Belinda Downes was born in 1962 and studied textiles at Loughborough College of Art and Design specialising in embroidery. She had a number of jobs including antique textile repair and costume designer before becoming a freelance illustrator and embroiderer. She uses fabric and stitch to create fairy-tale characters and whimsical scenes, inspired by historical English gardens, country houses and period costumes. Belinda’s work is used to illustrate children’s books and is exhibited internationally.
“Lynda Lye has been inspired by the wonderful childhood fantasies of bizarre fairytale adventure stories set in magical forests, resplendent with quirky images and wonderful illustrations of talking monsters, animals and trees. She still has all these storybooks from childhood, thanks to her dad, an avid oil painter/artist, who began reading incredible tales to her when she was still a foetus. It is no surprise that she has always felt she belongs to another world of enchanted forests, filled with magical animals and imaginary creatures, after being fed with (too much) bizarre fairytales as a child and thus take inspiration from the world created in her head.”
