You might be shocked to realise that what you have just looked at is not in fact a collection of photographs! (I couldn’t quite believe it myself). Illustration is a medium which has always interested me. It is something that I am naturally drawn to, a unique kind of visual storytelling that I admire for its ability to integrate childlike imagination into the simplest of scenes. I don’t always tend to draw the places I go, as I often try to avoid too much realism in what I create. However, the places I visit do still inform much of what my mind conjures up, and the inspiration for much of my work comes from the emotional resonances I associate with different landscapes.

These images in particular were born out of the period wherein I decided, after a year of unhappiness, to quit my job, move out of London, and book a flight halfway across the world. I didn’t really plan to draw them, more so, they seemed to just cascade out of me. It was as if the newfound sense of freedom I felt couldn’t help but overflow and colourfully stain the page. In many ways, I think that making that choice was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do for myself, but having done, I know it was right. I think I made younger me incredibly proud in this moment and these images have a sense of her in them.