About me: The basics
Hello! What would you like to know? I'm a comic artist, writer and occasional educator, aged thirty-something and living in Birmingham, UK. Although I've only been a professional since 2006 I have, like practically every cartoonist who writes things like this, been drawing on and off for as long as I can remember - I don't know if it's in my blood or in my brain, but I've never been able to quit.

I'm almost entirely self-taught, having not had any formal art education beyond A-level, although in 2005 I did take part in a Midlands-based scheme called Stripsearch (no sniggering at the back, please), which was aimed at identifying and assisting local artists who were interested in breaking into the comics industry. I would say that being selected for that scheme gave me the courage I needed to take a step into the unknown and try this freelance illustration malarky, so hats off to it.

CV
My major claim to fame is being the first female artist to produce a regular strip in The Beano in its 70-year history. Oooh! Aside from that, I draw Robin Hoodie for Egmont UK's TOXIC magazine every fortnight, and have contributed two strips to Britain's newest comic, The DFC, for David Fickling books. Aside from that, my client list includes MAD Magazine, Ilex Publishing, Harvard University, BBC West Midlands, Accent Press UK, Carroll & Graf Publishing, and The Prince's Trust (through Hi8us Midlands Ltd), as well as several privately-commissioned pieces. In November 2006 I won first prize in the Comic category of the International Manga and Anime Festival. I'm also actively involved with the Midlands Comics Collective, and co-edited their 2006 comic anthology "MC2".

Commissions
If you would like me to be involved in a project you have planned as either an artist or writer, please drop me a line using the Contact link above and we can get talking. If you're involved in the arts or education fields, you might also be interested to know I can supply workshops and talks based on making comics. Again, click on the link above if you'd like to find out more.

The Art
I work in a wide variety of media, ranging from watercolours to digital tools such as Photoshop and, as you can see from the Gallery, my style is extremely flexible. My fields of particular expertise are character design and funny, cute or bizarre illustrations. I draw fast and, having worked in publishing for so long, know exactly what deadlines are.

Influences
Generally, I find myself mostly drawn to artists who either can achieve maximum effect with minimal linework (Steven Silver and Bruce Timm, for instance), or those with a mastery of facial expression and characterisation (such as Aaron Alexovich and Jill Thompson). As you might have guessed from all that, clarity and personality are what I'm most interested in achieving in my drawings.