I am engaged with narrative in general, stories not only in books, but in other media too. I like collecting packaging, postcards, wallpapers, stickers.
I am currently putting together a book to be ready for Bologna,as part of a conceptual and practical collaboration, as well a creating artwork for a picture book. My most precious book is ‘Seasons’, by John Burningham, the original with huge fold out posters, and my books by Brian Wildsmith. Chagall’s paintings and these books made me want to be an illustrator. I collect picture books or artist books, as much for content, or cultural idiosyncrasies, as for layout and pace experiments, innovative or resourceful formats, such as abstract narratives from the Maeght Foundation, for example the Sleeping beauty, told through a system of icons and coloured shapes.
I am always interested in ‘thinking’ through drawing (in the widest sense), finding visual solutions to communication briefs; I enjoy the challenges: the permutations along the way are as interesting as the outcomes.
Teaching is exciting because you are working with other people to develop their skills and approach, whether it’s in the process of building good foundations, or strengthening their own visual voice.
It is also part of a reflective process, through exchange, and research, an opportunity to share outcomes from the deepening of enquiry.
