Gemma Koomen is a freelance illustrator and artist based in beautiful, wild Northumberland, UK. Inspired by nature, nostalgia and simplicity, Gemma's work begins by hand with gouache, ink and the occasional colour pencil, and is driven by the desire to capture little moments of calm and joy.

Her love of painting and drawing began as a child when she would spend her days in an imaginary world created with crayons and pencils on the backs of her artist father's rejected screenprints, on walls and underneath furniture.

Gemma went on to study Fine Art Photography at Glasgow School of art, go on to complete a whirlwind Masters in Illustration and continue to work as a photographer, web designer and occasional illustrator in between raising children. Through the years, the love of drawing and painting remained, and inspired her to start illustrating freelance full-time. Flock is her first picture book.