Illustration: Beautifully wistful work from the wonderful Lizzy Stewart

Lizzy Stewart last featured on the website all the way back in 2009 as one of our graduate selections of that year. Back then we were bowled over by her mysterious illustrations that enmeshed tales of Eastern European folklore within those beautiful, dreamlike drawings of hers.

Four years on and we still love her work, especially her ability to lead us into people’s lives through their bizarre collection of objects from old tins to miniature houses to figurines of men brandishing swords.

Confessing that she is inspired by things like folk music, buildings, bears, Johnathon Safran Foer, the sea and anything sad, it is not surprising that her work is at times a wonderfully peculiar haze of the everyday mixed with the curious and a hint of nostalgia just to move us that little bit more. This combination is exemplified the book cover she illustrated for Annie Proulx’s award-winning novel The Shipping News. But it was her most recent feature in WRAP magazine was what reminded us of her brilliance, showing us just how great our mundane everyday practices can be.