Hope Grows

Illustration by Amanda Francey
I'm happy for you to share my illustration, but please include my name credit,
(preferably with a link to this post or my website)
plus hashtag #HopeGrows and #CBC4CA if sharing on social media.

In the midst of the 2019-2020 Australian bushfire crisis, I was motivated to create this illustration. While I was feeling disheartened at the time, I didn’t want my artwork to project doom and gloom, so I imagined a turning point, when devastation and new hope cross paths.

At first glance, my artwork would appear to represent the predictable regrowth and recovery that comes naturally over time after Australia’s normal bushfires have blackened our landscape and caused their usual destruction. However, there was nothing normal about this bushfire season. It started months earlier, on the heels of a prolonged drought and a premature heat wave.

An ecological disaster unprecedented in Australia’s history. More than 18 million hectares of land (including rainforests) burned. An estimated 1 billion animals have perished and some endangered species may be driven to extinction. At least 33 people, including firefighters have died and over 2,500 homes have been destroyed, plus thousands more buildings.

There’s nothing ‘normal’ about what Australia has just experienced. The climate change scientists warned us. Now the planet has warned us. If we don’t start taking climate change seriously, this will be our 'new normal' at best.

The real hope within this turning point, is the girl pictured in my illustration. She represents all the children and future generations. The voices of our world’s children and young adults matter more than ours, for they will bear the brunt of the climate mess they’ve inherited from us and previous generations. We need to listen to their words, not silence them.

This illustration is a mix of watercolour textures, newspaper clippings from December’s bushfire stories, and the rest was hand painted digitally. During the initial sketches, my daughter suggested the girl could be holding a stick with the words ‘Hope Grows’ scribbled into the dirt. As you can see, I was quite taken with her idea.

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I'm a proud member of Children's Book Creators for Climate Action #CBC4CA

CBC4CA are hosting a 'Creative Challenge' in YOUR words inspired by my 'Hope Grows' illustration. This page is already filling up with beautiful poetry and short stories from talented children's authors.

If you're a children's book creator and have signed up to the CBC4CA's Climate Action Roll-Call, and would like to participate, visit CBC4CA for details.

I'm happy for you to share my illustration, but please include my name credit, (preferably with a link to this post or my website) plus hashtags #HopeGrows #CBC4CA if sharing on social media.

This illustration was created with mixed media including watercolour textures, newspaper clippings from December’s bushfire stories, and the rest was hand painted digitally in Photoshop with a drawing tablet.