I am so pleased to announce that I will be holding my first gallery exhibition in Japan this month! Here are the details:

T-BOX Gallery (15 - 20 Feb)
Matsuoka Yaesu Bldg. 3F, 2-8-10 yaesu, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0028

Art de ART VIEW (2 - 7 Mar)
13-30 Kitazono-cho, Takatsuki-shi, Osaka-shi, Osaka 562-0802

Gallery HANA Shimokitazawa (3 -11 May)
3-26-2 Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 155-0031




The exhibition features new artwork related to Lili. So you may catch some of the following pieces at the exhibition:
soft pastel


pencil, oil pastel



pencil, oil pastel


pencil, oil pastel


It has been fun working on new pieces around Lili's everyday experiences. It also gave me a chance to work on an alternative version of Lili, imagining her as an adult, and experimenting with a different medium.

I worked around-the-clock on most of the artwork towards the end of last year. Here's a work-in-progress photo on one of the pieces for the exhibition:



Hopefully, I'll have more updates and photos later of the exhibitions themselves. So stay tuned!

Here are some observational sketches I did during the time I was in Melbourne. Unlike the time I was sketching in Cambridge, Melbournians are curiously uncurious about people sketching their environment. Not a single person paused to look at what I was doing. Not to say I minded it since I could concentrate on what I was doing.

Journeyman Cafe in Windsor, Melbourne



Clock Tower in South Melbourne, Melbourne




Flinders Street Railway Station, Melbourne



State Library of Victoria, Melbourne

I was pleasantly surprised when the librarian at the Alliance Francaise center in Kuala Lumpur contacted me a few months ago. She had gotten a copy of my book Lili at the local Kinokuniya store during the book launch period. She was planning some events for the official opening of the newly-renovated library and invited me to join in their activities.

Artwork from Lili on display at the Alliance Francaise de Kuala Lumpur library


As it is a French language centre, the plan was to hold a bilingual storytelling session, with me reading Lili in English, and their resident storytelling reading it in French. I was intrigued (and I wanted to hear how Lili would have sounded like in French), so I readily agreed.


A scene to warm any authors' heart!


Kinokuniya was also roped in to set up a stand at the venue during the event to sell copies of Lili and The Great Dragon Warrior, and I could sign books after the storytelling event.

So here are the photos of the event on 12 September. Despite the horrible haze, the turnout was really good and everyone who attended had a jolly good time. And I was extremely glad the kids enjoyed the book!


 
The kids were especially enthusiastic during the Q&A session. My favourite part was when a boy in the audience suggested that I write my next story about a boy with combustion for his nose! (And I'm filing that idea away for the future!)


 A wonderful end to a lovely afternoon

Oh did I mention that the croissants at the cafe at the venue are to die for! Apparently even the French customers agree that it's better than some cafes back in France! (I even went back to buy some to take away).

More photos of the event can be found here.

I was very fortunate to be invited to the Philippine Children's Book Summit 2015. I was scheduled to give two talks, one on the role of illustrators in book-making, and the second was of my own choosing. I decided to talk about one of my favourite categories of books: wordless picture books.

This is the main hall where the plenary sessions took place. It's quite lovely with the chandeliers and the draped ceiling.



Both talks went well. My talk on wordless picture books was the last session in the hall, and I have to admit I was quite nervous when I saw the crowd had swelled, and apparently they had run out of chairs to seat everyone by then.


photo courtesy of the National Book Development Board - Philippines

photo courtesy of the National Book Development Board - Philippines


I had a free day the next day, and we went for a bit of exploring in the old walled city.


That's a "jeepney", a popular and cheap form of local public transport

I had a lovely time, and the people from the National Book Development Board of Philippines were generous with their hospitality and really took care of us! I would like to thank them very much for having me. There were even souvenirs for me to bring back!


One week ago, on a Sunday in the middle of the local school holidays, Kinokuniya KLCC (Malaysia) hosted an event to launch two of my books: Lili and The Great Dragon Warrior. It was a pleasant afternoon of book readings, a Q&A session, and book-signing.

In conjunction with the book launch, artwork from the two books were put up as part of the window display a week before the launch.



The animation video of Lili is also displayed within the store.





The crowd of young 'uns had already started to gather prior to 2pm, when the readings of both books will start.



The children were exceptionally well-behaved through both readings.



The Q&A went well too, although most of the children were quite shy in asking questions. I had to prod them quite a bit!






And a huge thank you to friends who turned up. Thank you for all your support!

All in all, it was a wonderful afternoon. Thanks to Kinokuniya KLCC for generously providing the venue for the event. And of course to my publishers Fat Fox Books and Epigram Books (Fat Fox published Lili and Epigram Books published The Great Dragon Warrior).




Almost two months ago, I received an email from the Sharjah Children's Reading Festival organisers informing me that the illustrations I submitted for their illustration exhibition had won a prize, and invited me to attend the award ceremony and the fair in Sharjah, UAE. So I packed my bags and flew to the UAE last week.




The illustration exhibition was held in a huge hall (what you see above is only half the size of the hall). We arrived on the day of the opening ceremony, when the prizes would be awarded. The organisers did not want me to "inform the press" until the awards were officially announced, so had not actually told me what I had won.




So I had arrived on the day not knowing what to expect. Words could not describe how I felt when I finally saw my Lili illustrations displayed, and realised that I had actually come in first.




I also made some new friends. From left, Junko Nagano, second prize winner, whose etchings are amazing in their detail; and Beatriz Martin, third prize winner, whose abstract illustrations of the story The Flamingo's Stockings are soothingly beautiful. Their winning works can be viewed here, along with the artists that were awarded an "Honorable Mention". Unfortunately, there are no photos of the actual award ceremony, which was presented by the Ruler of Sharjah.

Among the illustrations being exhibited, there were a number of favourites, some of which are shown here:

An illustration by JooHee Yoon from South Korea
(from the book The Tiger Who Would Be King)




An illustration by Adolfo Serra from Spain




An illustration by Eva Montanari from Italy



Honestly, there were so many that I liked, that this is really a teeny tiny sample of the 139 artists on exhibit.



The next day, I was part of a panel of winners, where we each talked about our own work (photo above taken by Mariacarla Taroni, who got an Honorable Mention, seated second from right).




The organisers also organised various cultural events for its guests, and I managed to attend one of them. There was a cultural event called Sharjah Heritage Days showcasing Sharjah's history and heritage, which we were fortunate to be able to attend. We were given a tour which then ended with dinner of local food.

I have been to the Bologna Children's Book Fair a few times, and I thought Sharjah would be similar, albeit less well-known. But while Bologna is essentially a trade fair, Sharjah is definitely more geared towards children and is more accessible. For instance, admission is free and it is open to the public. The stands sell children's books and toys. During weekdays, troops of children from schools attend the fair and there are art workshops and various kids' activities. It is very much a festival to celebrate children's books and children!

All in all, it was a great experience, one which I would not forget.