David,1959
DAVID ELLIOT – Illustrator and author
I was born in 1952 in Ashburton, New Zealand, in the middle of the Canterbury plains where there wasn’t much going on but sheep and pine trees.
I quickly invented a pretend lamb as a friend (really just the piece of string I led around) and have been making things up ever since.
David with husky pups, Antarctica1979
For as long as I can remember I’ve loved stories and drawing and that eventually led me to art school and on out into the thorny world of trying to make a living out of my imagination.
I have been very lucky that I have almost accidentally ended up in places and situations that couldn’t help but inspire me. A stint working in Antarctica in 1979 (where some huskies licked me into shape) followed later by a job as gateman at Edinburgh Zoo (where I was egged on by a parrot), confirmed to me that I wanted to write and illustrate stories and although I ended up first designing interiors then teaching for a long time, books have always been my real love.
David, Edinburgh Zoo 1982
At last in 1998 my wonderful wife Gillian convinced me that I should try working on books fulltime. Fortunately things have worked out pretty well!
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