Featured Illustrator

Welcome! Oregon SCBWI is proud to feature one Illustrator member each month. Below you’ll find information about this month's artist and links to their portfolio. We encourage you to take a few minutes to learn about this Oregon Illustrator and to enjoy their artwork. If you would like to be featured, contact Robin at: oregon-ic@scbwi.org

Lauren Akazawa Mendez

Laren Akazawa Mendez

Hi friends! It’s an honor to be the featured illustrator for the Oregon SCBWI! Becoming a KidLit artist wasn’t always my goal but what helped was having a mother who made the time in her busy day to read to me and my sisters. We read all types of books! She was (and is) very good at picking a diverse range of illustration styles, from the realism of David Weisner to the beautiful watercolors of Holly Hobbie and the paper collage of Ellen Stoll Walsh. You could often find little Lauren returning to a book to thoroughly examine the artwork. (Continued below)

Lauren's Illustrations

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Lauren's journey in the KidLit World

Lauren's story (cont.):

My mother also encouraged all her daughters to pursue art. She enrolled us in after-school classes and camps, which we loved! We were always creating and making something. And after years of creating, I walked through the doors at the SCBWI Western Conference in 2016 and made my decision, “I want to become a children’s book illustrator!” So here I am fulfilling that goal thanks to the supportive community that encompasses children’s books. (That’s all of you!) And it’s why I’m still here. It’s a community that celebrates creativity and I don’t foresee a day when I’d want to leave that.

And a little advice:

I find that being an artist contains a double truth: I need time alone to create but also time with others to share and connect. So my advice is to not only create but to share your work. Find a community (small or big) to engage with, listen and ask questions! Creativity thrives within the garden of community.