About

About Belle

Hello! I am a freelance illustrator and designer based in the San Francisco Bay area (but I grew up in Vancouver, Canada!). I live with my scientist husband and two crazy, but well loved cats.

I adore nature and like to spend time hiking, walking, and cycling. Sundays mean a trip to the Farmer’s market, a cornucopia of California's finest treasures waiting to be discovered by me!! I also really love weight training and group fitness. I’ll never refuse a cookie (or many!), and I am a self-proclaimed connoisseur of ice cream!

My work has been featured in books, magazines, newspapers, websites, greeting cards, TV commercials, and marketing campaigns.

If you have a project that needs a designer or illustrator (or both!) please get in touch, I'd love to hear from you!

—Belle


Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and have a degree in Communication Design from Emily Carr University of Art + Design.


I work for a variety of publishers, magazines, companies and individuals, including:

• Annick Press
• CAMP — A Family Experience Company
• Canadian Wildlife Federation
• Chirp! Magazine
• Community First Credit Union
• The Globe and Mail
• Google, Canada
• Greystone Books
• Greystone Kids
• Firefly Books
• Luna Park
• Orca Book Publishers
• Owl Magazine
• Reader’s Digest, Canada
• Simon and Schuster


I provide exceptional value
to clients in 3 key ways:

  • I produce award winning work which has been republished internationally

  • I both illustrate and design books, simplifying projects for my clients

  • I incorporate client feedback to create highly marketable works

 

PUBLICATIONS

Illustration & Book Design

2023

What’s Wild Outside Your Door?
Discovering Nature in the City
by Peter Wohlleben, Greystone Kids

Be A Nature Explorer
Outdoor Activities and Adventures
by Peter Wohlleben, Greystone Kids

2022

Superpower?
The Wearable-Tech Revolution
by Elaine Kachala, Orca Book Publishers (Fall 2022)

Urgent Message From A Hot Planet:
Navigating the Climate Crisis
by Ann Eriksson, Orca Book Publishers

2021

It Takes Guts:
How Your Body Turns Food into Fuel (and Poop) 
by Dr. Jennifer Gardy, Greystone Books (Fall 2021)

Do You Know Where the Animals Live?
Discovering the Incredible Creatures All Around Us
by Peter Wohlleben, Greystone Books

The Disability Experience:
Working Toward Belonging
by Hannalora Leavitt, Orca Book Publishers

2020

Heads Up:
Changing Minds on Mental Health
by Melanie Siebert, Orca Book Publishers

2019

Choosing to Live Choosing to Die:
The Complexities of Assisted Dying
by Nikki Tate, Orca Book Publishers

Can You Hear the Trees Talking?
Discovering the Hidden Life of the Forest
by Peter Wohlleben, Greystone Books

2018

Watch Your Tongue:
What Our Everyday Sayings and Idioms Figuratively Mean
by Mark Abley, Simon & Schuster

Rising Seas:
Flooding, Climate Change and Our New World
by Keltie Thomas, Firefly Books

2017

Eat Up: An Infographic Exploration of Food
by Antonia Banyard and Paula Ayer, Annick Press

Eyes and Spies:
How You’re Tracked and Why You Should Know
by Tanya Lloyd Kyi, Annick Press

2016

Making it Right: Building Peace, Settling Conflict
(Book design and Cover illustration)
by Marilee Peters, Annick Press

Water Wow!
A Visual Exploration
by Antonia Banyard and Paula Ayer, Annick Press


Book cover & interior design

2016

The Great Number Rumble Revised and Updated
A Story of Math in Surprising Places
by Cora Lee and Gillian O’Reilly, Annick Press

Move it Miss Macintosh
by Peggy Robbins Janousky, Annick Press

Extreme Battlefields:
When War Meets the Forces of Nature
by Tanya Lloyd Kyi, Annick Press

Joseph’s Big Ride
by Terry Farish, Annick Press

2015

DNA Detective
by Tanya Lloyd Kyi, Annick Press


Editorial illustration & design

2020

Reader’s Digest Canada
Illustrations for the Humour section articles:
Tiny Triumphs, They Might Help You Pass the Time Too, August 2021
Don't Use Google, Use Me: The Plea of a Magic 8 Ball, May 2020

2018 – present

WILD Magazine: Canadian Wildlife Federation's Magazine for Kids
A Bi-monthly Kids’ magazine — I have illustrated the WILD Clubhouse section since 2018

The Globe and Mail
The Cost of True Crime
Cover of Arts Section & interior spot illustration
Weekend edition, October 2018

Article Mama Mia!
First Person, February 2019