About the Illustrators

The Fabo team are delighted that so many wonderful, talented illustrators have jumped on board! Here are just a few of them.

Fifi Colston

Fifi Colston is an artist, author and all round creative person who has a motto:

‘If you can’t draw it, write it- and if all else fails, get out the hot glue gun!’

She often does all three.

You can read about her latest novel ‘Glory’ here: www.florencebright.blogspot.com

Fraser Williamson

I like to sit in cafes drinking coffee and chatting with my wife Loisi. Some of my best ideas come from looking through magazines in these cafes. We live with Queenia, Antonio, Richie and their mums who happen to be Loisi’s sisters. I love to escape to our garage in Northland to draw, be lazy and stare at the sea. I do children’s books, paint paintings for exhibitions and do cartoons and illustrations for all sorts of things.

Website: www.redshark.co.nz

Helen Taylor

Helen Taylor is an award winning children's book illustrator and an exhibiting artist with works in private collections around New Zealand and overseas. Her first public commission was for the painting of a mural in a kindergarten in Christchurch, when she was 14 years old and she has been illustrating for children ever since.

Helen has been illustrating books since 1992. She has been twice shortlisted for the LIANZA Children's Book Awards and in 2006 won Best Picture Book in the New Zealand Post Awards for Children and Young Adults, with her book, A Booming in The Night, written by Ben Brown.

Helen lives in a creaky old cottage in the portside town of Lyttelton, New Zealand, where she continues to illustrate and now write for children. So watch out for her latest title The Indigo Bird, he'll be wandering into your town - very soon!

Katz Cowley

Katz lives in a converted stable by the sea, which is a rather fitting place to have given birth to the illustrations for The Wonky Donkey. Since then she has created characters for The Fidgety Itch (written by Lucy Davey) and also another book with Craig Smith: Willbee The Bumblebee, with more excitng projects up her sleeve...

Katz also teaches inspirational workshops in drawing and creativity and when she stops to breathe, she also loves to dive into other creative worlds through the pages of her Creative Journal, and make sculptures from magical objects most people discard as 'junk'.

She sings her heart out as she creates and although she used to think fairies were silly friviolous cute things, she has come to realise that they have always been around her helping her manifest images as she watches her pen move on the page.
She has come to realise that magic and inspiration are all around us just quietly waiting for us to see!

Lindy Fisher

Lindy is a fine artist and graphic designer who is still passionate about paint. Combine that with a critical interest in composition and lettering and you have an artist who is meticulous about research, first impressions and lingering detail.

Lindy’s current motivation is to encourage readers to use their imagination to interpret for themselves through exposure to expressive fine art in picture books. She uses a variety of mediums and is particularly drawn to the flowing spontenaity of watercolour.

Michaela Sangl

Michaela would like to split herself into at least five Michaela’s so she could do every artistic thing she loves to the full! (And one Michaela would be a full-time mum too – best job of all!) When you’re passionate about a huge number of arty things, it makes it very hard to choose ...

Michaela loves travelling and has been through masses of European cities and art galleries with her wee sketch book; also more adventurous travel, like climbing a great sand dune in midnight moonlight in the Moroccan pre-Sahara, cycling to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt and drawing in the tombs (in her book, of course!), driving up to the arctic circle in Norway the middle of winter, or bumping down the coast of India in dodgy buses full of goats and chickens!

After doing a degree in architecture, Michaela lived in Vienna, Rome, and Hiroshima, studying art history, photography and performing as a singer. She lived in Berlin for quite a while too, where she studied at the Fine Arts school, and also worked as a singer-songwriter and actress, recorded CDs of stories for children and illustrated books.

Now Michaela is really happy to be back in New Zealand, in Devonport, where she can smell the sea and look out of her studio window at a dormant, grassy volcano. Her favourite things right now are spirulina smoothies and zooming to school with her daughter Isla (5) on their scooters.

Michaela mainly illustrates for overseas publishing companies, so she is really excited to have a book coming out in NZ written by Kyle Mewburn called Daisy’s Maze. Hot off the press and in the shops this week! www.twinkle.co.nz (lots to see ... new work going up in 2 weeks)

Nikki Slade Robinson

I still drink Milo... and not tea or coffee. So that means I haven't grown up yet. Which is why I just loooove illustrating for children. And why I smile a lot. Sometimes I have to do grown-up illustrations but that's ok, really! I look out over native bush from my studio, and sometimes our cats help me with my work. So do our kids - they are always having brilliant ideas that they let me use (heehee!). I also go along to our kids' school a lot and I get inspired by the awesome kids there. You can see more of my work at www.penandink.co.nz

Seeya! Nikki :-))