Notes from Northumberland

The story of a self-taught illustrator and designer living in England’s most northerly county

Alison Edwards 20/02/2023 Alison Edwards 20/02/2023

Learning to Draw and Paint British Mammals

When it comes to learning new things, do you prefer to develop your skills using books, or by taking a class?

Alison Edwards 13/02/2023 Alison Edwards 13/02/2023

Bari bear – the emblem of Berwick-upon-Tweed

Next to the Berwick-upon-Tweed Railway Station, you’ll find a carved wooden statue of a bear, who is affectionately known as ‘Bari’.

Alison Edwards 09/02/2023 Alison Edwards 09/02/2023

Berwick-upon-Tweed to Keswick – illustrating a car-free holiday travel map

I wanted to create something that celebrated the fact that our family chooses not to own a car and demonstrate that it is (just) possible to travel around the UK by public transport.

Alison Edwards 03/02/2023 Alison Edwards 03/02/2023

Capturing the colours of Berwick-upon-Tweed

It was this sense of colour that I wanted to capture when I started thinking about developing a series of illustrations that reflected how I saw Berwick. I wanted to create my own iconic set of colour swatches – bold blocks of colour that I could see in the landmarks around me.

Alison Edwards 29/01/2023 Alison Edwards 29/01/2023

My year of making a pattern every week - the first 3 months

I decided to commit to the process: 1 seamless pattern (and associated artwork), created from scratch each week and shared with the Instagram challenge hashtag for a whole year!