It’s great to hear about crafts people who are able to forge a full time living making and selling their work. One such person is illustrator and printmaker Andrew Berwick. His cheery, contemporary illustrations have graced the pages of national magazines and a cookbook. He has since gone on to create his own range of limited edition artwork, home-wares and prints inspired by local wildlife and nature. I wanted to find out more…
Who are you and where are you based?
I’m Andrew Berwick, an illustrator and printmaker based in Preston. I design and make my own range of handprinted and handmade homeware and stationary products. I work from a studio in Broughton which I share with various other businesses including designed by Natalie who illustrates her own children’s products.
I saw that you studied at North Wales School and Art and Design, what skills did your course equip you with?
I have lived in Preston all my life, but moved to North Wales in 2009 to study illustration at Glyndwr university. There I explored a variety of illustration styles with different media but specialised in printmaking for my final year and degree show. It was during my final year I explored a variety of printmaking methods including etching, collagraph, linocut and screen printing.
How would you describe your work?
I worked as a freelance illustrator (and still do) and since graduating have worked on a variety of briefs including the illustrations for a published cookery book, logo design work and editorial illustrations for a magazine. I always knew I wanted to produce my own range of products and between projects and a part time job I started illustrating and printing products I could sell.
Two years later and I am now working full time designing and printing my own ranges. I specialise in linocut printmaking and carve all my designs by hand. I use oil based inks to roll the ink onto my lino cuts and print them traditionally. I create limited edition artwork, homeware products including cushions and lampshades and my own stationary which includes greetings cards, notebooks and tags. I mix all my own inks and hand print all my own fabrics and paper products using screen printing methods.
Nature and animals feature in your work, what draws you to them?
I have always been drawn to nature and wildlife is often the starting point for many of my illustrations. I currently live backed onto Cuerden Valley and there is an abundance and variety of wildlife visiting the garden.
For Christmas I have designed a range of woodland prints and products which include foxes, badgers, squirrels and hedgehogs which can be purchased from my online shop .
Where else can people buy your wares?
I am also stocked in a variety of galleries and independent gift shops throughout the U.K. These include Life’s Little Larks in Preston, Podarok in Cambridge and Oxford, Creative ID in St Ives as well as many others (all stockists and addresses can be found on my website). I exhibit at fairs, shows and artisan markets regularly and all event dates can be found on my social media and website.
Andrew Berwick will be exhibiting at Crafty Vintage at Brockholes Nature Reserve, Preston on the weekend of 28th-30th Nov 2014 and the Christmas Markets on the Flag Market in Preston from 13th Dec 2014 -5th Jan 2015.
Andrew Berwick can be contacted on facebook , twitter @aberwickdesign and Instagram andrewberwickillustration