bio

About Me

When I was growing up, drawing was always a huge part of my life. Around age 7, I started writing poems and stories and making drawings to go along with them. Crudely attaching the words and images together using tape and staples, I subsequently created my very first children's books and I've been hooked ever since! Although my love of writing and illustrating stayed with me, somehow I missed that one could actually pursue being an artist as a career. Whether is was society's image of the "starving artist" embedded in my brain or the idea that one must go out into the world and get "a job", I decided that art would have to be something that I did just for fun.

And so I went on to attend the State University of New York at Fredonia and declared a communication major with a drawing minor, still convinced drawing was forever a hobby, not a living. However, by my junior year I was introduced to graphic design and the notion that this was a "real way" for an artist to work as an artist and so I declared a double major. But by my final year at Fredonia, I realized that my love of illustration and creating characters was all consuming and that I could not be a designer. For my senior art show at Fredonia, I wrote, illustrated, and created the layout for a children's book. It was a proud moment and the beginning of my realization that I could no longer deny the life intended for me.

I went on to get my Masters in art education and now teach high school art at a small school on Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York, doing freelance illustrating on the side, and pursuing my dream of becoming a children's book illustrator whole heartedly. I joined the SCBWI in 2003 and have attended numerous conferences in order to better my work and create a professional portfolio. Then in 2006 my dreams became a reality with the publication of my first children's book entitled I Like Gum written by Doreen Tango Hampton (Shenanigan Books) which was released in the fall of 2007. This is proving to be a very exciting time in my life as I continue to work towards creating a fulfilling career in the world of children's book illustration. It's been a long journey, but one worth making.

Client List

Shenanigan Books
New York State Dental Journal
Hazlitt 1852 Vineyard and Winery
Bobby K Entertainment
Brownstone Graphics
Essential Images

Awards

Runner up in SCBWI on-line illustration contest "April Fools" April 2004