I hope you’re well, dear reader, and thankyou for supporting my art.

I’ve never been very good at doing regular newsletters, but life has finally calmed down a bit and I realised I should probably let you know I’m still kicking about!

(I found out I have strong signs of ADHD recently… who’d ‘a thunk it…..)

2025 has been a really good year for me 😀 I did a bunch of online and virtual markets (shout out to the good folks at The Magpie Market who have been so welcoming). I plan to use this newsletter to let you all know about future events - it’s always nice when familiar faces say hello!

For now though, here’s a couple of highlights from the past year!

Manga Workshops with NCC

I was lucky enough to be offered an incredible opportunity to host some manga art workshops with Northumberland County Council in October. They were commissioned as part of the Make Mine Manga exhibition, on loan from The Lakes International Comic Art Festival! My art is very inspired by manga and I still love the art form (as you can probably tell 😉). I did some drawing lessons and a talk about the history of manga, both of which went down really well.

(It was meant to be a brief history, but it became a strenuously researched deep dive into the development of modern manga genres, right from early woodcuts to the modern day! Thankfully people found it engaging rather than incredibly dull! By the way, I found out I have strong autistic traits as well….hmmmm…).

It was lovely to speak to other manga fans in the region, and heartening to see so many teens and kids who love manga/anime and Japanese culture generally. (I did feel like a bit of an oldtaku when talking about my favourite series, though 😅)

(Did I mention it was paid?? Even better!!)

Cambois Art Show

I also took part in the Cambois Art Show, held at The Tute - a creative institution held at a former Miner’s Institute in Northumberland. They’re doing some really great creative things, bringing a programme of wonderful cultural events to an area that often gets overlooked. I’m part of the writing group there so I may end up sharing some prose and poetry with you all, too!

(Cheeky plug: prints of the above pieces are available in my Ko-fi shop.)

Other News (inc. Cat Update)

On top of all that, I also got a new day job! I still have to work full time (mortgage to pay and all that), but the new role is much less stressful, which is so much better for my work/life balance. The dream is to eventually drop a day or two to make more time for art, but I’m already feeling much less burnt out.

And of course, it would be remiss of me not to provide the all-important Cat Update. As some of you know, my tuxedo cat Django sadly and unexpectedly passed away in November 2024. Schultz was getting lonely, so I ended up adopting him a little brother… meet Crowley the black cat! Would you believe he’s my first fully black cat??

Schultz was a bit hissy at first, but they’re getting on very well considering it’s only been 6 months (and that Schultz is 12 in September!). Crowley is an absolute dream. He purrs nonstop and loves to lick my face (and his brother, and cardboard boxes, and the blinds, inexplicably). He was adopted from Helping Pets North East - please do consider them if you’re looking for a furry friend.

Another cheeky plug - I still have some Yule cards available if you’re looking for something a bit different. You can opt for a 3-pack which is slightly discounted compared to buying single cards. I’ll probably retire this design once they all sell as it’s been around a while, so grab ‘em while you can!

Looking to the future…

I don’t have any markets planned in yet (online or IRL), but I’ll be sure to update with an events list as soon as I do. I could host it on my website, which is badly in need of an update, so I’ll probably look at that during my Xmas time off from work.

I’ve been debating getting back into streaming on Twitch - it’s a good way to share my art and keep me in a drawing habit, but it’s a real slog trying to get Affiliate level so I can monetise it more. Let me know if this is something you would like to see!

I am slowly getting back into music production after a long time away - it’s been 5 years since my first EP so I should probably make a follow up…

(In the meantime, you can listen to ‘Miscellany’ on all streaming platforms now!)

Well, that’s about it for now. I’ll be closing the Ko-fi shop after Friday as that’s the last posting day for First Class anyway and it will be nice to have a proper break.

I wish you a happy, restful Yuletide, and all the best for 2026!