Ellen LaPointe Fontaine - Illustrator, artist, metal-smith and crafts-person lives on the family farm in rural Vermont. Her insatiable desire to create and love of detail has led her to explore various media for artistic expression over the years. This is her first, but hopefully not her last book.
Her maiden name just happened to be the same as twins Claude and Claudette who you will meet in book two. She has lived around the corner from me for the past 20 years. Our children rode the school bus together and played hockey together as well. Her son dog sat for us and appears in future Matilda stories.
Meet the Artist
About 3 years before I decided to publish Matilda I had to drop something off at her home and while chatting with her in her studio I idly wondered if she did whimsical and would ever want to illustrate my fairies.
Although most of her art on display that day was like the very real and wonderful cow above, her home is so whimsical that I knew she had a magical side.
When the time came, I decided that maybe that errant thought I had 3 years prior should be pursued. When I approached her about illustrating the book she just happened to be looking to fulfill her bucket list and one of her bucket items was to illustrate a book. I sent this photo of my Madeline and Matilda. She returned this wonderful little sketch and our partnership was formed.
"Although I did not pattern Madeline and Matilda's personalities after these two, they were in my mind while I wrote."
More Art By Ellen
![imagejpeg_3[1]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a7c738_747accd5e8bc48708b662b90871e26b6~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_138,h_184,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/a7c738_747accd5e8bc48708b662b90871e26b6~mv2.jpg)
![imagejpeg_2[1]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a7c738_e1307ecffc3c4c62b1ae1f3ce23c4adf~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_147,h_110,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/a7c738_e1307ecffc3c4c62b1ae1f3ce23c4adf~mv2.jpg)
