LAURA WATSON

Laura Watson lives and works in the leafy neighbourhood of Riverdale, in Toronto, Canada, in a narrow 110-year-old house with her husband, eleven-year-old daughter, Posy, and Red the redbone coonhound. A childhood spent drawing, painting and making crafts out of kleenex boxes and pipe cleaners led to art school (York University for Fine Art and Sheridan College for Illustration). Since then, Laura has created lighthearted and whimsical illustrations for children's books and magazines, greeting cards and stationery, restaurant and retail applications, and various children's products. She works with bright, textured swatches of colour, illustrated vintage type and other collaged elements in a digitally compiled method that still looks hand painted. Laura works happily in a vine-covered converted garage in the backyard, occasionally interrupted by baby raccoons wandering across the skylight.