Artists : Jasmine Foster

I grew up in beautiful Cornwall and after a brief taste of city life I realised that a lot of my inspiration comes from nature and exploring, so at the moment I am living in a tiny cottage crammed full of books, paper, empty birdcages and cat figurines in the countryside.
Living here seems to provide the perfect setting for me to try to capture an element of imagination in my work. There are so many mysterious and hidden places to explore and so many interesting characters lurking about!
I like to travel to cities and busy, vibrant places as much as possible, to keep myself and my ideas moving, to come back and mix it all together and produce something with lots of different influences.
I wanted to be an illustrator way before I really understood what illustration was. I have always loved drawing and painting for people and communicating through my work.
I completed my Illustration degree at University College Falmouth in 2007 and have since been finding my feet and doing bits and bobs for independent magazines, but my real passion has always been for Children’s book publishing. I think books themselves are such wonderful things; they provide us with new ideas, new worlds to explore, escapism and imagination, so especially important for children in a culture so full of technology and media. To see your work in print is an amazing feeling, to know you are communicating something to all those different people. I can’t think of a more lovely job to do!