New Projects and Old
I’ve been creating work on the iPad for some years now. It changed everything for me. I could talk about improved…
I Love My ‘day’ Job
Decades ago I trained as a teacher. Before I’d had a chance to work out what I really wanted to do.…
Embrace the mess
You may have noticed that I got very enthusiastic about writing for the past couple of weeks. I had decided that…
More Dogs
The second greyhound book by Kylie Miller was sent off to print a few weeks ago and the book launch is…
Boys Can’t Sew
It happened again! At the market last weekend someone approached my stall and showed an interest in my Sew Together Dolls.…
We’re off to The Show!
The Melbourne Royal Show I’ve heard a lot about it over the years. My kids have visited it with other families…
Australian Animals on their way!
My best-selling products at the markets are the collections of small doll ‘Sew Together’ kits. When I first designed and made…
Peninsula Studio Trail Artists
Last week I had the opportunity to have coffee with another peninsula artist. Narelle Callen is a fantastically talented painter. She’s…
Christmas in July!
I last set my market stall at the end of May and it was a super chilly start. It’s been two…
Celebrating Dogs
I don’t have favourites. I love dogs so much that we have three! I don’t (really) have a favourite, but I’m…
Albert on ABC Radio National!
The author of the book I most recently illustrated is an absolute gun with publishing. It’s a joy to watch her…
It’s all new to me
‘Emerging artist’ always seems like an odd term to me. It seems to suggest you’ve been hiding away somewhere, not quite…
Time to stop
We need a mini-break! The first three months of this year have whipped by at break-neck speed. It’s just as busy…
Markets Update
It’s been a little over a month since I started selling at local markets. Packing up my car the night before…
Time to celebrate women
It’s 8th March again! International Women’s Day. Time to shout loudly about how great women are. I was really lucky to…
My First Market Day
If you were to make a wish list for the best weather and people for your first market it would look…
Market Time!
I’m having a mild panic putting together my first market stall. Fortunately the market is set a truely gorgeous place and…
You Can’t Get It Right
At the start of an art class, particularly with children, I often say ‘You can’t get it right and you can’t…
Wrap It Up
Time to wrap up 2021 and wish it a fond farewell! But first a little bit of reflection. It hasn’t all…
Christmas Challenge
Mid November, panic time! Although generally I get the sense that Christmas has a different tone this year. Let’s face it,…
Where have you been?
Well, the quick answer to that is nowhere! But I have been very distracted and busy with projects and trying to…
Back to Redbubble Fun!
This week I had a whole lot of fun uploading some patterns and illustrations to Redbubble. It was incredibly easy and…
How Important is Imaginative Play?
Let’s escape all this. What’s better than sitting down to a good movie or reading a book? Escaping into another world…
Let’s Sew Together!
Creating sewing kits Over the past couple of months I’ve been working on creating two collections of sewing kits. Now they’re…
New book on the way!
Tomorrow is the publication day for this lovely picture book celebrating some of the heroes of the catastrophic bush fires that…
Crafting Slowly
In 2020 Whenever we got the chance we bought up big at Spotlight (our handy craft mega-store) and sewed. We sewed…
Another Challenge
The 100 Day Project – again I do love a challenge, but sometimes you have to gracefully admit defeat. In February…
Self Belief – What’s that?
Where do you find support and encouragement when you work alone? I signed up to attend a SCWBI event for illustrators.…
Dont Stop
Illustrator Karen Erasmus discusses the slow and sometimes difficult process of developing a creative career.
I finally kicked him out
My Space I know how lucky I am to have an office to myself. It’s an outrageous luxury, but like all…
Love a challenge!
Another 100 days Once or twice a year I take on a ludicrous but entertaining art challenge. It’s always an interesting…
Inspiring Surroundings
New Project…time for a break The start of every creative project is an idea and a brief. And it’s always nice…
Celebrating Illustrators and Colour
Many years ago I listened to Shaun Tan speaking to a small group of illustration students about how he uses colour.…
Colour and Illustration
Colour – it’s a massive subject. Something that is incredibly beautiful and fundamental to art and illustration. Yet if you start…
It’s all new
New Year The start of a new year immediately makes you look at the past one. It’s not very pretty this…
List, plan, muddle…Christmas
Four days left before Christmas! I’m a ridiculous list maker at the best of time but it can get out of…
Well here it is…
Happy Holidays From where I’m sitting on the south coast of Australia, I’m very aware of how incredibly fortunate I am.…
Famous Story Reading
I’m a bit excited about this! A famous person reading a book I illustrated, and getting dressed up for the occasion.
Play the Game
After going to all the effort of learning your craft and creating work marketing and showing your work can be difficult.…
Mock-up Love
I love creating mock-ups for patterns and prints. Here are some pointers on how to start creating mock-ups
Reading to Children
I can honestly say that some of my favourite memories of my children being small are the times when we sat…
Next Phase
A brief update of what I’ve been up to for the past three months. I’m very happy to be getting back…
That Drawing Project I did 100 Years Ago!
It’s hard to believe how quickly the past two months has disappeared. When I last wrote I was finishing up on…
Creativity, young people and mental health
As a teacher of creativity it was really disheartening this week to hear in the news that humanities degrees in Australia…
Learning new skills
I’ve recently published a Skillshare class on illustrating characters in Photoshop. You can get 2 months free Skillshare access with the…
More sewing
Face masks with wire! So life is opening up again and it feels weird and worrying so this weekend I hid…
More and more animals in hats!
Day 40 and counting. 40 days ago I had the ridiculous notion to start The 100 Day Project. As I love…
Getting Help…getting too much help
Karen Erasmus discusses guidance and advice for creative business.
My first story reading
At last! I was brave enough to get in front of the camera and do a story reading. And it turned…
Happy Easter
Stay home, stay safe This time next year With any luck I’ll be able to look at this picture and remember…
The 100 Days of Animals in Hats
It’s getting to us all Well of course, like everyone else on the planet, life is just not the same. We’re…
Getting by at home
Sew-Walk-Draw-Design-Repeat As for most people on planet earth at the moment life has changed dramatically around here during the past two…
Flying Elephants from the Past
Many years ago when my parents lived in Australia (and the world wasn’t completely fxxxed…sorry, I’m trying to stay positive!) my…
Time for some Dancing Bears
I scribbled down some dancing bears today. It seemed right to find something silly to do. Things are still pretty easy…
Rainy Day Mock-up
It’s been raining non-stop today and I’m feeling a bit coldy and yuck, so what better to do that play around…
Setting up shop!
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been setting up shop on my website. The idea is that this will support…
New Collections!
Three new surface pattern design collections. Here’s some of the inspirations and ideas behind the designs.
Springing Forward
Illustrator and surface pattern designer Karen Erasmus has designed a new pattern with a Springtime theme
Magical Mallacoota
Australia is experiencing our worst bushfires in history and the news from Mallacoota was some of the worst. It is harrowing…
Happy Holiday Season
I made this! The holiday season always seems to creep up on me at an alarming rate in Australia. The kids…
Walls That Talk
My illustrations on the outside of a public building! Back in August The Maitland Library in New South Wales approached me…
Christmas! Just round the corner.
It’s going to be a bit of a mad Christmas this year at our place. With relatives driving across the Nullarbor…
Excitement all round Play School, Fabric and Puppy!
Mini Celebrations We had a lot of fun watching Play School yesterday and celebrating ‘Eva’s Imagination’ being read out. It brought…
Book reading on Play School!
We’re on the telly! I was super excited this week to hear that ‘Eva’s Imagination’ is going to be read on…
Water Lilies
I made a new pattern yesterday with water-lilies for inspiration. I was also following the creative prompt ‘Grateful’. My cynical voice…
Inktober Round-up
This is the round-up of all my Africa Inktober sketches. I’m not sure what I was thinking of when I decided…
Inspiration for Design
Inktober I’m managing to keep up with two versions of Inktober, but only just. Days go by and I miss doing…
Do children have a say in design?
They have minds of their own A long time ago, when I started illustrating children’s books someone very cynically said to…
Licensing my work
This week my surface pattern designs were accepted on patterndesigns.com, a European pattern licensing site with really high standards. I was…
Winter Blooms
What better way to get back into designing than to enter another Spoonflower challenge? This week is Winter Blooms and as…
Illustrated gum-nuts
After an extended break to the wilds of the UK and Africa, I’m finally back to creating patterns starting with recolouring…
Limited Palette
This is the first time I’ve attempted the challenge of using a limited palette for a pattern. Who knew it could…
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