Calgary artist and illustrator creates children’s book… for adults

A Calgary artist is realizing a dream of becoming a book illustrator. Mary-Leigh Doyle created all the artwork for her new book and wrote it, too.

A Calgary woman has taken her life-long dream of writing a book and made it a reality.

Mary-Leigh Doyle’s book is called I asked for a Unicorn but Life Gave Me a Zebra.

She says it’s a children’s book for adults that features artwork she created, paired with a story she wrote.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

“I dreamed of being a children’s book illustrator back when I was a student going to art college,” she said. “I hate to say how many years ago that actually was, but then life kind of took over. Interestingly enough, it was my own children and raising them that took me away from that chance to be a children’s book illustrator.”

After a series of family losses and caring for an ailing spouse, Doyle says she returned to her studio to escape reality by creating images of her version of a fantasy world.

“I started making illustration after illustration, and then it was someone else who pointed out to me that maybe those look like they could be in a children’s book,” she said.

“Then all of a sudden there was that dream, it came back, and I developed a storyline around what I had already painted and actually found a way to work in what I would like to think has become my life’s philosophy.”

Doyle says the book has a message of positivity, and if that positivity is hard to find, a person has to actively go out to look for it and discover it.

“For me, it harkens back to everything I ever needed to know about life – which I learned in kindergarten. So, I wanted to write a book for adults that was shareable with a child, but that would reach an adult at that base core simplicity – rather than it being an overly heady, philosophical sort of thing.”

Doyle turned to friend and business associate Annette Wichman, owner of Kensington Art Supply, to add her expertise as a calligrapher for the text in the book.

“I saw the images and then I read the story, and I was hooked,” Wichman said. “It’s like, ‘I love this, I love the paintings, I love the story.’”

“It’s one thing as a calligrapher, I knew I was going to be writing the words over and over and over again, and it was such a treat – it wasn’t a chore – this was fun and I loved doing it."

Doyle says the first edition of 40 books sold out along with the second edition of 25 books.

Now, she’s taking orders for the next printing.

“Many of us sit out looking for a unicorn in our lives, and we become so fixated on that unicorn that we think its going to make us whole, complete, happy,” she said. “But we miss seeing all the little tidbits, the gems, the ‘zebras’ that have been around us the whole time.”

Throughout the month of June, Doyle’s artwork and Wichman’s calligraphy are being shown at Framed on Fifth’s gallery space in the 1200 block of Fifth Avenue N.W. until June 28.

Doyle is also hosting a demo at the gallery on July 14 from noon to 3 p.m., during which time she’ll show visitors how she creates some of her carved artwork.