For Our Children – The Illustrative World of Helene Magisson

An interview with the illustrator for Magic Fish Dreaming.

“When June approached me I really liked the fact that she highlighted one of my illustrations I called “For our Children”. It is an illustration I did a little bit after the terrorist attack in France.

There are nine children coming from all over the world (India, Pakistan, France, Ireland, Australia, Kenya…), children I have met in the different countries I have been living in or visited, and they are altogether, smiling, teasing, hugging. There are in peace and happy.

June liked it for its multicultural dimension. She wanted to highlight that in the project and that really touched me.

I love the idea to mix Aboriginal, Italian, Torres Strait, English,  and Australian children.

It is poetry for all and everyone in a beautiful and peaceful environment.

I feel so fortunate that this project came to me.”

Magic Fish Dreaming

For Our Children

Helene Magisson is a Children’s book illustrator, who graduated from the painting restoration school “Art et Avenir”, Paris (France).

She was also trained in the art of medieval illumination, exhibiting her work in Europe and teaching the history and techniques of medieval miniature in primary and high schools, both in France and in India, where she lived for a few years.

When Helene settled down in Australia, she decided to start a new career in children’s book illustration. Her numerous trips in Europe and Asia, as well as her childhood spent in Africa inspire and enrich her work. She believes that travelling is a fantastic source of inspiration.

Helene was awarded the first prize in the illustration category at the 2013 CYA conference. She has illustrated her first book, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco.

Helene in India

How did you come to work on the…

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Children’s Book Week – Australia – Brisbane Event

Join members of the Brisbane Illustrators Group and Write Links at the State Library of Queensland for a series of specially curated activities for children, young people and their families.

In the Knowledge Walk, help create characters and images for two stories written especially for the occasion by Queensland writers.

In the Parlour, there will be illustrators demonstrating their skills using both traditional and digital methods, including Lucia Masciullo, award winning illustrator of Come Down Cat! (CBCA Honour Book and Prime Minister Award shortlisted, 2012), Family Forest (CBCA shortlist 2011) and the successful series Our Australian Girl.

Join the fun in The Corner with storytelling sessions by local picture book authors Andrew King and Peter Taylor who will bring their picture books to life with the help of special guests Bear Bot, and Creepy Crocodile!.

The BIG draw is presented by Book Links, the Qld Branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia and State Library of Queensland.

There’s also workshops for adults, on writing and illustrating picture books.

Click here to the download links to attend the adult workshops.

Unknowable and Fathomless Mystery

Latest photographic contribution to Nineteen Months. This month’s theme – Words.

Gumbootspearlz Photography

(c) June Perkins, Byron Bay Australia.

The beauty and power of the ocean expressed to me the unknowable, and fathomless mystery.

“To every discerning and illumined heart it is evident that God, the unknowable Essence, the divine Being, is immensely exalted beyond every human attribute…Far be it from His glory that human tongue should adequately recount His praise, or that human heart comprehend His fathomless mystery.”
-Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan

Latest contribution to Nineteen Months.  For more see  Ninteen Months Meditations on Kalimat – Words.

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I Wish I Could Walk A Mile In Your Shoes

From Maya Angelou Facebook Page.

I wish I could walk a mile in your shoes
See all the sights you have seen
Watch life from the confines of your eyes
Taste the fuel that fueled your pen

I wish I could walk a mile in your shoes
To understand your mind
How you thought
Why you believed so strongly in revolution
Why you were such an inspiration to all that hear your voice
You see these shoes
Tell the story of your life

And they are big shoes to fill
As they possess so much knowledge
The remains of a creative soul
That has edged her mark in history’s page as the literary legend
Or the poetic superwoman

My brain cannot posses the amount of knowledge these shoes entail
For example being a black poet in a time were civil unrest was a “hot” topic
and the caged bird was singing freedom at the height of the unrest
That poem gave them hope and something to believe in

I wish I could walk a mile in your shoes
Those shoes that tell a story
And a wonderful tale of your life
By tying the laces
I have accepted the challenge
To walk the path you have created
Miss Maya Angelou

(c) La Shawna Griffith 2015

You can find La Shawna at her website HERE and you can find her on FACEBOOK HERE

From La Shawna’s Website

La Shawna Griffith is an emerging poet who was born and resides in Barbados. She is twenty one years of age and a final year University Student completing her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. She truly loves writing pieces to promote change in the world. Her goal is to become a voice for the voiceless, a hope and an inspiration.

Why is this? Due to La Shawna aspiring to be a great literary legend like her idol and role model Miss Maya Angelou who was a phenomenal poet and revolutionary and it is no surprise that La Shawna’s favorite poem by her is “I know The Caged Bird Sings”

What does poetry mean to her ? She states clearly:

“Poetry is my diary … and it is a book that can never be filled …
La Shawna considers herself a social poet as she writes pieces which are currently happening in the world today as her mission is to educate and also highlight some of the problems that are happening in our world today.

This drive and passion lead her to the creation of her book of poetry entitled La Shawna- Unlock The Door which is available on Kindle and Amazon Stores.

When asked about her book she stated “My book is allowing you to unlock the door to see inside of me, the way I think and analyze the world. Thus, I am allowing you to come on this journey with me as we unlock the door to a new horizon.”

IMAGINE A TREE

Melissa Shaw-Smith

Multi-chambered
fortress, tree house, throne
toe holder, ship’s mast
staircase to the heavens
galleon of the woods above
tentacle crawling roots below
battle scarred silver hide
xylem and phloem
carrying fingerprints
of centuries, absorbing
earth and air, detritus
one fleeting moment of many
flickering image—
ghost at the back of an eyelid—
the chestnut mare
scratching her rump
against a beech sapling
green with fast flowing growth
on a June evening
in a cloud of golden gnats
and her tail swishing
from side to side
the memory ingrained
in a low-slung limb
a moss saddled horse.

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Curtain

O at the Edges

Curtain

Adept at withdrawal, it retreats.
How appropriate, we think,
that its body curls
with the wind’s
tug, offering
only the
slightest
resistance. Then
it returns,
bringing to mind
the habitual offender
whose discomfiture
lies in choice,
the fear
of enclosure
removed. The
forward glance.
And back again,
whispering its
edict: concede, reclaim.
Give and take. We are as one.

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On sacred ground

By Suzanne Miller

The Ultimate Faraway Tree

Keeping supporters updated on Magic Fish Dreaming.

Magic Fish Dreaming

This tree is just one of many inspirations for the poetry of Magic Fish Dreaming.  It is the ultimate faraway tree of Far North Queensland, although it is not one you are allowed to climb on – for that you have to find other trees (of which there are plenty that are almost as magical).

For more information visit: Curtain Fig Tree

Stay tuned for more poetry inspirations.  I look forward to seeing what magical illustrations Helene will do for the rest of the book.  Can you imagine them too?

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