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Marie-Alice Harel

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Contact: hello@maharel.com
Local authority: Edinburgh City
Languages: English
Author type: Illustrator
Marie-Alice Harel's headshot

I am a French author and illustrator based in Edinburgh. I was a Geosciences PhD and researcher before becoming a full time illustrator in 2016. My watercolours and drawings can be found in books, picture books, galleries and magazines. I also create artist books, another playful way to combine images and stories. I love to draw from imagination or from observation, and regularly self-publish books of stories and images under the name MÄ Harel.

I joined the Edinburgh Drawing School in 2018, where I currently teach life drawing and illustration to teenagers and adults. I love to work with museums and galleries to design workshops around exhibitions or permanent collections. Recently I taught a linocut workshop for adults at the Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, for the exhibition Charles II: Art & Power. I've also organised workshops for younger kids and families, for instance at the Scottish Storytelling Centre or the Institut français d'Écosse in Edinburgh.

Websites featuring the author

Local authorities can visit

Aberdeen City; Aberdeenshire; Angus; Argyll and Bute; Clackmannanshire; Dumfries and Galloway; Dundee; East Ayrshire; East Dunbartonshire; East Lothian; East Renfrewshire; Edinburgh City; Falkirk; Fife; Glasgow City; Highland; Inverclyde; Midlothian; Moray; Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles); North Ayrshire; North Lanarkshire; Orkney Islands; Perth and Kinross; Renfrewshire; Scottish Borders; Shetland; South Ayrshire; South Lanarkshire; Stirling; West Dunbartonshire; West Lothian

Events can deliver

Bilingual event; Live drawing; Mentoring; Panel event; Reading; Residency; Talk; Workshop

Audience can work with

Adult learners

Topics of work

Adventure; Ageing; Animals; Biography & memoir; Characters of colour & BAME characters; Childhood; Comedy, humour & funny books; Contemporary fiction; Death, grief & bereavement; Discrimination & prejudice; Emigration & immigration; Environment & climate; Fairy tales, folklore & mythology; Fantasy; Food; Friendship; Gender equality; Health including mental health & wellbeing; Historical fiction; History; Horror; Human rights; Island communities; LGBTQIA+ characters; Loneliness & isolation; Nature; Picture books; Poverty; Publishing & getting published; Religion & beliefs; Science; Seasonal books; Self-publishing & independent publishing; Translation; Travel writing; Vehicles; Wars & conflicts; World War 1; World War 2

Age groups published for

Children; Teens; Adults

Age groups can work with

3-5; 6-8; 9-11; 12-14; 15-18; 18+

Audience size

0-10; 11-30; 31-100; 100-500