Lorna Dolby-Stevens interviews Bea Baranowska about her wildlife illustrations and her artistic plans for the future.

Can you tell us about the process of making your work and the materials that you use?

I work entirely digitally, either on my Wacom tablet and Photoshop or on my iPad Pro. I love the freedom with the iPad Pro that I can draw everywhere and anywhere! I like the variety between the two. It's a lot easier to draw free hand on the iPad, but with the Wacom I can work on a larger scale and I'm quite attached to some of the Photoshop textures too! I always use Photoshop for large projects like maps, but love to draw my animals with the iPad.

Was there a pivotal moment when you decided to follow your path as an artist?

I've always loved drawing from a young age, and always knew it was something I wanted to do. I studied Graphic Communication at Bath Spa University, which was a very broad course covering a lot of creative outputs. It was year 2 when we covered illustration and I really felt in my element. I've never been hugely into graphic design (although I do appreciate a good font!), and a lot of the first year was very heavily typography based. The course was great like that, but if I could go back now I would love to do an Illustration course.

What inspirations from the natural world do you transfer to your pieces?

The patterns and colours in nature are a huge inspiration for my work. Colours are a really big one - I just love to create bright and colourful artwork to cheer up people's walls. I am half Polish, and quite often I find folk art elements creeping into my work. I find they complement nature perfectly. I find daily walks so important for taking inspiration. My illustration 'The Brambles' is inspired by the scrub land just up from my house. A totally wild and overgrown patch of land, teeming with brambles, butterflies and so much wildlife. It's a great place, and a bit too overgrown for most other people so I've never met another soul there!

How do you want people to feel when they look at your work?

I really strive to bring the outside in with my illustrations. People are more and more disconnected from nature, so I hope to bring people back to it through my work. The idea with my A-Zs was to help people identify species they encounter all the time. I've had some lovely feedback on the A-Z of bees. People are using it as a guide to work out which bees they are seeing in their own gardens!

Does your work reflect anything of yourself?

I love exploring and I love collecting things on my travels. Shells on the beach, leaves whilst on a lovely country walk, bird’s feathers - anything beautiful in nature, I love to collect it. I think this is reflected through many of my posters that are collections of things. I'm a bit of a hoarder anyway. I love collecting antiques and books which I also use as inspiration in my work. I love bell jars, and this inspired my illustrated bell jar collection.

What is the best piece of advice that you have given, and what would you say to someone who wants to pursue art as a career?Just keep going. No one becomes successful overnight.

No one quits their day job on the first day. You have to work hard, really believe that you're heading for success and most importantly of all... just enjoy the journey. One of my favourite sayings is “Remember when you wished you were where you are right now”. I remember opening my Etsy shop and getting my first sale. It was great, but I never would have guessed that one sale in a few years’ time would lead to me being able to work full time doing what I love.

What brings you happiness every day?

My chickens and my daily walks. One of my chickens called Mona gives the best hugs, and always cheers me up when I am feeling down - pet therapy is really a thing! It helps that she always makes me laugh, and tries to steal mint when she thinks I'm not looking! Fresh air is a great medicine too. If I'm feeling stuck for inspiration, or I'm having an artistic block then a little walk usually sorts me out and gets me feeling inspired again.

What are your artistic plans for the future?

I'm always looking to expand my product ranges for my shop. I want to expand from stationery to more homeware and gifts. I'd love to illustrate more books. The absolute dream is to co-write (with my fiancé) and illustrate an enormous coffee table bird book filled with the most exquisite illustrations of wonderful birds! It's just a dream at the moment, and a few scribbles on paper, but hopefully one day it will take flight!

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK Bea ON BEHALF OF BLOOM IN DOOM FOR leading us through the meadows and inviting us to share in her experiences of the wild. BEA’S INTRICATE ILLUSTRATIONS REMIND US TO LOOK MORE CLOSELY AT THE SMALLER CREATURES AND TO APPRECIATE THE BEAUTY THAT SURROUNDS US.

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Illustrator - Bea Baranowska