Kirstin Barrett

Kirstin Barrett is an illustrator based in Suffolk, born in 1995, who graduated in illustration in 2018. Her work is rooted in folklore, high fantasy and a whimsical, cosy kind of storytelling, and it carries a strong presence of the Suffolk countryside and the wildlife in it, with hares, stags and British birds among her favourite subjects. She has pursued her work through exhibitions, workshops and commissions for businesses and private collectors, ranging from custom fantasy pieces to surface and brand design, and has exhibited at The Bell Gallery in Bungay.

She is a traditional artist and her preferred mediums are watercolour, gouache and ink. Her surfaces run from cold press paper to fabric and wood slice, and she combines mediums to explore the kind of pattern and texture found in nature.

In December 2025 she began the illustration project Eravale, which brings her interest in wildlife and nature together with her interest in mystical storytelling. It is a fantasy realm developed through sketchbook work, finished illustrations and "artefacts", inhabited by towering antlered creatures known as Guardians and by a small masked people who live alongside them and treat them as the makers of their world. Eravale is an ongoing personal project, and she remains open to commissions and collaborative work.