Occupation Artist & Illustrator Spouse(s) Mark Greenwood | Name Frane Lessac Role Author | |
 | ||
Born 18 June 1954 (age 69) ( 1954-06-18 ) Jersey City, New Jersey Known for Painting and Illustrating books Education The New School, University of California, Los Angeles Books Island Counting 1 2 3, Caribbean canvas, The Little Island | ||
A is for australia by fran lessac walker books
Frané Lessac is a U.S born author, illustrator and painter who currently lives and works in Western Australia. Frané Lessac has published over 40 books for children and won numerous awards for her illustrations. Frané Lessac currently resides in Fremantle, Western Australia.
Contents
- A is for australia by fran lessac walker books
- Five questions plus one with mark greenwood and fran lessac
- Early life
- Career
- As illustrator
- As author and illustrator
- References
Five questions plus one with mark greenwood and fran lessac
Early life
Frané Lessac grew up in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, a small town outside of New York City. As a child, she spent many weekends in the world’s finest museums and galleries. At eighteen, Lessac headed west to live in Malibu, California and study Ethnographic film at USC and UCLA. She worked hard to finance her studies working at many jobs including projectionist at the local Malibu cinema, a chauffeur in Beverly Hills, and fertilising cacti with a silver spoon at a desert nursery. On completing her studies, she moved to the Caribbean island of Montserrat where she began her career as a painter. Inspired by the islands visual beauty, Lessac concentrated on painting the old West Indian architecture and its people. Frané next moved to London where she began to exhibit regularly and published her first book, My Little Island, which was a compilation of her paintings of Montserrat.
Career
After My Little Island, Lessac went on to publish a number of children's books, initially in the U.K, the U.S and later in Australia where she relocated with her husband, author and musician Mark Greenwood. Her first book, My Little Island, was named Children's Book of the Year by the St Martins Children's Book Council and also became a feature book on the popular U.S television program Reading Rainbow. In 2002 Lessac won the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards for The Legend of Moondyne Joe was nominated as an Honor book in the Children's Book of the Year Award: Eve Pownall Award for Information Books for Simpson and his Donkey both of which were written by her husband and frequent collaborator, Mark Greenwood. In 2002 Frané Lessac founded a Western Australian Branch of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Frané has served on the executive committee of the Australian Society of Authors. For her contribution to children's literature in Western Australia Lessac was awarded the 2010 Muriel Barwell Award by the Children's Book Council of Australia WA Branch.
As illustrator
As author and illustrator
