“I like live drawing, layering textures, cooking and dancing like an idiot,” she says. “I was struck straight away by the Memories project as a really nice way to raise money and awareness for a good cause, and a great project for illustrators to have the opportunity to respond directly to some inspiring writing.”

Have a look at Jenny’s website here, or check out her project to draw all her Facebook friends in alphabetical order here.

Josh Lowe aka Deus is an multi disciplined artist, graphic design and illustrator by day and graffiti/street artist by night. Part of the Four Pence and Subism Collective, Josh can be seen creating hugh brightly coloured murals. You can’t help but smile at the cheeky characters and wild letter styles often containing his name ‘Deus’, he likes to have fun what ever the weather! Josh draws inspiration from all around him picking up on all forms of typography and colour ways.

Jason’s another illustrator we found via our Open Submissions strategy and he has created an image to go with the Joe Kriss poem Otherside. His work was chosen and we’re super-pleased to have him on board. “I love to experiment with a range of media including print, 3D and animation. My work is influenced by the natural world and personal memories often mixed together in strange landscapes and cities,” says Jason.

He found out about the project via a friend who has also contributed, and saw it as an opportunity to challenge himself and to do some good at the same time. Please take a look at Jason’s portfolio site here.

He’s got a great natural style and being young has time on his side. He’s been taking time out to decide how best to tackle a career in creativity. “I can’t wait to see the finished book, I think it’s going to be truly extraordinary, looking at the wonderful array of designers and illustrators who are taking part. I’m proud to be a part of it,” he says.

That goes for us too. The book is at the printers right now and after all the work everyone has put in we just can’t wait to see it.

This image John sent us is another charity piece he had done, for Lifeline. Nice. Thanks for getting in touch and being part of the project John.

Oscar was born in Spain, moved to America to study commercial art, before relocating to London where he’s worked in advertising as well as setting up as a freelance illustrator. If you check out his site here, you’ll see that he’s got great skills in character and caricature work – exaggeration, lots of fun, and visual puns aplenty. He’s equally happy working in Photoshop and watercolour and the texture and depth of natural media shows through in his style. We send our thanks to Oscar for joining the project, it’s great to have him on board.

Olga also works under the pseudonym 10am, and took a break from studio work last year to pursue personal projects in silk screening and print making, and she enjoys making books. There’s personal motivation behind her decision to get in touch with us, download our brief, and create an illustration for the Joe Kriss poem, Otherside. Olga sadly lost her father to cancer three years ago.

We’re all really pleased she decided to work with us, and let me tell you, her work looks fantastic in the layout. The book has been sent to the printers now – more news on our launch date soon. In the meantime, check out Olga’s portfolios here and here.

Andi Rusyn is of Polish extraction and based in the West Midlands from whence he practices his design and illustration trade on a freelance basis. His clients include the likes of Lotus Cars, Virgin Media Business and Charity Greetings. In fact, via the latter, he has previously worked for Maggie’s, the charity our book will benefit. One of the reasons he contacted us via our Open Submissions program was that he likes the holistic approach of the charity.

Going by the moniker Polski Andi, he has very personal reasons for wanting to be involved in the Memories project. Sadly, his father died of cancer when he was eight years old. “I don’t have many memories of him, but, of those I do have, the strongest is the memory of the last time I saw him, in hospital, a week or so before he died. He had a huge lump growing out of his chest. I wish I remembered more,” he says.

We asked Andi to illustrate the poem Otherside by Joe Kriss, and when the book comes out, you’ll be able to see for yourself the superb image he created. In the meantime, take a look at his portfolio here.

Sebastian’s home town is Stockholm, where he works as a graphic designer and illustrator. He does a lot of TV channel identities, title sequences, commercials and animated shorts, and you can find his portfolio here. There’s an example of his design work to the left.

“It was quite the challenge being on the road working with limited tools, not to mention the extremely limited Cuban internet connection but I’m very happy with the outcome,” he explains, refering to the illustration he sent us. We think it’s ace. Thanks for joining the project, Sebastian.

The image you see here was something he rustled up earlier for The KDU’s journal which is called Solstice. Pretty cool, huh? You can see a lot more of Alexander’s intricate digital illustrations on his website. We welcome him to the project and thank him for his contribution.

In other news, we just thought we’d let you know that another Memories contributor, Matthew Richardson, has won a rather prestigious illustration competition. The Folio Society invited entrants to design imagery with first prize being a commission to illustrate a new printing of The Outsider by Albert Camus. (You know, the existential novel also called The Stranger, about killing an Arab, which so fascinated The Cure.) It sounds like a dream job for an illustrators and big congratulations go out to Matthew, though I do wish The Folio Society would stop stealing our contributors. You can check out some of the work here.

We discovered Thom via our Open Submissions process via which new and up-and-coming artists, and anyone else who wanted to get involved in Memories, could have a shot at being in the book. We sent Thom the poem Otherside by Joe Kriss, he responded with some great artwork, and when we saw it we were sure we wanted him in Memories.

Thom dropped us a line and it was clear also that he had a passion for working with us. Here’s what he said: “When I discovered the Memories project, I instantly wanted to get involved. My uncle Charlie passed away after suffering with leukaemia when I was very young, but as I got older I was always told how similar I was to him in looks, interests and personality. So I always felt that he was still around, although I wish that I had the chance to actually spend more time with him.”

I think I know what you mean, Thom. My uncle Chris also died of leukaemia and I look a little like him, particularly if I grow a beard.

It’s excellent to have Thom Lambert on board. The image you see here he created as a t-shirt graphic for a record label. He’s inspired by things like vintage graphics, comic books and Saturday morning cartoons, which no doubt you’ll recognise when you check out his portfolio here. Thanks again, Thom.