Here’s my very own copy of the beautiful picture book ‘Lola and Grandpa’, written by Ashling Kwok and published by Little Pink Dog Books, with my illustrations! Wonderful to see it finally in print. More books will be on their way, in time for 1st April 2020 publication date. Book Launch details to follow soon!
Pre-orders are available now at Little Pink Dog Books https://littlepinkdogbooks.com/2020-books-2/lola-and-grandpa/
I was excited to learn that I had been long listed for the 2019 Aspiring Writers Mentorship Program, with my picture book entry, ‘Lucy’s Menagerie’. On 28 November, along with other long listed writers, I attended the celebration and announcement of the winner of this wonderful mentoring program, which this year was supported by Scholastic Books.
It was a great opportunity to catch up with friends from the children’s book industry, meet new ones and to discover the winner. Lucky Trudi Sommers was presented with the 2019 Charlotte Waring Award and the Mentorship - congratulations to Trudi!
We also had the pleasure of listening to three speakers from the children’s book world, Rebecca McRitchie writer and Senior Editor of Scholastic, writer Yvette Poshoglian and writer/illustrator Aura Parker.
A great evening!
Here I am with the happy group of long listed writers, including the winner Trudi Sommers (seated front centre), with our CBCA certificates.
Thrilled to see my short story Something from Nothing, has now been published in the latest issue of The School Magazine (Blast Off Issue no.10 November 2019). It’s a retelling of a Ukrainian folktale, just in time for Christmas. Filled with little creatures, magical Christmas decorations and of course Christmas cheer. Beautifully illustrated by Anna Bron.
Illustration by Anna Bron, from my short story Something from Nothing.
Exciting news to announce: my very first published picture book Lola and Grandpa, written by Ashling Kwok, with my illustrations! This beautifully written and illustrated story is to be published 1st April 2020 and is now available for pre-order from the publisher Little Pink Dog Books.
https://littlepinkdogbooks.com/2020-books-2/lola-and-grandpa/
Front Cover of Lola and Grandpa
Here’s a great opportunity to support the endangered beautiful orangutans! Kathy Creamer, writer, illustrator and co-publisher at Little Pink Dog Books, has created a new picture book (The Big Old Rambutan Tree) and all net proceeds will be donated to support the conservation work of Orangutan Outreach based in the USA.
This is Kathy’s third book aimed at conserving orangutans and follows previous books entitled My Cousin, Ah Meng (Singapore, 1998) and The Old Man of The Forest (UK, 2002). Both these books raised considerable funds in their host country for orangutan conservation.
As with the earlier books, Kathy has donated all her time and the funds raised via the following crowd funding initiative will support the printing of the book.
Indigogo Crowd Funding Site: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-big-old-rambutan-tree-conserving-orangutans/x/17241973#/
Thrilled that my poem ‘Bushman’s Clock’ has been published in The School Magazine’s latest issue of Countdown (July 2019 Issue No.6).
Kookaburras are one of my favourite Aussie birds, even if they do sometimes wake me too early in the morning!
Here’s my drawing, ‘The Bush Telegraph’ - Kookaburra, Sulphur Crested White Cockatoo and Magpie sharing some news…
Very excited to receive the Little Pink Dog Books Catalogue for upcoming releases in 2019 and beyond. So many wonderful and diverse stories being told with gorgeous illustrations. I’m really looking forward to the publication of Lola and Grandpa, a beautiful story written by Ashling Kwok accompanied by my illustrations, scheduled for 2020! Take a look at the great collection of picture books to be published this year.
Visit https://littlepinkdogbooks.com for details of the wonderful picture books soon to be published.
My little bear sends Christmas greetings and wishes for a very Happy New Year, with blessings of good health and wonderful experiences in 2019.
Beautiful natural gothic window to the sky - you can see why medieval craftsman and stained glass artists were inspired by nature. Here some leaves from a tree in Sydney, Australia and here the gorgeous stained glass of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. Tous les deux, lumineux!
You have to wonder, do trees watch over their branches and leaves?
More of God’s beautiful creativity quietly on show - hydrangeas glowing silently in the shade.
I’ve just had a lovely time celebrating with my publishers, Little Pink Dog Books and Christmas Press, both wonderful Armidale publishers who are doing great things in the Australian publishing world.
Beautiful books were celebrated at The Children’s Bookshop Beecroft, including See Monkey written by Sophie Masson and illustrated by Kathy Creamer, Trish Donald’s Tissywoo and the Worry Monsters, Rebecca Fung’s Princess Hayley’s Comet (illustrated by Kathy Creamer) and Christmas Press’ latest enchanting Christmas offering, A Miniature Christmas.
All good books for Christmas gifts!
My wonderful, talented and extremely busy publishers Peter and Kathy Creamer (Little Pink Dog Books) and Sophie Masson (Christmas Press).
It’s that time of year again, when the beautiful, luscious jacaranda flowers bloom… Oh to be a bee, and immerse oneself in the petals and clouds of purple, pink and blue.
Oh, to be a Bee…
The 100th Anniversary of the Armistice of WWI, reminded me of a beautiful poem by Christina Rossetti, titled ‘Remember’. I referenced this poem in a ballet of the same name, which I choreographed many years ago on the themes of war, love and loss.
May all those who died, rest in peace in God’s loving arms.
And here is the poem:
Remember
By Christina Rossetti
Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann’d:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.
I’ve just taken part in a wonderful travel sketch class with artist Sheila Posner at Gallery 307 in Sydney and picked up some great tips. Of course, there was no ‘teleporting’, so we worked today from some of Sheila’s many trip photos, imagining (longing..) being there.
I’ve wanted to loosen up my work a bit and have more confidence when drawing en plein air, and especially with adding loose washes.
Sketching/painting ‘on the run’ is a no-holds barred way of creating art - really anything goes, but it’s good to know what works well.
Remember, what you’re creating is not a photograph so you don’t need to include every detail - feel free to edit as you go! Sheila prefers a non-waterproof ink pen as she enjoys the spontaneity of ink runs and it’s really quite liberating. She also recommends jotting written notes on the image - whether it’s the location, the country, the time of day, what you had for lunch… Any other thought bubble at the time of creating the image. All of these things will help to ‘bring back the moment’ later.
What a great way to document a trip, with a visual travel diary. Am definitely inspired to do more!
Here are some of my sketches today - this one’s Venice.
This one’s from Spain.
This one’s from Italy.
Teacher Artist Sheila Posner demonstrating with initial line work.
I had a great time interviewing talented author/illustrators Aura Parker and Jules Faber at the Illustrator Spotlight Panel, during the recent CBCA Northern Sydney Sub-branch meeting on Wednesday 8 August.
I was able to tease out some fascinating facts about their backgrounds and development as artists and their varied experiences working in the children’s publishing industry. The audience were enthralled by their quite different approaches in creating their illustrations in particular.
Who knew that Jules Faber developed his techniques in his early years at such unusual venues as nightclubs and weddings, and that he is soon to have his very own ‘Jules Font’!
I had a myriad of questions ready to ask, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough time for everything. My last question was what do they do when disaster strikes, and it was reassuring to know that these two talented artists can make mistakes and it is what they do to avert disaster which makes them the professionals that they are…
We also had time for some ‘Book Babies’, including mine!
A wonderful night was had by all.
Here I am with the talented duo, Aura Parker and Jules Faber, asking some tricky questions…
Yvonne Low with Jules Faber and Aura Parker.
My ‘Book Baby’ moment
Had a great time at St Kevin's Primary School, Dee Why on 8 August. Presented to two groups of lovely students, Years 3 and 5. We had fun exploring Paris in 1910 with Jack of Spades (Sophie Masson, Christmas Press) and went flying into space with The Fastest Ship in Space (Pamela Freeman, Second Look Publishing).
I was part of a small group of authors and illustrators presenting to the school including Jan Latta, Belinda Murrell, Jules Faber, Brydie Wright and Anne Donnelly.
One of my internal illustrations from The Fastest Ship in Space.
Found myself recently at Angel Place, Sydney in the gorgeous laneway, with evocative art installation 'Forgotten Songs' by Michael Thomas Hill. For me, it's such a special place - a place to look up, listen, imagine and wonder... And it's also a reminder that a bird flying free is a beautiful thing....
Michael's work commemorates the songs of fifty birds once heard in central Sydney, before they gradually moved away due to European settlement. There's a detailed explanation on the City of Sydney Council website explaining the story behind the artwork and the creative team who put it together - truly an 'audio-visual' feast.
As Michael puts it: the work invites 'contemplation of the city's past, its underlying landscape, and the sustainability issues associated with increased urban development.' It really is an 'interplay of past and present'.
The birds call as you move down the laneway - and the calls change whether it is daytime or at night. Don't forget to look down as well - there are plaques in the stone work naming the featured birds.
'Forgotten Songs' at Angel Place, Sydney
Here's my illustration entry for the recent New England Writers' Centre Illustration Prize Competition, on the theme of 'A Fun Day Out'. The brief was to create an illustration suitable for a children's picture book.
My illustration entry for 'A Fun Day Out'. The toys are going on an adventure of their own, for a fun day out.
On Saturday 30 June at The Children's Bookshop Beecroft, a fun double-book launch took place hosted by wonderful Paul Macdonald. This featured a new edition of The Fastest Ship in Space by Pamela Freeman, for which I created the illustrations, and The Lighthouse at Pelican Rock by debut author (and Pamela's husband) Stephen Hart, with illustrations by Kathy Creamer.
A great turn out was on hand to hear Cassandra Gold's beautiful words launch Stephen's time-slip novel, followed by Christmas Press Publisher Sophie Masson's launch of Pamela's exciting space novel.
Front Cover of The Fastest Ship in Space (Cover and internal illustrations by Yvonne Low)
Always charming Sophie Masson launching Pamela Freeman's The Fastest Ship in Space.
I'm showing one of my illustrations from The Fastest Ship in Space. Two of the main characters, Katie and Sam are enjoying zero gravity inside their space ship!
Internal illustration from The Fastest Ship in Space.
Author Pamela Freeman talks about how she came to write her space adventure novel.
Sophie Masson, me, Pamela Freeman, Stephen Hart and Cassandra Golds.
Yvonne Low (Illustrator) with Pamela Freeman (Author) and The Fastest Ship in Space. I'm holding a delicious space rocket biscuit which Pamela baked especially for the launch!
Sophie Masson, Paul Macdonald, Yvonne Low, Pamela Freeman and Stephen Hart.
Sophie with The Lighthouse at Pelican Rock, me with The Fastest Ship in Space, dynamic author-duo Pamela and Stephen.