The illustrations in my books are done by Alena Karabach who lives in the Eastern Europe country of Georgia. It is bounded by the Black Sea to the west, Russia to the north and northeast, Turkey to the southwest, Armenia to the south, and by Azerbaijan to the southeast. I had the great fortune to locate her through an on-line talent service called FIVERR.
The illustrations are water-color and I opted for little or no backgrounds. I wanted just the “action” to be displayed so that a child could imagine the activities taking place in a world of his/her own imagination. To me, Alena excels in capturing the essence of the story line perfectly in her visual interpretations.
I reviewed hundreds of illustrators and found Alena to be the only one that piqued my interest. Her drawings speak to me and I consider myself so lucky to have her working with me.
It also amazes me that through the power of technology I can work closely with someone halfway around the world as if we were in the same room. The world wide web may have some not-so-good features, but to me the ability to connect people is a wonderfully positive benefit.