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Gianna Marino
January 1 through January 30, 2006

As a child, I was often out in the backyard, building chicken coops and duck pens, hammering and sawing on walk-in aviaries for all my birds and planting a garden full of vegetables. Nagging my mother with childhood boredom, she suggested I draw my animals and plants. And so began my interest in drawing from nature. My studies became more serious during yearly visits to the far corners of the earth. I began sketching what I saw and continued with illustrated articles about medicinal plants and exotic animals. I went from West, East and North Africa, India, Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Bhutan, China and Indonesia, to Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and Noumea, crewing on sailboats in Mexico and the Caribbean and a stint living in Europe. These journeys were funded by my part-time jobs apprenticing as a muralist, a jewelry designer and a product designer, which lead to my early career of freelance toy / product design and illustration for books and magazines. My first children's book, Zoopa: An Animal Alphabet, was published Fall/'05 by Chronicle Books.   Final page of Zoopa Gianna Marino

In my current body of paintings, I have used my design background in composition, emphasizing the importance of negative space and mature colors to enhance the focal point of each painting. I hope that my interest in flora and fauna from around the world will tell a story to the viewer and bring them to another place and time.

Archive: Previous artists presented in this Online Gallery

Artist of the month featured here. See and be seen! Members Share illustrations in the SCBWI NorCa online gallery. We're interested in showcasing our members' artwork, both published and unpublished. To submit artwork to be considerd for this page please e-mail your regional advisor.

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