As an illustrator I feel incredibly drawn to illustrate for children's books. My goal with Hound Town is to spread happiness, inspire, educate and encourage. I believe storytelling is such an effective way to do all of these things and my intention is to deliver these and impact both adults and children alike. My very first story which I am yet to officially self-publish but have done a test print of is called Davie the Dingo.

Davie the Dingo tells the story of Dave Brooks, founder of WildlifeBnb, a company which has developed a range of nest boxes and build, install and monitor them in all kinds of properties. The purpose of nest boxes is to replace lost tree hollows due to bushfires and urban development.

Dave and I at the Brunswick Valley Landcare Auction Night raising awareness and funds to help get more nest boxes put up in our region.

The story came about when I was asked to contribute my time and art by painting a nest-box to help Brunswick Valley Landcare, a not-for-profit company raise funds for Wildbnb to install nest boxes around the Northern Rivers. Byron Bay, in which I reside, is part of this region and is a place that is very close to my heart.

Here is a video of some time lapses of one of the panels.

I decided on an orange and brown colour palette, which was a bit of a shift for me considering I always paint in pastel pink, yellow and blue! But I fell in love with it and it fit the theme very well. It felt more natural and would look at home up in the trees.

As you can imagine the story is very short and sweet but tells a clear message that we must nurture nature the best that we can and take Dave's example of providing homes for wildlife as a beautifully selfless action that helps wildlife flourish and ultimately makes us feel good too!

I am still working on making this one available for purchase (it's not easy doing small runs of children's books - you can't exactly achieve the quality and the price people expect to pay!). But I will be releasing a very small run just so I can put it out there into the world and I will continue to build on my little collection of books. 

I'm also going to keep you guys posted on a digital download you can purchase once I release the hard copies too. I think I'll get some colouring in print outs and games or maybe have some fun with some activity sheets to go with it - so there is plenty of value for you!