Illustration Agent - Northern Illo
It’s party time at Grey Earl Towers, as I’m now being represented for my illustration work by the fabulous Rachelle of Northern Illo. We met at a Trade Fair for my greeting card work in London and made things official earlier this year.
To say I am excited about this partnership would be an understatement, it’s given me a great jolt of inspiration to make things happen with my picture book work and to keep developing this side of my practise. I’ve been working on a story of my own and beavering away in sketchbooks, working on characters and environments which I’m looking forward to sharing soon. In the past I’ve made work for children which I felt had to have a particular aesthetic and moral message. Sometimes I found starting with these intentions made the work quickly feel a little tired and forced. In this new approach I’m taking, I’m leaning into the things which I’ve personally found creatively stimulating over the years and utilising some of the more unusual ‘skills’ which I think have marked my work out as distinct, (namely humour) as a catalyst for the story and characters. It’s been refreshing to work this way and has been quite freeing. The words have flown nicely to the page (some a little sticky, but getting there) and I think I’ve found a style of illustration to really suit this part of my practise. I’m looking forward to sharing more….
I was chatting to a fellow illustrator pal who I bumped into yesterday about representation. I was saying how I felt really fortunate to have got the opportunity but the thing I’m most grateful for is the confidence I’ve got from it. When working on your own on a creative practise it is hard to know sometimes, where or how your work lands and that in turn can effect your creative output and confidence in it. Inevitably there is an audience for it somewhere, whether it is more mainstream or has its niche, but having an agent take some of that sense of uncertainty away is really valuable. Hopefully it leads to some beautiful creative projects in the future, but for now, I am just delighted to be working with a bit of spark, finding the joy in illustration again and taking the time to consider what work I want to make moving forwards.
For anyone interested in working with me on an illustration project, I’m delighted to say, you can contact my agent for all enquiries!
hello@northernillo.com
In other news, I took some time over the summer to work on an illustration for my folio, based on Channel 4’s, The Change by the marvellous comedian, actress and writer, Bridget Christie.
The Eels Cafe - ‘The Change’ - Channel 4
I really enjoyed the mystical folk-tale themes and iconography in the show along with the strangely alluring quality of the (almost falling down) Eels Cafe, held together by distressed timbers, rusty nails and unseen familial threads. I seemingly have an appreciation for shanty type sheds in woods (what man doesn’t!) and I like how it serves as a communal spot in the story for the residents as their ideology develops in unison with the menu.
Unfortunately the show never got renewed by Channel 4 for a third and final season, but I’m really hoping Bridget can find a way of continuing the story. Here she is on the gram for social updates on her work and live events.
