We’ve teamed up with the award-winning Children’s book illustrator, and comic maker Andy (Anne) Passchier to bring you a special gift for the last day of our advent calendar.
In case you missed it, the theme of our 2020 advent calendar was “trans myths worth spreading’, these included such gems as:
We wanted to end on a high and reached out to Andy who happily created this exclusive design for our community to download.
Click on the image to download your copy!
Andy is a non-binary artist from The Netherlands, currently living in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. They have illustrated several children’s books focusing on identity and the LGBTQIA community, including Rainbow: A First Book of Pride by Michael Genhart, Trans+: Love, Sex, Romance, and Being You by Karen Rayne, PhD, and Katherine Gonzales, MBA, Benny’s True Colors by Norene Paulson and What Are Your Words? by Katherine Locke.
They also create online comics about their experiences as a non-binary person under the pseudonym Andyrogyny.
We sat down around a virtual open fire to find out a little more about them:
Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m originally from The Netherlands, and I moved to the US to attend art school. After graduation, I was hired to work as a gift wrap designer for a greeting card company, and I ended up living here permanently! I love all things aliens, Halloween, cryptids and spooks.
How did you get started in illustration?
I was hired out of college to work for a company as an in-house designer. At the same time, I got an agent so I could get started doing freelance work. Five years later, I’m still represented by Bright Illustration, and they’ve gotten me some of the best assignments I’ve worked on, including all of the LGBTQIA children’s books.
How does your own gender identity impact your work?
I think my gender identity impacts my work a lot, starting from just my initial interest in creating work like this! I hope that my illustrations can make people feel included and help them find something they recognize. I know what it’s like to not see a lot of yourself represented in media and art, so I hope to play at least a tiny part in making that better for kids now and in the future.
Thank you ever so much for your time collaborating on this project to create this beautiful celebration of Trans Love. It has been a difficult year for everyone, but none more so than trans youth themselves. With this in mind, do you have a message for any trans and gender variant young people this holiday season?
I think a lot of us deal with not being able to be ourselves during the holidays, either because of family members not being accepting of our identity, or other reasons. If that’s the case for you, know that your gender is valid, and there’s a whole community of us out here rooting for you and supporting for you.
And root we shall. We anticipate big things for Andy in 2021, so don’t forget to follow them on insta @andyrogyny and @annepasschierillustration