Mentoring
I love helping people unblock creative knots. I have been on a huge creative journey since coming back to drawing and illustration in 2014, after a 20 year career behind the scenes in children's publishing. I have learned so much since then, through doing the MA (in Children's Book Illustration, at Cambridge School of Art), building a portfolio, getting my first picture book contract, and now teaching on the MA. I have overcome all the set-backs, self doubt, frustrations and blocks and I really want to help people on that journey. I know how important a support network is, and I want to have your back!
I come to mentoring with a unique perspective
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Because I have the background in publishing, I know what happens behind the scenes in an acquisition meeting, the conversations that happen around the water cooler, how to submit illustrations to a publisher, as well as many years art directing illustrators and designers, and working as an art director myself.
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Through the MA I learned how to develop my illustration skills and creative practice.
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Teaching on the MA, it has been a joy to work with people at all levels of their creative journeys. I have learned to tailor and adjust how I work with everyone to meet their individual needs.
I bring the combination of these backgrounds to my mentoring, along with a growing interest in creative mindset which has led me to become a mentor and teacher.
Would you like to learn more? Drop me an email and we can chat more about it. I am happy to totor our sessions to suit you. Would you like more guided tuition or more gentle mentoring and guidance, we can discuss the best way to work, just click on "contact me" and we can discuss the best way to work together. Prices start from £120.
Patreon and Substack
Substack
I have Substack membershipl where I share a regular news and updates from my creative desk plus you can sign up for a paid subscription.
What do you get with a paid subscription, and who is it for?
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people who are curious about illustration (without the hype)
I want this to be a space that feels free of bullshit, hype, false promises and claims that joining my space can make you an uber-successful illustrator. Instead, I want it to be a place where people can get a real glimpse of what it is like to be an illustrator. When I was still at work and considering leaving, I was desperate to get a real sense of what it would be like, and I was desperate to get an insight into what I could expect. I looked around far and wide to find the answers, and couldn’t find what I was looking for. So this is for past me, and everyone looking for similar answers!
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people who love process and play
As you probably know by now, I am obsessed with process! I think figuring out the mindset behind making work is half of the ingredients to actually making illustration. Discoveries I have made about myself, particularly during the MA, about how I work have been literally life-changing for me, and I am passionate about sharing that. Again, this is partly for past me, who was feeling lost and not sure how to move forward with my practice. I also love to play around with art materials, explore working intuitively, making artwork experiments, and playing around to keep my practice as an artist fresh and exciting.
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for people who simply like my work!
This is the bit that feels the most uncomfortable for me at the moment, but I am determined to get more comfortable with it! Eventually, I would like my Substack to be a place where I simply show new work, explore my practice and share it with people because they like my work! This feels like the next part of my development as I transition from a student to an illustrator, and it feels the most scary to me somehow. Hopefully, I will grow into it, like an itchy jumper that gets all soft and frayed in all the right bits the more I wear it!
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for the journey!
Again, for past me who just wanted to know all the juicy details of my journey, I want my Substack to continue to be a record of my progress, struggles and meanders along this crazy path I decided to take when I left work in 2019!
Free Subscribers
I always want to have some free content as well as paid, so if you sign up as a free subscriber you will get regular (once or twice a month) posts in the form of life and studio updates, creative thoughts, musings and what I call “creative rambles”. Making a big mid-life change like I did, I discovered an interest in the creative process. It's not just about making work, but how… what helps? What hinders? How can I delve deeper and better understand myself and my practice? I have learned how helpful it is to reflect on what you make, and I hope by doing that here, I can help you too.
Paid Subscribers
I offer paid subscriptions for people who want extra creative content and to be part of an online community. You can expect
recorded videos:
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behind-the-scenes video diaries (vlogs)
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videos looking through my latest sketchbooks
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process videos (for example, time-lapses or films of me painting)
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Photoshop mini masterclasses
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publishing chat from my days working in-house in children’s book publishing
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Picture book and materials recommendations and chat
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whatever else is capturing my imagination at the moment
Online meet-ups
I host three live meet-ups.
Motivation monthly
I don’t know about you, but I love a chance to set goals and dream up new ideas and exciting plans. Although I am a creative, messy, often chaotic artist, in a slightly out-of-character way, I also love writing a list and checking things off. So this is an online meet-up at the beginning of every month to get your shit organised. We set intentions, brainstorm ideas, set goals, and also give ourselves a good old pat on the back with a ta-da list too!
Art Play Dates
These are free, playful and fun art sessions. Each month I choose what I want to play around with that month and you can either join in, or go off-piste, and do your own thing. I might spend a session playing with wet textures, playing around with how things bleed, mix together, blend. Other times I might grab a handful of random materials and play around with those together. Maybe in the summer, we will go outside (or I will, and you can join on your own outside). I’m hoping this will evolve and grow as it continues. All previous Art Play Dates are available as replays, and each new session adds to the back catalogue to watch and play along with.
Picture Book Club
One of my favourite things on the MA was when we looked at Picture Books together and analysed them, so I am thrilled to run this on my Substack. I announce the book at the beginning of the month along suggest some questions for you to consider, and then we have a live Zoom together at the end of the month to chat all about it! It is available as a replay afterwards for those who can't make it.
How does it work?
When you subscribe you get updates sent in the form of an email, straight to your inbox. But you can also see everything on the webpage where all my posts are collated together, or on the Substack app.
If you do choose to become a paid subscriber, as well as getting lots of creative content straight to your inbox, you’ll be providing valuable financial support for me, for which I am hugely grateful. You’ll also get early access to sales, special offers, discounts and generally get first dibs on anything new I create.