Lucy Ashton

Freelance writer | copyeditor | proofreader for the arts and creative industries – Trusted by publishers, brands, creative agencies, galleries, arts organisations, artists, museums, and cultural centres. I’m a skilled wordsmith who has supported clients with everything from 3-word straplines to 300,000-word books. Whether you’re facing a blank page, half-started draft, or ‘needs a final look’ document, I’ll help get your project publish-ready.

Hello, I’m Jess 👋 I’m a British freelance illustrator, creating playful, character-led illustrations with bright, limited colour palettes and a hand-drawn feel. I help businesses communicate ideas visually, whether that’s telling a story, explaining a concept, or making a brand feel more human and approachable. My character-driven work has been used across event branding, editorial, publishing, packaging, and advertising to help projects stand out and be remembered.    

I am an artist living on the edge of The New Forest. I use folklore, folksong, old customs, games and rituals to explore contemporary issues particularly social and economic disparity. Country living can be a strange mix of bounty and hopelessness but when people have access to their own strong and sinuous roots, their own history and stories they have anchorage and hope. I seek the stories that connect us and as an artist I’m thinking of different ways of pinning them up on the metaphorical village hall notice board for all to see. Alongside my own practice I run drawing workshops as The Village Hall Draw and community workshops around the New Forest working with Culture in Common and Hampshire Cultural Heritage amongst others.