Ester de Boer is an illustrator and a writer. She came to Gippsland to complete her Dip Ed at Monash University’s Churchill campus. Having never lived in Victoria she says she looked up Churchill on the map a week before leaving her Queensland home. She then packed her van and drove down; naive to what she would find at the end of her journey.
Ester quickly fell in love with Gippsland and believes the people are the greatest asset the area has. Having a passion for mentoring others, she loves to see them gain confidence in themselves and step out with their individual gifting. “So few people ever really take the risk. “ She says.
The current project which dominates her time is a mammoth illustration job for a Christmas picture book by Joanne Creed entitled ‘The Shop on the Corner.’ When not up to her elbows bringing stories to life with her imaginative illustrations; she tries to steal time to work on her own fantasy novel which she also plans to illustrate herself.
Down-time for this bubbly creative varies. She loves coffee dates with fellow writers from her writing group at Cog Coffee in Traralgon. A day trip out to Tarra Bulga National park or an evening at home with wine and chocolate with friends.
With a close friend living right around the corner, many evenings are spent together playing music from Bowie to the Beetles. Ester on her violin accompanying her friend on the guitar. Lots of laughs are had. “Only the neighbours can give you an honest assessment of what that sounds like.” They are also enjoying reading aloud the classic novel, Huckleberry Finn. Which always proves amusing as much of it is written in a deep-southern lingo which requires the reader to use a hill-billy accent for it to make any sense. Fueled by pizza and icecream they have hours of fun together.
Ester reflects on a few pivotal life events she describes as ‘before and after moments’ that together have led her to her current life situation. “After I decided to become a committed Christian at the age of 21 and shocked all my friends. It’s actually led me to some interesting paths.”
The self-described bouncy and easily-distracted Gippslandian has an endless imagination which she delves deep into as she brings children’s stories to life through her art work. She has great recognition and acclaim including winning gold in the 2015 IPPY Awards for Best Children's Illustrated eBook in New York, and was featured in the Asian Festival of Children's Content 2015 in Singapore.
Books Illustrated by Ester de Boer include:
"Filthy Fox" by Matthew Yarsley, "Imagine" by Emma Mactaggart, "To the Moon and Back:Grandma's Rocket Ship Adventure" by Merelyn Carter and "Lily Fabourama Glamourama" by Emma Mactaggart.
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