ILLUSTRATOR: LUCY BANAJI

Superminimaps Illustrator Lucy Bajali - See more: www.superminimaps.com

Hi, I’m an illustrator who lives and works in Hackney, London. Besides illustrating I’m a keen rock climber and spend most weekends in the Great Outdoors. I love climbing because it takes you to places you wouldn’t normally see and allows you to see them from a perspective you wouldn’t normally be offered. I love drawing because it allows you to show to others the world as you see it. I always return from time away with a head full of ideas and a sketchbook full of drawings.

 

Where do you live?
I live in London. Even though it’s a big city, I live in a place called Stoke Newington and it feels like a little village which I like very much.

 

Where do you come from?
I grew up in the suburbs of London. When I was a girl I used to feel a little fenced in by the rooftops of my neighbourhood and wanted to see the horizon and travel the world so I left my hometown and ended up all the way in Hackney where there are even more rooftops.

 

Where do you daydream to go next?
I daydream to go everywhere. The last trip I went on was a long long roadtrip through Europe. It doesn’t really matter where I go there is always something to see. However, when I was a child everyone in my neighbourhood caught Hawaii fever and I thought if I ever became a millionaire I’d go to Hawaii. For some reason I thought only millionaires could go there. Now that I realise you don’t have to be a millionaire I may start saving.

 

What do you like most about travelling?
I like to find a neighbourhood where people are going about their daily lives away from the hustle and bustle of the big tourist centre and stay there to get to know local ways and eat local food.

 

A ritual or thing that you cannot miss when you travel?

When I travel I’m often given little gifts by other travellers or locals I meet like little bits of rock from special places or a coin or a bracelet. I started keeping them in a tin and it’s become something I carry around with me whenever I’m away.

 

This is the fabulous minimap that Lucy illustrated for you: Secret Gardens of Rome.

 

Recommended Articles