Karlene Harvey is an illustrator and writer, who lives on the unceded and ancestral home territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tseil-Waututh people. Karlene is Tsilhqot’in and Syilx and grew up on territories of the Semiahmoo and Kwantlen Nations. They have illustrated several children’s book, including Drum From The Heart, Every Child Matters, Maggie Lou, Firefox and Kaiah’s Garden.
Karlene studied at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, earning a BFA in Visual Arts. She earned a Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of British Columbia in 2022. Professionally, Karlene has developed a career that centers on community building and developing leadership capacity amongst women and youth. They work at UBC as an Academic Advisor in the Faculty of Arts. Karlene is happy to share they are currently working on several children’s books that will have release dates in 2025 and 2026.
We caught up with Karlene Harvey to ask about capturing joy, love, and family relationships in their illustrations.
It’s not easy to show the way a child feels about their sibling or grandparent in an illustration—but you do it so well in picture books like Kaiah’s Garden and The Hawk Shadow. How do you bring family relationships to life on the page?
Growing up, I learned a lot about my family through their various expressions, gestures, and family connection. For instance, my late grandfather was a quieter man but I developed a closeness to him by watching his mannerisms — likewise, I always appreciated the ways in which he coaxed my shyness away. As I got older, this skill translated into my ability to watch others carefully to pick up on cues from Elders or noting when a cousin or friend feels a bit withdrawn or when they were secretly amused or curious.
Intuitively, I think these observations helped me emotionally catalogue unique expressions and what they meant for different people. Whether that’s through laughter or mischievous expressions or the look of a parent or grandparent watching over their young ones with great compassion. This has really helped me consider what kind of feelings are shared in certain illustrative scenes between family members.
I also think expressions are so important for children to learn about and reflect on. I have a 4-year old and I often ask her what she thinks a character is feeling in certain scenes in children’s books. As an artist, I hope this adds a visual layer for learning and conversations between caregivers and young children as they read the books I illustrate.
Full of smiles, hugs, shouting and laughter, the characters and families in your illustrations radiate joy. Why is joy so important to your work?
I was raised in a boisterous house full of laughter, yelling, and teasing. When I was a teenager, my adolescent cousins would come down to our house every summer and it was like one big summer camp with so much energy and chaos and juice stained smiles. To me, growing up with laughter is inherent to connection. I just came home from a trip up to my home territory where I spent it laughing over stories with my aunties and cousins, it made me feel happy in the moment but it also restored something deep within me.
So many Indigenous people use laughter to feel a form of togetherness and we use it to help us through hard times. It’s a form of healing that transcends generations. I feel strongly about this aspect of Indigenous identity being represented in children’s books because Indigenous kids need to know their laughter has the power to spread like wildflowers, their ideas deserve to be heard and sometimes yelled, and most importantly, they should be empowered to feel and express themselves as big as they need to.
Your illustrations often feature bright, rainbow colours in ribbons, beadwork, flowers, land and sky. How do you select the colours for an illustration?
I often start with a palette of 5 dominant colours which slowly expands past my initial colour choices. Usually, I start with the characters' clothing or the interiors of a residence, like the colour of the walls of a home. Then I work from there.
When I went to art school, I focused on painting for a few years and I loved to nerd out on colour theory and textures/patterns. I often consider how complimentary colours can activate a particular vibrancy when placed next to one another. I am pretty intentional with how I use colours to make particular features or characters stand out.
I’m also really inspired by Indigenous artists who create beadwork designs and ribbon skirts. These makers often come up with very creative colour combinations and patterns and sometimes there are some unconventional colour pairings that I make note of for my illustration work!
In the Maggie Lou series, Maggie Lou is a larger-than-life character ready to shake up the world. What is it like to illustrate such a rambunctious character?
I absolutely love Maggie Lou, I really feel her energy as a character. I was excited to be invited back to illustrate the sequel of this book because Maggie Lou is a bit older and a little more mischievous and headstrong. In the first book, I depicted her as a bit of a rascal with her hand on her hip and a scraped knee. In the second novel, she’s older and I wanted her to have a cheeky defiance in her expression—a bit of a “Yeah? You and what army?” type of look.
Maggie Lou was the kind of friend I was always drawn to as a kid. I wouldn’t necessarily start the mischief but I was definitely along for the ride. Maggie Lou’s expressions are a culmination of friends that I’ve known throughout my childhood. And I have to admit that perhaps some of that sparkle in her eye is inspired by my own rambunctious child, too.
You Were Made for This World is a groundbreaking collection of letters and art that brings together Indigenous voices from across Turtle Island. How does it feel to be included in this collection featuring so many celebrated writers and artists?
I am honoured to be invited to this project. It wasn’t until very recently that I learned who the other participating artists and writers were. I remember when I received the shipment of books earlier this summer. I sat down on the floor and started flipping through the pages to look at every illustration and to read all of the heartfelt letters written to youth. I remember looking up at my partner, my eyes welled with tears, and I said, “I can’t believe they thought I was good enough to be a part of this project!”
I'm filled with gratitude and humility to be invited to create an illustration for this publication, it’s an honour to stand beside the fellow contributors of this collection of words and artwork.
You Were Made for this World is a celebration of strength and love and I can’t wait to see how it reaches the hearts of many.
To keep up with Karlene Harvey, follow @holysmookes.
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Written by Spencer Miller