It's the most reflective time of the year!

It's around this time of year, when the seasons shift to let in more light and the holidays allow for some free time that I tend to take stock.

This year has been surprising in some ways and I love the way that it has unfolded.
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At the beginning of 2016 I was given the wonderful project of illustrating 'The Shopkeeper's Apology' by Theraysa Gapasin, which I totally loved. I learned a lot in the process and really enjoyed bringing to life another world. Especially one where there is monsters, heroes and fairy parties!

I had planned to illustrate my own children's story 'The White Witch's Apprentice' but I forgot to send it over to my iPad Pro after I had upgraded and lost it permanently! Oooops.
I wasn't too upset though, as I was still studying about illustrating for children on svslearn.com and realised that there was a lot more I needed to learn.

It was through participating in the third Thursday prompts on SVS (school of visual storytelling) that I created the above image and this has proved to be fairly pivotal in my work. Since then I have created more and more graphic work and I have been trying to consolidate my style into something authentically me.

I have been listening lot to Andy J Miller's podcast - The Creative Pep Talk - and I was lucky enough to get my own personal pep talk with him! This was really valuable for me as it gave me an objective insight into my work and also some strategy. I think that when you are creative it is easy to get overwhelmed with possibilities and you can get lost in your own world. I could not tell what was working in my art and so Andy really helped to point me in the right direction.

Since then, I have created a range of notebooks and even designed my own mug! It's been a blast and I'm so excited to do more! For 2017 I am going to learn how to screen print so that I can start putting my designs on different items and keep things affordable. I shall keep you updated on my progress and share my process with you. I've been watching YouTube videos on how to do it and now I need to start buying the kit.

Another thing for 2017 is that I am going to take the Lilla Rogers course in illustrating for Children's books. I am really excited about this. Lilla is amazing and I can't wait to start stretching myself and learning new things.

On a more personal note, I will be going to Poland in February to see my Dad and it will be lovely to see him and be inspired by a fairy tale country!

I hope that 2017 is a great year for you! I'd love to hear what you have planned!💕✨😀