Watercolour illustration of two robins bonding

One of my watercolour illustrations for Homecoming nature journal. Food whether your a Robin or human, is always a great way to bond 💕

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch Results

 Hope you enjoy my RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch footage.

Urban Fox Watercolour Illustration

January is breeding season for foxes. 💕 Hope you enjoy my fox illustration from Homecoming nature journal by the wonderful Melissa Harrison. Urban fox out looking for the right foxy lady 😉

Watercolour illustration of a Song Thrush

Hand painted watercolour illustration of a Song Thrush added to my portfolio. I love their warm brown colours and beautiful chest markings 😍

Hand painted watercolour illustration of a Tawny Owl

 "Between dusk and midnight, you might be luck enough in the UK to hear a hoo-hooo of a male Tawny owl. Especially on a clear, dry night with a good moon"

British Wild Birds Watercolour illustrations for Nature journal

Some more of my illustrations from "Homecoming." The nature journal written by Melissa Harrison, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

I'm a bit of a bird nerd, so very happy to get to illustrate lots of my feathered friends for this book.

This is a selection of some of the birds featured throughout the book. On the left are the rough pencil sketches which get approved by my client before I begin the final watercolour paintings

Watercolour Ocean Life illustrations for Aqua Paints Range

Another exciting collaboration with the team at Relish. I created a series of ocean life themed watercolour illustrations to be used in an Aquapaint range.  

The Aquapaint ranges are so thoughtful and inventive! Developed for people with Dementa, users can paint by brushing the white sheets of cards with water and experience the pleasure and enjoyment of the feeling of painting by watching the pictures magically appear!

New Watercolour Rabbit Illustration.

New watercolour rabbit illustration.

Red Squirrel Awareness Week

It's Red Squirrel Awareness Week!!

New autumnal Red Squirrel watercolour illustration.

Time to celebrate and highlight the plight of one of the Uk's most endearing woodland creatures. 

"The red squirrel is the UK’s only native squirrel species and was once widespread across our islands. Red squirrel populations have declined since the introduction of the grey squirrel in 1876, and it is now thought there are less than 140,000 red squirrels left in the wild."- Red Squirrels United.

Red Squirrels United is the biggest ever partnership of academics, practitioners and volunteers working together on a programme of red squirrel conservation. Their work focuses on nine main stronghold areas of red squirrel populations across Northern Ireland, England and Wales. For more information on the Red Squirrel and conservation work, visit http://www.redsquirrelsunited.org.uk

Watercolour bird illustrations for Active Minds nature observer bird book

I have recently had the pleasure of collaborating on a project for Active Minds, a London based company who create amazing, mindfully designed activity products for people with Dementia.

Ben Atkinson-Willes is the founder of Active Minds and shares in the video below his own experiences with his grandfather when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. It was the desire to find more creative, less patronizing solutions to help improve the quality of life for people living with dementia that led to Ben founding creative Minds.

"There are approximately 800,000 people in the UK living with dementia, and an estimated 36 million people worldwide. The UK’s rapidly aging population will only continue to increase pressures on the care sector, and families and society more widely. Active Minds hopes that by providing meaningful and engaging activities for nursing and residential homes it will help reduce problems of depression, boredom and isolation so commonly associated with dementia. Our recent social impact report showed that 100% of professional carers and 80% of family members felt the activities improved the quality of life of people with dementia." - active minds

A selection of some of the sketches sent to Active minds before they are signed off and I begin to paint them.

Some of the commissioned watercolour artwork coming together...

I am definitely a strong believer in the therapeutic benefits of connecting with nature, providing positive effects on wellbeing and mental health. 

The Active Minds bird book is an engaging and mindful visual guide. Carefully designed to support and encourage people to recognise, observe and identify birds in the garden, on walks, or in the park or countryside. Each bird has been selected because they are visually bold and clear and can also be found in most gardens.

Active Minds have also got a Build and Feed product so you can make your own bird feeders to attract the birds to spot from the book.

Watercolour Bird illustrations

Just a little taster of a commission I am looking forward to sharing with you, hopefully in the next couple of weeks!