Irena Kobald is the Toowoomba-based artist and author behind Bingalum.

Irena is the author of two picture books, My Two Blankets (2014, Hardie Grant) and The Dream Peddler (2018, Dirt Lane Press). My Two Blankets won the 2015 Children’s Book Council Award for Picture Books and was chosen as the book for National Literacy Week in 2016. It received positive reviews in the New York Times Book Review, and has been translated into stage plays in Germany and Austria. Her books have now been translated into 21 languages, including Braille and Auslan.

Irena is also an accomplished artist. Her unique ‘bio art’ is heavily influenced by the 10 years she spent working in remote school regions in the Northern Territory. The designs and patterns she builds are taken from whatever nature presents to her at the time, which are then returned to nature with no environmental footprint. The ephemeral designs are captured and translated into prints, which are available to purchase as beautiful scarves and prints.

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