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Illustrator Spotlight – Fiona Miller

Sound Waves Reading 28/6/22

For Fiona Miller, illustration is about exploration. It’s a way to travel to different locations without moving a muscle and an opportunity to create brand new worlds.

While Fiona has been illustrating for more than 12 years, she took a few detours on her journey to becoming an illustrator. She first trained and worked in architecture and has also taught courses in art history and drawing.

Now she’s living her dream, working as an illustrator from her home in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area.

Since joining The Illustration Room, Fiona has worked on a number of projects including the Sound Waves Decodable Readers.

Each Decodable Reader Fiona worked on showcases her distinctively whimsical and lively style. She tries to create space for imagination through her line work and use of colour.

Fiona’s favourite Decodable Reader to work on was The Land, Sky and Sea. This book follows a photographer as he explores a range of natural environments.

‘As I worked on this Decodable Reader, I got to travel (in my imagination) alongside the photographer and plan where he would go on his journey,’ she said.

‘I spent a lot of time looking at Magnetic Island in all its diverse beauty. I’d love to visit for real some day.’

When working on A Big Job, Fiona channelled her own personal life experiences and combined this with independent research to bring the story of sheep farmers to life.

‘With A Big Job, I watched a lot of videos about Australian sheep farmers!’ she said.

‘I wanted to understand what their life was like and carefully observe the details in how they carry out these daily tasks.’

‘I brought my own childhood memories of summer holidays spent on a sheep farm – the relationship between a farmer and their dogs, the satisfaction of a good cup of tea after a hard bit of work!’

Fiona enjoyed the opportunity to exercise her imagination.

‘Even though the stories are very simple, the text always allows a lot of space for imagination,’ she said.

‘In each case I was able to step in and create a world.’

See more of Fiona’s work on her website or Instagram.

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