Mélanie Watt, Author/Illustrator

Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.

August 20th.

In a little town, one hour away from Montreal in St. Stanislas de Kostka.

Yes, I have a green parrot named Kiwi.

Piano, guitar and decorating.

Through Michèle Lemieux, my illustration teacher in university. One of our assignments was to create a book about color. I decided to write a story about a chameleon to help explain complementary colors to children. I later sent my book project, Leon the Chameleon, to Kids Can Press.

I have a college degree in graphic design and a Bachelors of Arts in Graphic Design from the the University of Quebec in Montreal.

If you find something that you enjoy and are passionate about, don’t hesitate to follow that path. It’s amazing what you can accomplish by focusing on things you love doing! I was in administration for two years before I realized that it wasn’t for me and that I wasn’t motivated. When you’re in an environment where you don’t fit in, you start to think that you are the one with the problem. It can be very discouraging! When you’re in an environment where you feel comfortable and where you can contribute something, that’s when you feel good about yourself!

At the moment, Mo Willems’ books.

I love 3D animated movies.

The opportunity to both write and illustrate my ideas. It allows me to create stories and settings precisely as I see them in my mind.

I work at home, in my studio.

I get inspired by things around me and experiences I’ve had as a child. Sometimes it starts with an idea and sometimes it starts with an image or character.

As I said, everywhere! Sometimes I have a basic idea and I find more ideas much later. People, animals and places trigger story ideas!

The opportunity to create with words and images is wonderful. It allows me to communicate my ideas in a very precise way.

Singing with my parents around the campfire. My father would play the guitar and my sister and I would sing along. I also remember playing with my sister and dressing up, making up stories and setting up puppet shows.

I remember wanting to become a veterinarian. I had a wonderful cat named Duchesse. She was there for the first 17 years of my life. I guess she’s the reason I wanted to help animals. The only problem was that I couldn’t stand the sight of blood!

I must admit that there’s a little bit of my personality in each of my characters: The timid side of Leon the Chameleon, the insecurities of Scaredy Squirrel for example. But the character that resembles me the most is probably Augustine. Augustine is based on my moving experiences as a child.