parenthood and creativity
Yesterday was my little Tyler's first birthday. It felt as much of a celebration of us making it safely through one year of parenthood, as it did a celebration for him.
Although I started writing and illustrating children's books well before I had my own child, I can see why so many people are inspired by their own children to start creating. To be honest, part of me had felt (and feared) my creative life would be over once our baby arrived — due to time constraints as a mum — but now I feel I'm actually being refueled and inspired as I watch him grow and develop, as he takes each new step in his life journey, and exhibits his funny little quirks. And don't even get me started on the cuteness of his round head and chubby feet.
The journey as a parent is a fascinating one, full of highs and lows, laughs and frustrations and exhaustion. I created this video for Tyler, for us, and for family and friends near and far, to mark his first year. He has watched it about 20 times already as he dances along, and each time it ends, points to the computer and demands "a-deh!" ("again!").
I hope you enjoy meeting my little bunny rabbit...
the day the tails were given out
From "The day the tails were given out"
story by Lisa Grainger, based on a Xhosa tale from South Africa
illustrations by Tina Burke
School Magazine
from the sketchbook
Sometimes you doodle
and it turns into a sketch
and it turns into a little character that you want to know a bit better
because you're sure they have a story to tell you.
vlog: my latest release!!
SCBWI winter conference, NY
This one enticed me for three main reasons:
A) The Friday, full-day Illustrator's Intensive focused on "Books and Beyond" (particularly ebooks and apps); something that's of interest to all of us. (I know there's info and discussions all over the internet about this stuff, but sometimes it's more fun to be told in person.)
B) Mo Willems was speaking
C) I ♡ NY
So I booked my ticket.
This conference is HUGE. Approximately 1200 attendees, all buzzing with excitement and chatting about the industry, and cram-packed with amazing, quality speakers. It was a beautiful thing. I love writers and illustrators conferences. I find it so inspiring to listen and learn from the best, and even more importantly, get to meet and mingle with like-minded souls. This type of work can be fairly isolated, and getting out and speaking to other passionate people is incredibly energising and uplifting, and just good fun.
My conference highlights:
• R.L Stine gave a fantastic talk over lunch - for a guy who is the king of creepy, he is incredibly funny and charming.
• Seeing the amazing work in the Illustrator's exhibition
• Pretty much everything Jane Yolen and Mark Teague said, on the picture book panel.
• Pretty much everything Mo Willems said, on the humour panel. (Though I wish he'd had longer to present).
• Meeting some Toronto authors and illustrators who promptly invited me to join their monthly meet-ups!! Yay!! I can't wait!
• Agent Dan Lazar's talk. Considering his talk wasn't really relevant to me (he was focusing on novelists), he was very funny and informative.
• Alessandra Balzar's talk (co-publisher of HarperCollins imprint, Balzar & Bray). Aside from being very interesting and informative, she's simply a great speaker and very inspiring. I love when people just know their stuff, and present it so clearly and with such enthusiasm.
• Going back to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, twice. I know it's not actually related to the conference, but it's my favourite place in the world. Even one of the security guards commented on how happy I looked.
• I got to meet up with my friend Serena Geddes, and meet and hang out with the FABULOUS group of Aussie writers and illustrators that made it over: Katherine Battersby, James Foley, and Angela Driver.
So. Much. Fun.
l-r: Serena, James, moi, Katherine, Angela
gelato in snowy Times Square? Yes, please!
Favourite quotes/take-aways:
from Jane Yolen and Mark Teague, discussing picture books:
from Mo Willems, discussing what makes something funny:
Interestingly, Mo (Mr Willems?) also mentioned that Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus wasn't initially written as a book. It was just a series of doodles in a sketchbook, until someone pointed out they could be a book. I love the idea that it came so organically, not being forced, and as a result is such a quirky and unique book. (So yes, people, perhaps all your nonsensical doodles might just amount to a bestseller yet!)
For more Mo, there is a short pre-scbwi interview with him here.
I mentioned at the beginning of this post that I was interested in learning about apps. I'll cover that bit in a fresh post very soon. But for now I'm off to doodle.
CBCA fundraiser
I did the dancing monkey :)
sneak peek - a funky fairy
Here's a sneak peek at one of the main characters ...
... but that's as much as I can show for now — more details soon, as we get closer to the publication date (it's soon)!
I had fun designing her little outfit :) And she also has a fabulously girly castle. I can't wait to see the finished product!
2010, the year that was ... busy
2010 was a busy year:
I married Damian, my partner of 10 years ... what a lucky gal :) ...
... and we had a sweet little boy, Tyler. He is truly a darling and an absolute joy.
Hello. 
So certainly a joyous year, and one of new beginnings (and not enough sleep!).
I'm gaining so much inspiration from this gorgeous little bundle of cuteness, and now I'm gradually settling in to my new life as a mother, I've been catching up with all the activity in the online world. I'm completely out of the loop, but I'm so excited to be back and join in on the conversation again! I'm looking forward to reconnecting with you all, and making new friends, too.
Tx
I *heart* bird art
I was just updating my portfolio, and came across some more images from Rosie and Ned and the Creepy Cave.
Part of what I loved about illustrating this book (aside from what I have already mentioned), was the fact that one of the main characters was a bird artist! Like me!
I have been fascinated with birds — particularly parrots — since my late teens and have been drawing and painting them ever since. I find them wonderful subjects, so elegant and interesting, and they give me infinite inspiration for what I call my "grown up art" (if you're interested you can see some of them here).
So it was fun to mix things up a bit, and create these little artworks for the character's wall in this book ...
(The little parrot with the big eyes and beak is from my first book "Fly, little bird" :)
library of the early mind
I want to see this documentary on children's book authors and illustrators! The filmmakers also have an interesting blog with snippets of interviews and articles with impressive kidlit folk including Lemony Snicket, RL Stine, and Arthur A. Levine. Worth checking out and bookmarking.
interview with illustrator sandra boynton
Ask Ethel
by Sandra Boynton
Thanks to Marisa Haedike for forwarding this link via Twitter. I love illustrator and designer Sandra Boynton's unmistakable style and humour, so it was great to see this behind-the-scenes interview with her. What a success story! Absolutely inspiring. And funny. Hope you enjoy it.
happy mother's day!
Happy Mother's Day to all those mothers (and mothers-to-be!) out there. On special day's like this I feel very far from home, and wish I could be back in Australia with my family, having bbq salmon on my brother's deck with a flock of king parrots in the tree above. But my thoughts are there, and with all of you today! I hope you take some time out to be good to yourself, and have a lovely one!
IMAGES:
"Sophie and Scarlett were helping to bake a cake..."
from Sophie Bakes a Cake
by Tina Burke
"One night Ruby had some news..."
from Ruby Makes a Friend
by Tina Burke
pop
"POP"
Directed and animated
by Bernard Derriman
After multiple viewings and laughs, I wanted to share this animated short with you this morning. It was created by Bernard Derriman, an incredibly talented artist/animator who also happened to be my mentor when I was training in animation at the Walt Disney Studio — did I ever mention how fortunate I was to have the opportunity to work with talented people like this??! He now has his own animation production house, Squetch, and pretty much everything he produces makes me laugh out loud. This piece is no exception. It's a competition entry for the Annecy International Animated Film Festival — one of the biggest animation festivals in the world, held annually in France.
The fantastic champagne effects were done by Adam Phillips, also a friend and and ex-Disneyite, who has also made a success of himself with his own animation and related projects. Both guys have each created quite the fan base and have established themselves as experts after learning and combining paperless/computer animation techniques with their solid background in traditional drawing, animation and special fx.
If it gives you a laugh too, you can vote for it here. Click on the "Vote" tab, and vote for "Pop"!
