Paper Bird Longlist

I’m excited to announce that I have been longlisted for the Paper Bird Illustration Exhibition and Thames & Hudson Illustration Award! Paper Bird is an Australian children’s book shop that also provides workshops, clubs and exhibitions to allow children, authors and illustrators to connect with stories and each other. According to Paper Bird’s website: “The Paper Bird Illustration Exhibition and Thames & Hudson Illustration Award celebrate stories in art, recognising the growing interest in illustration and the significance of visual literacy.” I truly believe that independent bookshops, and children’s specialist bookshops in particular, are vital for raising new generations of readers, helping them develop curiosity and compassion through a love of reading, so I couldn’t be happier to have been longlisted for this prize.

Congratulations to everyone else who made the long and shortlists, including fellow Chelmsford illustrator Diana Mayo who I admire very much! It’s wonderful to have been selected amongst so many excellent illustrators for this exciting, new award, and I’m excited to see all the entries together in the online exhibition soon.

This illustration was created as part of my entry to the competition, responding to the theme of Flight. As 2026 is the National Year of Reading, I have been using it as a prompt for new portfolio work, including this illustration. I was inspired by the journeys that stories can take us on and the liberation that can be found through reading and literacy. I really wanted this piece to feel handmade, so I used a mix of collage and painted textures, as well as simple materials like felt tip pens. The resulting illustration has sparked a new direction for my work and I can’t wait to try out more artwork in this style.