Josephine Birch is a print maker with a first class B.A. in Illustration and a postgraduate scholarship from The Royal Drawing School, after which she achieved a first class M.A. in Children’s Book Illustration at CSA.  

  Josephine has always been drawn to narrative and is passionate about drawing: working primarily on location, Josephine responds to the world directly around her. On the strength of her drawings Jo was awarded the Anglia Trust Travel scholarship to draw traditional British Crafts people and their landscapes and produce a book of the work. By allowing the changing weather and uncontrollable factors of working outdoors to influence the direction of the work the images take on the character of the place. Works begun outdoors are completed in situ; using sheets of paper taped together, Jo can fold up parts of the drawing and work on smaller sections. This allows her to work through wind and rain, in tough locations. These works inform her print and picture books placing the work firmly in the natural world and allowing memory and a ‘sense of place’ to influence the direction of the work.


Josephine is a workshop leader and teacher and has taught at institutions such as Cambridge School of Art and The Fitzwilliam Museum as well as various primary and secondary schools. She is currently Associate artist at Coombe Farm Studios in South Devon, and Lecturer in Illustration (BA), where she specialises in drawing and printmaking.  She is represented by Partnership Editions Gallery where she sells drawings, prints and paintings. Josephine is published across various media, including novels, picture books, clothing, and journals. Her picture book Selkie was shortlisted for the Stratford Salirya Silent Book prize and her illustrations for Goodbye Hobbs (Author, Emma Bettridge, Pub. Graffeg, 2022) were selected for Society of Illustrators 65, NYC, won the laureate award for Childrens Books at Image of the Book, Selected for the d-pictus showcase, shortlisted at Bologna Childrens Book fair and at the World Illustration awards. Josephine is currently working on a series of picture books with writer Emma Bettridge, The Other Stories. 

  Jo and her partner Wyn are currently building a home in an old industrial barn, where they plan to run a printing press. 

Clients include, Finisterre, Hatchett Publishing, Starfish Bay Publishing, The Scouts.

Her picture book Selkie is for sale here.
Her Picture Book Goodbye Hobbs is available here.

For commissions or more information please email  jr.birch@hotmail.com

@josephine_birch

@birch_press

Josie Birch