Rebecca ter Borg
Illustrator of 'Star Gazing'
I am a free-lance illustrator living and drawing in central Auckland. I have a studio in my bedroom at home for drawing at night and being messy in and a shared studio in K' Road with some other artists that I try to be tidy in. My two daughters (10yrs and 7yrs) and I love books and words and pictures. My girls inspire me a lot with their crazy imaginations and give me ideas for my illustrations.
I remember the amount of book illustrations dropping off when I started reading chapter books around age ten and being very disappointed! I love to create alternative worlds with my pictures and even when they don't have a story to go with them they look like they should. I do illustration work for adult clients but I also love making stickers and cards and prints in my own time and fun things for kids.
When I was ten I was very into magic and witches, some of my favourite books were the 'Worst Witch' series by Jill Murphy. I also liked Dianna Wynne Jones's magical worlds and Enid Blyton's books packed with fantastical characters and adventures.
I liked old-fashioned books, too, as they seemed like other worlds - The Secret Garden and The Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett, Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Astrid Lindgren books like Pippi Longstocking, Mardie and Lisbet and Karlson on the Roof.
The Ramona series by Beverly Cleary was also a favourite as I very much related to Ramona's frustrations at being misunderstood and her well-intentioned mis-adventures.