Jennifer Mary G

Hi Jennifer! Thanks for this opportunity to chat about Fungi Grow and my illustration work. 

From a young age I have always enjoyed being outside in nature. When hiking, I am always stopping to look at something or roll over a decomposing log to see what is underneath. For 10 years I volunteered at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History in their bird lab. Working with the zoologists, ornithologists and other scientists there made a huge impact on my understanding of nature. My own research in one area always leads to an interest in others: ornithology led to botany, botany lead to insects and other pollinators etc. So, when Maria’s manuscript came via my agent Andrea Morrison, mycology was already something I had researched on my own and was already in the “cultural air” due to the popularity of movies like Fantastic Fungi and The Truffle Hunters.  The one thing I did have to research specifically for the book, though, was the Chernobyl hulk bug. I had no idea about the radiation resistant fungus growing in the Chernobyl reactors!

I think my favorite interior illustration in Fungi Grow is that last colorful spread of bursting mushrooms. It was a lot of fun to paint. 

2) How did Maria’s text in Fungi Grow inspire your choices for the illustrations? Did you connect with each other at all for this project or did you work through the editor?

It was clear through her writing that Maria had done her own extensive research. I love that her text evokes color and texture visuals for various mushroom species, but also that she uses onomatopoeia in many places. That provided me with lots of fun opportunities to illustrate sounds and movements, especially since we don’t normally associate fungi as having sounds or motion. She also included notes in the manuscript about particular species of mushrooms that she had in mind for any given passage. It’s always helpful when a writer has some specific art direction. Prior to collaborating on Fungi Grow Maria and I had some familiarity with each other’s work, and an awareness that we both are deeply inspired by the natural world. While Maria did reach out at various points in the process of making the book, for the most part we worked through the editor. We never met in person until this past weekend! (October 22).

As an illustrator first and foremost, images tend to come before the text. I am a decent writer, but any success I have with it has been fought for as it doesn’t come as naturally for me as creating narrative through images.  In the case of Little Land, yes, I was very inspired by my experience of learning about Illinois’s natural history. Many years ago I came to the conclusion that while I had lived my entire life in the state of Illinois, I knew next to nothing about its land and ecosystems beyond the image of pastures and farms. It’s “the prairie state” even though I had never seen a true prairie anywhere; only 1% of Illinois’s prairies remain. When I started on my idea for Little Land, I started with that image of a Midwestern farm in my head, and visualized going back in time on that one parcel of land, as well as moving forward into the future. I was also inspired by a somewhat rare blue prairie flower called the Fringed Gentian that I had seen once, and it ended up as a little visual motif throughout the book.

4) Your illustrations beautifully highlight nature and science and truly capture the magic of this planet–from dinosaur bones to mushrooms to planets to birds and more. Is there a topic you’d love to illustrate, but haven’t had the chance yet? Any upcoming book news you can share?

I would love to illustrate a book (or two!) about oaks. I am obsessed with oak trees and all of the myriad life that they support. My most recently completed illustration project is a book by Jordan Scott called Angela’s Glacier and it will be out in 2024 (Holiday House, publisher). It was such a beautiful and heartfelt story, and I was able to satisfy my interest in glaciers and their extraordinary beauty. I love working in a color palette of mostly blues, whites, and aqua greens.

5) What does your office or creative space look like? What does a typical working day look like for you?

It’s not very glamorous! It’s nestled down in our basement of our 1913 house, and is affectionately known as The Illustration Cave. I have a large work table that my husband Jay made out of an old bowling lane, and a huge set of overflowing oak flat files. It’s pretty cozy actually, especially during the winter when the old radiators are on. A typical work day for me is getting up around 6am, and getting breakfast and lunch made for my daughter. Once she is off to school and Jay is off to his studio in Skokie, IL, I will usually go for a walk before getting sequestered in my studio. After that I work at answering emails, social media posting, mail order, and then illustration work until my daughter gets home from school.

Thank you so much for stopping by the blog and for sharing your beautiful illustrations with the world 🙂

Thank you so much for having me!

More about Diana: Diana Sudykais a Chicago based illustrator.  Early in her career she created screen-printed posters for musicians including Andrew Bird, St. Vincent, and The Black Keys. She moved into the publishing world by illustrating several volumes of the best-selling series The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. Working mainly in gouache, watercolor, and ink, subject matter and aesthetic choices for her paintings are inspired by a passion for nature and science, as well as various folk-art traditions. Her children’s picture book work includes: Sometimes Rain by Meg Fleming (Beach Lane Books/Simon and Schuster), What Miss Mitchell Saw by Hayley Barrett ( Beach Lane Books), How to Find a Bird by Jennifer Ward (Beach Lane Books), Dear Treefrog by Joyce Sidman (Houghton Mifflin), Fungi Grow by Maria Giaferrarai (Beach Lane Books), and Angela’s Glacier by Jordan Scott (Holiday House, 2024). In April 2023 she had her author illustrator debut Little Land (Little Brown for Young Readers). Her Instagram feed has her most current work, but a disproportionate number of pictures of lichens and moss as well. When not working in her studio, she gets outdoors as much as possible with her family.

Meet the author of Fungi Grow:
Maria Gianferrari’s yard is full of fungi. From branching corals and pointy stinkhorns to smoky puffballs and colorful jack-o’-lanterns, everything’s coming up mushrooms! Someday she hopes to find some morels—she’ll even share them with a squirrel. Maria’s favorite edible mushroom is the hearty portobello. She lives in Massachusetts.

Enter to win a copy of Fungi Grow by Maria Gianferrari, illustrated by Diana Sudyka.

CLICK HERE to enter! USA residents only please