This week on our Home Life Series, we’re stepping into the beautifully reimagined Bayside home of iconic Australian author and illustrator, Graeme Base. Best known for childhood classics like Animalia and The Eleventh Hour, Graeme has sparked imaginations around the globe with his intricate, puzzle-like illustrations and richly layered stories.
Now living with his wife Robyn and their two labradors, Graeme has turned a former milk depot-turned-mechanics workshop into a light-filled, open-plan home—equal parts sanctuary and ongoing creative project. With soaring ceilings, long viewlines, and a warm, lived-in charm, it’s a space that fuels his lifelong love of visual storytelling.
We chat to Graeme about the surprising start to his career, the mystery behind The Eleventh Hour, and how home, travel and imagination continue to shape his work today. Ready to unlock the clues? Keep reading to find out.
Hi Graeme, thank you so much for welcoming us into your beautiful Bayside home! To start, can you share a little about who lives here with you, and how you came across this amazing place.
I live here with my wife Robyn and a couple of labradors. As is usually the case with the places we have lived in over the years, Robyn seems to find them. With this one it was love at first sight. The dogs like it too.
Known for your intricate and detailed drawings, often of animals and nature, coupled with hidden riddles and puzzles, your books deliberately convey several layers of meaning. Why are puzzles, clues, and a sense of mystery so pivotal to your story telling?
I loved poring over detailed illustrations when I was young, discovering hidden jewels, so it was natural for me to gravitate towards this kind of work later in life. The layering I strive for comes from the hope that readers will not just go through the book once and put it back on the shelf but be inspired to go through it over and over again, exploring the images. I also want the work to appeal to a broad range of age groups - the layering allows the youngest readers to relate to simpler elements while an older child finds other things of interest to their expaning mind and experience, while adults perceive the deeper meaning/messages that underpin the story.
You have such a legendary career—your stories and illustrations have sparked imaginations all over the world. Can you take us back to the beginning? How did it all start for you?
I always wanted to be an artsit, not an author. I only started writing stories so I could draw the things I wanted rather than someone else's ideas. My first book was a simple verse text about my (ficitonal) Grandmother. The second was an alphabet book called 'Animalia'. This one went crazy in Australia and then in USA and it all kinda rolled on from there.
The Eleventh Hour is a treasure trove of cleverness, and the illustrations bursting with brilliance! How did the light bulb moment strike for this amazing picture book?
After Animalia was published in 1986 I was casting around for a new idea. I had spent the summer reading a few old Agatha Christie murder mysteries and it struck me that perhaps I could create a mystery picture book with the clues hidden in the artwork instead of the text.
The Eleventh Hour is such a fun, engaging mystery for kids, with its playful whodunnit twist around "who stole the feast." What makes The Eleventh Hour such a fan favourite and unique from the other books you’ve written?
The mystery of the Eleventh Hour can be solved quite quickly by heeding the advice 'find the clocks' and 'watch the windows' - or you can get tangled up in all the clues and red herrings (which of course is where the fun lies). The book works for kids and adults because it doesn't 'talk down' to any one perceived audience level. It was inspired by my reading a couple of Agatha Christie novels one summer holiday and thinking I might be able to do something similar in pictures.
Your home has such an incredible sense of space, with its open-plan design and epic outdoor entertaining area. How does your space influence your creativity and the way you live day-to-day?
These days my creativity is the house itself. We bought it as a bit of a wreck and have been working on it ever since. It started out life as stables for milk depot horses, then a car mechanics workshop for a while before being converted into a striking but badly built residence back in the 1980s. The high ceilings and long viewlines are a constant delight though, so it's worth the effort.
We can't believe you also hand-draw each and every page in your books. How long does this take you, and which part of the process comes first - The drawings or the storyline?
Animalia took three years but I've got faster over the decades. Now I can do a book in a year or less. It always starts with visual inspiration (often from travel) but I make myself hold back on the artwork until I have the storyline completely worked out.
You’ve had so many incredible milestones in your career—what’s the achievement you're most proud of when you look back?
The fact that most of my books are still in print - some of them for more than forty years - is a great thrill and to know they're still bringing pleasure to readers is really amazing.
Can you tell us a bit about where your passion for art and storytelling comes from? Where there any particular artists, books, stories that influenced you and your work?
As a boy I was entranced by the Surrealists (Dali's technique, Magritte's whimsy) and the astounding woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer. Then I read Tolkein's 'The Lord of the Rings' and was swept away by fantasy and dragons. I have always had a love of wild places, esp jungles - the end result has been an artistic output mostly focused on the details of the natural world with a big serving of made-up creatures!
Many of your books have played a significant role in shaping the childhoods of people all around the world. Still loved by children today, why do you think The Eleventh Hour has been so successful with children across generations? Why do you think this book has had such longevity?
My one rule in making books has been to never talk down to kids - so much better to aim above their heads and challenge them to rise to the occasion! I think it's because of this that my work has tended to appeal to adults as well as children over the years.
The question we all need answered, is there a secret in The Eleventh Hour that not everyone knows about?
The one thing never revealed in the solutions booklet to The Eleventh Hour is the name of the swan - but here's a clue: The answer lies in the cards!
Lastly, we’re so thrilled to be a part of this special collaboration and we know everyone else will be too! What aspect of Kip&Co's colourful world caught your attention and why is this collaboration a perfect pairing?
Kip&Co's design style has always struck me as innovative and a bit daring. Exactly my kind of people!
