ABOUT

​​I am a children’s book writer and illustrator, but life gets in way of
creativity, so I also work as a Speech Pathologist. This is a very boring
job in comparison with previous ones. ‘Shearer’s cook’ was my first
career, one bestowed on me as the eldest daughter of a farmer.
I learnt how to master a wood burning stove to produce three meals
a day at the tender age of 15 and at the height of summer. I am happy
to report everyone survived the experience. Snow days were one
benefit of growing up on a farm on the Monaro where a deep fall
might keep us from school for at least a day. 

I travelled the world much later on and loved living in Japan. I tried
a few different jobs including kitchen hand  where I found I was great
at carving patterns in serves of pumpkin. I loved being an English
teacher where my youngest student was 18 months old. I once had

to rescue a student from the fishpond next door so you could argue
I was a bit of a questionable teacher. My strangest job was at a Kobe
golf course set in the foothills of a forest covered mountain. I trained
to be a golf caddy for two months, a career to which I was wholly
unsuited. I learnt how to climb down slippery cliffs to retrieve golf balls,
how to move large snakes out of sand bunkers and how to drink hot milk.
I would not call myself a coward, but I draw the line at hot milk, and I
left this job soon afterwards.

I love books and will spurn most things in life in favour of dawdling
through a bookshop. All except coffee. Nothing comes between me
and a good coffee. I now have a vast collection of children’s books
that I begrudgingly share with my  nephew whose love of a good
story rivals my own. I live in a small coastal town in Australia with a
fluffy cat and dog.  I am supposed to love gardening but I've been
thoroughly defeated by kikuyu grass: battle lines were drawn and
the weeds won!
 

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My first book is Ginger and Fred, written by Seetha Dodd and published
by Wild Dog Books. I have a very loose drawing style and prefer drawing
animals over humans everyday of the week. I love wacky whimsy and
humour with a passion and I think this comes through in all my creations.
I used to use traditional media but then stopped abruptly one day when
my nephew decided to eat my paints - a crazy situation since the kid is a
fussy eater who won't eat cake at a birthday party! One large panic and
call to the poison line later, I decided to put my watercolours away for a
few years.  I now use photoshop or procreate to create mixed media

illustrations. Textures and use of collage are my jam - but not the cut out
with scissors kind. I hate glue and sticky fingers and much prefer to cut
and paste electronically!

I am extreme introvert so I love working solo in my own business everyday.
I try hard to be  super organised. Alas, you are more likely to find me racing
out the door with my hair standing on end while trying to find my phone.
Today's challenge was to figure out how to get a bird (that the fluffy cat
brought in) out of my bedroom! The trick was to take off the window screen
- it is sitting beside me right now waiting for me to put it back up!

 

Bio:
 

Illustration:
2026: Illustrated 'Ginger and Fred'. To be published in September 2026
 

2020:
‘The Goose Is Out!’ picture book
    i. highly commended in the 2020 Scribbles  Creative Writing Awards
       (story board)
    ii.  awarded first place in ASA Style File Illustration Award Mentorships 
    iii. won the West Words Pinerolo Illustrator in Residence, where Elizabeth
        spent a week with the highly respected publisher and director of
        Pinerolo, Margaret Hamilton. 

2021: Commended award for New England 'Message in a Bottle'
          Competition. Result: "original and poignant take on the theme;
          adorable characters and story."

Writing:
2008: awarded Australian Society of Authors (ASA) Award Mentorship for
'Amelia and Jake', an adventure chapter book for 10 to 12 year olds.  

2017:
    i.   long listed in The Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Aspiring
          Writers’ Mentorship Program       
    ii.  short listed in in the 2018 Maurice Saxby Creative Development
         Program for a picture book called ‘The Goose is Out’.
 

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