My sketchbooks are where I play and try out ideas that may later find their way into my work. I often refer back to them no matter how long ago they were completed, and always find some inspiration – or even surprises and insights. The pages you can see here come from recent ones and are mostly about my obsession with pattern, whether drawn, gathered or a combination of the two.

Collage also finds its way to sketchbook pages – in this instance I was working through ideas for new greeting cards so there were many versions of winged ladies and men in gym attire sitting on cakes or standing on circles before I decided on the final ones.

I discovered the little men you see above in an old French dictionary, which had a full page illustrating the meaning of “gymnastique”. I love their formal look and how serious they look in their poses, and I have used these figures on cards, collages and even a wall.