FISH

A little homage to my Norwegian fisherfolk ancestors, who worked on the waters of Western Norway in the Vega archipelago, Nordland. This is a cod fish, a common catch in Norway and it is surrounded by traditional Bunad embroidery from the region. Rasmus Jensen, born Tjøtta in 1828, my third great grandfather.

WISP

In folklore, a Will'o-the-Wisp is an atmospheric light seen by travellers at night. It appears in stories throughout many countries and cultures and is said to look like a flickering lamp. Sakura fineliner, walnut and white ink, brushpen

BULKY

Pumpkins are better when they're bigger

RADIO

The use of the word 'radio' was first introduced in 1904 when the BPO requested the word was used in the service instructions for telegram communications. The word was then introduced internationally at the 1906 Berlin Radiotelegraphic Convention.
My illustration imagines how a poster advertising the event might have looked in the Art Nouveau period

BLADE

Three viking swords from the Víkingr Exhibition at The Museum of Cultural History in Oslo

RODENT

I should apologise to the great #williammorris for so blatantly subverting his strawberry thief pattern with a rat motif etc. Communicating the negative role of the rat in the theft of food and vector of disease but also the positive side, the love owners feel for their ratty pet

FANCY

Imaginary millinery

TEETH

Keep those fangs clean, ready for biting night #Halloween

THROW

Fishing line, micro beads, plastic straws, bottles, plastic bags and other ephemera in the seas and oceans. When we buy something we should spare a thought for where it goes when we throw it away

HOPE

I’m not sure this does the wonderful #davidattenborough much justice but the only thing I can imagine when I think of hope, is his passion for planet Earth

DISGUSTING

Is this really that disgusting? Online videos suggest it is!

SLIPPERY

Political satire is not my usual style

DUNE

There’s something of the female form in the beautiful, undulating curves of sand dunes

ARMOUR

When unkind words hurt your feelings; put on an imaginary duck feather cape, because it makes the mean bounce off, like water off a duck's back

OUTPOST

The definition; the remote position of something that belongs to a larger group or organisation.

Many have needed to isolate themselves indoors to provide protection from coronavirus, some have for months. But inside this isolated outpost of society are human beings with a need for comfort and contact, we should not allow loneliness be a bigger threat to them

ROCKET

It's a Kate Bush song, do I need to explain?

STORM

Illustrating a scene from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Ariel pulling the sea and the sky to make the storm

TRAP

The story of Hansel and Gretel truly terrified my younger self, but if you want some real horror then read the true story that inspired the Brothers Grimm!

DIZZY

My career was once in Audiology, working in the NHS; when I was in training I caught a virus and collapsed in the car park on my way home from my shift. I was so dizzy the ground was sliding away from me on all sides, my legs wouldn't work, it was a horrible experience that continued for a couple of years. I get episodes of it occasionally but not as much thankfully. Audiologists evaluate vertigo and balance issues and I had a lot of empathy for the 'dizzy patients' that attended ENT having had this experience. This illustration attempts to describe how I felt when I had an attack of vertigo

CORAL

This fascinating organism has a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae algae, this little clingy neighbour is what provides the coral reef with such amazing colours. When sea temperatures increase, the coral evicts the algae dudes, as a consequence the coral starves and is bleached, it can take ten years for a reef to recover from a single bleaching event.

Illustration of anthropomorphised coral throwing off the dismayed algae with 'hands', symbolic of the role humans play in damaging the environment through increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations

SLEEP

What if Frederic, Lord Leighton awoke in 2020, would he paint a beautiful black June? That would be nice wouldn't it. Is this relevant to #blacklivesmatter and #blackhistory? To recognise that there are few ‘classical paintings’ depicting black people?

CHEF

The gorgeous, delectable Nigella is one of my favourite chefs, I love her naughtiness and her disdain for clean eating. Here's Halloween Nigella being naughty

RIP

Cats, doing what comes naturally

DIG

Filing through the limbic files for the right emotion

BUDDY

Winne the Pooh and Piglet, who else?

HIDE

Here’s something different, an interactive #inktober

Stare at the black dot in the middle of the red shapes and count slowly to 20, you can blink but keep staring at the black dot on the left. Then, quickly shift your gaze to the right image of the forest and fix it on the black dot between the trees, all hidden is revealed woooooo

MUSIC

There isn't much that unites humankind but music has been found in every culture and a Harvard study has proved that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's statement, 'music is the universal language' is true and isn't that beautiful?

FLOAT

If fairies on hummingbirds manifests in your imagination then why not go with it?

SHOES

1980's post-punk subculture boots, I'm not sure if other girls felt their boots mattered but mine did and they had to be winklepickers, the toe always curled up and then the boots ate grass but you wore them all the same until the heels dropped off

OMINOUS

In folklore, a mare is a malevolent being that sits on people whilst they sleep, bringing nightmares. The Norwegians believe it entangles the hair resulting in 'marefloker' so if you get tangled hair when you wake up, maybe it's not your pillowcase

CRAWL

My dad was often showing me all sorts of insects when I was little so I have quite a fascination with beetles, this is a Picasso beetle, from tropical and sub-tropical Africa, nature is surely the greatest artist?