I'm Ali and I love illustrating British wildlife, bringing a wide range of flora and fauna to life through my drawings and paintings, where I aim to capture the spirit and form of birds, plants and animals in watercolour, pen-and-ink, or coloured pencil.

Green Sketching is a simple, pressure-free way to slow down, connect with nature, and rediscover your creativity. You don’t need to have any artistic skills, or be a nature buff able to recite the names of birds and plants. Here’s why I think you should give one of my workshops a try…

The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch is fast-approaching (24th - 26th January 2025) and I thought I’d take this moment to share with you why I love taking part in this citizen science project to observe and record the birds that visit my garden, what I do to prepare and how the activity inspires my art.

I'm really pleased to be able to announce that earlier this year I applied to Create Berwick for funding to support the development of some new workshops and I was awarded a grant! With thanks to Create Berwick's funders - the North East Combined Authority and Northumberland County Council.

My creative practice is fuelled by my love of the natural world, with much of my self-led illustration and design inspired by nature-based subjects. I really wanted to be able to support others to explore their creativity and help them to reconnect with nature to improve their wellbeing.

Thanks to this funding, I'm now a certified 'Green Sketching Ambassador' and I thought I'd just share a little about what exactly Green Sketching is and why everyone should give it a try.