Q&A: Giselle Clarkson
Giselle Clarkson is the illustrator of The Tiny Woman’s Coat, written by Joy Cowley, a picture book about a tiny woman who makes a coat of leaves with the help of friends.
1. How are you and what have you been up to lately?
Good, thank you! All things considered. It's all a bit relative these days, isn't it? But yes, good.
I've been working as usual on my freelance illustration jobs, but also trying to make a bit more time to do some crafty non-job art projects like sewing and papier-mache because I've realised how important they are to my general sense of well being. Also lots of gardening on sunny afternoons, because my brain is a bit shot by that time of day anyway, and it's spring.
2. If you were working in a bookshop, how would you hand-sell your book to customers? What would you say to convince them to buy and read it?
It will make you feel cosy and give you that warm balloon feeling in your chest. That's how I feel when I think about beautiful things in nature, good friends, magically small people, and going blackberry picking.
3. What books (or other art/media) influenced you while illustrating this book, or generally in your life?
Very, very small stuff has always appealed to me. I like to look under leaves and rocks and collect things that fit in matchboxes and have spent a lot of time playing with snails. And I've always loved the magic of tiny people stories, like The Borrowers and Thumbelina.
As soon as I first met the character of the tiny woman in The Gobbledegook Book I sort of wanted to be her. I go for a lot of walks, and when I read Joy's story I could somehow smell the setting. Maybe our noses are an underrated tool to use when illustrating, haha.
4. What good books have you read lately?
Newish books I've enjoyed are...
No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood. As I was reading, I just kept wanting to go "HA!!!" out loud, as my brain often feels just as broken by the internet as the character in the book. And it was nice to read about that funny disconnect you get from social media when something happens to you, but not everyone else at the same time. I really liked it.
Specimen by Madison Hamill. Oooh, I do love an essay. There's this one in Specimen where she goes to Girl Guides camp and I felt 13 again when I read it, so good.
The weeds in my garden are very lush at the moment and I've been referring lots to Johanna Knox's excellent book The Forager's Treasury to broaden my knowledge of which parts of the lawn I can make a salad out of for tea.
Buy The Tiny Woman’s Coat (Gecko Press), $25
