Viva Lewes Issue #162 March 2020

THIS MONTH’S COVER ARTIST
This month’s cover artist, Emma West, cares a
lot about caring. “Not just in terms of caring for
people, but for the environment too. Most of my
work focuses on nature, particularly local wildlife,
and plants. My aim is to reflect on how beautiful,
strange, yet so fragile the natural world is. And
most importantly, how vital it is.”
Emma takes a lot of her inspiration from beloved
children’s illustrators such as Raymond Briggs,
Beatrix Potter, Judith Kerr, and Tove Jansson,
as well as from the illustrations in RSPB bird
spotter guides. She enjoys watching videos of
David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg, and
has written and illustrated her own book, Mother
Nature Has A Cold, with a view to hopefully
changing some hearts and minds herself.
“I had this idea of a character – Mother Nature
– wandering across the world. She helps plants
grow; she makes sure animals are thriving. One
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