I love my iPop magnets because, apart from the gorgeous art by LRS artists on them, one magnet can hold the 10 pieces of artwork that my 3-year-old brings home daily. They are strong! (I hate a wimpy magnet). Buy online here. – Julia

Helen Dardik

Helen has 24 new products at Paperchase. A sample are below and see all of them here. Even though I am 43, I can buy that lunch bag, right? Where was Helen when I was in grade school? – Julia

Allison has some wonderful fabrics for Camelot Fabrics. See more here.

Mike latest and whimsical tattoos for Tattly. See more here.

See more of Helen’s work here.

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Susy writes:
“Hello,
It would be great to see any one who is In NYC at the truly spectacular New York Public Library on 5th Ave and 42nd street.
I am doing a book signing with author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni on May 8th. It will be a fun event. My first full length all-colour children’s book.
This is the poster.”

Suzy’s fantastic “Handle with Care” fabric with Robert Kaufman is now a dress exclusive with ModCloth. From the ModCloth site:

“From the marvelous motif of expressive hot air balloons and blackbirds sailing over a pale blue background to the charming silhouette of a notched sweetheart neckline and full skirt, this [is a] fantastic cotton frock.”

Hsinping writes:

“Hi Lilla,
I made a cover art and a illustration for Babybug April issue.
They are very kind to ask me to do a interview.
So I would like to share it with you.:) Thank you!”

Part of the interview excerpted below. Click here to read more.

Your visual style, with its clean lines and striking colors, is so distinctive! What (or who) are your influences? Are there any designers or illustrators who had an impact on your work?

I love colors and simple shapes. Also mostly my work is done on computers. When I draw on a computer, I use a software called Adobe Illustrator. It allows me to play with colors and shapes a lot. I can trying many color combinations till I am happy with it. It’s also easy to draw clean shapes in Illustrator. I think that helps me a lot. But in the end I always like to add some handmade texture to the drawings to make it more organic and playful.

My favorite artists are Paul Klee and Sara Fanelli.

Tell us about your path to becoming an artist.

I’ve loved drawing for as long as I can remember, but I didn’t think about becoming an artist until I went to college for business. I was really frustrated and confused by my classes and found my true passion was creating things. Now I really appreciate that I initially studied business, because it helped me make up my mind to become an artist!

What do you like about illustrating for children?

I like that I can draw something bright and colorful. I also like to tell a story through drawings. It’s always fun to draw the characters, too. It’s like creating an imaginative and playful world for kids.

Amy writes:

“Hi Lilla, Here are some new bits and bobs that I have been working on.”

Trina writes:

“This was for Rhode Island Magazine to illustrate a piece by Ann Hood. It’s was a very reflective and poignant piece of writing about Spring from early childhood memories of Easter celebrations with snow still on the ground surrounded by her extended Italian family through to the loss of family members and how it affected her ability to notice or appreciate seasonal changes through to the springtime adoption of one of her children.
I’ve also included how the illustrations looked in the magazine layout – I really like how the designer laid out the pages, the text and the flowers against the clean white pages.”