Troll Carnival

Take a closer look at the bottom of your garden, under the bush, at the end of your street, or maybe even under the railway bridge. Who do you think lives there? And what adventures do you think you could go on together?

That is my aim through my art, to capture young imaginations and bring existing places magically alive, as anything can be possible if you believe.
Lewis Davis at Parthian Press gave me the opportunity to explore my imagination through the Troll Carnival book series for children. Success came to me not long after graduating, at 23 I had my first book published ‘Tai and the Tremorfa Troll’, set in Cardiff, featuring a friendly eel-eating troll and a little boy named Tai who lives in Tremorfa.

The Troll character developed through a great deal of research and sketching, everyone has an image in their mind of what a Troll should look like and this is mine, however I am sure there are many more different types of trolls out there! I spent a large amount of time closely observing nature and real places in South Wales that appear throughout the Troll books using my mind's eye to bring them to life. This gives the story that believable value.

‘Tai, Troll and the Black and White Cow’ is the second in the series, on this occasion they go on a journey to Brecon to meet the Trolls Auntie at the farmers Market, however by accident they end up bringing home to Cardiff more than what they intended.

All the artwork is passionately produced by hand, which I consider has an intimate warmer quality in which children respond well to, it is difficult to achieve these results from computer designs. Seeing my artwork published gives me a vast amount of pride but it is the many positive responses from the children who view my work that gives me the greatest sense of achievement. I hope to inspire those that if you work hard enough at something you can make your dreams come true.

This has been an exciting time for me and I feel this is just the beginning. Keep an eye out in Tenby for Tai and Trolls next adventure to the beach.