Welcome

If you want to look for my books I illustrate under Eleanor Taylor.

Hello

I’m Eleanor, an artist specialising in ink and watercolour illustration. Let me tell you a little about my work.

Inspiration

I had a delightfully wild childhood in the Scottish Borders surrounded by a menagerie of animals that should have been domesticated but were generally pretty untethered. All that freedom and daydreaming helped me develop an active imagination which led me to study Architecture – a wonderful experience. After graduating I spent several years working in the Caribbean, Spain and London including as a designer for Harrods, a far cry from that muddy field in Scotland. The pull of making my own art was too great, and in 1995 I jumped ship into the world of children’s books and haven’t looked back.

Now, with my husband, three children and a sausage dog called Pickle, our time is shared between London and our home, Octopus House, in Gibraltar.

If you can’t get hold of me you will probably find me pottering up and down the Thames on Noord Ster or being tossed around in the Straits of Gibraltar on Lost Horizon.

My Books

I’m the creator of over fifty books for children including Beep Beep, Let’s Go! the best selling, No Trouble At All and A Little Bit of Trouble, written by Sally Grindley, Run, Rabbit, Run for which I won the English 4-11 Award for The Best Children’s Illustrated Book of 2001. I’m also the illustrator of the Hogwarts Crest for JK Rowling, this last one generally wakes up a room full of bored children.

Since 2010 much of my illustrating time has been given over to creating the new Peter Rabbit titles for Frederick Warne Publishers which I really love.

Workshops

The Rock Retreat

When not illustrating books I work with others in children’s publishing sharing our experience. I am the director of The Rock Retreat Gibraltar, an international non profit residency for writers and illustrators focusing on the creation of books for children and young people. The Rock Retreat is a collaboration between myself, Sarah Odedina of https://www.accordliterary.co.uk, Gibraltar Cultural Services and renowned publishing industry professionals including Ken Wilson Max, Chris Priestly and Victoria Wells Arms. Each year the retreat attracts brilliant participants from across the globe. Visit www.therockretreats.com to find out more about how we are connecting the future generation of children’s book creators.

In 2022 I was delighted to be given the Gibraltar Cultural Ambassador Award by Gibraltar Cultural Services. This enables me to promote the work we are all doing in Gibraltar and to attract brilliant authors and illustrators to our cultural scene through residencies and exchanges.