Lea Lyon

San Francisco illustrators' day coordinator

As a child Lea wanted to be a children's book illustrator when she grew up. Then she grew up and forgot all about her dream. Although she took many art classes and painted in oils in Jr. High and high school, her creative outlet while she was raising a family was making puppets, humorous dolls and soft sculpture mannequins, all of which she sold to stores. Eventually she went back to school, got an MBA and started working in the high tech field.

When she saw a listing in the UC Berkeley extension catalogue for a class in "Illustrating Children's Books" she remembered her dream and took the class. She joined SCBWI and has attended many conferences and workshops. She continues to take painting classes to hone her craft and also paints portraits of children. Her portfolio won awards twice at the National SCBWI conference and now she is a published illustrator.

Her dream has come true.

Lea has illustrated two award-winning picture books for Tilbury House Publishers. One is "Say Something" by Peggy Moss, about bullying, which won a Teachers' Choice Award from Learning Magazine and was named a Notable Social Studies Book in 2005. The second is "Playing War" by Kathy Beckwith, in 2005 which was named a "Children's Pick for 2005" by the Mid Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association and one of the best multi-racial children's books for 2006 by Skipping Stones Magazine.

Lea lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband.

E-mail:
Snail mail: