If you’re still curious, I’ll tell you a bit more about my journey:
I was born into a fun but chaotic artistic world in Lisbon, with both my parents being actors and my grandmother an arts teacher and painter. By the time I was five, I was voicing characters for Sesame Street and dubbing animated movies. One of my favorite memories was voicing young Nala in The Lion King when I was ten. It was the first Disney movie dubbed in Portugal - before that, we imported the Brazilian-portuguese versions (their version of The Little Mermaid is still my absolute favourite).
At 19, I made the big move to London on my own, after spending a perspective-changing summer interning at BLT Communications in Hollywood. I didn’t get into the course I wanted right away, but I didn’t give up and got accepted the next year! I loved my time at the London College of Communication. I was lucky enough to have my work published in The AOI’s Image 32: The Best of Contemporary British Illustration 2008 and to participate in a few collective exhibitions during my time as a student.
After graduating, I started freelancing as an illustrator and occasionally facilitated workshops at The Sorrell Foundation. But in 2010, I moved back to Lisbon because my dad was terminally ill. To get through the dark times, I decided to expand my skills by diving into postgraduations in Multimedia Arts and in Scientific Illustration, while simultaneously building a freelance practice.
For many years, I worked closely with the music industry, creating album artwork, merch, music videos, and even designing newsletters for bands and events. One of my most exciting projects was co-creating the short-lived Pernas de Alicate, a project that blended music and images. We collaborated with artists from both Portugal and the UK, and it resulted in some fun music, videos, a publication showcasing our outcomes, and an event that brought it all together.
In 2014, I started teaching and fell in love with the new challenges and joy it brought me. By 2016, I’d created the Illustration for New Media course at ETIC, which gave me the perfect platform to combine this new passion for pedagogy with my knowledge of Industry. Since then, I’ve been developing my approach to teaching and feeding off of my students’ energy to keep my illustrations fresh (Colin Robinson style).
My illustration practice has been a mix of personal and commercial projects. I’ve had the chance to collaborate with so many amazing people and organisations, and I’m truly grateful for everyone who trusts my conceptual and visual skills. But I also love developing my own projects and deep-diving into research, so, while stuck at home during Covid, I used the free time to do an MA in Illustration at Falmouth University (online) and developed an alter ego to explore fun new creative directions. I’m not revealing the alter ego’s name here though, or the ridiculous work I’ve developed with it so far - you’ll get to see it if you attend one of the conferences where I present my research.
At the moment, believe it or not, I’ve moved back to the UK! I am enjoying the cold sunny days of Liverpool (warm weather was never my thing), while working on a couple of illustration projects. I am also teaching online on the same MA Illustration I graduated from, at Falmouth University, and learning about Education and Social Justice at Liverpool John Moores University.