Helen Nieuwendijk is an illustrator, author and artist with a lifelong passion for stories, and a love of image making. Inspired by observations of everyday life, her thought provoking works are created for children and their adults. Her techniques, grounded in her Visual Arts training, reveal her interest in the power of light and shadow, psychologically and aesthetically. Her use of materials include water based paints, oil paints, drawing media, ink, collage and mixed media. Her MVA, “Kidstuff” (UniSA 2008) celebrated the material folk culture of childhood making connections between children’s creativity and the studio practice of the artist/parent. Helen has studied and exhibited widely, presented arts workshops, coordinated school residencies and community arts projects. She loves knowledge sharing and continues to mentor learners of all ages and abilities at her studio in southern Adelaide. She lives in South Australia, with her family and two dogs Gipsy and Dash.