A Southern Breeze Success Story: Illustrator Laura Freeman

It’s not every day that one region has three Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Awardees, but that’s exactly what happened this year in Southern Breeze! And one of those honor awardees was able to join us in Decatur, Georgia at the Portfolio Show and Book Signing Reception on the eve of our SpringMingle conference. Laura Freeman, illustrator of Hidden Figures, was there to chat a little and sign a lot of books, and I had an opportunity to catch up with this very busy illustrator!

SB: Laura, as the winner of such a prestigious award, you joked that you were an “overnight success” because now people are noticing you and your work. But you’ve been a professional illustrator for a very long time! When did you begin your career and how did you start? 

First of all, thank you so much for inviting me. I was treated like a celebrity, Southern Hospitality at its finest! As to how I began: I spent years carrying my portfolio of editorial illustrations around door to door back in the days when you dropped off your portfolio at the offices of a magazine or newspaper and picked it up the next day. This was pre-internet. Occasionally I’d get an interview with an art director and once in a while I’d even get a job! I ended up working for 10 years as a staff artist at Polo/ Ralph Lauren while doing freelance illustration jobs at night but I didn’t get enough work to quit my day job. Things really began to improve when I changed my focus to children’s books, which was 20 years ago! It didn’t take me that long to get “discovered”, it took me that long for my work to be good enough to be “discovered”! I am very stubborn, persistence is my secret weapon!

SB: So glad you persisted! And how did you get involved with Hidden Figures, the picture book? Hasn’t this book won other awards as well?

 It has! In addition to the Coretta Scott King Honor, The Georgia Center for The Book selected Hidden Figures as one of ten “Children’s Books All Young Georgians Should Read”. Erin Fitzsimmons, the art director at Harper Collins, approached my agent Janet at Storybook Arts Inc. and asked that I do a sample for Hidden Figures. (That’s publishing’s version of an audition.) I was so excited! It was the only movie I had actually gone to the theater to see all year and here they were calling me, of course I did it!

(And this just in! Hidden Figures just received an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Children. Congratulations, Laura!)

SB: You mentioned that you were busier than ever now! Can you share some of the projects you’re working on? Where will we see your “Illustrated by Laura Freeman” next? 

Yes, I am extremely fortunate to have been offered so many exciting projects! Since Hidden Figures came out Pies From Nowhere: How Georgia Gilmore Sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott (by Dee Romito, Little Bee Books) came out in November 2018 and Biddy Mason Speaks Up! (by Arisa White and Laura Atkins, Heyday books) came out in February 2019. Follow Chester! A College Football Team Fights Racism and Makes History (by Gloria Respress-Churchwell, Charlesbridge Books) is coming out in September and a biography of the tennis star Althea Gibson called Fleet of Foot Girl (by Megan Reid, HarperCollins) is coming out soon. And … I just finished the art for a biography of Aretha Franklin! It’s called A Voice Named Aretha! (by Katheryn Russel Brown, Bloomsbury Books). It was a blast listening to Aretha’s music the whole time I worked on the book! It’s due out in 2020.

Currently I’m working on a book about the architect who designed the museum of African American History at the Smithsonian. It’s called Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon and is written by Kelly Starling-Lyons and published by Lee & Low books. I still do editorial work too. It’s been a real whirlwind and a dream come true!

SB: Wow, Laura, that's a whole lot of persistence! And you’ve persisted as a member of SCBWI since 1999! So even though you’re very successful, you must believe in SCBWI. How has our community helped you and your career? And what advice do you have for any of our illustrators on their just-getting-started-on-their-overnight-success stories? 

I joined the SCBWI as soon as I became interested in illustrating Children’s Books. It’s been an enormous help as it was my primary resource for researching the field. The SCBWI is also a great way to meet other illustrators and writers in your community. When I moved to Georgia it was how I met other illustrators and writers here.


Thanks so much for sharing your insights and advice, Laura! Look for Hidden Figures wherever books are sold. And you can find out more about Laura Freeman and her art at her website.

We love sharing Southern Breeze success stories, so if your persistence has paid off, let us know!