ilys Evans is the president of Dilys Evans
Fine Illustration, the company she founded in 1978 representing many of
the finest illustrators in children's books, including David Wiesner,
the three time winner of the Caldecott gold medal.
A painter, a past art director of Cricket magazine, and a contributing writer to The Horn Book, Booklinks, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal, Dilys Evans is also a Curator of exhibitions of children's book illustrators and an occasional consultant to the Caldecott committee on The Fine Art of Illustration in Children's Picture Books.
Most recently Dilys has published Show & Tell, a book that explores the Fine Art of children’s book illustration (Chronicle Books, Spring 2008) by focusing on the work of twelve very different illustrators. Show & Tell is considered to be a seminal book in the field of children’s book illustration, and was sold out in its first print run. She’s had a blast promoting her new publication at SCBWI in L.A., at N.C.T.E in Abilene, and at Agents’ Panels across the country. She's now working on a follow-up book, Ten Principles for Illustrating a Great Picture Book, also to be published by Chronicle.
She is also working on a chapter book for young readers to be published by Scholastic. Inspired by her Welsh roots and her love for Arthurian legend, it’s centered around a mysterious old storyteller and a young girl determined to uncover his secret past.
In 1979 founded The Original Art Exhibition at the Master Eagle Gallery in New York, a combined picture book and original art event featuring some of the most outstanding children's books published each year. Today, in its 30th year, The Original Art Exhibition has a permanent home at The Society of Illustrators in New York, and has become a major annual exhibition. She also established the Founders' Award, now in its 25th year, a juried decision carrying a prize of $1,000 for the best new talent from the main exhibition.
In 1998 Dilys was awarded the Arthur William Brown Achievement Award by the Society of Illustrators for establishing "The Original Art" exhibition and its innovation as the first national art show to celebrate the Fine Art of Children's Book Illustration.
Born in Teignmouth, S. Devon, England, she came to the United States in 1959 and studied painting, drawing, and composition at The New School, The Art Students' League, and The Riverside Museum. A major influence in her work as a painter comes from the five years she studied under Nell Blaine, the New York painter. Dilys Evans now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.