The Cairns artist drawing attention to our native wildlife

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Ever since she could hold a pencil, Matilda Bishop has been drawing Australian native animals.

She has a gift for bringing these beautiful creatures to life on a page, informed by her understanding of why they matter.

Matilda has put that gift to work on behalf of the animals, in a series of books encouraging awareness and understanding of Far North Queensland wildlife.

On Friday night, the Cairns illustrator and author will launch her seventh book, making her a veteran author at just 23 years of age.

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“I’ve always loved drawing anything and everything,” Matilda tells Tropic Now.

“But it’s always been animals, because I grew up down in Mena Creek.

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“I've been drawing for as long as I can remember. I’ve always found ways to promote conservation through illustration.”

Matilda is a self-trained author, illustrator, and designer, based in Cairns, where the nearby Great Barrier Reef and rainforest are constant inspirations.

She wrote her first children’s book, The Parrot Party at Paronella Park, at age 14, drawing inspiration from the remarkable Mena Creek property built by Spanish immigrant, José Paronella, from 1929.

Since then, she’s told the stories of FNQ places and creatures in a series of popular books for kids, always trying to entertain and inform younger readers.

“The more I can do, the happier I am. I love doing it.

“It’s just so much fun, and I love being able to go and read it to kids as well, you see their faces light up.

“I think it's so important to have a message behind the book that people can learn from.

“I think that's essential, especially living in the tropics with so many spectacular creatures.

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Matilda’s books cover a wide range of subjects, including the Cairns Aquarium, Mareeba’s colourful history, and Panama TR4, a disease threatening the FNQ banana industry.

Her latest, to be launched this week, tells the story of the vulnerable and much-maligned spectacled flying fox.

“Unfortunately, they do get a bad rap. It really just comes down to rumours.

“Before I started doing all this writing for this book, I was under the impression they were quite dangerous to touch or be near.

“Realistically, the chances of them carrying diseases is not very common, but unfortunately, they get that reputation.”

Matilda has a profound understanding of creatures humans perceive as dangerous that are just doing the job the ecosystem requires of them.

“I'm hoping my artwork can be subtle in saying ‘hey, we should protect these creatures’ but without shoving it in their faces.

“Look how beautiful these animals are. We need to look after them.”

Matilda hopes her success can inspire other up and coming FNQ artists.

“As cheesy as it sounds, it comes down to just going for it, just putting your artwork

“I was in high school, and it was the summer holidays, and I was really inspired, I’m going to write a book.

“I took it to Paronella Park, and they said ‘this is amazing, we want to print this, we want to publish this’.

“You never really know what's going to happen. You really just have to give it a shot.

“If you fall down, that's fine. Just keep on going.

“Get that artwork going and out there, people will recognize you. And before you know it, it just takes off.”

Matilda launches her new book, The Big Book of Bat-tivities, this Friday at Cominos House, Edge Hill.