Aya Kakeda is an award-winning illustrator from Japan. She is passionate about illustrating characters, dreamy environments, nature, and drawing big and colorful patterns. Her dream project is to illustrate a series of books with her original characters, like the Mr. Men and Little Miss series. She would also love to work on projects about social and environmental issues. In addition to illustration, Aya is a painter and sculptor, and enjoys exploring collage, embroidery, and making masks out of papier mache. Her illustration style is characterized by flat, vibrant colors and dynamic shapes. On the other hand, she also enjoys creating intricate and detailed pencil illustrations that showcase a different aspect of her artistic expression. She finds inspiration in everyday life experiences — talking to friends, walking in the park, going to museums and looking at neighborhood cats — and the pure joy of raising her baby boy and seeing the world through his eyes.