Julia Ashby Smyth at the Inspiration Exhibition:

Julia Ashby Smyth does sketches, drawings and doodles of mythical and Manx beings. She draws the different events for the TT and the island. She also does commissions for people. Her style is very detailed and I like how she manages to give the character life in her drawings. Some of her drawings are very funny, like her Mad Manx Cat pictures and her seagull drawings too.

My favourite drawings are Manannan, Moddey Dhoo and Tehi Tegi. Plus some of the funny drawing too.

My photos:

An interview with Julia Ashby Smyth:

1. What age did you start to draw?

I started at the age of three. My mother and I would play squiggles. She would start a squiggle and I would try to make it into a picture.

2. What inspires you to draw?

Natural forms, like bare trees and the different rivers. The Manx Folklore and stories inspire me as well, including the mythology of the island and during snippets of conversations. For example, one guy started telling me about when his grandmother was younger, I got inspired by a small piece of information. And when another guy accidentally said "Komono Dragon" instead of "Komodo Dragon" and I was like: "Yes! Komono....!!!" And I started drawing it. It's still in progress, however.

3. Do you have a specific favourite?

I'm very attached to Manannan, Flight of the Elves and Tehi Tegi. It's all because of the history of their stories and that how they're still with us today.

4. If you could choose a different choice of career, what would it be?

To be an Archaeologist. Especially for the Bronze Age. I love how they manage to make the jewellery with the limited technology that they had in those days. And I love the whole discovery of the age as well.

Some images by Julia Ashby Smyth: