A Bit About Me!
Hi, I'm Abbey-Rose, an illustrator who creates digital collages using photographs of litter.
I create artwork inspired by local landscapes and iconic locations, alongside more stylised pieces influenced by children’s illustration. Every piece you see is made using the same process: each colour, texture, and shape is carefully built from images of litter that I have collected and photographed.
I’m motivated by the natural world, and caring for it is a big part of my work. I focus on plastic pollution, using litter i’ve collected to create artwork that highlights both its impact and unexpected beauty. I hope my work encourages people to think more about the environments we often take for granted and why they matter.
I grew up in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, where my love for coastal landscapes first began. My interest in nature, the environment, and animals has only grown since then, leading me to study at Falmouth University, where I continued to explore and develop that connection.
After finishing university, I moved back to my hometown of Cleethorpes and became part of a local art shop In Good Hands. I'm now selling my work locally while continuing to grow my environmental art project, Picture Perfect. What began in Cornwall has now expanded to Cleethorpes, using visual storytelling to shed light on the issue of plastic pollution. Through a mix of art and activism, I aim to reveal the hidden beauty of our coastline while drawing attention to the impact of human waste on the natural world.
How it’s made.
My Collage technique is something i’ve developed over the years and has become a distinctive style i’m proud of.
Each piece usually begins with a beach clean, where I collect my “materials.” I photograph them in whatever way works at the time: sometimes in a flat lay setup, a makeshift home studio, or even quickly on my phone.
When I’m feeling organised, I sort the images by colour so I can use them almost like a digital colour palette.
I then bring everything into Photoshop, where I use the lasso tool like a pair of digital scissors, cutting out sections of each photo to build my work. I focus on interesting textures and colours, adjusting them where needed to fit the piece. Using my sketches as a guide, I build up the image layer by layer until it feels right.
Every piece is made entirely from photographs of litter. Sometimes they’re recognisable objects, but more often its tiny fragments of microplastics that I’ve captured for their unique textures.