My portrait in the SBS Portrait Prize

Lovely to visit Mornington today to see the SBS show in person. My painting of Flynn is hanging amongst some spectacular portraits. If you are in the area, I highly recommend a visit. The show is in until May 29th

Interview with Neridah McMullin, children's book author

Neridah is the author of our children’s book ‘Drover’, which is based upon the true story of Edna Jessop (nee Zigenbine), Australia’s first female boss drover. Drover is published by Walker Books and is available in all good bookshops and online from September 8th.

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Hi Neridah and thanks for joining my blog.

When did you start writing and what attracted you to the world of children’s picture books?

I started writing for children about twelve years ago. I had a rush of inspiration when I had my youngest child. I’d stopped working, so I had more time. Well, snatches of time. I self-published my first picture called ‘Ponkidoodle’ about an imaginary friend who lived in the roof. I then wrote some historical chapter books for the Collingwood Football Club and wrote Kick it to Me, the story of Tom Wills. My obsession with Australian history grew from there.

What are your main inspirations?

Australian history and courageous, resourceful, sincere people.

Can you tell us a little about the process of writing a children’s picture book?

Non fiction narrative style picture books, like DROVER, are usually around 600 words. I write the first draft to tell the story, and I don’t limit my word count. It might be 2000 words. The goal is for me get the tone, and the heart of the story right. Then I work in reverse, and whittle it down to as fewer words as possible. It might take 20-30 drafts. It might take me weeks to write a picture book, it might take years.

Middle Grade fiction is similar, but a longer process. I usually write about 30,000 words fast and in one go (no interruptions so I move out of home to do it), then I nut out the story arc in depth (the heart of the story), and then re-write/massage the manuscript to meet my story arc. 20-30 drafts later, I’m up to about 40, 000 words, with a much more rounded, balanced story. I never send anything underdone to a publisher, they’re always fully polished and ready to go when I hit that send button.

Wow, that’s a huge process! Thanks for explaining that.

How did you come across the story of Edna Jessop and what attracted you to it?

I’d always wanted to write a book about a drover. My grandfather went droving at 14 years of age. I loved the idea of being at one with your horse, moving sheep or cattle over great distances, in wide open, fenceless country. I’d grown up with these iconic, Australian stories.

So, over the years, I just kept searching for a droving story I liked. I was listening to an oral sound recording at the NLA (National Library of Australia) about drovers, when I stumbled upon an interview of Edna. I fell in love with her. Her life, her attitude and her courage and resilience. Edna is my hero.

Mine too! I think children everywhere will feel inspired by her

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Which is your favourite part of the Drover story?

Sighing at a peachy dawn is pretty darn good, but the rush scene is my absolute favourite. Galloping blindly into the night sounds insane. It’s exciting and dangerous, and drovers did this sort of stuff all the time. Your illustrations for the rush scene are magnificent, Sarah.

Thank you! Your writing is so evocative and provided wonderful inspiration for the illustrations.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Sit at your desk and do the verk (thank you to my wonderful Duck pond community, Girl & Duck, Jen Storer).

Always ask yourself what is the heart of my story? What am I trying to say? And write every word to honour it.

Find yourself a good editor.

Any projects coming up that you would like to share with us?

My next picture book is about a very famous, Australian shearer…coming out with Walker Books Australia in 2022.

How exciting, I can’t wait to see that one.

Thanks for the chat today. It was lovely to learn about your personal connection to droving. The love of the land and history shines through in the story.

Neridah has written many other children’s books. You can check these out on her website:

Home · Neridah McMullin

Book illustration progress

Despite the need to home school children during this global pandemic, I am making some progress on the book I am illustrating. I’ll post little details of wider scenes so as not to spoil the surprise! ‘The Drover’ will be published in Nov 2021.

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Shortlisted portrait

Happy to have my portrait of model Charles shortlisted for the Inaugural Life Models Society Exhibition in December. Please come and join me for drinks and a look at the art on 17th December from 6pm at Gasworks Park

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Fundraising painting for #artforbales has sold

The oil painting I donated to #artforbales (instagram based fundraising initiative) has sold for $285. The money goes direct to Rural Aid to help farmers struggling to survive in drought conditions. This year so far the tally is $45000! I am really happy to have been able to donate this painting and I hope the new owner loves it for many years.

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Exciting news

I am delighted about my new project for Walker Books. I will be illustrating a children’s book about a drover’s adventures on her journey through the outback. Details are still under wraps at the moment but expect lots of expansive golden outback landscapes and cows! Can’t wait to capture that dusty outback light

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Tiny paintings

I really enjoy making tiny artworks…it’s a good technical exercise, to capture all the information necessary with minimum of marks. The first little painting is of my three children at the beach at sundown. They did not want to go home! I loved the red hues of the light and the corresponding inky blues in the shadows. The second is of the same scene on a different evening; a much moodier light. Oil on bamboo, 20.5cm x 15cm

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New learnings

Responding to a brief to paint an ‘Australian landscape’ I started with a scene of my son playing with a collie dog beside the river, beneath gumtrees. It was idyllic, calm, and uncomfortably reminiscent of early colonial art. Despite the river gums I realised that unconsciously I had brought an English sensibility to my rendition of the scene. It was one-sided, without substance, all ‘surface’.

It’s a big task to try to depict the complexities and beauty of this land. I felt I couldn’t adequately attempt this without somehow acknowledging our history and the people who have had such an impact upon it, both good and bad. I needed to paint below the surface, to express more about our bloody and unresolved history and ongoing troubles. It is a stunningly beautiful country but the many peoples who live in and love this land are still travelling uneasy parallel paths with no real resolution to the past.

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Thoughts on colour

This is a new oil painting of a child running on the beach at dusk. I was drawn to paint this image because of the dramatic light and contrast between the shadowy beach and the brilliant sunset sky. The child running in the gathering dark interests me…..I’ve left the child’s emotions deliberately ambiguous. You decide what’s happening here.

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