The journey so far has been exciting, challenging and varied. My creative soul has been embedded and encouraged within me from day one...so here is a little background on my story so far...

1986 - 2004  //  Having been lucky enough to have always been surrounded by design and as such appreciate the pleasure and delight that good design can provide, I spent much of my childhood creating and making things. By immersing myself in inspiring environments I discovered an important part of my design process. Colour, light, space and texture have always had a huge effect on me and provided a catalyst for my creativity. I have two older sisters, the younger of the two being 4 years older than me. To her delight, when I was born I became her human play thing! With an incredible imagination, she would spend hours making up stories and games for us to play and I am proud to say that we had one of the most amazing dressing up boxes a child could ask for, along with 3 boxes of lego and an awesome dolls house which would keep us occupied for days at a time!

Growing up through school, my favourite lessons were always the creative subjects, although I have also always had a keen analytical mind for problem solving and science, so pretty much all of school was a joy for me and since then I have never wanted to stop learning. Of course the best bit about choosing to learn as an adult is that there are no exams or grades which is fine by me! Free to explore only the things I find interesting and leave the rest to someone else.

I took A'Levels in Human Biology, English Literature and a double AVCE in Art and Design, which basically meant that I could indulge in having 2 hours of Art and Design every day. Some of the best times I've had were in my art lessons at school where I was free to immerse myself in experimenting with different media and forms.

2004 - 2008  //  From school I went on to study Architecture at the University of Bath and loved my four years spent there. By developing and expanding on both design, technical skills and judgment, whilst learning a range of computer software including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, SketchUp and AutoCAD, my degree has served me well with my chosen path of illustration and graphic design.

2008 - 2013  //  On leaving University, I realised that although I love architecture, it is not the career for me and have since then been exploring new creative disciplines for my chosen path. My first attempt at 'Ruth Thorp Studio' was actually in the form of a couture bridal dressmaking business. Desperate to get back to some hands on creativity other than Architecture, I decided to learn how to sew. It had always been a dream of mine, but before University I had never had the patience required for dressmaking. However, now with a clear head, I set out into the wonderful world of couture. Although primarily self taught, I began by attending a college evening course and then attended some more short advanced dressmaking courses and workshops including those taken at the 'Alison Victoria School of Sewing'. I soon realised that I could apply my architecture training to develop skills in pattern drafting, dressmaking and design to produce sophisticated, elegant and beautiful garments made to a high standard. From there I set upon forming 'Ruth Thorp Studio' offering a couture design and dressmaking service. After a while, however, I became frustrated and lost; in my gut I knew that this was not the right path. And so my mum sent me a link to the 'Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design' course on Beth Nicholls' 'do what you love' blog, I signed up and I haven't looked back since.

2013 - 2016  //  Having completed the ASPD course in 2013, I formed my current 'Ruth Thorp Studio' business focusing on surface pattern design and illustration. I split my time between working in a busy Landscape Architect's office in the centre of Bath and my own Ruth Thorp Studio work producing a product line of illustrations selling them as cards and paper products online, in shops and local markets. Alongside this, I designed branding, created websites, produced illustration work for a craft magazine, designed book cover artwork for a fiction and non-fiction title as well as the internal illustrations for 'Soul manifestos and Pieces of Joy' and my most proud creations to date; had three rhyming picture books published. The first book ‘The Squawks’ was published by Raw Mixture in April 2014, the second 'Lilly Mae' is a collaborative project with my sister Sarah which was published in February 2015 and my most recent book 'Squiggle Bee' was published in November 2015. Following the success of the books, my work was chosen to be used as the front cover artwork for a literary magazine called Severine and I illustrated the entire third issue of Unpsychology magazine including cover design for the main magazine and digital poetry supplement and a series of internal illustrations which responded to specific written pieces, poetry and quotes.

2016 +  //  In August 2016 I left my sensible salary paying job to have a go at becoming a full time freelancer. Taking the leap into the unknown was scary, but extremely exciting and it's been an incredible adventure so far with so may new experiences and opportunities opening up and I'm pleased to say that with the help and support of so many wonderful people around me, my little business is now flourishing and I'm having the time of my life!