Now what?
Reflections on Finishing an Illustration Masters
So this week I got my results for my masters in illustration and I’m delighted to say that I got a distinction which I’m so happy with but it got me thinking
“Where do I go now?”
I’ve got a couple of projects that I did on my masters that I’d love to submit to publishers so I’m going to put that down on my mind map. I’ve been studying for the past few years and during that time Covid happened as well, so my physical contact with the outside world has been limited and it would be healthy to get out a little more, so part of that has been doing more gardening. It’s something I can do from home, it’s outside and it’s a change from looking at computer screens so I’ve been really enjoying doing that. Nature is a huge inspiration to my illustration work, and through my studies I have come to appreciate the links between art, artists, nature and gardens as spaces that link humans to nature. I’ve been binge watching the BBC series the good life which I’ve seen clips of before but never the full series. It’s a little dated at times, but It’s nice to watch that on rainy days when gardening isn’t possible, or on days when I’m feeling too burnt out. I have been feeling burnt out from the masters. It’s quite a concentrated finish towards that final hand-in. All of your energy and brain power is going towards this final submission and it’s a huge last push from two years of work Into this one submission to try and get it done. It was both exhilarating and scary at the same time!
It’s nice now to have a little bit of a rest and a breather as I reflect on how to move forward.
During my Wind in the Willows project, through collecting all these memory letters, my tutor suggested that there was this archival side of my practice I hadn’t really explored before. I knew I was inspired by nostalgia and stories so these elements do feed into this archival quality and I do enjoy exploring historical influences in my work so one of the things I’m considering doing now that my masters is over is starting a volunteering role with a local archive. It’s quite a big step for me because it’s been a while since I’ve done an in-person role like this, but I think it could be really interesting.
In terms of the future of this blog, I’m not sure on its future direction. I wrote my last entry at a time when I was really needing to write something and I think this is the same now. I’m needing to put my thoughts down in a way that connects with my work to try and take stock of everything that I’ve learnt so far from the masters and thinking about where to go next. I’m hoping to use the blog like a notebook to record some of these thoughts and bring you in on the process. One thing I would like to do more of I think is the idea of filming some of my work and the process behind it and putting that on YouTube. I dabbled with it during the masters and I do like editing videos so I think this could be a possibility.
I have potentially got a couple of exhibitions coming up, which sounds incredible to say and not something I would have expected to say even six months ago. And that is really due to the masters and my tutor Shafali Wardell encouraging me to engage and network to situate my work in a context and connect with my audience.
So I’m hoping to apply for an illustration conference that has an exhibition attached to it. This is called Paper Artefact and it’s happening in September 2025. This would be a good opportunity to show my pop-up book as well as some of the letter submissions, it’s being run by a collaboration, I believe, between Plymouth and Falmouth Course tutors. One of the leaders organising it is from Plymouth, John Kilburn, who was actually my tutor on my BA course. I’ve not taken part in a conference like this before so again this is another big step but having studied at both places, it seems like a friendly way in to exhibiting.
My second exhibition is a solo exhibition and is hopefully happening next September, so September 2026, and this is to do with the letter collecting that I’ve been doing in Ivybridge library and it’s going to be in the gallery space above the library called the Atrium Gallery. This space is open to local artists who would like to share their work so I’m hoping to display my illustrations from my Wind in the Willows pop-up book on the walls along with the letters some of which I want to fold into paper boats. I think that will link the theme of the book in really nicely with peoples Memories so you get an image of the social impact of Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows (1908).
Overall I think this blog post isn’t so much a manifesto or a list of promises or plans; it’s more just getting those ideas and little considerations for the future down on paper as it were. They may not be achieved immediately but are little glimmers of hope moving forward with my Creative Career.