Elder-flower Cordial: This piece is a simple celebration of the summery drink, elder-flower cordial. The image was drawn across multiple layers before being scanned and edited. Ink on paper, watercolour, pro-markers, 2018.
Four Calling Birds: This image was created as part of a series of images to illustrate the carol, 12 Days of Christmas. Ink on paper, digital painting, origami paper overlay, 2017.
Partridge in a Pear Tree: Also part of the 12 Days of Christmas series. Ink on paper, digital painting, origami paper overlay, 2017.
Hilltop Town: An amalgam of memories of travel in France and Cornwall, and the early morning light of seaside villages. Ink on paper, pro-marker, origami paper overlays, 2018.
Seedpods: This image grew out of an interest in dormancy, resurrection and rebirth in nature. Staedtler Drawing Pens on paper, origami paper overlay, 2018.
What A Find!: This image deals with discovery and the notion that incredible discoveries may be hiding just beyond our reach. Although finds like this are incredibly rare today, it’s nice to imagine that there is always more out there to discover. Ink on paper, pro-marker, origami paper overlays, digital painting, 2018.
The Big Picture: This image is part of a series on the unseen world around us. The geoglyphs are based loosely on the Nazca Lines of Peru. Although they’re impossible to see from the ground, a change of perspective lets us see “the big picture.” Ink on paper, pastel, coloured pencil, digital painting, 2018.
Stargazing: This image was originally born as a desertscape (note the scrubby plants), but an interest in the Atacama Desert in Chile and the astronomical arrays there led to its development as an image which deals with our innate curiosity about the world beyond. As an avid sci-fi fan, this image is close to my heart and asks the question, “Is there anybody out there?” Ink on paper, origami overlays, digital painting, 2018.
The World Unseen: Many cultures developed myths and legends to help explain the world around them. This image also draws on the concept of “the unseen,” and the beguiling notion that the stars tell stories, and the heavens are populated with heroes, as in the Greek Myths. The constellations seen here include Canis Major, Orion and Monoceros. Ink on paper, coloured pencil, digital painting, origami paper overlays, 2018.
Be Mindful of our Mental Health: Although more and more people are getting help, we need to take care to nurture our mental well-being, and destigmatize talking about mental health problems. The impetus for this image was a 2018 NHS report that found that the group at highest risk of mental health problems in the UK are young women. Ink on paper, pro-marker, 2018.
Aging Well: Japan has the fastest aging society in the world, a problem which the UK is also experiencing to some extent. A key question of our times should be how to ensure longer years of good health into old age. This image explores that concept, including retention of independence, social interaction with others and continuing inter-generation interaction. Ink on paper, pro-marker, digital painting, 2018.
A Street in Hội An: This image encapsulates my memories of my first visit to Vietnam in 2018. I wanted to portray the atmosphere of the streets at night and the intensity of the colours. Ink on paper, pro-marker, digital painting, origami paper overlays, 2018.
Where the Heart Is: Being an expat living in a foreign country is a wonderfully rewarding experience, but no matter how happy you are, I feel that for many expats there remains part of you that does miss “home.” This image is an exploration of that feeling; that even familiar architecture can evoke memories of your “other” home. Ink on paper, pro-markers, 2018.
A Yorkshire Country Garden: A stylized depiction of my mother and her dog on an uncharacteristically sunny day in Yorkshire. Ink on paper, pro-markers, 2018.
Wall of Knowledge: In an age where people read less and less, I wanted to highlight the importance of knowledge gained from books. Ink on paper, pro-markers, 2018.
Porcelain Dogs: This images was created as part of a self-initiated project to write and illustrate a children’s book about a pair of porcelain Staffordshire Dogs who are reunited by chance. Ink on paper, pro-marker, digital painting, 2018.
Frog Makes It: This image was created for a submission to the Pinpoint Gallery Children’s Book Contest (Tokyo, 2017), about a workaholic frog who quits his job to follow his dreams. I endeavored to create a simple “paper-cutout” style in this illustration. Digital Painting, 2017-18
Look Deeper: This image was based on sketches I made on a visit to the sea side at Hayama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, in 2017. It portrays the fascination of rock pools, and the importance of environmental preservation and clear seas to support their diversity. Ink on paper, pro-markers, digital painting, origami paper overlays, 2018.
Rice Paddy: Based on a sketch made during my own experience planting rice fields in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, in 2018. Ink on paper, pro-markers, digital painting, 2018.
Burning Tyger: This image illustrates the first line of The Tyger by William Blake (1794). “Tyger Tyger, burning bright, /in the forests of the night…” Ink on paper, pastel, coloured pencil, digital painting, 2018.
