Journey to Publication: An Interview with Māori Illustrator Terewai Tiave

We had a great time interviewing Terewai and learning about her illustration journey with her forthcoming picture book, The Lost Words, which is written by Māori author Kimberley Kearney. The book is now available for pre-order and will be published on the 29th of July by Moa Press, an imprint of Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand.

Taylor Terewai Tiave (Ngāpuhi) was raised in California and now lives in beautiful Hawai'i, creating stunning art that you can see on Instagram @by.terewai. She visits Aotearoa as often as she can and has whanau to visit, sharing waiata and purakau to nourish her roots to te ao Māori.

Pacific Islanders in Publishing: Kia Ora Terewai! We are excited to have you on our blog and we are anticipating your upcoming debut picture book, The Lost Words. Before we get to your book and your publishing journey, can you tell us a bit about yourself? 

Terewai: I like to say I’m a mixed wahine that’s also a mixed medium artist. I love to work with watercolor paint but also digital illustration with lots of hobbies and arts and crafts mixed in between. I am Māori, Swedish, Tongan, German, and English. I was born and raised in Southern California where I grew up with my cousins on my mom’s side. We were always at my grandma’s house and I firmly believe that’s the best way to grow up. The women in my life were my greatest examples and inspirations, especially my Tongan grandmother who passed last year.  

I went to university in Utah, met and married my best friend/husband, and started our family there. After having our first two kids, we decided to move to Hawai'i where my husband is from. He grew up on the Hawaiian homestead and it’s really cool to see our kids grow up in the same home and town that he did. We had our third kid here and are now a family of beach bums and I love it. 

PIIP: When did you start your art journey and when did you first know you wanted to illustrate a children’s book? 

T: My art journey started when I was a child. Ever since I can remember I’ve been doodling or making something. I loved to watch my grandpa sketch and paint island life scenes on big murals and smaller scale canvases. When I was pregnant with my oldest son eight years ago, I picked up watercolor painting and have loved it ever since. 

I’ve always been so fascinated and drawn to children’s book illustrations. Even as a kid. I used to read books (but mostly looking at the pictures) from my favorite illustrators while eating cereal before school. I’ve always wanted to illustrate a book, but especially after having kids I wanted to create something for them. Even if it was just for us to have at home. I’ve been blessed enough to now have a book I’ve illustrated officially published, and am still pinching myself. 

PIIP: What was your experience like taking the words from Kim and creating illustrations based on what was written? 

T: I was nervous of course because this was my first time doing this kind of work. I do better with a little direction and some guidelines, so I was really glad (and relieved) that for each page Kim and others included with the text some visual cues and even specific items they’d like to see in the pages. Also, Kim’s writing is so beautiful and inviting. It was really cool to be able to feel her words and visualize scenes while I read them. 

PIIP: How long did the process take? Can you walk us briefly through the collaborative steps, from the first discussion to the final sketch?

T: From being approached to publication date, the process of illustrating my first book took a little less than a year and a half. I got a DM on Instagram from a publishing company asking if I would be interested in illustrating a children’s book. I thought it was a scam maybe because why would they ask me haha. In our initial conversation they told me about the book and I instantly fell in love with the story and characters. I felt so connected to their journey of learning to speak Māori. After being officially brought on as illustrator for the book, the process was pretty smooth, and the author as well as the publishing manager were a dream to work and collaborate with. I only have great things to say about my experience with Moa Press. 

We started with the internal pages - a storyboard, then black and white images, then color images, then final art. Each step we worked through revisions but the last step of getting to the final art took the most revisions as we had to adjust illustrations slightly to get text positioning just right. Last was the extra bits like the title page, glossary page, endpapers, and possibly the most important: the cover. I was surprised that when I gave my cover concepts they liked both and didn’t have revisions for them. We ended up using one concept for the cover and the other for the title page.

PIIP: What was your favorite part of illustrating a book? Or the most challenging? 

T: Definitely creating a book that my kids can say, “Hey, my mommy made that for me!” I loved that my kids could watch me along the way and see me do something I love. On the other hand, that was also the hardest part of the whole process haha. I’m a stay-at-home mom with three kids so finding the time to get things done and make deadlines was challenging to say the least. But also so rewarding that I was able to accomplish one of my life goals while also being a mother. It was a roller coaster haha. 

Also, imposter syndrome. I’ve got it so bad haha. Having thoughts like, “I’m not a professional…the real professionals should be doing this, not me,” haven’t been easy to ignore, but maybe they’re good so I stay humble 

PIIP: Are you working on, or do you have plans for, any other publishing-related illustration projects?

T: I’ve been working on illustrating a Samoan counting children’s book that is full watercolor. I’m very excited to get that one finished. It’s bright, colorful, and lots of fun watercolor texture. 

I’ve loved this new adventure of illustrating children’s books and am hoping to be able to find more stories to help tell.

PIIP: What advice would you give other Pacific Islander artists who want to become book illustrators?

T: Please do! Just start. Don’t let your doubts win. We need more Pacific Islander perspectives and storytellers. Our ancestors, our aunties and uncles, our parents and grandparents were storytellers through words and art. We can be storytellers too. Illustration is a great way to do that and give representation to our younger generation. 

Make character sketches and scene studies and share them. Social media is a great place to get discovered. And share them with me (@by.terewai) so I can share too!

PIIP: Thank you for taking the time to share your illustration journey with us! We wish you the best with your debut picture book.