Browsing the kids’ section at Village Books, Luciana Navarro Powell’s style is unmistakable. The Bellingham-based illustrator blends mixed media techniques to create whimsical, multi-layered artwork for magazines, major brands and, perhaps most notably, children’s books.
But technical skill isn’t the only reason Powell’s art feels alive: She’s a master at weaving meaningful elements from her own life into stories with universal appeal.
A tri-citizen of the U.S., Luxembourg and her native Brazil, Powell’s work often reflects diverse characters and cultures: “I always say Brazil still informs a little bit of my work, the colors, the warmth of it,” she added.
Life in Whatcom County also influences Powell’s creative expression. On Friday, March 7, she’ll be at the Whatcom Museum demonstrating plein-air painting — a hobby nurtured by the area’s abundant outdoor access. Powell’s community in Bellingham has also inspired buildings, scenery and even characters in her illustrations.
“This is my first ‘small town,’ and I just love it,” Powell said. “I’ve only lived here for seven years, [but] every place I go now, I already know people.”
Background in product design
Despite a lifelong penchant for drawing, Powell didn’t initially see illustration as a career path. She majored in product design instead — but during her studies, Powell connected with an editor who commissioned her for book cover designs.
Soon enough, Powell was hired onto a bigger job illustrating educational materials for families in rural Paraná, Brazil. “I would illustrate for kids specifically,” Powell said, “and I was super hooked.”
Powell became a full-time illustrator in 2001 and moved to Los Angeles with her husband a year later. Determined to build her portfolio, she shipped watercolors back to clients in Brazil despite a poor exchange rate.
But when the couple moved to Chicago a year later, Powell decided to try her luck in the U.S. market. “I just remember [Googling] ‘children’s publishers in Chicago,’” she said. “I got a huge list of publishers of all sorts … I printed my portfolio and I sent it snail mail, cold-turkey, to art directors.”
Soon Powell got a phone call from the art director at Pearson Education, where she’d work for three years. The contacts she made at the job eventually enabled her to go freelance and secure a literary agent. From there, she broke into trade publishing, or general-audience books.
Powell wrote and illustrated her first book, “My Dad is the Best Playground,” published by Random House in 2012. She followed it up with a sequel, “My Mom is the Best Circus,” the following year.
Clients from Random House to Mattel
These days Powell is a veteran in children’s publishing with 20 books to her name in the U.S. (plus two publishing next year). Her clients range from publishing houses like Random House, Oxford University Press and Chronicle Books to brands like Mattel, Fisher Price And Highlights Magazine.
Despite her lengthy career, “You always feel like a beginner,” she said. “Every project is completely different … different subject matter, different target audiences, the age group varies a little bit.”
Even so, Powell finds herself circling back to themes like multiculturalism, family and the natural world. A recent book, “Listen, Wonder, Ask” by Elly Berke, explores a chain of immigrant characters’ “coming-here story” through the lens of a curious little girl.
“Representation in children’s books is finally at the forefront when we talk about children’s literature today,” Powell stated on her website. “As an immigrant myself, making sure that kids see themselves in the art I produce is of utmost importance.”
Other picture books, including Tory Christie’s “Big Blue Earth” series, focus on fauna in different countries. Powell said her love of nature is inspired by her childhood home.
“I grew up in this house in a pocket [of rainforest] in the middle of a city of a million people,” she said. “It’s not very far from downtown, and there’s toucans and monkeys that show up in the backyard!”
And while Powell has an established “visual voice,” she’s always experimenting with new techniques. Each illustration begins with pencil; once initial sketches are completed, she’ll incorporate mediums ranging from watercolor to acrylics, collage or even found objects.
For example, “Listen, Wonder, Ask” features a Muslim character with a jeweled hijab. To create a sense of depth, Powell scanned real costume jewels and superimposed them onto her illustrations using PhotoShop.
Additionally, “One Small Koala on the Big Blue Earth,” part of Christie’s “Big Blue Earth” series, features a real eucalyptus leaf that Powell scanned and incorporated into a hand-drawn illustration. (A librarian friend brought it back from a trip to Australia, especially for her; fittingly, the final book is dedicated to librarians of Bellingham.)
Even though Powell’s illustrations are pieced together and finished digitally, this blend of techniques gives her an upper hand. Powell mentioned how artificial intelligence seems to be training on “digitally slick” illustrations, and she hopes her style cannot be easily replicated.
In future projects, “I’m going to be using a lot of different analog techniques,” Powell said. “I think people are really drawn to the tactile aspect of it.”
Family, friends pop up in illustrations
Powell and her husband, Michael Powell, moved to Bellingham in 2017 for Michael’s work leading Bellingham Underwriters. With her children about to graduate high school, she’s looking forward to deepening her roots in the local art community.
In her free time, you’ll find Powell hiking, skiing and creating plein-air paintings of locations from Mount Baker to Kulshan Trackside.
After finishing the next installment in the “Big Blue Earth” series, she’ll jump into illustrations for “Squirrel Draws Big Feelings,” a picture book Powell calls her “pandemic baby.” The book’s characters — Bear, Porcupine and Squirrel— express emotions destructively, until Squirrel learns to channel his feelings with chalk art and encourages his friends to join them.
The book’s author, Erin Dealey, was inspired by Powell’s own chalk art project. In the early days of COVID-19, she spent weeks chalking flowers, Easter eggs and other illustrations around her Bellingham neighborhood. Passersby would frequently stop for photos and even left cards on Powell’s doorstep as a thank-you for brightening their day.
Powell’s family also appears in her illustrations: The man playing flute on the cover of “Listen, Wonder, Ask” is based on her father. Her sons Alexander and Nicolas, who are in the orchestra at Bellingham High School, can be spotted in black uniforms with violin cases. The jogger who pops up in crowded city scenes? That’s Powell’s husband, Michael.
Other background characters include Powell’s next-door neighbors, her cousin’s Scottish Terrier and even her own yoga teacher. A building on the inside cover of “Listen, Wonder, Ask” is based on Mount Baker Theatre — and almost all characters in Powell’s December 2024 illustration for Cascadia Daily News were based on real members of the community.
“You can really tell there’s more heart there,” she said, “because it’s someone very specific.”
These subtle connections make Powell’s art her own — and while the average reader might not pick up on these references, someone in Bellingham just might.
Powell will demonstrate plein-air painting on Friday, March 7 at the Whatcom Museum as part of the museum’s monthly Free First Fridays program. Info: whatcommuseum.org.
Cocoa Laney is CDN’s lifestyle editor; reach her at cocoalaney@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 128.
