Well it’s time of year again, when artists from all over the Pilbara Region gather their work together for the annual Hedland Art Awards! Yey!

This year I entered ‘Another Late One’ which was created using acrylic paint and pencil crayons on an old piece of plywood. Andy, my boyfriend brought the old piece of wood home with him one night after work, a few months ago. I have him well trained..he knows to keep an eye out for interesting materials for me to experiment with and this old board had a certain character about it even before I had started painting on it.

The knots in the wood, seemed to lend themselves as bulging eyes and as I sat and stared at it in the garden, I couldn’t help but see these two strage birds looking back at me from within the grain. I could just see them there, perched on the wire, so the painting process was really just me bringing out what was already there along with some emotions I was feeling at the time.

The painting went down well at the show, selling on the first night, with the judges saying that galleries in Perth would “exhibit my work tomorrow”. They said I was very close to winning the Art Award but just missed it. Boo. However their feedback has really pushed me to work extra hard next year and I will make sure pull out something even better.

Hedland Courthouse Gallery has been so supportive of my work since winning the under 25 category in 2010, with ‘Leaders, Followers and Spectators’, and they hope for me to do a solo show with them soon with the chance of sending my work down to showcase in Perth. They are a great bunch and I cannot wait to work with them soon.

In the meantime, I am sketching and illustrating for the Pilbara Echo newspaper, running illustration workshops with the Red Earths Art Festival and working on my children’s books. Just moved into a new house, so getting settled into the new space. Totally rushed off my feet but loving every minute…

Since signing the contract for Hodder Children’s Books  to publish This Way Up in 2009, it has been a long but interesting journey. Within the first 3 months I started to work with paper engineer Corina Flectcher, who created awesome 3D pop-ups for my book, and since then the project has got bigger and better day by day.

On 18th November 2011, This Way Up was finally launched to the stores and can now be found in most good book stores across the UK and France, and online, including Tescos , Asda and Amazon. It has been amazing.

I organised a big book launch in my home town of Oswaldtwistle, which was a blast. I hired out a lounge cafe/bar, which offered beers and coffee, and allowed me to bring my own wine along. They also let me hang original artwork on the walls and hang displays from the room. We also had canapes and nibbles for the evening too. It was lovely and the staff were excellent.

Although I was originally nervous about who might show up, on the night, the room was packed with old friends and new, and I managed to sell over 60 copies of my book! It was the first time I had done a proper book signing and it felt great! Having the support of local press was very helpful to draw in the crowds with articles promoting the event leading up to the day, as was the radio interview I did the week before.

My neighbours recommended that I did a speech on the night. I was really nervous about sounding ‘up myself’, but I said a few words thanking my parents and friends for their support. I chatted briefly about my life long passion for art, and lastly said how glad I was that all my guests were there to share the night. I also ende on the note that my guest had a role to play in making the book a success and asked them to tell as many people as they could, and suggest it as a good xmas pressie for any one with kids.

It must have worked because, within 6 months of This Way Up launching, the warehouse has run out of stock! Thank you everyone for our support. It wouldn’t have happened without you.

My top tips for a good book launch would be:

1. Provide Food and Drink (Give people an a reason to come along

2. Make as much promotional material as possible (bags, posters, displays)

3. Publicise before the event in newspapers, magazines and radio and tell everyone you meet about it.

4. Do not sell any books before your book launch – tell people to come along and they can get a signed one there.

5. Only start to sign and sell your books an hour into the evening to create intrigue and demand. A good time, is after your speech.

6. Dress up and have a ball! If people will see your happy, they’ll be happy to! Enjoy yourself! This doesn’t happen everyday! Make the most of it!

Welcome to my brand spanking new blog. Here you can have the chance to get a sneaky peek of my sketchbook, new projects and illustration ideas, aswel as keeping up to date with recent workshops and when I will be in your area.

So let’s get started…!