1)Helen Chamberlin Awarded to Dromkeen Medal 2014 2)2 images from "Moon" my picture book next Aug

In order to celebrate my publisher/editor Helen Chamberlin's award, I was invited to the Dromkeen Medal Awards ceremony, a very prestigious prize in Australian publishing industry, on 12 October at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne. Only once in a lifetime an individual is allowed to accept it. It should have been Helen's day, but Helen is so humble and modest. Roughly 280 people were invited – including from Victoria, interstate and overseas. Friends, can you imagine? This small lady has created a great Australian publishing history. 

Now, Helen stepped up to make a speech. I started sketching her — that would be my little present for her. Helen’s speech was full of thanks to related people: the SLV and Dromkeen Foundation, and of her admiration of other medal recipients. She reviewed her long career and recalled the many authors and illustrators she collaborated with. Her speech often made us smile and giggle in a very gentle way. She never forgot thanks to all collaborators from A to Z in creating picture books and books for young readers! What she does I’ve already written in my own blog posts.  She gives me initiatives and pulls me back from a wrong way, but only if I need. She mothers illustrators and authors, yet she humbly always says, “they did/do it, not me.” 

Suddenly, I heard my name in the middle of her speech!

Sweet Helen even introduced me, Sadami Konchi, and my debut work “Moon,” written by Matt Zurbo and edited by her, to be published next August. Furthermore, she supported me. How nice! Oh, you cannot imagine how much I appreciated her strong support for me and my first picture book, "Moon"!!  It surprised me very much.

"In the second row, in the middle, there's Sadami Konchi (Helen kindly indicated to the audience where I was with her hand!). Please warmly welcome her who has come to Melbourne with a great effort." Wow... Helen cared for my difficulty in walking... I felt a strange feeling among very big names... I'm nameless. I only knew Helen and a few very famous illustrators there. The other attendees were all established and renowned in the publishing industry. Actually they have created modern Australian picture books. Thank you, Helen, for supporting me so much. I am very happy. 

                         From "Moon"... 

One more scene for you... 

Whilst listening to her speech, I, too, was thinking of her achievements such as...
Helen has achieved a national and international reputation for producing groundbreaking Australian picture books, junior fiction and young adult literature. She developed the After Dark novel series illustrated in black-and-white, for reluctant older boy readers and the first Australian picture books for adult readers. Often collaborating with author Gary Crew, she’s nurtured many new talents, including Gregory Rogers, Anne Spudvilas, Peter Gouldthorpe, Neil Curtis, Narelle Oliver and Shaun Tan. (*They are all leading illustrators in Australia and even in the world!) 

Shaun Tan, has pushed the boundaries of picture books. His work with Helen has changed their public image from easy kids’ reading to philosophical books that bear academic discussion on universal themes and social issues, displaying sophisticated art.

Moreover, Helen’s work challenges social problems and quests for global justice, while pursuing beauty and excellence in visual art and design like The Drover’s Boy by Ted Egan and Robert Ingpen and the wordless picture book, The Arrival by Shaun Tan, the Australia’s first highly successful graphic novel. She takes risks to publish controversial topics, yet gains huge success in genre, style and media from music to digital images. Her work captures a broad readership... 

My thoughts often overlaped her speech. Helen again, thanked for all related people at the end of the speech. 
Applause, applause!

After the ceremony, we celebrated her win. Oh, wine was so sweet! She showed me the medal. Helen Chamberlin’s name is engraved on the other side of medal. Her honourable certificate was beautifully framed and granted to her. Helen delightedly accepted my sketch. 
"How did you do it?" Helen asked me and we laughed.   

I sketched her during her speech (= only for 10 minutes, Friends!). When I heard my name in her speech, yes, I became extremely shy! Sketching is my best way to calm myself down. It always proves Sadami's drawing ability and skills, too. Super stars and guests began to whisper, "Did she(Sadami) make it??" "Oh, so sensitive and nice," etc around me. I blushed up and could not hear them well... but the sketch made me comfortable. 

After the ceremony, topnotchers told me, "We can't wait for your picutre book!" 
"You worked with the best editor in Australia!" Yes!!!
These top people are Helen's wonderful friends!. 

Congratulations, Helen! Helen has become the legend in Australian publishing history. I'm very honoured to eye witness to her achievement and to have participated in it. Above all, what a blessing to have worked for our picture book, Moon! We shared joy with her happily ever after. But the saga of Helen continues. It's the beginning of a new story. She is creating more Australian picture books and enjoying editing texts. With Dromkeen's honour and encouragement, she moves on and steps into a future. 

“The work of an editor or publisher of children’s books is to be a facilitator – to make sure the huge talent we have in Australia gets out there to our children in the best possible shape.” --- Helen Chamberlin.  

Endlessly, I do applause! We’re fortunate to have such a wonderful editor Helen in our children’s  book industry. Friends, I've been writing about Helen from time to time. Feel free to write your any comments on  Helen, the Dromkeen Medal, "Moon," editing, publishing industry and so on. I certainly pass them to Helen.

Friends, Happy Painting and Happy Illustrating!!

... and so shy Helen ʚ(ˆ◡ˆ)ɞ
Ehum! Helen and I tease at each other, still now, hahaha?!

**Lastly, SPECIAL thank you, Friends, for your great patience and keep visiting my blog despite my delay. I had to visit Melbourne all of a sudden and it made my life hectic for these weeks. I'll keep this post for a next week. 

1)Helen Chamberlin Awarded to Dromkeen Medal 2014 2)2 images from "Moon" my picture book next Aug

Book Week16-22 Aug, Stay Tuned Picture Book of the Year, Dromkeen Medal Winners

Hi, Friends, thank you so much for your warm cheers and donations! Wesley Mission, my clients and I are very happy. Let us hope this project will go on.
Now, August is the book month in Australia. We celebrate a Book Week in the middle of August every year. The Children's Book Council of Australia honours and celebrates the work of Australian authors and illustrators. Highlight is the announcement of the Book of the Year. Winners will be announced at noon on Friday, August 15. Stay tuned CBCA facebook and CBCA twitter. Then, the celebrations begin!

This year's theme is "Connect to reading ~ Reading to connect." 
My favorite say certainly tells a book is the best companion for us, 
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. 
Inside of a dog it's too dark to read," by Groucho Marx, hehehehehe!!! 
2014's Children Book Week logo is designed by Ron Brooks, the illustrator who won 2013 Picture Book of the Year.

How do you interpret the interesting theme above? Any interpretation could be possible about the theme. Time and society is changing dramatically and rapidly. Technology, in particular, digitisation and Internet are shaping concepts of books and forms of texts. We connect others through a variety of media. It impacts on communication styles and methods that alter human interactions. Nowadays, contemporary children play with digital media better than me, an old generation.     

But I feel very the basic element in reading is communication between a reader and characters in books. It's like a play catch, I feel. What do you think, Friends? In books, we appreciate sharing time with characters and experience life together. We explore story and step into our inner world or we travel to other worlds, too. Even, we grow with favorite characters in our sweet memories --- in fact, personas have been created by an author/illustrator, triumphs of human creativity! Then, through reading books, socialisation happens among us. I sketched people reading books in train. A book opens our conversations. We share our emotions with others and exchange productive opinions in family, at school, in community, on net, at else where in society. We connect ourselves and others by reading books. I have been a book warm since childhood. As far as I know, famous authors and successful book illustrators are all very good book readers.
Reading books is, for me, not passive, but very creative activities and communication methods with others and ourselves. Indeed, how we, picture book illustrators interpret texts is equal to reading texts for tens of millions times.

Another big event is the announcement of Dromkeen Medal and Dromkeen Librarian’s Award winners. Who will be honoured? 

In addition, Short List & Notables 2014 are below. 
All listed works are lovely! Wish them good luck and all the best! 
**My mentor Ann James's illustrated picture book, "I'm a dirty dinosaur," is in "Early Childhood Notables." Ann used "real" mud in the illustration! 

• Short List 2014
• Crichton Award Short List 2014
• Early Childhood Notables for 2014
• Eve Pownall Notables for 2014
• Younger Reader Notables for 2014
• Older Reader Notables for 2014
• Picture Book Notables for 2014

Also, previous Book Week slogans and image creators are here.

Special thanks for warm cheers. The hands' pains are being healed. Soon, I'll see the hand specialist.
Friends, Happy Painting and Happy Reading!!

Book Week16-22 Aug, Stay Tuned Picture Book of the Year, Dromkeen Medal Winners

1)Wesley Building Dreams Project 2)Dromkeen,Prestigious Award in children literacy

Now, my update.

First, a project for artists with disabilities and their carers. 
1) Wesley Building Dreams Art Exhibition
Wesley Mission (facebook)  has invited me to advocates artists with disabilities. Very happy! I'll mentor them in watercolour class from this week for two months. It will be a pop-up exhibition in Sydney CBD between 2-7 August this year. 


The event, "Building Dreams" is part of a wider disability research and awareness campaign centred on the latest Wesley Report, Give Disability Carers a Break before They Break Down.  Did you know? 

• Over one third of Australian households are involved with disabilities. 

• 4.2 million Australians are classified as having disabilities. 

• There are 2.7 million informal carers of individuals living with a disability in Australia.  (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012)

Sadly, what others do not realise is that carers are often forced to sacrifice their own lives to look after someone they love. This project aims at supporting both carers and artists with disabilities.  Sadly, what others do not realise is that carers are often forced to sacrifice their own lives to look after someone they love. This project aims at supporting both carers and artists with disabilities. 

Although there is not an easy solution for the issue, we, mentors and Wesley Mission would like to inspire artists and bring hopes and dreams. I heartily hope this event, at a grass roots level, can make a little difference and a better world! 

Second, an interesting topic for you, "Dromkeen Medal". This Monday at 2 pm is the due for nomination.
2) Dromkeen Medal (*The medal was designed by Robert Ingpen, our great illustrator.)
It is one of the most prestigious annual awards given to only "one" individual who has significantly contributed to Australian children book literacy. Only once in life, an individual may accept it. My blog readers, especially Australians will find familiar names in winners such as, Robert Ingpen, Mem Fox, Julie Vivas, Ann James, Margaret Hamilton, Roland Harvey, Shaun Tan, Libby Gleeson, etc, etc. Yes, they are all big names and key persons in our industry. (*Yey! My mentor's name is in there!! She's a 2002 winner.) 

*Below, my copy of Robert Ingpen's work for practice, 
I added acorns on his origial. 
When I started my career of a children picture book illustrator, 
I collected Robert's work. Still now I'm learning lot from other illustrators' wonderful work. 

Back to the topic. I had been doing research on the Dromkeen Medal for those weeks with my mentor Ann James's help. My interests were two. One is in *editors or **publishers' role in publication, as they are often "invisible." The other is to clarify "continuity and changing" in Australian children picture books. I chose one specific editor and did research.

In contemporary Australian picture books, the researched data certainly shows the changing and the continuity in style, genre, theme and media. The changings go hand in hand with society on the move. Regarding readers/audience, today, picture books attract adults and older boys as well as young children. However, the continuity is in themes universal and common like any other contries. Always old and same themes repeatedly come up such as love and family in Australian picture books. 

BTW, oh, it was really a NIGHTmare to collect massive information to organise bibliographies and to write analyses. It has exhausted me so much. What was worse was really hard to define who edited a picture book from internet.
BUT a great reward ; the research has given me profound and broad knowledge about our industry's history! A great bonus, I could contact some of the most important people in publishing industry directly and indirectly. A great, great bonus, I've reconnected our brilliant and very active sociolinguistics professor Ingrid Piller (*her blog, Language on the Move is so nice! If you love thinking about society and language, go to her blog!).
Although it was a great pain to handle a huge amount of data, I enjoyed this research. Simply because I love reading picture books!!!

Shaun Tan, in particular, has pushed the boundaries of picture books. His work has changed their public image from easy kids’ reading to philosophical books that bear academic discussion on universal themes and social issues, displaying sophisticated art. For example, the Arrival by Shaun Tan, the Australia’s first the wordless picture book and successful graphic novel deals immigration, social inclusion and other issues from a humanistic view. 

I also remembered newspapers' interviewing of Shaun. It was very interesting to read how much wisely Shaun answered mass media and his say changed the acknowledgement of picture books. 
Today, children picture book / literacy is an independent genre, being taught at uni and certainly in visual art. 

**When Shaun did the Arrival book launch at Sydney uni, I sketched him and had a chat. 
I asked him, "Is that cartoon you?" He said, "Yes!" We laughed together. 
Very kind Shaun gave me his graffiti, too. 
It has become my treature!!

If you like, pick up a specific Dromkeen past winner and check the info. That'll be fun. 
The 2014 Dromkeen winner will be honoured at an Announcement Ceremony during a book week, 16–22 August 2014. I look forward to an upcoming winner. 
It's exciting to live my picture book illustrator life in this interesting era in changing and continuity.  

Through art, by art, we can do something for others! 
Thanks millions for warm encouragements. I'll do weekly Monday blogging like before. Thank you for your great cheers and patience. My hands much get healed! The right hand has no pain! 
Friends, Happy Painting! 

NOTE

*An editor works on the book with author and illustrator. 
**A publisher choses what to publish, commissions authors and illustrators etc.










  

1)Wesley Building Dreams Project 2)Dromkeen,Prestigious Award in children literacy