KLP Chat: Kristen Willis on Creativity, Kidlit Illustration, and Piccolo Prints

Kristen Willis lives a life full of creativity, from her graphic design work to children's book illustration and her brand new venture, Piccolo Prints. If you love art and creativity, then this is the episode for you!

Host Shara Curlett welcomes award-winning Australian children’s book illustrator and author, Kristen Willis of Tondo Creative. Kristen is a Brisbane-based creative with a Fine Arts edge and a Graphic Design mindset. She discusses her path from fine arts and graphic design to kidlit, and everything in between.

Kristen shares how a childhood filled with creativity and excitement has influenced her as an adult, along with her Italian-Australian roots. She shares how she works traditionally with gouache, coloured pencil, and PanPastels, before scanning and preparing art for publishers.

Kristen emphasises authenticity in art and connecting with manuscripts prior to taking them on. She recounts her CBCA New Illustrator shortlisting experience for Peekaboo Lottie (written by Laura Holloway), and describes the illustration process for Casa Mia (written by Josie Montano), about a boy connecting with his nonno who longs for Italy amid dementia. Kristen explains how she used palette shifts to mirror emotion.

After sharing her upcoming large-format graphic novel project, Kristen introduces Piccolo Prints, a portable miniature art vending machine piloted at the Brookfield Show, and does a blind vend for Shara!

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Kristen Willis on Instagram: @tondocreative

Kristen Willis on Facebook: @tondocreative

Kristen Willis website: www.tondo.com.au

Piccolo Prints on Instagram: @piccoloprints_bytondo

Piccolo Prints on Facebook: @piccoloprints

Piccolo Prints website link: www.tondo.com.au/piccolo-prints/

Peekaboo Lottie picture book link

Casa Mia picture book link

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Follow The KidLit Pod  on Instagram (@thekidlitpod)

Find out more about The KidLit Pod host, Shara Curlett, here:

Shara Curlett on Instagram (@sharacurlett)

Shara Curlett Website (www.sharacurlett.com)

Transcript

[00:00:00] Shara Curlett: Welcome to The KidLit Pod, a collective industry-wide discussion of people who are creating, sharing, discussing, and celebrating books, all with the hopes of capturing children's hearts and minds.

I'm Shara Curlett, your host and author of two middle grade novels, Welcome to Miracle, released in 2025, and Protector of Beyond, the first book in an upcoming fantasy series with Penguin Australia, set for release September 2026.

Today's guest is award-winning Australian children's book illustrator, Kristen Willis, and she is having quite the year. Her debut picture book, Peekaboo Lottie, received a CBCA award. She is a Yellow Bird Illustration Exhibition Award recipient, hosted by Thames & Hudson. In her latest release, the heartwarming Casa Mia is already finding its way into readers' hearts. When she's not bringing stories to life with pigments and pixels, Kristen is busy working on multiple upcoming picture books with two more titles set for release this year, plus several exciting projects in the wings, including her very own graphic novel.

And if that wasn't enough, she recently launched Piccolo Prints, a miniature art vending machine passion project that is quickly gaining traction at kidlit events and festivals. A passionate advocate for the kidlit community, Kristen also serves as the SCBWI Queensland Illustrator Coordinator, creating opportunities and connections for illustrators at every stage of their journey.

There's plenty to unpack today, so let's welcome Kristen Willis.

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[00:01:28] Shara Curlett: Hi, Kristen! 

[00:01:30] Kristen Willis: Hello. 

[00:01:31] Shara Curlett: Welcome to The KidLit Pod. You're the phenomenal force behind Tondo Creative, and you're an author, illustrator. What don't you do? I don't know, we'll find out. Um, and we have so much to unpack today. But first off, let's kick into how you became an author illustrator. Like, let's talk about your origin story. 

[00:01:52] Kristen Willis: My origin story. All right. So I'm a graphic designer originally by trade. So I did art at university, and then I coupled that with graphic design because, you know, to try and find a feasible way to make a career as a creative is quite sticky and tricky. And I've always wanted to, you know, sort of be a creative professional.

[00:02:10] Kristen Willis: So didn't wanna be an art teacher. Love art teachers, just I come from a family of teachers. I feel like, just wanted to be on a little bit more of a platform, professionally. 

So, yeah, so then obviously after getting some creative accreditations under my belt, a fine arts degree, and then I did my degree in graphic design, I fell pregnant. And then you're reading beautiful stories to your babies, right? So I feel like a lot of the connectors with book creators is that kind of lived experience, sharing those stories with these little munchkins and, obviously thinking, you know, "Oh, what would it look like if I gave it a crack myself?" You know, coming from the art background, what that would look like.

And I actually had a family story that was really, really personal to me, and I wrote it before I even knew what the kidlit circles looked like or before I even knew what the, you know, anatomy of a picture book looked like, all of those technical things that we need to understand. And my muse, which is my nonna on my mother's side, I was really close to her. And I grew up in her Singer sewing shop in North Queensland. So I grew up with, like, you know, bobbins and reels of cotton around me. I could go into her shop- 

[00:03:27] Shara Curlett: wow ... 

[00:03:27] Kristen Willis: - had, like, endless access to all of these sort of materials, and I was really inspired by her, and she really fostered that creativity from a young age. And also being at the counter and drawing little pictures on the little paper bags that her shoppers would have their purchased goods in. So I was always In the conversation around culture, multi-language. Ingham is a very, Italian-oriented sort of little city, like sugarcane,

And, back then in the '80s there was, you know, all this gossip and, you know- ... who's doing this and who's doing that and I think just, that has always been my roots, my origin roots, particularly in this space. I think that's what makes me, me, and, and that comes through in everything that I create.

[00:04:15] Kristen Willis: So yeah, that story, I wanted to preserve for my own children 'cause I was like there are no kind of immigrant moving stories, particularly filtered around love and connection, particularly from my cultural point of view, growing up as an Italian Australian in North Queensland. So I was like, "Oh, there's an opportunity there to maybe make something out of it, and if I lead with art first, what does that journey look like? Yeah. So that's what I did. So I did a, an online course called Make Art That Sells, which is a US-based, picture book course that teaches you characters and environment and all of those sort of things. More from the illustration side of things. And they had sort of their own stories that these  students could use as inspiration to build up a sample portfolio for the kidlit world. But instead of using their content, I actually used my story and my manuscript in progress as the content. So then as I was working through the course, I was also, like, personally beefing my submission for potentially this dream of publishing this origin story one day.

[00:05:25] Shara Curlett: Oh, that's so cool ... 

[00:05:26] Kristen Willis: And I also... Like, with those courses, they are so fundamentally amazing, in terms of all the knowledge that you get, but, everyone's work is always, they're always working from the same brief, right? So you can sort of see across social media or websites who's done the course, 'cause they've all done, like, Nico's Library or, like these balloons with little faces on it, and I'm just like, "Ah, I need to find a way to create my own 

[00:05:52] Shara Curlett: I love seeing where graphic design meets illustration. It's always quite unique and distinct. Like, I studied fine arts, myself. I-

[00:06:04] Kristen Willis: Did you?

[00:06:04] Shara Curlett: But I only did two years, I came to my second year and I loved drawing, I just loved painting, I loved everything, like sculpture, all of it. But I got to my second year, and I completed my second year, but I just, I just got to the point where I was like, "I don't wanna be an art teacher." Yeah. And I don't wanna sit in front of a computer for the rest of my life. Ironically, that is what I do now. But, there's more kind of freedom in where I get to do it. So I had been going down the computer design pathway, and I probably would've ended up in graphic design, 'cause that was what I did all through school, but yeah, I don't know. just, Something told me to stop, and then I ended up in business, but...

[00:06:42] Kristen Willis: Wow ...

[00:06:42] Shara Curlett: Yeah. And also the fitness industry is, like, a kind of a polar step away. But I fully appreciate all the graphic design aspect of illustration and how well you know color, how well you can, You know, just the flow of a story, but the illustrations tell their own story, and your work is just beautiful. 

[00:07:02] Kristen Willis: Aw, thank you. I think there's a real craft in piecing it all together. Like, it's not just art. It's not a single standalone picture, right? It's a character. It's the character's world. But then it's also what you feed into it to make it real. Like, I think to get that authenticity through the whole experience of illustrating a book, you really need to tap into who you are at the core. Like, have you lived that experience? Do you connect with the character? 'Cause originally, like, unless you're writing the story yourself, typically the usual scenario is you're paired with an author, right?

So, typically the words come from someone else's lived experience or someone else's inspiration from something that they've gone through, or something they're trying to shine a light on. And if you don't connect to the words, you maybe shouldn't be doing that book. Or if you do, it probably won't be your best authentic work, and you probably won't be super proud of it. It took a really long time for me to find the book world, really. I've probably only really been in this space since- I would say almost four years ago was- when I was like, "I'm gonna sit down and I need to develop a portfolio. First, I need to work out whether my story has legs and what I need to do to actually turn that into a book."

[00:08:20] Kristen Willis: You know, how many pages is a book? What is the turn style? All of those things that you need to know. But then having had sat in the graphic design world for, like, 10 plus years working with studios and branching out on my own, um, I think that obviously gives me sort of, yeah, that extra skill set to work with typography, and understand spacing in a book, and the layout, the digital layout of a book, and even how to process my own artwork, like, in terms of working traditionally, which I do.

So I'm a graphic designer, but I work traditionally as an illustrator, which is a blessing. And then scanning it and processing it all at home in my home studio, and then obviously having it pretty much print ready for the publisher to send to their designer, so then they can, like, put all the typography in and stitch it up for printing.

[00:09:05] Kristen Willis: So, yeah. f full process, but then there's also the other leg that comes. Like, it's never just the book. You have to really market yourself, and I think that's a very valuable asset if you're potentially interested in, like, getting a contract as a book creator with publishers.

[00:09:19] Kristen Willis: Publishers wanna see, "Oh, yes, Kristen does lovely work," but can she get up there and do school visits, or how is she on Instagram, or, how involved is she? So I think the more active you are, essentially you are investing in yourself for all these amazing potential opportunities to land a contract and to build really strong relationships with those professional leaders in the publishing space. So yeah, you gotta market yourself. Whether you're a author or illustrator, it doesn't matter. I think it's still important to know your origin story. Like, just remember why you're doing what you're doing, and then, you know, present that. 'Cause if you project it outwards, to the world, the universe will feed it back to you. So I tend to land stories that fit naturally within kind of my interest topics because that's what I'm always pushing out there, you know?

[00:10:11] Shara Curlett: Yeah. I've heard quite a few publishers say, actually, that it's almost like they can tell when a story has meaning to the author, because it's just a different special kind of little magic that comes through in the story, right? It just feels genuine. It feels honest, and, like I know- When you're writing a story, you come up with ideas, but I still believe that all those ideas come from somewhere, right? You're not just plucking things out of nowhere. Something kind of calls to you, and it either sticks or it doesn't. But there's something, whether we acknowledge it or not, there's something inside of us that wants to tell the stories that we tell. 

[00:10:47] Kristen Willis: Yeah, I 100% agree. I also think that it's a part of us that we kind of can't ignore. Like, there were many years where I did, you know, art at university, and that was great, and that was very much like a practical skills-based degree. Like, you don't do that with the vision of having a job at the end of it. You usually have to pair it with some other discipline to education or marketing or whatever it is.

So I feel like, yeah, it's very much something you can't ignore, and if you try to suppress it, it's gonna, like, bubble up and slap you in the face anyway to be like, "Hey, no, no, no, you can't run away," because there were quite a few years where after I did my arts degree, I just didn't really know where I fit in the creative bubble. Like, I loved art, but I didn't quite click with that sort of cultural scene of, I don't know, going to exhibitions every weekend, and The concept of sort of applying for grants and living off show to show wasn't something that I was really interested in. And for many, many years, I actually, like, tried to repress being creative.

I was like, "Oh my God, I'm an adult now, I need to find a job, what am I going to do?" And I actually worked in lighting for about seven to eight years. So I was actually doing, like, lighting design, and worked for Beacon Lighting commercial. Then I moved to a commercial space, and then I was doing, like, hospitals and shopping centers and hazardous areas and getting really technical, because I always had that technical creative pull in my brain.

If I'm being fully creative, I get really burnt out, but then if I'm being fully technical, I get really depressed because I just don't have an outlet to be me. So my challenge has always been how do I find that balance? Like, you know, did art straight out of uni, I was in the lighting industry for like, eight years, and th- it was only then that I found graphic design, even though it was available- all the time.

[00:12:41] Kristen Willis: I just wasn't interested, or it just wasn't the time, I don't know what it was. I just hadn't had that experience yet. Kristen, you gotta hit rock bottom before you figure out what the heck you're trying to do with your life. And then you find it, and then you have children. Like, oh my gosh. So, it's been a long journey. And although it feels like my experience in the kidlit space, it does feel quite quick and sudden, but if I think about it, I've been in practice for, like, nearly 20 years. I was ready for it, but I was always training in a different lane, and then now it finally makes sense that it's all coming together. And that's exciting, and now I can kind of really dig deep into what I love and where the passion sits. And also n- now, like, although I'm in it and it's amazing, there's different challenges. There's always challenges. 

[00:13:32] Shara Curlett: I don't know how you felt when you kind of found all of this, but for me it was like a literal light bulb. Something lit up inside of me, and I was just like, "This, this is what I want to do." I felt like at that moment when I realised that, it was like I'd always meant to do it, it was what I was meant to do with my life, but it took me about 35 years as well, 

[00:13:55] Kristen Willis: so... We're twinning. We're twinning all the way on this journey. You know what? I don't think that's uncommon. Like, when you find your stride after having had a bit of life experience behind you, and you have tried different things and different laneways and different industries. Like, maybe there was an aspect of that that you enjoyed, but on the whole spectrum of that experience, you knew that that wasn't for you.

But there is a snippet of that experience that you are bringing into this new chapter. And I think that's what helps grow your identity as a book creator, particularly authors. Is like it doesn't matter if it's visual or words, they're the same creatively in this space. But I feel like that's what makes you you.

[00:14:35] Kristen Willis: And when the pieces come together and you do find that fire moment in your belly and it just suddenly makes sense, it is the best feeling. Parts of me think, "Oh, you know, I wish I found it-" 15 years ago. but that wasn't my time. Like, that's not our story. And that's all good. We've got time. We're still young. We're young at heart, and that's what matters, and I think we have this innate, amazing ability to be able to write for children and gift our life experiences and ideas and concepts to the world. So, that's kinda magic. 

[00:15:07] Shara Curlett: Yeah, it is. When I look back at the kinda kid I was, I was born into a creative household. My sister, she was an amazing artist. She still is. She would sew clothes for her dolls and I just remember being in awe of her paintings and her art. And then my brother, he was actually really, really good at graphic design. And I always thought he'd end up in the architecture kind of space, and lo and behold, he's now in property, so there is an element of that involved. But, I was speaking with Hannah Powell Fryer, about that whole nature versus nurture, and we were discussing how, some kids it's just innate with them. Like, they just need to be creative. They are creative. There's an element of nurture in the environment that you're brought up in, but I think some people just have that within them. And, like you said before, I think sometimes we do push it down almost and it's like, "No, who am I to live a creative life," right? Who am I to say that this is what I wanna do with my life? Like how audacious.

[00:16:07] Kristen Willis: Oh, I know.

[00:16:08] Shara Curlett: But actually, it's what brings the greatest joy, and you were saying before about how everything leads to it. Like I think of everything I've done in my life and all the different pathways that I've taken and all the different experiences that I've had and the learnings that I've had, it all drives it right into my characters now. Like it's given me quite a wide breadth of knowledge, and basis for my characters. And it's such a cool thing, right? It's just so cool. 

[00:16:33] Kristen Willis: It's amazing. It's amazing like that alchemy of everything kind of coming together and creating a new beginning, a new story as a creative, at whatever stage you are, I think it's just, yeah, it's the best. It really, really is. And you and I are not all that different. Like the fact that you said that your sister was into fashion and she was sewing things, like my nonna was a seamstress. She brought that skill from Italy.

And then my brother was also, creatively, technically minded as well, but he found a long time to kind of find his footings but he ended up as a town planner, which is all not that different to like architecture and property which is kind of like-

[00:17:06] Shara Curlett: Yeah ... 

[00:17:07] Kristen Willis: maybe my point of difference is that I have like Tirana grease running through my veins because I grew up at the drag strip in North Queensland with my dad pulling out engines and doing burnouts and all that.

[00:17:20] Shara Curlett: Oh, wow.

[00:17:21] Kristen Willis: So perhaps that drives my, adrenaline. You know? Like I'm always, I feel like I'm always, like and it comes across, you can't ignore it. Like I'm always energized. I've always got something tinkering away in my brain that I've got to like, like gung ho for. And then I ended up marrying an engineer who is very technically minded and creative in that sort of scientific, mathematical sense , but he's also into- cars and racing and that kind of thing. So you just never know. Maybe I'll do a book about, I don't know, a little speed racer child one day. Maybe it's a girl. Maybe she's gonna take over the...

[00:17:58] Shara Curlett: I think you should, I like that.

[00:18:00] Kristen Willis: Oh, I hadn't even thought about that idea until it just came out my mouth just then. which happens a lot. Ideas just come out, and then you sit on it and go, " Maybe, maybe I can do something with that."

[00:18:11] Shara Curlett: Yeah. Well, my dad was so creative. He was, your kinda entrepreneur brain. He always had ideas. He would tell stories to me at night. And then my mum was just an incredible sewer. Like, again, there's that alignment, right? I remember for my ball dresses, I would just draw a design for her and say, "You can make this, right?" And she would just look at it and go, "Sure." And she- Ah ... but she would every time. Like, She would take my drawing and turn it into a ball dress, and it was just incredible. 

[00:18:39] Kristen Willis: Did it come to light? Man, I would love to see this photo of you in this ball dress. Maybe we could do, like, a... I have this amazing photo of me when I was about, I reckon I would've been about eight years old, and I was the flower girl for my auntie's, my mum's sister's wedding, my Zia, in, in Ingham. And back then, because my nonna was a seamstress and she had the skills to, to craft, like, she made the entire bridal party outfit for all the girls. And back then it was, like, around the era of Princess Diana, right? So these big puffy sleeves. It was the taffeta. It was, like, all of the really shiny satin materials. And I'm pretty sure I've shared it before on my socials, but it is just iconic. It is, like, this bright aqua, turquoisey, A-line, puffy sleeve, like, tulle underneath it.

I think the shoes were even covered in the same fabric to match. And there's just this photo of me with this fake flower wreath around my head with this little tulle frill at the back, and just my big, 80 curly Italian hair coming out the sides of it. And I'm just like, "Oh." 

[00:19:46] Shara Curlett: Oh, that sounds amazing. 

[00:19:47] Kristen Willis: I just look at it and go, "Oh, man." It's just, like, iconic. 

[00:19:52] Shara Curlett: Yeah. 

[00:19:53] Kristen Willis: So We have to do a photo exchange. I'll send you that photo, and you send me a photo of your ball dress, and we can reminisce. 

[00:19:59] Shara Curlett: I think I'd rather send you... So I had a, a vision for my wedding dress, like a real boho style.

[00:20:05] Kristen Willis: Oh my 

[00:20:06] Shara Curlett: I was in bare feet, like we're at the beach. You know, that's totally me. I'd found a dress that was kind of a little bit like what I wanted, but it wasn't what I wanted. And I said to Mum, "Can you do this and this and this?" And she's phenomenal. She just created the dress of my dreams, and she made a flower wreath with the veil at the back.

[00:20:25] Kristen Willis: A flower reef. Oh my God.

[00:20:26] Shara Curlett: She crocheted little feetless kind of sand, like, jandals.

[00:20:29] Kristen Willis: Oh, I know, I know the style.

[00:20:34] Shara Curlett: Yeah.

[00:20:34] Kristen Willis: Do they just go round your toes and then you walk in the sand like that?

[00:20:37] Shara Curlett: Yeah, and they wrap around your ankles. And, like she crocheted those for me, and just, uh, so maybe I'll send you that one instead. 

[00:20:44] Kristen Willis: It doesn't matter what you send me. I just wanna see your mother's needlework skills, coupled with your creative vision for whatever it is that you- 

[00:20:51] Shara Curlett: Excellent ... 

[00:20:52] Kristen Willis: -you planted in her brain. And that would be great.

[00:20:55] Shara Curlett: Oh, it was so good. And, when I think about all of that kind of stuff, I always think about the environment that I grew up in, and now I'm thinking about the environment I'm creating for my kids. And so you live in quite like a beautiful nature spot, don't you? 

[00:21:09] Kristen Willis: I do. So I'm kind of on the shoulders of Mount Coot-tha, here in Brisbane, and I'm literally up a mountain surrounded by bush. I'm on 10 acres.. So all the houses around here are kinda on larger plots, and I'm literally at one with every living piece of wildlife that sort of passes by.

Yeah. I think we've been here for three and a half years. We were just at a suburban house before that. And, it's funny, something shifted when we moved. And it was only from one side of Brisbane to the other. So it was north side to west, with all the amazing prospects of like better schooling and all, you know, better home life and lifestyle all of that in mind. We didn't know we wanted to inherit such a large property, but with that comes a lot of extra adventures and time that sometimes takes away from being creative, but it also feeds back into being creative. So- 

[00:22:02] Shara Curlett: Mm. 

[00:22:03] Kristen Willis: Yeah, it's pretty wild. So I've got my little home studio, and I never had that luxury before. I was in a makeshift smaller than a three by three side study or the dining room table in our previous house. But when I moved, it's kind of like- I started to plant seeds in the old house, but then when I came here, I don't know what it was, everything just clicked. I don't know if I just felt freedom in having the ability to sort of spread out and experiment or Divine timing, I don't know what it was, but that's when book contracts started coming through.

And it wasn't, one, it was like five, six, like, in a very short period of time, all different publishers, and then it just kind of snowballed. So I haven't sort of, I feel like I haven't acquired anything kind of new at this point, because I'm still working through my list of what I've already committed to from two and a half, three years ago, when it all-

[00:22:57] Shara Curlett: Wow.

[00:22:57] Kristen Willis: - Kind of boomed when I moved. So, it's exciting to have books slowly coming out in the world, and I do love to work on a book at a time. Give the book the joy and time it needs to develop and create the artwork for it. And I make sure that I, um, sit down and have those nice really transparent conversations with the publishers, because I really wanna work with them, but I really wanna give their story the time that it needs to do really well.

So, I need to make sure that I've got time in my life to schedule it, to prioritise it. So, yeah, it's been, a great, a sudden, a hard learning, a fast learning experience. Uh, but like I said, I because I deal with clients in the graphic design space, and deal with contracts and that kind of thing, kind of felt very natural.

[00:23:45] Kristen Willis: Just very organic. It I didn't feel too throttled or like out, out of place or like scared. It was more of like, I'm actually seeing some progress in this, kind of did the opposite. It kind of gave me motivation and that confidence that I'm doing what I'm meant to be doing at the right time, in the right place, in the bush with all the wild, crazy animals. Yeah, that alignment was really, really, really great. 

[00:24:11] Shara Curlett: What's the wildest thing that's come to your doorstep or inside your house? Because Cassy Pollimeni, my friend- 

[00:24:16] Kristen Willis: Yes ... 

[00:24:17] Shara Curlett: She loves to send me videos of like wild Australian things- attacking people. 

[00:24:23] Kristen Willis: Oh, my God. That's really funny. When we first moved, because I lived in a, obviously like a suburban space before, and I wasn't really used to the sounds and the noises and the things that come with living where I do, for the first six months that we lived here, every single day without fail, there would be a group of guinea fowl that would waddle through my front lawn.

And I've actually never grown up with guinea fowl. I actually had no idea what they were, and I was in my studio one day and I could hear this, like, crazy sounds. Like, what the heck is that? I, like, got my phone. I think I have the original video of it somewhere on my phone, and, like, going out and seeing these massive birds with these little weird faces, but they've got these beautiful markings on their feathers and in the bushes and stuff, and they're just walking around.

I'm like, "What the heck is this? What's going on?" And every day at the same time they would come through. And I remember messaging the people in my neighbourhood, and... 'Cause people round here have livestock. They have chooks and all those beautiful things that come with living on somewhere that has potentially a hobby farm, which I don't.

[00:25:32] Kristen Willis: And nobody knew who they belonged to, but they just used to appear. And then I think that year actually, I was working on an illustration for, the CYA illustration comp, and I think the prompt for that year was Dreamland, and the actual picture that I produced ended up having guinea fowl in it, because I just had this guinea fowl that wandered past my front door every day.

And it, like, fed into the work, so that was really funny. So that's not a wild, wild animal experience, but it was just something really unexpected that inspired me in a couple of unusual ways in terms of, like, making a submission piece for a comp, and then I ended up creating this really large painting for my hallway.

[00:26:20] Kristen Willis: We have this hallway that's quite, wide, and it has this big blank, obviously, a, a vacant wall on one side. And as soon as I moved in I was like, "Oh my God, I need to put a picture there." And then obviously my brain was, like, straight away getting this huge frame that was... How big is it? one and a half by three nearly, like one and a half by two, like two and a half. It was huge. Bigger than me. I couldn't hold this thing. It was ridiculous. I could fit inside the frame without a canvas on it, and I ended up painting the guinea fowl as well- Oh ... with the extra paint that I found from our kitchen.

Our kitchen is this beautiful kind of like Hass avocado green with brass accents for the cabinetry, and I found this tub of leftover paint, and I ended up using that green, telling that story through the house and then painting a guinea fowl. Yeah, it's just wild how things stick in your head and what ideas you can generate from that.

[00:27:17] Shara Curlett: Yeah. That's so cool.

[00:27:19] Kristen Willis: It's a very random story. It's probably the most random story ever.

[00:27:21] Shara Curlett: I wonder, because my grandad lived up north in New Zealand, and every day he'd feed the quail, and they would come across his lawn, and it, they had their little routine, and you could almost time it to the minute by the time they'd come around again. And he would feed them every day And then they started coming twice a day.

[00:27:40] Kristen Willis: Wow.

[00:27:40] Shara Curlett: ... So he passed away a while ago, but every time my mum and dad are up north, and it's obviously not the quail that he fed, it's their families. 

[00:27:50] Kristen Willis: Oh my gosh. 

[00:27:51] Shara Curlett: And they come past on his lawn every time, and they'll stop when my mum and dad aren't up there for a while. But as soon as they get up there, they'll chuck some seed out on the lawn, and within a day or two a whole bunch, like, a family of quail are coming back around.

[00:28:05] Kristen Willis: Wow.

[00:28:06] Shara Curlett: I wonder if the former owners of your house used to feed them maybe. 

[00:28:09] Kristen Willis: Maybe. And then, I don't know, there was a change of season, and then they never came back. I'm not sure where they ended up. But there are guinea fowl that live, like, further down our road, but I don't know how far they travel in a day. I don't think it's the same group. But nonetheless, it's hilarious. And I also loved learning that, you know, 'cause they're not the brightest creatures, and they do the most stupid things.

[00:28:32] Kristen Willis: They make the most crazy sounds. But if a leaf fell from a tree they would all freak out and it's just hilarious to watch. But I Do you know what the collective noun of a guinea fowl is? 

[00:28:42] Shara Curlett: Oh, no. 

[00:28:44] Kristen Willis: The collective noun of a guinea fowl is a confusion. 

[00:28:48] Shara Curlett: Oh, I love that.

[00:28:50] Kristen Willis: How perfect is that? Like, a confusion confusion a confusion of guinea fowl. I just, I lo- I love that so much. 

[00:28:55] Shara Curlett: I have a slight obsession with collective nouns for animals. I just, I love them. I just think they're awesome. 

[00:29:00] Kristen Willis: What's the most random one then?

[00:29:02] Shara Curlett: I quite like the murder of crows. That's a good one.

[00:29:05] Kristen Willis: Oh, yes. And I recently, through the beautiful veins of Betty Loveridge, discovered the collective noun of a wombat. 

[00:29:11] Shara Curlett: Oh. What is it? 

[00:29:12] Kristen Willis: You don't know? Oh, you're learning lots from me today, a wisdom.

[00:29:15] Shara Curlett: A wisdom of wombats. 

[00:29:16] Kristen Willis: How beautiful is that? A wisdom of wombats. Yeah. 

[00:29:19] Shara Curlett: Who came up with these? They're all just perfect. 

[00:29:21] Kristen Willis: I know. It must have been, like, a book creator. 

[00:29:26] Shara Curlett: And so now that you're in this house, and you're kind of in amongst all the wildlife, how do you see that's impacted your kids?

[00:29:34] Kristen Willis: That's a really good question because when we moved here, obviously part of the vision was that, yeah, they've got all this space and we can like untap from like technology and all this sort of stuff, and they can go wild. And we can do interesting things, like we have a paddock at the top, which is vacant.

That's where the wallabies graze every day and the deer wander through. That we've got like a 50 meter zip line across our deck at the top. And like we bought an outdoor buggy 'cause, you know, I come from an adrenaline fueled family. Like, and we're kind of into that. So we've got this space that we bought our kids, like this little off-road dirt buggy so they can just go hooning around our yard, which is amazing, and they can do that.

[00:30:23] Kristen Willis: Or they can... instruments from school and blast as bloody loud as they want to because, you know, the neighbors aren't gonna complain about it, which is great, opposed to when I grew up and my brother playing trumpet and I was playing the clarinet, and we were pretty noisy. So that wasn't so fun for my parents.

But, you know, there are parts of that that they love, but it's not like they come home, they're like, "Oh, you know, I wanna go for a bush walk" and it sucks actually that they are still at that kind of age where- They're thinking about what their mates do, or it's a peer thing, or such and such is playing this game, and it's, you know, hard to peel them away.

[00:31:00] Kristen Willis: But it's nice to remind them when they do stop or you have a minute, you're like, "Just remember where you live and what's around you, and what you have access to, and this very rare thing. You're very privileged. I never had all this when I was growing up.

And you know, make the most of it while you've got it, and then when you're an adult, you can appreciate all this wonderful wildlife and all these extra activities that you can participate in. But anyway, so I would love to say that they are super connected with nature, and in a way they are in a different sense.

[00:31:31] Kristen Willis: They both do Scouts now, and they both really love it. And my son does have a natural affection for environment and anything that's related to that, and is really into renewable energy. My husband works in the renewable energy space, so they're not completely off grid, but a fairly solid setup here to keep us going.

So yeah, they are learning different skillsets, I think, because of where we live that wouldn't have had before. But I'm not gonna lie, I do kinda miss them not being able to just kinda jump on a bike and do a lap around the cul-de-sac with their mates in the neighborhood because we live in a very hilly space, and it's not great for that. But come on, everything else, zip lines- ... the dam, we have bush. We are like, " Go for it." 

[00:32:17] Shara Curlett: Yeah. It's a trade-off, right? You can't have really one without the other going amiss. I guess you can't have nature and also have proximity to suburbia, right?

[00:32:27] Kristen Willis: Exactly. And at least now in this space too with having, like for myself in particular, having this designated studio, which is attached to the house, but it's upstairs, and it's the first kind of room that you visit when somebody pops over. And they're like, "Oh my God, I'm walking into an art studio," my kids will often come up and we'll have big creative sessions. Like, sometimes it annoys me 'cause things get out of place. But in other times I'm like, "This is great," you know, like, "Here are the art supplies. Go for it." Or, you know, can teach them how to digitize their work and try and hand some of my skillset on to them, which is really exciting.

[00:33:02] Shara Curlett: Oh, I love that so much. You said everything you do is traditional. What materials do you use for your books? 

[00:33:08] Kristen Willis: I always use, like, gouache, as an underpainting usually. And then I layer it with coloured pencil. I also use, PanPastels, which are just like a flat patty cake pastel style. Almost looks like a blush palette, and then you can just use like a Q-tip or the end of a, of a brush, and you can create these really beautiful soft, swishes across artwork. So I'm all about the layering. And then obviously it's about experimenting and having fun with it. do find that I've been using more and more different art materials with each book as I do it, which does add to time. When you're, when you're creating the artwork, that does impact how long it takes to create the spread, but, I just feel like there's such joy in using your hands. And being graphic, like, my day job is graphic design, right? So as much as I would love to, like, be creating picture books all day every day, the reality is, is that I do have a day job, and that is being on screen doing branding projects with clients, business, organisational level, startups, tech, every industry you can think of.

[00:34:14] Kristen Willis: And so to have that time off the screen and to dedicate to my craft, it also brings me back to my fine art core, that's pretty much the reason why I named my kind of creative persona on social media anyway, that's why I'm called Tondo Creative. So tondo means round in Italian, and it's also a style of Renaissance art, Italian Renaissance art, which is like a sculptural painting that is circular.

So the idea that it's, like, come full circle creatively. It has that Italian origin name to it. As a designer, I wanted to have a name that was an identifier for my work, 'cause when I started, I didn't know if I was going to be a solo business lady or if I was gonna have, like, a full-on studio with a group around me or other freelancers collaboratively. I didn't know. But anyway, it stuck, and it's part of my story. So it all just feeds into each other. 

[00:35:12] Shara Curlett: That's so cool. I did always wonder about that. 

[00:35:14] Kristen Willis: Yeah There's always a story for everything. For me anyway. It's gotta make sense in my brain, or I need to connect with it for it to work. And then I think, it was challenging to name yourself, particularly as a business owner, and then obviously going down the rabbit hole of getting a website and URLs and the rest of it. And the fact that I could get tondo.com.au, I was like, "Done." And, And it's easy. You can be on the phone, "Tondo." It's T-O-N-D-O. Like, it's easy, and it sticks. 

[00:35:41] Shara Curlett: Very marketable.

[00:35:42] Kristen Willis: Yeah. There you go. 

[00:35:43] Shara Curlett: So Peekaboo Lottie was shortlisted for the Children's Book of the Year Awards. What was that experience like?

[00:35:50] Kristen Willis: Oh, yeah. So Peekaboo Lottie was interesting because it was under the category of new illustrator, and new illustrators typically, they only announce the shortlisted. There's no long list or notable process, so it was very exciting, like, when everything was announced, like the notable phase. You're like, "Oh, oh my gosh, this is really exciting." And then you kind of hanging on, "Hang on, are they gonna announce who's in the new illustrator?" And then you have to wait a little bit longer until they announce the shortlist, which was incredible. But, it was a very interesting journey because Peekaboo Lottie, with the debut author, Laura Holloway, who is in Perth, under The Five Mile Press publication team, was not my first picture book contract, even though it came into the world first.

So, it was interesting that something that happened quite quickly, kind of in between the process of creating, actually Family Feast, which was my first contract, which is coming very soon. It still isn't published yet. That it snuck in, and then it did well with CBCA, which was really, really, really exciting.

[00:36:57] Kristen Willis: And then, having the opportunity to really experience that moment. So I did decide to go down to Canberra for the big awards. It was their 80th anniversary for CBCA last year. So shaking hands with dignitaries in this really formal setting was something that I wasn't quite prepared for mentally. But, you know, it was the best experience ever. And then meeting all these wildly talented people in our kidlit circles was just very pinch me moment. I was there for three days. It was such a blur. I got to hang out with amazing award winners in the front cafeteria of the National Library of Australia, and I'd never been there before.

[00:37:36] Kristen Willis: And I think in the huff and the crazy moment as it happened, All the award winners got called into the auditorium to sit down. And then I did, and then I totally left my bag, and then I sat down in the auditorium, and I was like, "Where's my bag?" "I don't know where my bag is." And the beautiful author Emma Jensen, who lives down there in Canberra, she was kind of my plus one- ... for the celebrations. But anyway, she told me a few minutes later while I was freaking out, didn't know where my bag was, and I'm meant to be in this auditorium 'cause the events were about to start, that, "Don't worry, I took your bag and I put it in a locker downstairs," 'cause she knows the library inside out and does a lot of events there, and knows everybody.

I think at one point I went up two levels to the security desk, like information desk, and I was telling the guy what the bag looked like. I ended up drawing him a picture of what the bag looked like. Because, like, because I was like, "How can I describe? It's just, like, a backpack, and this panel's purple, this panel's gray."

[00:38:34] Kristen Willis: "And what was inside it, like, it just... I'm downstairs, I'll be here for hours. Let me know if it appears." But it all, it all panned out in the end, and it was such a crazy moment, and it was beautiful to be sat next to my, pretty much my kidlit illustrator sister, Nisaluk Chantanacom, She was there from Sydney for her, uh, Teaspoon of Luck was also shortlisted. And Sarah Capon for Grow Big Little Seed, who beautifully, amazingly, deservingly took out the New Illustrator Award. And it was amazing too because she's a Brissy girl, I sort of secretly filmed her and her reaction when they announced everything. It was, it was really great. 

[00:39:13] Shara Curlett: Oh, what an amazing experience. 

[00:39:16] Kristen Willis: It was wild, and I kind of also feel like it doesn't really matter how big your milestone achieved is. I think the point is, in that moment, you should absolutely celebrate it, 'cause who knows when it's gonna happen again. So, even if it's being shortlisted for a competition or anything, just pause, take a minute, and I think you really just need to, like, internalize that achievement . And for such a giving and nurturing space in terms of how we connect with each other in our journeys. I think it's also really important to take a moment to realise what you've just done. 

[00:39:48] Shara Curlett: Mm. How do you celebrate your little milestones? Like when you complete a page, when you complete a book.

[00:39:54] Kristen Willis: I probably don't celebrate a page. 

[00:39:58] Shara Curlett: I feel like I would. 

[00:40:00] Kristen Willis: With the illustration process, you start, like, a thumbnail stage. And by the time you've finished a page, it's the end of the book. So, I don't know. If you're celebrating the end of a page, I feel like it is either gonna be a really long celebration- ... a really drawn out one. Or by the time you've done it, you're just kind of, like, ready to nip it in the bud. Like, "Here it is, it's done." But other milestones, like, I definitely celebrate landing a picture book contract, and I like to make funny reels that celebrate who I'm paired with or those kind of amazing announcements.

There is thing that I love to do every time I do get a contract. I do like to visit the Gorman Clothing store and buy myself one article of clothing. Ooh. And that's the only time I buy it, is, like a little treat, for getting that opportunity. But I think, leading up to that, even rather than celebrating little milestones, I try to create and manifest good intentions that things will happen, that I'm in the right place at the right time.

[00:41:02] Kristen Willis: So, even before I had picture book contracts, I, I bought myself a lucky champagne flute that was a really beautiful, like, arty physique home champagne flute. I bought it purposefully for the intention of getting creative opportunities, and then when those opportunities happen is when I drink out of it.

[00:41:20] Shara Curlett: I love that. That is so cool. 

[00:41:23] Kristen Willis: Surrounding yourself in these little things that remind you. Like, I, obviously, you can't see it 'cause we're talking about it, but I even have this little trophy near my desk. Which is a ceramic made trophy by the amazing Bonnie Hislop, a Brisbane ceramicist. And it says, "Tiny win." It's a little ceramic trophy with confetti polka dots all over it, and I have that next to my desk, to remind me of, the tiny wins to remember, to celebrate. 

[00:41:49] Shara Curlett: That is so cool. I've spoken on the podcast before about rituals, and I actually think what you're talking about is, like, really beautiful little rituals that you have. Everyone should create little rituals for themselves at each stage. I think that's very cool 

[00:42:01] Kristen Willis: Yeah, absolutely. I also have a very treasured box. Admittedly, it's a Gorman shoe box. One of my empty Gorman shoe boxes, that I intentionally put whatever sweet little notes or messages or you've had a launch and someone's written you a beautiful card that I slide those into that box. And when you're having a day where you just feel like... And I have them too, we all do, you know, "Oh, should I be doing this?" Or you're, you're self-doubting, or you're just feeling like in the pits, down in the dumps, and you just need to pick yourself up, go to that, go to my shoe box.

And I open it up and I just rediscover all of these beautiful little messages and connections that have come from, like, clients or I did Author Pen Pals last year, so I have these amazing letters from the students. You know, little sweet messages that just kind of ground you again? ... and remind you, don't forget you've done the hard work, and that kind of gives you the motivation again to keep going. So, along with the little trophies, along with buying myself a sweet treat from a beautiful clothing store with that portion of my advance. I also have those sort of moments too that sort of remind you. 

[00:43:12] Shara Curlett: I really like that.

[00:43:13] Kristen Willis: Do you have something like that? Do you collect your little moments in time, little notes?

[00:43:18] Shara Curlett: No, I haven't, and now I'm thinking I will. I just received my ARC box for-

[00:43:24] Kristen Willis: Yes!

[00:43:24] Shara Curlett: -My new novel, and it is very exciting. And then I've been thinking, "What do I do with the box?" And now you've just-

[00:43:30] Kristen Willis: That's the perfect- ...

[00:43:30] Shara Curlett: -given me the answer.

[00:43:31] Kristen Willis: Yep, that has a second job now, and it has extra meaning because of what it was acquired for, like laced in all this beautiful messaging and time and place and things that you've achieved, so that's perfect. 

[00:43:42] Shara Curlett: I have all these little notes from kids who have read Welcome to Miracle, and I've just got them kind of like stored around the place. So, actually you have given me a job to do, so thank you very much for that. I love that. 

[00:43:52] Kristen Willis: Oh, you're so welcome. Yeah, you need a little inspo box just to remind you what you've been through. And just keep going. Don't stop. 

[00:44:00] Shara Curlett: Yeah. And ritual-wise, I actually don't have any. Like, I try to, you know, have a glass of something when I sign a contract, but I'm gonna think on that one. I'd love to hear what anyone who's listening what rituals you have to celebrate. So anyone out there, just share your rituals. I wanna hear them all. 

[00:44:17] Kristen Willis: Yeah. I can't wait to hear what people are doing.

[00:44:20] Shara Curlett: Exactly. And so you did the beautiful illustrations for Casa Mia, which was by Josie Montano, and even the cover is just so emotionally evoking. Like, I just look at it, and I'm already dreaming up what it's about. So can you tell me a bit about that one? 

[00:44:35] Kristen Willis: Yeah. Absolutely. So it's definitely an Italian origin story. So, Josie Montano and I are both Italian-Australian descendants of the immigrants that came over to Australia, and originally she wrote it around the story of her father when he came over, and his dad who also sadly suffered from dementia and was missing and longing for home. So, It's very deep, immersive. The fact that you can see those emotions on the cover is amazing 'cause it's pretty much exactly what the story is about.

So, it's about a little boy called Carlo, and he's trying to connect with his nonno, or his grandad, who is missing and longing of his former life, back in Italy, although he is now here in Australia in his older age, and he's missing the things that he grew up with. And Carlo is sort of discovering his nonno's story and the things that he loves to bring joy back to his life. So, it was a very, deep connection to the manuscript when I first read it. It was published by IP Kids, which is an independent publisher here in Brisbane, and I hadn't met Josie before amazingly, even though we are both here in Brisbane. But we went to an illustration retreat hosted by WriteLinks, and while we were In this amazing location out in Marburg surrounded by sugarcane, funnily enough, which is going back to my roots again. It was like an old sugarcane space out there.

[00:46:00] Kristen Willis: I ended up being sat next to Josie, and we hadn't met each other before. The workshop was being run by Lucia Mucieleu, which was incredible as well, and we just got chatting. She was looking for an illustrator at the time. She hadn't found the right person, and then I was sort of telling her, you know, my background and what I did, and the stories that I love and then the illustrations that I create. And she said, "I really wanna send you my manuscript and tell me what you think." 

When I grew up, my nonno on my dad's side, so my grandad, my dad's dad, he also suffered from dementia. So as soon as I read the manuscript, I bawled my eyes out because I was like, "I am the boy in this story." And, it sort of bridged that, like, it wasn't true to her generational difference for the story, but for me, it really was. It was exactly the same. So, it was a beautiful experience where I actually got to lace her family stories with my family stories in terms of the illustration and all of the elements inside it, and there are little, like, for example, the tomato is quite symbolic throughout the story, and that tomato, has a huge representation on my side, 'cause my nonno he had a self-sufficient garden.

Like, he used to grow all his own fruit and vegetables, and I just always remember him having tomatoes or pawpaws or pumpkins and all these beautiful things. So that became really symbolic throughout the story, visually as well as following the narrative as well. And then Josie's family has a love... or, her nonno used to have a pizza shop, so there's elements of her story in there, too. But it was beautiful to find a way to marry the two together and then be able to outpour emotion through artwork, and I found using the color palette as a device as well through the story connect with emotions.

[00:47:51] Kristen Willis: So basically at the beginning of the story it's all very monotone, somber, soft colors, and then by the end it's really colorful. So also just that journey of bringing the joy back. Carlo getting to know his nonno. Nonno, returning to present day and really connecting again in his space, but also remembering the things that he loves, but sharing those memories with his grandson.

[00:48:16] Shara Curlett: Wow. Oh, That's beautiful. And as I was saying, the cover just, you chose a moment that you just look at it and think - this is gonna pull my heartstrings. 

[00:48:27] Kristen Willis: Yeah, it really, it does. Yeah. It's a very much , a deep heartfelt story packed of emotion. And I think it's also just really important, cross-culturally. Like anybody that's particularly those that are older in life who have come from other countries and, you know, migrated to Australia, and holding onto those stories and passing it on to the next generation- I mean, if that doesn't speak my language with all of these kind of core things that I stand for and having lived those experience, I don't know what does. So, it was a story that I felt I had to do for me. Which was tricky sometimes because it taps into a lot of emotional memories for me as well, which did challenge the ability to illustrate. But I'm happy that it came together the way that it did and I'm really, I'm quite proud of it. It's a smaller story, but it's full of heart. 

[00:49:17] Shara Curlett: Yeah. And we need so many stories like this. The stories passed down from generation to generation, they're kind of being lost unless they're captured in this way. And, I just don't think there can be enough stories like this, it's very special.

[00:49:31] Kristen Willis: I agree. I agree completely. like I was sort of saying earlier, how there was that original story which kind of projected my journey into kidlit, again, it's a story of a similar structure, like in terms of it's the immigration story of a time, and a period, and a generation. So, that's to come. And that's gonna be a beautiful process too because it's gonna be a different format to picture books, which is what I've currently been doing. 

[00:49:56] Shara Curlett: Ooh, interesting. 

[00:49:57] Kristen Willis: Yeah. So originally, the vision was for it to always be a picture book. And the manuscript was originally written that way, and there's been many iterations, it's been in rounds of submissions and it landed the SCBWI Illustration Award two years ago.

[00:50:14] Kristen Willis: So, I just keep finding every time you kind of have a passion story, and you're not sure if it's gonna go anywhere, and you shelve it, and it just keeps popping up. Like it just- it's that creativity again that you can't ignore, like, "You're not escaping me. I'm coming back- "... and I need to be in the world." And it just keeps rearing its head, and you can't ignore it. So, it's one of those kind of projects. But yeah, now going to be presented as a large format graphic novel. 

[00:50:39] Shara Curlett: Very cool.

[00:50:40] Kristen Willis: So, picture book sized, but inside all of your framing and pacing of a graphic novel with all the cells. I can lead it with the art first and treat it like a movie in terms of scripting and those moments and yeah, it's gonna be great. 

[00:50:56] Shara Curlett: That's so exciting. Have you read Hilda and Twig at all? 

[00:50:59] Kristen Willis: I haven't read it yet, but I really wanna get a copy. Do you have a copy of it?

[00:51:03] Shara Curlett: I do, and that's what it reminds me of. They're like picture book size, I personally love them. My kids love it. That's what that reminds me of. Is it like that? 

[00:51:12] Kristen Willis: Yeah, it will be that, sort of, that size definitely. And also more pages than a traditional 32 page picture book, 'cause it's a graphic novel, so it's a bit longer.

[00:51:22] Shara Curlett: That sounds so cool.

[00:51:23] Kristen Willis: Yeah, it's really exciting to work on. And thank God for the amazing pairing of Rochelle Stevens and Betty Loveridge for Perentie Press, 'cause that wouldn't have transpired otherwise. Betty and I have shared a lot of kind of creative milestones over the years. And she's always known of the project and has read many iterations of the story. And then when Perentie Press came into existence she was like, "Kristen, this needs to be a graphic novel." And I kind of sat on it for a minute and I was like, " She's right." 'Cause the story was sort of too big for a picture book, but not big enough for like, a traditional small format graphic novel. So this is just the perfect hybrid 

[00:52:04] Shara Curlett: Oh, that's so exciting. Yeah. I can't wait for that one. Ooh. 

[00:52:07] Kristen Willis: And God knows what, the artwork process is gonna be. It might be hybrid traditional/digital Because to draw every single panel, will be tricky. 

[00:52:17] Shara Curlett: Yeah. We'll touch base throughout and be like, "Are you pulling out your hair yet?"

[00:52:22] Kristen Willis: Yeah, yeah. Just about. 

[00:52:24] Shara Curlett: Now, speaking of being incredibly creative, I want to hear all about this new project of yours, Piccolo Prints. The second I saw it, I was like, "Yes, Kristen, yes!" 

[00:52:35] Kristen Willis: Oh my gosh. Here we go. Kristen's brain is on again. So, basically I have come up with this amazing kind of creative project on the side of picture books, on the side of graphic design, because as much as I love working in those spaces, you still need a passion project for your passion project. An outlet so that you don't burn out in either of those two lane ways. Also, having been a picture book illustrator for the past sort of four years, and the abundance of portfolio sample work that I have accumulated, basically- Like all your endless, like, manuscripts that you write and they kind of are for your learning or training and they just get put in the drawer.

They might not necessarily ever get published. You kind of have to give them another reason for existing. So thankfully, as an illustrator and coming from the art world and putting my design hat on, I was really inspired by seeing this insane art vending machine trend, which is huge in Europe, huge in the US, and it's fairly new to Australia. So I was like, "Oh man, I've gotta jump on this," and I got really excited and literally within a because, you know, when I'm excited and I've got the skills, I'm like, I'm gonna create a brand, and I put another page on my website, I got an Instagram handle and I thought I can create a space that gives extra life to the portfolio work, that will never get published.

[00:54:07] Kristen Willis: All these sample characters and fun things, like I might do these fun Instagram challenges, you know, like Folktale Week and, inktober and all that sort of stuff. It's just giving another reason for that work to exist in a space. Also, just the joy in being able to offer something a little bit different. So for example, there's, the BSAD Conference coming up here in Brisbane later this year, in October. And with those opportunities, illustrators can present their portfolios on display and I thought, oh, how cool would it be if you could go to a conference as an attendee and if you really loved an illustrator's work, you could potentially take a piece home with you.

[00:54:48] Shara Curlett: Yeah. 

[00:54:49] Kristen Willis: I'm like, "Oh, here's a great little concept where I can put them into trading card size, limited edition collectibles basically, package them up and create this sort of vending experience to help share story and mostly just to spread some joy and connect in a different way as an artist." wanting to make art just accessible and real.

[00:55:10] Shara Curlett: That sounds absolutely incredible. I love your brain, I love what you're doing. And I love just the creativity behind it. It's thinking outside the box. And so you have this beautiful little vending machine behind you. So you take that places?

[00:55:27] Kristen Willis: Yeah, so the idea is that it is portable, and it's quite a cute size that it can sit on top of a table or a bench top or a bench space. I recently did a bit of a concept run with it. In my local area, there's a Brookfield Show here. It's a beautiful country show that runs over three days, and I am the Illustrator Coordinator for SCBWI Queensland. So I having a chat to Betty the regional leader of that, and I said, "We need to create a space at the Brookfield Show that we can set up a book creator store where we can get local book creators to hand sell their books and sign, and connect with community basically."

[00:56:10] Kristen Willis: So, although there are these amazing opportunities where we can go to conferences, and they're all just so tightly within our industry circle, and I was like, "How can we break out of that a bit and try and connect on a bit of a broader platform and be able to connect with people that are coming through the door. So this Brookfield Show's quite iconic here in Brisbane. Usually over the three days they get about 20,000 people that come through at some point.

[00:56:33] Shara Curlett: Oh, wow.

[00:56:34] Kristen Willis: Surrounding schools, there are like Lego competitions, kids' art competitions. There was this, there's a quilting pavilion. There's, like, the senior art pavi- like, it's just... there's a country women's bake-off. Like it's just it's so wholesome, and I'm like, "I wanna be a part of that, and I also wanna be able to support and advocate for local book creators too." How can we do things a bit differently or offer a new way to get out there? So, we did. So we contacted the Show Society, and over the three days we had this beautiful little setup inside the iconic Brookfield Hall right next to the quilting.

And I had a little section on the table where I had my two books, Pigby, Lottie, and Casa Mia, available, and then I also had larger portfolio pieces for sale individually. And I got to pilot the concept of Piccolo Prints to the public in the wild for the very, very first time. Where people could come and purchase a token and pop it into the machine, turn the handle, and then they just get a blind vend of a series of portfolio artwork that I've put together for the very first batch.

[00:57:42] Kristen Willis: So, that was amazing, and just to see the interaction, and just the joy and I think the nostalgic value of a vending machine, I don't know if it's more fun in just, like, experiencing it or getting the artwork at the end. Either way, I had a lot of fun piecing that together and I've got beautiful footage of people experiencing it at the show, which I've got on my designated Instagram page for that.

I'm calling them the vending stories. So every time I sort of had somebody come up who was interested, we were chatting and then I would learn something about them, and there were quite a few instances where they would look at my little chart that's beside it, which shows what's inside, 'cause you don't get to choose. It's the excitement and mystery of the whole experience is that you don't know what you're gonna get. And there were some people where I would just say, "You know, what are you hoping for?" And then they would point something out, and actually there were three occasions where they got what they were hoping for.

[00:58:43] Shara Curlett: Oh, wow. 

[00:58:43] Kristen Willis: I can't remember the stacking system I had. They would just all turn it, drop inside. I can't remember the full detail. There was one lady where she was telling me the significance she had with magpies, and I have this beautiful print inside the printing machine which is, a little magpie that's wearing, an Australian military ANZAC uniform, which was a drawing that I created a couple of years ago as a portfolio piece after experiencing a really beautiful ANZAC Day service, where all I could hear were magpies, and then just as soon as I had that experience, I went home and I drew it.

And then, obviously other than just being part of my portfolio, didn't really have another reason to really exist or perhaps it might inspire a book creator to write something, I don't know, or perhaps a publisher might have something on their desk which correlates with that character. But she had this amazing significance with this magpie and she was absolutely enthralled when she turned the handle and it came out. She was just overjoyed. 

[00:59:46] Shara Curlett: My gosh. 

[00:59:46] Kristen Willis: It kind of is addictive, and I kind of want to keep doing it. So I am reaching out to try and find events where I can bring this cute little machine, and potentially create new batches for new work that I produce. And yeah, sky's the limit. 

What I would really love, what the huge vision would be, like... I would love to go to writer's festivals with it or do collaborations with other illustrators. There are so many ideas. It's such a simple concept, but there's just so much that you could do with it, which I find really exciting. And it's nice to be inspired again, and not give all of my energy and focus solely just to one lane way. Like, I have a pause at the moment in picture books. Things work at their own pace, and I'm kinda waiting on feedback. So it's good to give myself a creative distraction, which is linked, but not primarily driven, for publication, as such. 

[01:00:38] Shara Curlett: I imagine the families that came to visit you at the Brookfield Show would've just so excited, right? 

[01:00:46] Kristen Willis: My little stand, as you can imagine, was very colorful.

[01:00:48] Shara Curlett: Yeah. 

[01:00:49] Kristen Willis: So I think initially I always kind of draw people in because it's sort of bright and exciting to look at. I think I also had the machine positioned so it's literally the first thing you see when you walked in the door. Again, I was like, "If I'm gonna do this thing, and if I wanna get, like, a true indicator of how well it's going to do, I need to position it properly, so to give it the best chance."

And then also alongside the vending machine, I had these beautifully designed little ... I call them book companions, little 3D-printed holders basically where you put your thumb through the hole, and the shape of the book holder splays your page open while you're reading. So it just holds the book page open.

[01:01:28] Shara Curlett: Oh. That's cool ... 

[01:01:29] Kristen Willis: Obviously the goal is to sell picture books, which are admittedly, you know, $25 each. And then to have some larger artworks on the side which range anywhere from, like, 30 to $50. And then to have some smaller offerings really helps kind of bring people in.

So they come in and they trinket with these little book holders. Like, "Oh, what is this?" And I have to show them every time. No one knows what they are. But then when I show them, they're like, "Oh my God, that's awesome." There was like a cat, a dinosaur, and just like a generic white one for adults if they wanted to. But you put your thumb through it and it holds your page open so you don't get sore fingers from holding the book with your thumb and your pinky. 

[01:02:09] Shara Curlett: That's so clever ...

[01:02:09] Kristen Willis: Yeah, and then the vending machine next to it, which was like $10 for an original limited edition piece of artwork that I've created. And they're all signed and there's even a certificate of authenticity on the back, so it's all packaged beautifully to try and give that premium experience, but you're collecting something meaningful and supporting a local creator at the same time.

[01:02:32] Shara Curlett: Oh, that sounds amazing. I wish you all the best with Piccolo Prints. It just sounds fantastic. And it's so clever, too. Like, you're right, when you're sitting there with a bunch of books in front of you, if that's all you've got, then there's a lot of pull that you've gotta do to get people to come in, right? But if you've got all these other things around you that just draw them in, like, kind of almost candy. 

[01:02:53] Kristen Willis: Yeah, that's right. It looks like a gumball machine. The colouring of Piccolo Prints is so bright, but I've kind of intentionally done that, and it's very on brand. yeah, and also being able to offer it as an alternative at a public stall situation set up, and also creating an opportunity for other book creators. If I can find some other way to bring people in or to get people engaged, and they sort of start at one stall and they sort of walk around, they learn about all the other creators as well. And I hope we all do really well. We actually did do quite well over the three days, which is exciting.

So I'm hoping that we can do it again next year, and it become like an annual offering under SCBWI that we can offer for book creators locally. Cause, you know, you're busy with your own stuff, but you wanna help everyone else as well.

[01:03:40] Shara Curlett: Yeah, That's so exciting. And the fact that it's so tangible, it's old school, but with a new kind of fresh revival, and just having a tangible piece of art. I'm always looking for just unique art as it is. I particularly love like, real illustrations. I would be all over that if I was over there with you. 

[01:04:02] Kristen Willis: Well, I'll let you do a blind vend.

[01:04:02] Shara Curlett: Really?

[01:04:02] Kristen Willis: For having me on this show. I'll crank the handle backwards for you and see what you get.

[01:04:12] Shara Curlett: Oh my gosh, how exciting. 

[01:04:13] Kristen Willis: Yeah. 'Cause that's just the joy of it.

[01:04:15] Shara Curlett: I'm so excited! Oh, look at that beauty. Oh, wow. It's so beautiful. 

[01:04:22] Kristen Willis: Aha. Welcome to Piccolo Prints. So, today on the menu we have on the top we've got Ibis Stretton, and then we've got Sergeant Magpie, Monopolisa, Cat With a Pearl Earring, Fly Like a King, which is a king parrot, which is that one. Peaches, Eat Like a King, Tiny Flight, and Tiny Traveler.

[01:04:42] Shara Curlett: Aw. Oh my gosh, I would be happy to get any of those. I'm particularly drawn to the Tiny ones, but, you know, we'll try our luck. 

[01:04:51] Kristen Willis: The Tiny ones were recently longlisted for the Yellow Bird exhibition with Thames & Hudson. 

[01:04:56] Shara Curlett: Oh, really?

[01:04:57] Kristen Willis: So I recently won an award for... There's th- there were three in the series, but there's only two in the vending batch.

[01:05:05] Shara Curlett: Oh, wow. 

[01:05:06] Kristen Willis: All right. 

[01:05:06] Shara Curlett: Let's go.

[01:05:07] Kristen Willis: If you'd just like to grab a token, Shara.

[01:05:12] Shara Curlett: Love the hand, by the way. 

[01:05:13] Kristen Willis: Oh, yes. Now I can't see what I'm doing. Ooh. All right. Here we go.

[01:05:18] Shara Curlett: Ooh.

[01:05:18] Kristen Willis: What have you got? We have a Mona Purr-Lisa.

[01:05:23] Shara Curlett: Ah, it's beautiful.

[01:05:26] Kristen Willis: Your little Piccolo Print.

[01:05:28] Shara Curlett: Aw, thank you so much. I love it!

[01:05:31] Kristen Willis: You're very welcome. 

[01:05:32] Shara Curlett: What a cool experience. I am going to put that up on my wall above my desk. Thank you so much.

[01:05:40] Kristen Willis: No, thank you for having me on your beautiful podcast. So yeah, it was so much fun, as you can imagine. Watching people interact with it is great. 

[01:05:47] Shara Curlett: It's that whole kind of like mystery box thing that kids love at the moment, and people love in general, or unboxing. It's all of those things, that experience combined, right?

[01:05:57] Kristen Willis: I know. It's everything all in one.

[01:06:00] Shara Curlett: And so you mentioned the original. Can I see that? 

[01:06:02] Kristen Willis: Oh, yes.

[01:06:03] Shara Curlett: That's so, so cool. And so do you digitalise, scan it in, and then reduce it to Piccolo Print size?

[01:06:11] Kristen Willis: Yeah. It was a little series that I did when Peekaboo Lottie came out, because there's a cat in the story that's hidden on every page, and then as part of the holiday workshops at bookshops, I was asked to run an illustration program for the children, and they're like, "What ideas do you have that align with Lottie?"

And I was like, "Well, I don't know. There's a cat on every page. And maybe we can all create cat masterpieces." And so I created this workshop where the kids did a background, and then a cat, and then we made these cardboard frames, and they could slide their artworks in and out. 

[01:06:47] Shara Curlett: That's such a cool idea.

[01:06:48] Kristen Willis: They're like these little antique frames. And so I had created these for the workshop. and I really love them. They're really pretty. But they're just water pastels and pencils. 

[01:07:00] Shara Curlett: I love it. I love the whole thing. I can't wait to receive my little Piccolo Prints prints.

[01:07:04] Kristen Willis: Yes. Just enjoy. Yay. 

[01:07:05] Shara Curlett: Well, thank you so much, Kristen, for being on The KidLit Pod. I have had such a wonderful chat with you today, and it's been so amazing to hear about your whole journey and your process and just everything.

[01:07:16] Kristen Willis: Aw. You're so welcome, and equally inspiring to be on your show amongst all the other sort of kidlit creators that you're promoting and backing, and also supporting your journey as well, and learning about you along the way, finding out about your beautiful background, about your family and your story origin, so thank you.

[01:07:37] Shara Curlett: Aw ... that's so lovely. And so if people want to find you, Kristen, where can they go? 

[01:07:42] Kristen Willis: Yeah, absolutely. So I am not shy. I am all over Instagram- ... under Tondo Creative. I do also have my Piccolo Print machine as well on Facebook and my website, tondo.com.au. 

[01:07:58] Shara Curlett: Amazing. I will link to all of those in the show notes, and I can't wait to see how Piccolo Prints goes.

[01:08:04] Kristen Willis: Me too. Thank you.

[01:08:04] Shara Curlett: Thank you. Thanks, Kristen. Bye. 

[01:08:07] Kristen Willis: Bye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[01:08:09] Shara Curlett: So Kristen and I had a laugh afterwards about how many topics we covered in this one chat. But it's a testament to Kristen and all of her creativity and all the things she's doing for the kidlit industry. She has the most wonderful mind when it comes to thinking outside the box, creativity just emanates from her. And how fun was that Piccolo Prints vend that Kristen did for me? She is posting my print to me, and I can't wait to receive it.

I am so excited to see what Kristen does next. I feel like her brain is always ticking, and every post she does is something new and exciting in her world. If you'd like to learn more about Kristen, you can go to tondo.com.au or @tondocreative on Instagram. And if you'd like to learn more about Piccolo Prints, you can find the page on her website, or on Instagram she is @piccoloprints_bytondo.

And if you'd like to learn more about me, you can find me on Instagram @sharacurlett or visit my website www.sharacurlett.com.

As always, thanks for listening, and I'm looking forward to bringing you an extra Kidlit Hang this week.