I love to make books… folded, stitched, stamped, printed, and the tinier the better. Away from the computer screen, I have found this to be an ideal combination of my artistic skill set – graphic design, illustration and making things with my hands. Books are a perfect vehicle for my love of colour and pattern, and making small editions of them satisfies my need to think of ideas unfolding on a printed page. My chosen subject matter includes language, pattern and the natural world – basically anything that I find interesting.

Check out my online shop for a full range of my handmade books currently available for sale.

I often create my illustrations by drawing each individual element, scanning the outline drawings and then using them to 'stamp' out shapes from scanned rollered textures to build up the final illustration in layers. I also hand draw outlines and colour up in Photoshop, or create layered vector illustrations using principles of printmaking. So the end result is nearly always digital, but with the aim of keeping the feel of more traditional illustration.

I work primarily for voluntary sector organisations under the banner of goodthinking communications – click here to find out more about this work.

Collage is one of my favourite ways of working - I never quite know how the illustration is going to turn out when I start… I find it's more spontaneous to 'draw' with a scalpel, and I enjoy the limitations of a restricted colour palette of papers. 

I always enjoyed printmaking at school and my interest was reignited by a summer course in 2006... I have had inky fingers ever since. I always gravitate towards relief printing, as I enjoy the process of carving. Early experiments with lino and woodcuts have led onto an enduring love of carving rubber stamps - the scalpel is definitely my tool of choice. But I also enjoy monoprinting, which gives slightly random results which cannot be replicated on the computer.

Pattern and colour are at the heart of all my illustrations and I create patterns in my sketchbook and preparatory work that often ends up as part of a final piece of work. It also plays a major role in my handmade books, whether as endpapers or as the subject of the book itself. Many of my patterns are created with hand carved rubber stamps, and I am endlessly fascinated by the potential of a repeat pattern, especially when you introduce colour overlays to really make it sing.

I have loved drawing as far back as I can remember, and it's the starting point for all my work. So I always have a sketchbook on the go… plants, birds and buildings are all favourite subject matter. And I can never resist a museum collection for filling a few pages of my sketchbook. My motto is always 'draw more'.