Courtyard Studio

And this is where it all happens! Courtyard Studio is an amazing place. Based in an old run down (we like it like this!)  factory building tucked away in the historic backstreets of Clerkenwell, or is it Bloomsbury? It depends if you turn left or right out of the building I suppose! The whole building is full of creative people ...illustrators, authors, actors, filmakers,textiles designers, photographers, animators... and more.
The actual studio has been in existence for almost 30 years and it's a bit of an institution. It sits alongside The Drawing Room, another illustration studio. So many well known and respected illustrators and creative people have worked here ( I nearly wrote 'lived here' as it feels like that sometimes! ) over the years and many are still in touch. There's a wonderful web of illustrators all over London, all over the country, all over the world connected by this place, that's for sure.

And a new illustrator has just arrived in the studio, Sally Kindberg, and I'm just enjoying looking at her shelves slowly getting filled up with her books and just seen there's a little tin monster holding a pencil! Looking forward to more! 
Amber Hsu creates her artzine "Tiny Pencil " from here . She's just sitting at her desk now getting the next issue ready. Bridget Strevens-Marzo, children's picture book author and illustrator sits over by the big window and is finishing her new book for The Tate. Adrian is a lecturer and portrait artist.Then there's Nicola Gregory, amazing watercolour artist and greetings card illustrator. And me ...at the moment sitting at my desk at the back of the room looking out over the studio and through the windows beyond  so I can see what's going on! On the desk are scatterings of paper covered in scribbly drawings .. the beginnings of a couple of new stories. There's a pig, a little black cat and a drawing of an old toy rabbit in front of me..... Let's see what happens!

My desk is in the left corner ... with Immi keeping a watchful eye on it! And if anyone wants to know what that big object at the back of the room is ... it's a Grant Enlarger! We call it Cary Grant and it is either vintage or antique or just plain old ! We still use it .. the easiest way of reducing and enlarging drawings in an instant. Anyone know of any others ?