I’d like to tell you that I had a happy childhood, full of fun, love and books… but it wasn’t. So I ran away to a secret kingdom inside my head; a place of endless possibilities and simmering magic. I escaped with paints, crayons and paper and I drew everything better. I drew my hopes, my dreams and all the animals I really needed - mostly horses and rabbits.I didn’t like school. I was dyslexic before they had invented a word for it and when they did, l couldn't spell it. I wanted to be a vet, a jockey or some kind of artist. Dyslexia barred me from veterinary college. I did briefly become a jockey but ever since, I have been some kind of artist. I have been a tattoo artist, a sculptor, a product designer, a bookbinder, a stained glass artist, a signwriter, a pub sign painter, an equestrian artist and an illustrator!As a mature student, I studied undergraduate and postgraduate illustration at Falmouth. It was during the second year of my BA that I was blindsided by children’s picture books! The nature-loving, technical-perfectionist in me, had already planned a career in scientific natural history illustration. I had prejudged children’s picture books to be unsophisticated and twee. I also assumed children's picture book makers were girls-next-door who wore Alice bands and ballet flats - I was so wrong! In writing and illustrating children’s picture books, I had found my true north. I won highly commended in the Macmillan prize but I never swapped my DMs for Mary Janes.Picture books brought me full circle; back to the secret kingdom inside my head, back to a place of endless possibilities; worlds I could propagate, friends I could create, challenges to overcome and battles to be won…But always, to happy endings.

The story so far…