amber bassford
elijah bullard
emma burke
charmaine chan
jensen dropp
sarah frizzell
ella hodges
sam hudgins
harry kyle
ashley marquardt
nate perry
taylor sampson
A Modern Bestiary
2025, Book–Hand-Bound, Coptic Stitch,
8 x 11 inches
My work is driven by a lifelong passion for animals, both real and mythical, inspired by texts such as The Chronicles of Narnia, illustrated field guides, and, more recently, medieval bestiaries. A medieval bestiary is an illustrated manuscript that describes real and mythical animals. Since the artists of these bestiaries had never actually witnessed most of the things they were cataloguing, these bestiaries shared common subjects but were uniquely shaped by each artist’s individual interpretation of stories they had heard and read. What draws me to these bestiaries is not just the intriguing content, but the individuality of each one depending on the artist, which is what inspired me to create my own. I chose to only include creatures that I have never seen in real life but have experienced through historical research as well contemporary media; through this process, the illustration I create is solely based on my own interpretation. Like the artists before me who made their own renditions, I constructed my bestiary by building from the interpretations of others and adding my own personal ideas and preferences to make it my own.