Bookish Adventures - Summing up 2023!

It seems all my family and friends were commenting about how quickly 2023 whizzed by. Do you agree? I felt compelled to share & celebrate some of my highlights before moving on to 2024…

Unboxing Book Week Bear!

It was a thrill to have Book Week Bear published in July! This involved the opportunity to meet with author Rory H Mather and go on an adventure around the city signing copies of Book Week Bear. thrill of publishing Book Week Bear to the joy of visiting schools and meeting enthusiastic book fans, it was a year filled with unforgettable moments.

The following day, Rory and I had the opportunity to launch the book at Better Read than Dead bookshop. What a great time we had, celebrating the Book Week Bear with fellow book lovers.

Book signing

But it wasn't just about the books. Getting the chance to visit schools and talk to students about illustration was a privilege. At North Narrabeen Public School I got to spend the day with creative children and work with them on their own illustrations. Their curiosity and enthusiasm were infectious, and it was heartwarming to see their faces light up as we talked about storytelling and creativity. At Covenant Christian school the Kindergarten class created their own ‘Book Week Bears!’

I really do feel grateful for all the wonderful experiences and opportunities that came my way in 2023. Here's to another year of creativity, inspiration, and new adventures. I hope you enjoyed sharing them with me.

Early 2023 Illustration

Hello there! Summer has just ended and I am looking forward to cooler weather. For those of us in Sydney we finished summer with a heat wave and now the few cooler days we have had, are bringing joy to my bones!

We also had a wedding in the family! Such a joyous ( and busy) occasion. I had the privilege of designing the invitation, the illustration was also used for the order of service- a little bit different to my usual style!

Here’s a little update of current projects I have been working on. My studio is a busy place and I always have a few projects going on concurrently. Let me share the one taking up most my attention at the moment…

It’s exciting to share with you about my current project which I am working on behind the scenes. It is a book that is being published by Wombat books called Walls. It's been a joy working on this project, I love the daily discipline of bringing characters to life.

However, one of the challenges faced by picture book illustrators is not being able to share any of the illustrations until the release date. As an illustrator, I'm always eager to share my work and get feedback from others. But I also understand the importance of keeping the illustrations under wraps until the book is ready to be unveiled. Then the fun begins!

Recently, I also had the opportunity to take part in SCBWI Create a Palooza, and it was such a fantastic experience! I listened to some amazing speakers and learned so much from them about the craft of illustrating for children's books. I also had the chance to participate in portfolio assessments, which was incredibly helpful. Getting feedback from industry professionals helped me to plan and grow as an illustrator, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity. Huge thanks to the SCBWI East team- I know this would have been a huge amount of work to facilitate!

I continue feel incredibly fortunate to be able to do what I love - bringing stories to life through my illustrations. It is always a delight to be entrusted with authors ideas. I am also in the process of writing my own stories, we will see where that journey takes me.

Little Mister Is Here!

Hard to believe but finally Little Mister gets a Sister is released!!!

Written by Samaria Lemke and published by Larrikin House it is the sweetest story of the effect of a new sibling in the home. Hysterical situations are captured beautifully by Samaria’s text.

Our Bookish days review stated, ‘This is an extremely relatable story seeing those little signs of jealousy peek through when everyone is fussing over the new baby… Little Mister Gets a Sister is humorous and light hearted and would make a wonderful gift for new big brother and sisters.”

ASA Mentorship Award Winner!

Wow, still coming to terms with this, but super excited to announce that as of last week, I am one of the winners of the Australian Society of Authors Mentorship awards! This will mean the opportunity to work with another successful Australian illustrator - what a privilege! Thanks so much to the judges, looking forward to getting started.

Creative Kids Tales Anthology 2 Launch

What an exciting day I had last Saturday 26th October at the launch for the Creative Kids Tales 2 Anthology. I had the extra thrill of having an illustrations chosen for one of the covers of the fun flip book- one side Enchanted one side Things That Go Bump! The launch took place at Harry Hartog Miranda on a very busy shopping day. When I arrived the table was set so beautifully by Georgie Donaghey to look spooky with many delicious scary treats.

After an introduction by Georgie, many children went to sit on the mat and hear a couple of the stories from our amazing Creative Tales authors.

It was so great to meet many authors and illustrators and see how popular the Anthology was. I’ll leave you with some pictures from the day.

In the special chair!