About the Illustrator

The luckiest person on the planet, Barry Downard lives with his wife, two border collies, cats and a transient population of wild and not-so-wild animals on a small farm in the beautiful KwaZulu-Natal midlands of South Africa.

Born in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1956 and schooled in Zimbabwe and South Africa, Barry trained as an interior designer and designed houses, shop interiors, exhibition stands and fashion shows, played drums, and worked as an art director before drifting into fashion and advertising photography.

In 1994, he became inspired by the story-telling possibilities via digital manipulation of his photographs, and developed a style of photo-illustration. His simple work philosophy is 'Enchant yourself, and you will enchant others', which he combines with a love of detail and a fascination with non-verbal communication.

Barry is currently working with major clients, ad agencies and publishers in the UK, USA and Australia, as well as working on illustrated children's books concepts and other personal publishing projects.

He is passionate about animal welfare concerns. He loves to sit under a 100-year-old oak tree, enjoys playing soccer with the border collies, and likes cows, chickens and chocolate.

Barry comments on Rowan of Rin: