Dr Lorna Sheppard
PhD, MA, PGCE, FHEA

Lecturer

Department of Art and Music

lorna.sheppard@solent.ac.uk

Biography

Lorna is a lecturer in visual communication for Level 4, Level 5 and Level 6 modules at Solent University. She is also a Level 5 tutor on the BA (Hons) Graphic Design programme. She was previously external examiner for the graphic design programme. She is now external examiner for the BA (Hons) Illustration programme at the University of Gloucestershire.

BA (Hons) Illustration UWE 1997
MA Printmaking UWE 2008
PGCE University of Plymouth 2012
PhD University of Portsmouth 2023
Fellowship of the Higher Education Authority (Advance HE) 2019
Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts 2020
Professional Development Course for External Examiners (Advance HE) 2023

Further information

Having achieved a First Class Honours Degree in Illustration at the University of the West of England in 1997, from the start, this achievement has set the standard to which Lorna works toward. She has over 26 years’ experience as an illustrator with clients as diverse as BBC Magazines, to Jung Giftware in Germany, to Woodmansterne and Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton. In that time Lorna’s work has featured in the AOI Images annual and in publications on contemporary illustration. The diversity of these projects has allowed Lorna to explore the numerous platforms that illustration inhabits from commissions for use in the public realm to surface pattern design. Her knowledge is constantly developing, keeping up with the innovations taking place in the creative world today.

Her illustrative practice has been further enhanced with the achievement of distinction at master's level in multi-disciplinary printmaking in 2008. During this time, she specialised in screen-printing techniques and the use of ceramics as a canvas. Lorna was a selected runner-up in a national competition organized by British Ceramic Tiles to develop designs for bathrooms. Thus, her practice began to diversify toward surface pattern and interior textiles, establishing a further new visual language.

Lorna’s later projects have shown how she has continued to actively enhance her practice by developing solutions from often challenging commissions. Drawn from both independent and collaborative methods of practice, this level of engagement exemplifies her commitment to achieving professional outcomes that are both meaningful and expedient.

Since 1997 Lorna has been a member of the Association of Illustrators.

Prior to her role at Solent University, Lorna was programme leader for the BA (Hons) Graphic, Media and Communication course at University Centre, Somerset, helping students to achieve three D&AD New Blood pencils. During this time, Lorna participated in the successful revalidation of the degree programme for the 2021/22 academic year whereby she collaborated with a number of agencies, both internally and externally, to create 18 new modules to reflect the diversity in employability skills and the entrepreneurship required in succeeding in the creative industry.

Lorna has over ten years' experience working in HE.

Lorna has recently completed her PhD. Thesis title: Illustrated British Cookbooks, 1939-1965: A Close Reading Of Cookbook Illustration as Textual Communication and Creative Practice

In her thesis she explored the British illustrated cookbook between the years 1939-65 and the interplay between author and illustrator. Her research has largely focused on the illustrators Alan Cracknell, Len Deighton, David Gentleman, John Minton and Juliet Renny.

Lorna’s research interests include the cookbook illustration of food writer Elizabeth David, illustration for the Stork Margarine Cookery Service, and Len Deighton’s cookstrips.

Lorna has disseminated her research at a number of conferences nationally and internationally.

Lorna is an avid baker and is inspired by the visual language of food. As her PhD research has led her to the illustration of recipes, Lorna’s current work details the dialogue between the cook/chef and recipe ingredients.

Lorna’s research draws upon the related critical fields of design history, social, cultural and women's history, food history, the history of the book, and cultural studies. Lorna is currently looking at opportunities to publish her research in these areas with a view to submitting a book proposal in 2024.