Aileen Leijten

Painter of Plots  *  Spinner of Stories * Fabricator of Figurines

Books written and illustrated

Creations

Prints and Art Objects

Experience

ILLUSTRATION

I love illustrating the books I write, but also books written by other people. Working on 'Bella & Bean', by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, was a wonderful experience, as was illustrating 'City Hall', by Susan Bloom and Debbie Bertram. Creating books covers is something I want to do more of.

PICTURE BOOKS

From the first time I walked into 'Every Picture Tells a Story...', a picture book gallery in Los Angeles, I knew I wanted to create a picture book of my own. I was at CalArts at the time, and I started a book project right away. That was the earliest incarnation on my book 'Hugging Hour'.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Belgium has a long tradition of Comix, and Graphic Novels. I grew up reading comix such as 'Tin Tin', and 'Suske en Wiske', but it wasn't until college that I was turned onto the art of people like Francois Schuiten. This had a profound influence on me which ultimately resulted in the creation of Lint Boy.

PRESENTATIONS

I am available for school visits, library and conference presentations, and I offer teaching workshops in drawing, crafting, and wool sculpting for adults and children eight and up. Look at the events page or contact me at aileen@aleijten.com for more detailed information.

3D CREATIONS

Sculpting has always been one of my passions, and when I got re-intruduced to sculpting with wool about ten years ago, it really captured my attention in a new way. I love creating human and animal figurines out of wool. Working in three dimensions has inspired my illustration and vice versa.

ANIMATION

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