Odd Creatures 2016

In 2015 I took part in a ten-week Introduction to Printmaking course at Leeds College of Art and Design. I absolutely fell in love with traditional printmaking and all aspects of the work it entailed.

In 2016 I decided to create an alphabet book for my kids. Overall, the project took about 2 years. I drew each of the animals onto Japanese Vinyl and hand-printed each one. A personal book for the family, each animal is presented in a deconstructed and simplistic form alongside a brief story and facts. (E.g. The dog is my sister’s dog in Oklahoma. Friends and family are represented with other places and animals.)
The animals are brought together in a map at the end of the book to help with geography and to weave the stories together.

The facts in the stories are real and are intended to teach children about each animal’s region and culture. The map then shares the animal’s geographical location. While the original book was in a larger and higher quality format, I reformatted it into an affordable size available for purchase.

These books are available to purchase on my Esty Shop and in hard copy from my booth at art fairs.

Since publishing the book, I now also sell bespoke prints. People with young children in particular, are interested in framed prints with their children’s initials.

This was such a fun project and I am hoping to produce more books in the future using the same idea. Watch this space!