Hey there!
It’s been a huge one for me this week with lot's going on.
1. I finally finished my “Space Walk” illustration!
I’ve been working on this piece on and off over the last few months and have been sharing my progress in earlier issues of this blog.
Check out the finished illustration and some detail pics below…
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2d1edf1c-4a99-442c-ae55-471e592b7fbe_2000x1102.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa49944b1-bbb5-40e0-8f62-a26a0c18a7e2_2560x1440.jpeg)
2. I organised and hosted an event at Penrith City Library.
As you may know, I am involved with the Blue Mountains sub-branch of the Childrens Book Council of Australia NSW.
On Tuesday, we ran the first, of hopefully many, event with Penrith City Library. The session was aimed at school teachers and librarians and focussed on the 2022 CBCA award shortlist.
It was great to meet some of the hard working school staff who love reading and sharing books with children. It was interesting to hear about the diversity of excellent books that are up for awards this year and to be reminded that picture books can communicate deep themes and ideas for children.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F168c851f-f8a7-43fd-8e1a-ad99304915db_1280x958.jpeg)
3. I attended a children’s book exhibition.
Wednesday night was another CBCA event. This time with the North-Sydney sub-branch at the State Library of NSW.
The library has just opened a free exhibition called Imagine which focuses on illustrators of Australian Picture books. The curator, Sarah Morley, walked us through the exhibit. It contained a broad range of illustrators from classic artists like Julie Vivas through to more modern ones like Matt Cosgrove.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F00340645-0f49-4220-80ab-70341cfebb6e_1280x958.jpeg)
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the beautiful original art for some of my favourite books and am keen to go back in the next few weeks for a closer look.
If you are not in Sydney, you can check out the library’s amazing online resources for the exhibit. They’ve put up videos, audio statements and lots of images from the artists featured in the exhibition.
Imagine is a free exhibition and will run at the State Library of NSW until July 2023. I definitely recommend checking it out.
Visit https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au for more information.
Wow what a week! I’m going to lay down now for a little rest. I hope you have a great weekend. See you next Friday.