Elaine Chen is a Vancouver-based painter, illustrator, and video game artist. Her family immigrated to Canada in 2001 where she fell in love with Canadian summers and grew up in the Toronto area. She completed her degree at Sheridan College in Animation and has so far illustrated three picture books including: • My Day with Gong Gong written by Sennah Lee • Amelia, The Not-So Small Superhero written by Stephanie Lecce • This is Pomi written by Mitchel P. Kennedy

Elaine’s artwork is inspired by the natural world, and her family and her friends. In fact, a friendship inspired this year’s artwork:

“My inspiration for SRC's artwork this year came from one of my loveliest of friends. She surprised me with a quilt she made for me, with all the patterns and fabric carefully chosen, just a couple of days before the SRC team and I had our first meeting. The idea of various scenes puzzled together in the form of a quilt came to me when I was reflecting on how everybody is connected. We are all a small piece of the human puzzle, of the big vast world, whether you believe it or not. The connection between my friend and I is like the connection between one piece of the fabric and the next; it is like one community to the next; and it also like you, reading these words right now.”

A self-professed morning person who loves the sound of birds and tells her friends she’s solar powered, she shares her home with her partner and her gray tabby cat, Honey.