Rachel Burlington

 

Bio:

I trained in Textile and Fashion Design at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design prior to becoming a Retail Manager for a national company.

After several years I realised that I needed to do something more rewarding, so undertook a year Postgraduate Teacher Training at the University of Cambridge. Following that I became a Secondary Art, Design and Photography Teacher and soon after a Head of Department.

One of the most fulfilling opportunities I had whilst teaching was to lead Art trips and expeditions abroad and develop a lifelong love of travel and other cultures.  The art, textiles and environments of the UK countryside and other countries, especially Central America/Mexico and Indonesia have had a strong influence on colour, pattern and texture.

Being in the classroom inspiring children and leading a team has been an amazing experience, but I always believed that I needed to keep learning too. I enjoyed my teaching career for many years before leaving to concentrate on completing a Masters Degree in Children's Book Illustration at Anglia Ruskin University where I have developed my practice further using printmaking and digital ways of working in addition to paper engineering! 

Having finished the course in 2018 I am now lecturing part time in Graphic Design and Illustration and Illustrating from home working on my second children's book.

In 2018 I was long listed for the Book illustration Competition run by The Folio Society and The House of Illustration and also shortlisted for The World Illustration Awards, Children's books category, new talent! 'Into The Forest' was exhibited at Somerset House, London June 2018. 

My first book "into the Forest" was  published with Scholastic UK in October 2019. "Plants and wildlife are depicted with wonderful clarity — the autumnal silver birches are gorgeous — and the pages, including the cover, use intricate laser-cutting to afford peeks at what’s to come. The colours and attention to detail are breathtaking, the overall effect mesmerising." The Financial Times

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I am represented by Hilary Delamere of The Agency London Limited.

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