Lisa’s illustrating history
Lisa graduated with a B.A. Hons Degree in Graphic Design and Illustration from Norwich School of Art in 1989 and since then has created illustrations for a wide range of clients, including Fortnum and Mason, The Londonist, Badger Brewery, BBC Magazines, Dorset County Council, Barefoot Books, Nelson Thornes Publishing, Oxford University Press, Sainsbury’s PLC, BBC publishing and many more
. She loves to work on commissions.
She also creates illustrations for her own ranges of greetings cards, prints and homewares which are sold in her online shops and in selected shops and galleries and for wholesale and licensing. She also loves to connect her work with folk at fairs, markets and festivals.
Lisa is currently expanding her children’s portfolio, as it is an area of the industry she’s keen to return to with her love of stories and all things narrative. She has wide experience in providing artwork for children’s story anthologies, reference books and other fiction and non-fiction areas. She also has her own picture book story ideas and has written a whimsical children’s fantasy novel that she would love to do something with one day.
Her work incorporates drawing, hand-printing and digital techniques, often including her own words and hand-drawn lettering. Themes are always in the narrative and figurative realms, with inspiration coming from myths and folktales, the sea, landscape, children’s literature and nature amongst many other places.
About Lisa herself…
Lisa was born and brought up on the outer reaches of South West London near Hampton Court. She went on to live in Norwich for four years while at Art College, a place she will always think very fondly of. She then spent five years in York, which is where she started her illustration career proper, with regular trips to publishers, magazines and designers in London, and lots of send offs of colour photocopies everywhere else, all that kind of 1990s pre-internet stuff ! In 1994 she went on a cycling holiday to Dorset, and within eight months had moved there to live by the sea in Poole, a place she can’t imagine ever moving away from.
Lisa loves being active and to get out on her mountain bike, swims regularly in the sea, and generally be outdoors as much as she can.
Her son was born in 2005, and being his mum has been her most favourite job in the world. He is now at University so she has invested in a new van to do a bit more travelling about with her art. As he is a fellow music lover, she now has a great gig buddy when he’s home!
She enjoys exploring new places, seeing new art, gig-going as often as she can, going on trips in her little ‘camper’ van, spending time with her family and friends and loves to visit the family caravan in St Ives Bay.
Favourite Artists and Writers
Tove Jansson, Eric Ravilious, Edward Bawden, Alfred Wallis, Marc Chagall, Edward Corey, Thé Tjong-Khing, Paul Nash, Frida Kahlo, Karl Larsson, Richard Eurich, Maurice Sendak, Harold Jones, Anthony Green, Charles Dickens, Jeanette Winterson, Julian Barnes, John Irving, Bruce Chatwin,
Some Favourite Music
The Divine Comedy, Keane, Blur, Gang of Youths, Everything Everything, Elton John, Michael Nyman, The Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Kate Bush, Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Barbara the Band, The Carpenters, George Michael, The Sundays, Talking Heads, LCD Soundsystem, Aimee Mann, The Cardigans, and so very many more!