Jan Ormerod

As a child

I grew up in the fifties, in a series of small towns in Western Australia, with three older sisters. As a child I drew constantly and compulsively, inspired by beautifully drawn schoolgirl annuals from England. I secretly devoured forbidden American comics, poring over the draughtsmanship.

As an adult

I went to art school and all of my options took me into the fine arts - drawing, painting and sculpture; I was obsessed by the human face, figure and gesture. I became an Associate of the Western Australian Institute of Technology in Design and Art Education and taught in secondary schools on enrichment programmes for talented students, then lectured in a teachers' college and art schools. As a young woman I had not planned to have children, but that changed! My books have largely been a celebration and savouring of the positive experiences of parenthood that I had not anticipated - the fun, warmth and love. I now live in Cambridge, England, and have two daughters, Sophie and Laura. We return to Australia to be with family and friends as often as we can.

As an artist

My task as a visual storyteller is to observe, record and edit. Some images go straight from life into a book. Most need to be carefully sifted, reinvented, reorganised. Telling a story with words and pictures is a little like watching a movie, then selecting the evocative moment, like a still taken from a film. I need to capture the moment that has clarity and simplicity, invites empathy, and allows the reader to bring her own knowledge to that moment, to enrich it and develop it according to her own life experiences.