Erin  Rose  Mackay

Erin has been busy growing her business as a commission based illustrator since 2012, creating pen and ink/ watercolour artwork of clients most treasured memories, with a strong focus on buildings and houses. This business has grown over the years to now include stationery and beautiful heirloom pieces.

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Prior to this, Erin graduated from London Metropolitan University with a BA (Hons) in Interior Architecture and Design, where she realised her love for illustrating architecture.

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After realising she had been depriving what had always been the most cherished part of her brain (her love for drawing and painting) of an outlet, for too long. She ditched the creatively unfulfilling corporate role she had worked in for 6 years without a backward glance. Even now she has to pinch herself on a regular basis that she gets to draw for her living!

Since becoming master of her own destiny, she has become a Mum and welcomed two young children into her life, who ironically boss her around endlessly. Her eldest (now 7) has been an avid bookworm since he was able to grasp a story book and the joy he gets from reading a new tale is completely infectious. They alone are entirely to thank for immersing Erin into the wonderful world of children's picture books.

Erin discovered that she longed to dip her toes into the magical world of Children's Book Illustrating, during lockdown #3 as it offered her the perfect opportunity to experiment with her digital iPad sketching, whilst helping a friend to visualise her children's educational science book entitled "Invisible Worlds", it was a joyous project to work on and as a result it become a welcome revelation to Erin that book illustrating absolutely needed to be a part of her future.

She has since used every bit of spare time to practice this skill, and has enjoyed working with a further two prospective authors, to help them bring their wonderful story books "The Angry Cake" "The Boot Scraper Mice" and "The Furry Worry Bear" to life, whilst dabbling with a couple of stories of her own creation.

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But most excitingly, in 2023 she was commissioned by Zurich UK to bring to life a picture book they created in partnership with the Marine Conservation Society and environmental campaigner Ade Adepitan to highlight the importance of Seagrass, and to help educate young children in a fun, engaging way. The book is entitled "The Secret Garden Under The Sea' and was printed and distributed to primary schools throughout the UK in September 2023. It is also available as an E-book via the Zurich Website.

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Working alongside passionate, inspiring people has been a tonic she didn't know she needed in her life, and she is so hopeful that this could be the start of her journey into Children's Picture Book Illustration.