Author and illustrator Alison Lester floating on a sea of love
CHERISHED children’s book illustrator Alison Lester’s latest project has been spurred on by a group of little artists, who have created a colourful underwater world.
National
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PERHAPS one of Australia’s most cherished children’s authors and illustrators, Alison Lester is a whirlwind of laughter, passion and quirk. She wears cowgirl boots; a testimony to her love of the land and our beautiful country, something often depicted in her books.
But it is the underwater world that captures Lester’s imagination in her latest book, The Silver Sea, a collaboration with fellow author and friend Jane Godwin and children at the Royal Children’s Hospital, where she runs regular art and craft sessions.
Spending the past 40 years on a farm in Nar Nar Goon North, Lester’s imagination has run wild with book ideas. But, she says, she almost didn’t pursue creating books as a career, initially training as a secondary school art teacher, teaching for just a year before deciding it wasn’t for her.
“I didn’t like having to be there every day, and to tell kids off — life’s too short for this,” Lester says.
“I’d always loved drawing, so I just rang up Oxford University Press and asked to speak to the children’s editor and luckily she gave me a break ... Then I started illustrating, writing my own book and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”
A self-professed procrastinator, Lester says she’ll “do all sorts of things” to get out of work. But as soon as she sits down to write, the author of books including Are We There Yet?, Imagine and The Very Noisy Baby says she’s in her element. Her inspiration comes in many forms — drawings, especially, and the Australian landscape.
Or, in one instance, a clothing label.
Lester says the inspiration for Kissed by the Moon came from a sweater she had from a brand of the same name.
“I think it’s a New Zealand label and I remember thinking ‘God that would be a such a lovely title for a book’.
“In those days I used to run a lot and in the winter I’d come home from running and the moon was full and I’d actually be running under the moonlight, and I thought that’s so lovely to think about, that the moon could kiss you and then of all the other non-material things the world could give you. The ideas come in different ways.”
Lester says a lot of her ideas are jotted down on the run — rhymes, illustrations — often on whatever she can find.
“I’ll scribble down some notes and draw on the backs of envelopes. Some of the early drawings for Kissed By the Moon were on the back of an airsick bag flying home from somewhere. Sometimes you have a brainwave and you’ve just got to get it down.”
But, she says, she could never do a “city book” — it just wouldn’t be the same.
Outside of work, Lester’s six grandchildren (the oldest of which is three), two horses — Woolyfoot and Jack — two ponies, dogs and cats keep her busy.
She laughs that perhaps she should have retired before becoming a grandma. But it’s her passion for literature and the children’s responses that keep her coming back.
Recently she’s been leading a partnership with the Royal Children’s Hospital, holding art classes and taking her own craft supplies for children to enjoy.
The Silver Sea tells the story of sea creatures hidden below the ocean’s surface, exploring different depths and the joy of adventure — and of heading home.
But, undoubtably, it’s a story where the pictures speak far more than words.
“The hospital asked me to go and I said to them then that I would be really happy to do this on a regular basis if you’d like me to. And so I’ve been trying to go once a month since then,” she says. “We’d be talking all the time about a book and they were keen to get the kids to write the book, too. Janey (Godwin) had started to come in with me and we said, well how about we write a story and get the kids to illustrate it.”
It’s a touching story — inspired by the aquarium in the hospital which is currently closed for work and which has given children so much joy in times of need.
The book is illustrated with drawings children from the hospital have completed over a year. The inner cover has pastel-coloured fish, each with a name and each a tribute to the fight and courage of one of the little artists who have contributed to the project.
“I worked with lots of beautiful kids along the way and I ended up having a lot of time to talk to their parents and the teachers and nurses, too,” Lester says.
“And I think that when you’re stuck in hospital for such a long time it’s so lovely to get out into the world a little bit. That’s what we were really hoping to achieve.
“Their work was quite big. So each illustration is more than a metre wide and then we had a massive scissor day where we chopped everything up and collaged it on to pages so it was really a beautiful process.”
The project took about a year.
“I thought it would take longer but there was something good about keeping the energy going … Often when you were working with a child, when they started they’d be feeling really flat and always, the art — you could just see them getting out of it a little.”
Lester also works with remote indigenous communities, in areas such as the Kimberley, Top End and Central Australia, making books and illustrations of original stories and spoken tales of their country.
Lester says one of the most rewarding aspects of her work is seeing the lives of different communities portrayed through literature.
“Some of the people had grown up on that country and never seen a white person until they were in high school. They just lived off the land completely.
“It’s so important to have books that we have an ownership of … You need to see your own life reflected.”
The Silver Sea, by Alison Lester, Jane Godwin and the children from the Royal Children’s Hospital, Affirm Press, RRP $20. All proceeds will go to the hospital’s Education Institute.
Originally published as Author and illustrator Alison Lester floating on a sea of love