JOANNE LEW-VRIETHOFF
Home Illustration Books About me
 

Joanne graduated from Art Center College of Design in1995. She began her career doing character designs for chidren’s television industries.

In 1997, she moved to New York to train as a graphic designer and later became an art director at DiVision Studio creating award winning designs for clients such as School of General Studies at Columbia Universtity as well as the International Jewerly Design Guild. This led to her taking on the role as an art director at Gazworks.com, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Since then she has moved to the Nederlands and continues to work as an illustrator and designer with publishers from Europe and the United States.

Currently she is busy illustrating and writing picture books and loves every minute of it.

Nederlands: Joanne Lew-Vriethoff is geboren in Maleisië en heeft haar opleiding als illustrator gevolgd aan het Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, Amerika. Ze illustreert kinderboeken, educatief werk en magazines voor (inter)nationale uitgeverijen. In 2004 en 2005 is haar werk o.a. geaccepteerd voor een tentoonstelling bij de 'Society of Illustrators' in New York en Los Angeles. Sinds vijf jaar woont ze in Nederland en zij werkte samen met uitgeverijen uit Amerika en Europa.

Op dit moment, is zij bezig met illustreren en schrijven van kinderboeken. Haar inspiratie komt van haar twee kinderen.

Honors

Society Of Illustrators of New York
Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles
SCBWI

Partial Client List

BRUNA A.W., Multimedia,
John Brown Junior
DiVers Uitgeverij
Uitgeverij Mozaiek
HEM B.V,
Macmillian McGraw-Hill Co.,
Penguin Publishing
Random House
Lerner Publishing

 

Where do you get your ideas from?
It comes from everywhere. When I am on my bicycle, lying on the sofa, traveling and seeing new things, sitting on a swing, going down a slide with my daughter, doing the most ordinary but wonderful thing like playing with my children. These ideas come especiallly when I am not thinking too hard.

Were you always into art when you were a child?
Yes. I drew on everything. For example, when I didn't have the money to buy new clothes, I took a pen and started drawing and painting on the back of my jacket. I kept adding things to it. Fabrics, buttons, things I liked. My friends thought it was cool. So it's not just drawing but creating, putting things together and not knowing what's going to come out of it at the end. That's the fun part.

Who are your favorite artist and writers?
Not in any order. Red Grooms, Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake, Michael Rosen, Babette Cole, Sendak, Dr. Seus, Kay Thompson, Silverstein. and Tim Burton. They are just some of my favorite writers and illustrators. They are not afraid to be different and quirky. They always make me laugh out loud. My children love it too especially when I act out the story. They always shout "Again, again'

Do you do art with your children?
All the time. I always encourage them to express themselves through their art. In general, kids start to follow certain rules about drawing and painting. I try to discourage that. Just the other day, my daughter said I had to make my butterfly painting look exactly like the glass butterfly on the window. I told her that there are many ways of making a butterfly. There is not one right way. I try to encourage her to create what she sees and not someone else's vision. Everyone has it within themselves to create something wonderful and unique as long as it comes from their your heart.

Art comes in many different forms. Sometimes when we get tired of drawing or making things, we like to turn the music on, dance around the house, sing and volleyballoon, do performances, take out the jumping rope and jump like a mad squirrel, go to puppet and musical shows or even bounce a ball on our head. Mostly just having alot of fun.

If you have any questions, please write. I'll do my best to answer them.
You can contact me at joanne@josgreatesthits.com