Earth Day 2010: Interview with Jody Hewgill

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Earth Day is a special day when everyone, young and old, can learn about the importance of the environment, and how we can all make a contribution to a healthy planet.

One way that young people learn about Earth Day is through art. Poster-making and design contests are held across the globe as an activity to help teach students. And every year, a talented artist is invited to give artistic expression to Earth Day by creating the Earth Day poster. In 2010, renowned illustrator Jody Hewgill of Toronto is that artist.

We spoke with her recently and asked her how she became an artist, how international travel has shaped her approach to her work, and why she loves interacting with the natural world.

Jody Hewgill:

I'm one of those people who knew from the age of 5 that I wanted to be an artist, and I knew specifically I wanted to be an illustrator. I loved books, I loved the artwork in books and - I grew up in Montreal. I was born in Georgetown on a farm. Georgetown, Ontario. And my dad has a business that on the side had this little art store. It was in a neighborhood where there were a lot of graphic design firms, and he liked to take us into work - which was extremely boring - but he would let me go into the art supply store and pick out anything I wanted. So I would buy books that taught me to draw, taught me about different media, and I was just drawing and painting all the time from the age of 5, just constantly.

I traveled to Europe and North Africa. It is radically different when you go to a country that there is nothing similar to your country and culture. Nothing. And the age of 19, that really opened things up for me. That was a big eye-opener to see how other people lived, and we came across from Sicily, so we started in Tunisia. And then we worked our way through Algeria. Through Algeria we went to Morocco, and we visited several different places in Morocco. There were some fantastic things. My girlfriend and I were invited to very private and amazing things. I was invited to a Moroccan family's home for dinner. It trained me to observe.

There's different ways of reacting to something. I have friends who sit down immediately and just start sketching. That's not how I observe. I like to sit and just watch, really pay attention and watch. And then go and draw it.

I love animals - you know I mentioned loving working on this project. Some of my favorite trips are the trips where I get to observe nature. I was asked by one of my clients - they invited me to go to Tahiti, and my husband and I got to swim with sharks and stingrays. And that was fantastic; that was so exciting. I love the stingrays. They're like big sea-dogs. They seem to like people. They approached us, they swam around us; it wasn't food-motivated, curiosity. One of them actually swam up my husband's back and wrapped the fins around his body, and he thought I was hugging him.

That's what I like about my job. I don't know what's coming next week or next month. I like the serendipity aspect of it - what life, the universe brings to me. It's made my life really interesting. I never know where a job's going to take me. This was a really good example because this taught me a lot about biodiversity and animals.

Narrator:

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