Page 20 - ELG2408 August Issue 491

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SPECIAL FEATURE

A chat with… Sophie Furman

Writer and illustrator, Sophie Furman, talks about her experience

as a creative, using art in tandem with ESL.

Q: Please introduce yourself and tell us a
little bit more about you!
Hi there, my name is Sophie (she/they) and
I am a freelance illustrator for authors and
companies who lives (and draws) in Brooklyn,
New York. I love all things inclusive, geeky,
magical!
I am also an author for picture books, and
in the past year have hired my very own,
very fluffy studio assistant—my pup Cookie.
I have the two cutest nephews who love to
read as much as I do, and a very techy hubby
who loves to bookstore crawl with me!

Q: You’ve lived in the US since elementary
school. Where did you emigrate from?
I am originally from St. Petersburg, Russia.
I have been drawing all my life, and learned
drawing alongside Russian, and then, of course,
English once I moved to the United States.

Literature and Art, and later, couldn’t help but illustrator and writer of them, I can give back
write picture books as well as illustrate them. and do the same, and help kids everywhere!

Q: Is there anything you’re currently
working on that you can share with us?
Yes! Right now I am working on illustrating a
cute picture book about a cat for an author.
I just finished a special wombat illustration for
a client’s newsletter, and I am always tutoring
Sophie’s studio assistant, Cookie in illustration!
Q: What was your experience of learning
English from a young age?
I was very lucky to have the kindest teachers
who encouraged me to learn. I especially
loved my ESL teacher in my American
elementary school, who was very patient
and sweet. This luck created in me a love of
learning, which helped me to switch careers A picture book seems to me to be a perfect
to illustration later in life. balance between illustration and writing. The
Not being able to afford art school, I am story is written there, but there are lots of
mostly self-taught, so had to work extra hard images too, and those image and words work
to maintain the discipline and passion it takes together to create a fun and educational book
to learn something new! for kids.
The pictures often convey things beyond
Q: As previously mentioned, you the text; for example, you’re very likely to see
currently work as an illustrator. Would a pet—like a pup or a ladybug—who follows Sophie Furman is a
you say your experiences of emigrating the main character around in the pages, that is Brooklyn-based illustrator for
at a young age, or being multilingual, never mentioned in the text, but adds so much children’s books, companies
influences your work in any way? character and humour in the storytelling. and publications who strives to
For sure, I would say that being multilingual For those with tougher childhoods, picture
champion marginalised people in
helps you understand different languages like books teach a language of healing, of opening their work. Take a look at their portfolio here,
the language of both art and writing much windows and doors, and learning how to live
easier. In university, I studied Comparative a better and better life. I only hope that as an or email: hello@sophiefurmanart.com.
20 August 2024