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MEET MARIA VAN LIESHOUT
by Bonnie O'Brian

What books influenced you most when you were growing up?

Maria van Lieshout

I grew up in Holland, so the books that influenced me as a child are Dutch books. When I was very young, I read and looked at Dutch illustrator Dick Bruna’s books. I loved NIJNTJE (called MIFFY in the US). When Bruna first wrote MIFFY 50 years ago, it was very fresh and innovative, and also controversial. Illustrators did not use a graphical, high-contrast style like he did. But now his work is copied lots. He is my great example. I try to be fresh and innovative in my work, always pushing myself to try new things and asking myself whether there is a less obvious solution to a creative problem.

What audience did you have in mind for your career as a writer - adult or children?

Kids, because kids books give me the chance to create pictures more so than adult books. But a great idea, story or image appeals to all people, young and old. When something is authentic and honest, it is not limited to a certain age group. I have always read picture books, and I sometimes feel they contain more wisdom than novels written for adults. So I don’t like to say I write for children. I write for curious people. I like to think my books have something in them for grown-us as well.

When you went to college, were you already pursuing a writing career? (or a career in illustrating? or just art in general?)

I went to Art School and got my Bachelor of Fine Art. I believed at that time it would be very difficult to make a living drawing, so I focused on graphic design, and worked for many years as a creative person and Art Director for The Coca-Cola Company. I came up with ideas for new drinks at Coca-Cola’s Headquarters. When I was put in charge of the creative development for Coca-Cola’s global licensing program, I started working with illustrators and realized that that’s what I wanted to do-make a living dreaming up characters and story lines. Except I did not want to create characters to sell products, I wanted to create children’s books.

How soon after that was your first book published?

I resigned from Coca-Cola, and started drawing and writing. I joined SCBWI and learned about the kidlit business. I also joined a critique group. I landed two book illustration contracts with Dutch publishers about four years after quitting my job. Then I got an illustration assignment from a Canadian Press, and exactly seven years after leaving my job at Coke, the first book I had written and illustrated came out in the US Spring 2008.

What are the topics are some of your books?

My first book is called BLOOM! A Little Book About Finding Love. It is the first in a series of little books, each done in one color, tied to one emotion. BLOOM is pink and deals with love. The follow-up is a little blue book called SPLASH! A Little Book About Bouncing Back. It is about a seal who wakes up on the wrong side of the iceberg, so it deals with feeling blue. PEEP! ALittle Book About Taking A Leap (March 2009) deals with fear. It is yellow, and is about a chick who is afraid to jump off the sidewalk. Two more little books will deal with greed (red) and envy (green).

What gave you the idea for the little book series?

I have always been fascinated by the effect color has on our emotions. I have read many books about the topic, and having a therapist mother, I realize how much kids are influenced by colors. I keep this in mind when illustrating. I obsess about color. I aim to find the palette that is not only the most pleasing to the eye, but also triggers those emotions that I try to capture in the illustration. Setting out to create a book series where each book is done in one color, tied to one emotion was an extension of that idea.

Have any of your books earned special recognition?

The List (Annick Press, Toronto 2007) was a 2008 Blue Spruce awardfinalist (awarded by the Ontario Library Association) and made the OLA’s Picture Books Top 10 list. It was also an honor title for the 2008 Storytelling World Awards. BLOOM (Feiwel and Friends, New York 2008) received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Images from BLOOM were selected by the Society of Illustrators for their Annual Exhibition in the Museum of American Illustration and for inclusion in their printed annual.