Illustrative file photo of coloured pencils; not a photograph of Laura Brand or her artwork. Photo: David Blaikie / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Laura Brand, also known by her maiden name Laura Gallacher, is an author and illustrator best known for The Joy Journal. Her books focus on creative play, accessible crafts, and noticing everyday nature. She is also the wife of Russell Brand and the younger sister of broadcaster Kirsty Gallacher.
For readers searching for “Laura Brand Wikipedia,” this is an independently written biography of the craft author. Her publishing record offers a useful starting point for understanding her work beyond the attention surrounding her husband.
Who Is Laura Brand?
Pan Macmillan’s author biography describes Brand as an illustrator who shares creative experiments through The Joy Journal, both a book project and an online platform.
Her work is built around making things with everyday materials. The emphasis is on taking part, experimenting, and spending time together, rather than producing polished artwork or requiring specialist equipment.
Her publisher also records workshops for children and adults at events including Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place Festival and Port Eliot. That gives her creative work a practical, participatory dimension alongside the books.
Family Background and Marriage
Laura is the daughter of Scottish golfer and former European Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher. Her older sister Kirsty is a television and radio presenter. These relationships are documented in The Times’ November 2026 profile.
She married Russell Brand in August 2017. Recent coverage describes the couple as parents of three children. Some older publisher biographies still refer to two daughters; those descriptions reflect an earlier period and should not be treated as an updated family count.
The surname Gallacher appears in reporting about her family and earlier life, while Laura Brand is the name used on her books. Recognizing both names helps readers match the author to the correct biography.
The Joy Journal for Magical Everyday Play
Pan Macmillan lists The Joy Journal for Magical Everyday Play as published on April 16, 2020, under its Bluebird imprint.
The book presents 50 activities for children and their grown-ups, with a foreword by Fearne Cotton. Its projects draw on household supplies and materials found outdoors, with options for different amounts of time, effort, and mess.
Activities such as making nature wands and experimenting with sensory materials illustrate its approach. The book is a practical activity guide, rather than a conventional memoir or a story about the Brand family.
Her Books for Adults and Children
The Joy Journal for Grown-ups followed on March 31, 2022. It contains 50 craft ideas and a foreword by Melissa Hemsley, extending the creative-play theme to an adult audience.
Its projects include gifts, keepsakes, and handmade objects. The publisher positions the activities as opportunities to pause and create, either alone or with friends.
Brand also wrote Slow Down and Be Here Now, illustrated by Freya Hartas. Magic Cat lists its UK publication in September 2022; Abrams lists a March 2023 US edition. These are different publication markets, not necessarily conflicting dates.
The book uses short nature stories to encourage close observation of plants and animals. Hartas’s illustration credit is important: Laura wrote this title, while its pictures are credited to another creator.
Why Is Laura Brand in the News?
Laura received renewed attention during her husband’s 2026 criminal trial. On November 5, the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed Russell Brand’s convictions for rape and sexual assault.
That legal case concerns Russell. Laura’s own documented public career remains centered on her books, illustration, workshops, and The Joy Journal.
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