Marina Seoane is an illustrator with a long career in publishing. She was born in Madrid, the capital of Spain, but she was always drawn to the spell of the sea, which is why for 12 years she has lived in a small town in Galicia, near the coast and surrounded by lush forests. Living closer to nature is very important to her, and it has a deep influence in her poetic illustrations.
From a very young age, Marina liked books: she especially enjoyed fantastic stories and adventures that awakened her imagination, but she was also attracted to other types of arts and craftwork such as sculpture, ceramics, and the creation of tapestries and puppets.
In 1980, she graduated in sculpture from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Madrid and began her professional career as an illustrator. She has collaborated with more than 50 Spanish and international publishers, design studios, and institutions. She has illustrated around 260 books – including stories, children’s books and young adult novels, illustrated albums and textbooks, among others. As a writer, she has published five stories, two of them with her daughters Ana and Mar as protagonists. Her work has been shown in eleven solo exhibitions and many group exhibitions.
Marina has worked as a teacher in several thematic workshops about illustration, tapestry, masks, and puppets for various cultural organizations including the National Library of Spain. From 2009 – 2013, she was Art Director at Edimáter Publishing House. During 2014 and 2015, she was president of the Galician Association of Professional Illustrators – AGPI.
She currently combines her illustration career with her artisan work, creating puppets, tapestries, pottery, and textile and ceramic jewelry.
Her clients include, among others, National Geographic Learning, Cengage Learning, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Loyola Press, Barnes & Noble, Penguin Random House, McGraw-Hill, Oxford Spain, Santillana Spain, and Anaya.
