I recently reached out to my friends Naomi Ernest about an idea for a collaboration, a writer and artist from Michigan, Naomi has started writing letters to her community and I was inspired to create an illustration for her words.

To my delight she was very open to my idea and told me that she had written a piece called ‘Seven Sisters’, short pages that narrate the legacy of the women in her family, and that she would be very intrigued to see what I might create.

I sent Naomi two initial sketches and then asked her to send me a few words that captured her feelings about her Grandmother, family and the piece that she had written. She came back with he following : Nostalgia, birthright, thread, strength, mending…

Naomi told me that one of the younger sisters was doted on and that helped me pull together the composition, I then worked on how the women leant on each other and supported each other and tried to emulate that thread that binded them together.

After sketching out the initial composition I then started to experiment with some watercolours, before moving to illustrator.

After much experimentation I then decided to have the Grandmother figure standing out from the rest of the sisters as the pillar of the family, below you can see the final illustration.

I wholeheartedly enjoyed the process of creating this piece and really hope to do more of these kinds of illustrations. If you would like to collaborate for a project please get in touch.

Until next time please remember just how 'Strong and Capable' you truly are!

Much Love,

Johanna x