Anne Ryan is an illustrator, artist and art educator living in Melbourne. Through school visits, artist-in-residence programs, workshops and Visual Arts Specialist teaching, she has enjoyed sharing her creative processes and storytelling with young children for many years.

As an author/illustrator, her first picture book was Unforeseen Circumstances. Anne participated as an illustrator on the Australian creator’s stand at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy 2017 and 2018 promoting Australian Children’s Literature.

Her latest illustrated titles are published by Ford Street Publishing, including picture book ‘Salih’, and illustrated poetry book entitled ‘RapperBee’.

Visit Annes’ website for the latest news http://anneryan.com.au

Tactile Fun

Released January 14th, 2022

During the many lockdowns of 2021, I enjoyed reconnecting with a variety of art mediums and processes that I have not had time to tinker with for several years. I began making “one off” hand embroidered tote bags featuring my latest illustrations from my poetry book RapperBee.

It was such an enjoyable way to relax in the evenings with these new projects.

I was reminded of the tactile pleasure of working with yarns and fabrics and how calming it was to focus my mind on these simple hand activities. I love the feel of the fabric and the simple motion and rhythm of the stitching. Although I chose to keep them monotone, I still enjoyed selecting the colours and working on different textures with simple stitches.

As we were all spending way too much time on our screens, my embroidery was a welcome relief and workout on my hands and fingers. It was definitely positive mindfulness and it helped compensate for the challenges of a more sedentary lifestyle that we had adjusted to during the pandemic.

RapperBee was released by Ford Street Publishing in October 2021 and I have become quite attached to bringing these illustrations to life on playful library bags.