Jungle Queens – Maria Sibylla Merian

Illustration of the inspirational Maria Sibylla Merian for an article in SisterMag called ‘Jungle Queens’ about female explorers.

  • FLOCK is out in the UK today! Here’s a little peek inside some of the pages. A huge thank you to my very talented editor Katie Cotton at @quartokids and designer Zoe Tucker @zoe_tucker_design. Making a picture book is actually a very collaborative process and without these ladies wise and skilful direction and belief the book certainly wouldn’t be what it is. Thank you people for all of your kind comments and orders I am so excited to hear your stories and see your photos of the book out in the wild. Your support means so much to me. Signed copies will be coming soon to my shop when it reopens and we will be a giving away 3 copies- more about this later! ✨#picturebooks #illustrationow #picturebookmaker #picturebookart #kidlitart #kidlit #illustrationforkids
  • Meet Sylvia, the main character from Flock, my debut picture book which comes out tomorrow ✨ Sylvia is a Tree Keeper, a tiny girl the size of your thumb with a head the size of a hazelnut. She likes to be alone looking for the right-shaped twig or petal to put in her basket rather than play noisy games with the other Tree Keepers. Sylvia is shy and quiet, creative and sensitive and hasn’t quite found her way with making friends with the other children who share her tree top home. When she finds a lost baby bird in her favourite secret hiding place her journey begins to learn about friendship and belonging. It has been such a gift to work on this book. I am answering questions in my stories tonight and tomorrow if you want to ask anything about this book, picture book making or anything else about me and my work 🧡 #picturebookart #gouacheillustration #illustrationow #illo #children_illustration #kidlitart #kidlitillustration
  • Mixing and matching colour... one of the absolutely favourite parts of my work. I find it so playful, intuitive and engaging to mix colours and find out what works together in ways that can surprise, soothe and delight me. #colourtherapy #gouacheillustration #illustrationow #holbeingouache #maketimeforart #onmydesk #styleonmytable #slowandsimpledays #dscolor
  • Is there anything more peaceful than a sleeping babe? Making some new baby greeting cards for my shop which hopefully will be ready to reopen soon. I have been a bit absent from here of late as it took me so long to recover from labyrinthitis (3 months!) followed by a very restful holiday with family in the Netherlands. I’m back to work and full of an existentialist crisis, as so often happens to me after time off! But glad I’m not the only one - see stories - I hope that I can get gently back into things and share a bit more regularly as I feel that I have been retreating into my social media sharing anxiety shell of late! #gouachepainting #gouacheillustration #holbeingouache #illustrationow #babycard #patchworkquilt #tinydetails #myartwork #maketimeforart
  • One of my favourite little corners from my first picture book - Flock, publishing this June with @quartokids ✨I loved making this spread, set in early spring it features wood anemones, coltsfoot, celandine and catkins and some very very tiny Tree Keepers, the little people who live in and look after this great tree. It took me about two weeks to paint this- luckily I sped up as I worked on the book, but that gives you an idea of the kind of love and detail in this page! The kind of books I loved as a child were ones with lots of detail and it was so exciting see my daughters come back to this page noticing new things each time. It’s been so nerve wracking and also a big relief to share the book with you and thank you everyone for your pre orders so far, I’ve been told that they really help new books get a wider audience so I’m very grateful 🧡 #picturebook #picturebookart #picturebookillustration #flock #gemmakoomen #thetreekeepers #gouachepainting
  • GIVEAWAY — It feels like such a big moment to finally reveal the cover of my debut picture book The Tree Keepers: Flock published by Frances Lincoln picture books @quartokids ✨ Working on this book has been such a massive experience, I’ve worked so hard on it and it has meant so much to me to have had the opportunity to explore loneliness, friendship and belonging in word and pictures. I’m so excited that it is available to pre-order now from all your favourite online booksellers and out in all good book shops ‪from the 6th June‬! (link in bio) I’m also really excited to be able to celebrate this happy occasion by giving away one large custom, signed print featuring a one-of-a-kind artwork from the book to one lucky winner! Swipe right to view ✨ All you need to do to enter is follow the steps below: * Pre-order your copy of The Tree Keepers: Flock from Amazon, Waterstones, Book Depository, Hive or any other bookseller (Link in bio) * Email a copy of your receipt to 'childrensmarketinguk@quarto.com' with the subject line 'The Tree Keepers: Flock' * A winner will be picked at random ‪at 8pm on Friday 19th April‬  This competition is open to UK entries only, good luck! #gemmakoomen #treekeepersflock #picturebook #childrensbookstagram #authorillustrator #onmydesk
  • Gently up the stream .. It’s taken me a while to get back to posting here and into my work groove, I’ve been struggling with a virus that I guess turned into labrynthitis and it’s hard to get much done being dizzy, so I’ve had some time off and pared back what I am doing to allow as much rest as possible and to be able to work at a much slower pace than normal. I’ve said no to lots of commissions which has felt strange and delayed the re-opening of my online shop but it also feels like a gentle step forward to choose to look after myself. Building a business over the last few years followed by an intense year working on my first picture book, crazy busy Christmas and actually just recovering from years of sleep deprivation with young children has finally caught up with me. I hope it’s shifting and my energy can return gently back to a point where I am thriving and not just surviving, and can get back to my work in a way that feels good. There’s so much to learn isn’t there? #gemmakoomen #littlestoriesofmylife #seekthesimple #mytinyeden #holbeingouache #gouachepainting #illo #illustrationnow
  • Fox Sisters .. my two favourite girls and three of my favourite brushes #holbeingouache #illustrationnow #gemmakoomen #illo #gouachepainting #onmydesk #mytinyart #foxpainting #childhoodmagic

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