While looking for artists relating to childhood (and generally pretty artists) I cam across Anita Jeram, an absolutely gorgeous childrens illustrator.
She holds special significance for me as my Godmother gave me 'Guess How much I love You'. She is just one of many artists I could look at.Childhood is a good theme, there's plenty of room for development and experimenting.But this is something I really need to consider, I could specialize within childhood, for example. I could consider childhood memories, games, toys, childhood stories and so on.