Marisa Attard is an artist and illustrator. She studied art under Esprit Barthet, Harry Alden and Anton Calleja. She has illustrated numerous books and has thrice been awarded the Premju Nazzjonali tal-Ktieb for Best Illustrator of Children’s books. Marisa has taken part in both solo and collective art exhibitions where her work has been positively reviewed and appreciated. Marisa is a keen observer of people and frequently uses her art to highlight the human condition and the political and social reality. She paints the people that inhabit her world – both real and imaginary. Her sense of humour comes through in her art. Huge bumbling figures that defy gravity and can be both serious and dark or humorous, quirky and endearing. In her paintings, she enjoys combining her illustrative style of pen, ink and watercolour to works in acrylic and collage. She shows a preference for bright colours applied in layers with added collage and found objects to help create texture and depth. She has been inspired by and admires the work of Quentin Blake, Tim Burton, Edward Gorey, Ralph Steadman, Ronald Searle, Gerald Scarfe, Gary Larson and Grayson Perry amongst others. The weird, the dark and the humorous.