my life, and I feel very proud of the success we've had with the series.

Animals feature heavily in children’s books – do you have a pet?

I have a dog called Ruby. She's a fox red labrador who is getting on a bit these days, as she's 10 years old. She loves to sleep ALOT. She will sometimes come and snooze in the studio to keep me company, but really her favourite place to spend the day is sleeping on our bed upstairs.

There has been many an occasion, when she was a younger dog, that she would try and get my attention with a nudge just as I was painting a super delicate line, that would then become a great splodge across the page!