Our Team
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Shelley Hanmo
Meet our co-founder, Shelley Hanmo, a concert-pianist-turned illustrator specialized in hand-cut paper art for children’s books, editorial projects, and more. Shelley launched her art studio Junonia Arts in 2020 to share the magic of paper art with the world while spreading the important message of paper upcycling and re-using. "I’m passionate about whimsical stories, diverse characters, and everything colorful."
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Emma Lopes
Meet co-founder, Emma Lopes, an artist, illustrator and educator, she studied fine art in London and Madrid. Spending time in wild places is her favourite pastime and mother nature is her muse, in particular the ocean. A core belief which filters into every aspect of her work is that all life is interconnected. Her art is a form of activism through celebration of a world we must fight to protect, and principally communicating the importance of a healthy ocean for all life on earth. Emma now on the coast of Portugal where she makes large scale paintings and illustrations for social and environmental organisations.
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Janavi Kramer
Janavi Kramer is an internationally acclaimed Artist and Scientific Illustrator with an enduring fascination for the ocean. Her work paints a window into the world below, capturing the unparalleled wonders of the ocean, in hopes of inspiring curiosity and connection in those who look through it.
Beyond the surface, however, lies a deeper purpose: to shed light on the imminent threats imposed on the marine environment and its inhabitants. Through her paintings she tells the stories of these creatures and the challenges they face, helping others to recognise the vital role the ocean plays in our ecosystem. At the forefront of Janavi’s work is a mission to use art to help protect the one thing we cannot live without - the ocean..
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María Lecanda AKA @blackscatter
María Lecanda is a Mexican photographer and creator that like many, discovered her love for the ocean through scuba diving. In awe of this fantastic underwater world, she was inspired to create @BLACKSCATTER - a collection of stippled ink illustrations, aiming to spread awareness and bring nature into our daily lives.
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Gabriela Larios
London based Salvadoran artist and illustrator Gabriela Larios received her Masters from Camberwell College of Arts, UK in 2007 thanks to an Alban Scholarship. She creates whimsical and colourful illustrations that celebrate her deep love of children’s books, textiles and folk art. Her creative world derives from her interest in storytelling and the natural world. There is a naive and playful spirit captured in her work and a strong connection between memories of her childhood in El Salvador and her body of work: tortoises, fishes, plants, birds and all the colourful creatures and elements found in her art. She illustrated the sacred book of the Maya culture The Popol Vuh A Retelling with Restless Books featured on NBC and her debut picture book Our Nipa Hut with Barefoot Books featured on the Guardian.
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Irina Pavlova
Irina Pavlova aka Iruksson is an illustrator and graphic designer based in Paris.
"My work reflects my love for animals, travels, unexpected everyday scenes and out of the ordinary things. I have a penchant for vivid and striking color palettes, eccentric narratives and irregular shapes."
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Janina Rossiter
Janina Rossiter (Nina Rossiter) is an Artist, Author, and Artivist focussing on environmental issues. As an award-winning artist and bestselling, multi-award-winning author, Nina bridges her passions through her work in painting and illustrating children’s books.
Nina is also passionate about fighting climate change, protecting nature, and keeping the oceans free from plastic and pollutants. Her concerns for our environment are what inspired her to write “Diamonds, Hearts & Sea Stars!” and “123 Who’s Cleaning the Sea?”.
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Madison Mueller
Hi, I’m Madison Mueller. I am a marine scientist and a marine watercolour artist. I love being able to combine these two vastly different backgrounds to help conserve and protect our beautiful oceans.
I have worked as a marine scientist in many different locations across Australia.
From working with Pearl oysters in the remote North-West of Australia, growing algae in Tropical North Queensland, surveying crown of thorn starfish populations on The Great Barrier Reef, to working in a marine laboratory for the Western Australian Museum. This has provided me with practical experiences of tackling some of the issues impacting the health of our oceans.
However, I believe that the only way to really make an impact and save our oceans is through bringing awareness to and educating EVERYONE on the importance of protecting our marine life and I hope to inspire others to love and appreciate the ocean just as much as me.
This is were my art comes into it!
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Melanie Roberge
I'm Melanie Roberge from Palm Coast, Florida. My work is inspired by the beauty and wonder of underwater marine life and the Florida Springs. I'm blending my artistic skills with my love for marine life and all things aquatic, bringing about the perfect marriage of my two passions.
Through my vibrant acrylic paintings I share my experiences freediving and kayaking all around Florida and Georgia. I want others to appreciate what the world offers and care for nature to preserve it for the future generations.
I come from a lineage of women artists, I am the 4th generation artist. My grandmother taught children's art classes for over 20 years in Connecticut. I hope to one day continue what she started, start my own children's art studio and share what I've learned.
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Stéphanie Kilgast AKA @petitplat
Inspired by natural forms, Stéphanie Kilgast’s artwork is an ode to nature and its current biodiversity. Plants, mushrooms, insects and other animals encounter in a vibrant swirl of colors under her brush or sculpting tools.
Since 2017, in her series “Discarded Objects”, she grows colorful organic sculptures on manufactured objects, celebrating the beauty of nature in a dialogue with humanity, questioning the lost balance between human activities and nature.
Her work has a cheerful post apocalyptic feel to it, a reassuring reminder that nature has the capacity to grow back, if we only let it.
Her work has been exhibited in North America, Asia, Australia and Europe.
French, born in 1985, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, currently resides in Vannes, France.
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Rachel Brooks
Rachel Brooks is an internationally acclaimed Wildlife Artist and Scientific Illustrator based in the Scottish Highland town of Oban. She specialises in marine wildlife, capturing high levels of intricate detail using ink. Drawing from her extensive background in Zoology, Marine Biology, and the Scuba Industry, she has immersed herself in the field, spending years amidst her fascinating subjects.
Living in world renowned marine environments such as the Great Barrier Reef, Ningaloo Reef, the Lembeh Straits and the Coral Triangle. Rachel has gathered inspiration from across the globe which is reflected in the diversity of wildlife found within her work. Rachel now resides in the Scottish Highlands and has spent the past three years working in the Sea of the Hebrides Marine Protected Area with basking sharks. She is an advocate for celebrating the often over looked marine life found in the UK, and for shark conservation. As a story teller, art is her main media, but she is also a photographer, podcast host, speaker and science communicator.
Rachel's mission as an artist is to convey her passion for conserving biodiversity by celebrating its beauty and sharing it with the world.
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Xavi Reñé AKA @wildlife_erra
Xavi Reñé is a Barcelona-based illustrator with over ten years of experience. He illustrates in the field of wildlife conservation art, having worked for various commissioners from sanctuaries to foundations and organizations, like UN World Wildlife Day 2023, or Discovery Paris Shark Week. On the European campaign StopFinningEu, Planetiers World Gathering, Nakawe Project 'Stop the kill' campaign, between others.
Currently working with Rewilding teams and Madagascar Whale Sharks, but also in a comics and picture books field.
It's say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but in these cases that's not true. The image gives way to those all-important words about a problem or a situation that people should know about. Illustration, like photography, are great tools to capture people's attention and achieve that important interest in the message you want to show.
Thanks to this tandem, the message can reach further, get people involved and make them want to be part of this huge struggle for wildlife and Earth future.
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When Pigs Swim
When Pigs Swim- It all started with an escape from anxiety. Being fond of swimming and a plant-focused lifestyle, I combined the two to create When Pigs Swim, and the idea that they never fail to put a smile on my face. The thought of doodling random life observations to communicate my feelings and aiming to put smiles on people’s faces was what grew into When Pigs Swim Design.
I found my love for sea creatures through scuba diving which led to environmental curiosities such as plastic pollution and coral bleaching. My goal is to work with children and incorporate marine conservation into a holistic approach but in the meantime, sales are donated towards coral restoration as a member of We The Reef, a partnership under Coral Gardeners, based in French Polynesia.
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Yeti Iglesias
Yeti Iglesias is a freelance illustrator and 2D animator from Mexico City. My name is Yetsire, which means, (according to my mom) “lo nuestro” (ours) in Spanish, so a cute short way of saying my name is, yup, Yeti!
My style is vibrant, unique, bold, and full of colors! Plants, organic forms, shades, gradients, and texture always help me to tell a good story, your story.
Of course, I like my style, but I can also adapt it to a different one. I love challenges.
Collaborating with brands and creating powerful messages through illustration is something that I thoroughly enjoy.
Some of my clients are Apple, GoDaddy, Amazon, American Greetings, Vans, Spotify, Vectornator, editorial & more.