If you follow me on social media you may have seen this... finally, I can reveal what I have been keeping under wraps for the past year.

I am so very excited and honoured to share my recent collaboration with Australia's oldest family-owned chocolate maker and the best chocolate ever, Haigh's Chocolates.

I am in awe at how incredible the reproduction of my artwork is, on the tins in particular. The Frog Tin is my favourite as when all the seperate components are stacked on top of each other, the reeds and the little legs hanging down from the frog, line up perfectly. So clever and just beautifully crafted.

Printed on the inside of the beautiful hamper box you will see some of the original sketches of the Bilbies. It's this attention to detail that makes Haigh's Chocolates so wonderful to work with (and the chocolate!)

My thanks to John at Monarto Zoo for taking me behind the scenes in order to spend time with their Bilbies and gather my research to produce the illustrations for this range. Available now from all Haigh's stores and online from their website.

Be sure to click the link below for the chance to win one of four Bilby & Frog Packages from Haigh's Chocolates. Entries close TOMORROW Wednesday, 28 September 2022.

Book Week was amazing! 3 weeks, 14 Schools, thousands of students, lots and lots of drawing! From elephants to pelicans and all kinds of crazy sea creatures, we had an absolute ball. This is by far my favourite time of the year when I can inspire those kids who think they can't draw, to pick up a pencil and simply copy the marks I make on paper.

Book Week bookings have already started for next year. If you would me to visit your school simply email my Booking Agent, Becky Lucas, and lock it in.

If you're looking for something fun to take the kids to in the school holidays, come and join me and a fabulous group of South Australian Authors and Illustrators for Storytellers at Holdfast.

An opportunity for everyone to come and share stories with local creators and have your books signed. Dymocks will be our official bookseller on the day.

Additional presenters are… Katrina Germein, Vaughan Duck, Kristin Weidenbach, Mike Dumbleton, Janeen Brian, Alys Jackson, Kylie Covark, Danny Snell and Mem Fox.

Saturday 8 October, 2022 from 1.15pm - 5pm.

Brighton Performing Arts Centre - Brighton Secondary School - 305 Brighton Road, North Brighton.

Suitable for all ages

Tickets are $5 plus booking fee (non-refundable) and can be made by clicking the link below or by contacting the library – Glenelg 8179 9555 or Brighton 8229 9988.

Please join me for a fun school holiday workshop! Have you ever wondered where my ideas come from? How do I draw my characters and what does my sketchbook look like? Well it's pretty busy, messy and not all drawings work out. But I don't call these mistakes, I call them learning experiences.

Bring the kids along for a fabulous and fun learning experience to see just what goes into making a book. I'll have some of the original artwork with me from Bev and Kev as well as my sketchbook and of course, we'll be drawing. Bookings are essential via the link below. Everyone is welcome (even the big kids).

Tue, October 11, 2022, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Mount Barker Community Library, Dumas Street, Mt Barker.

I thought I'd share a little of what I have been working on which I haven't shared before. These are some of the working images from one of my book concepts. I call it a concept as it is yet to be contracted. I have been very fortunate to receive grants from Arts SA and The Klein Family Foundation in order to get this one so far along. Normally creators have to do this in their own, unpaid time. This concept so far, has taken me two years. Yes, you read right... I honestly don't know where time goes!

This is a story about a little boy who finds and transplants a young gum sapling... and well... let's just say their worlds are thrown into chaos and it becomes a journey of survival.

Anyway, as an Author and Illustrator I jump between writing the words and creating the images. The little thumbnail you can see above, is from what we call storyboards. This is where the whole book is planned out in images but the drawings don't have to be great - they are purely for getting the idea across. The snippet of the horse head underneath is the character drawing from my sketchbook - more polished drawings to work out what the characters are going to look like. The partial image underneath that is a worked up tonal drawing of the same image and I've used yellow chalk pastel pencil to help show where the light is coming from. This is from the first spread and it's my favourite so far. The visual narrative of the story is fairly clear in my mind now, but the words... gosh, the words! After culling words out, it feels like I have culled too far, so I'm adding more back in... back and forth, back and forth... this is just a glimpse into how stories start :)

Till next time, may the wind blow your hair in all directions!

Happy drawing :)