Color the Ocean Lotte Forde

Color the Ocean Coloring Book by Lotte Forde.

Fantastical Journey into the World of Trees by Irish Illustrator Lotte Forde.

Creativity has been part of Lotte’s entire life. As a young girl one of her prized possessions was an old mechanical, vintage sewing machine. It had a foot pedal that needed to be worked in order for the needle to go up and down. Besides making clothes for her teddy bears she used it with paper. She used the needle to perforate sheets of paper. She would make stamps. She’d stitch books together. She’d make tickets for bicycle rides for her teddy friends. Then there was bunting, paper chains, bags and duffle bags from both cloth or paper. And the paper obviously had to be illustrated. The stamps, tickets, buntings, envelopes, books, cards, diaries etc. were her canvas.

That wasn’t it though. She was also interested in woodwork. Her parent’s basement had a workshop. She was often found making toys, birdhouses, flower boxes, a doll house, soap box cars and other things. Playing house for her meant building a house out of timber in the woods out the back. She always had a keen interest in gardening. At the age of 10 she claimed a small corner of her parents backyard as her very first vegetable patch. Summers where spent outside and winters where for drawing, writing, knitting, hammering, reading and more.

She started to illustrate and write her first children’s book (unpublished) some 10 years ago. It’s the story of a little tabby cat who goes out on adventures in a little vintage biplane. For a long time Lotte shared the pen and paper illustrations only with her friends and family. Everybody loved them. There was just one hitch. The illustrations were rarely colored in. The drawings were whimsical and funny with lots of detail. People asked her if they could have printouts so they could color them in.

That sparked the idea of making her first illustrated book a colouring book. For adults AND children.

All her books focus on fantastical creations in imaginary settings. She has created fantastical worlds inspired by nature and the world around her. They are playful and magical. In her illustrations you will find many of the creations of her childhood. There are stamps, tickets, buntings, bags, books, boats in bottles, tree houses, toy cars, tricycles, bicycles, hammers, saws, clamps, workshops and other fantastical creations. And there might even be the odd cat.

Lotte and her husband live in a small house in rural Ireland. They have a small garden with lots of beautiful flowers and a shed full of tools for tinkering in their spare time. Sometimes the neighbors cat comes to visit.