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When I was about five I learned the word “illustrator” and knew that was
what I wanted to be when I grew up. I didn’t just want to be an artist; I
wanted to be an artist who made pictures to go with stories. I have drawn
and painted all my life and apart from some time at the Ontario College of
Art in Canada and a year in the advertising art program at a community
college in Seattle, I am self-taught.
I was born in Ireland but moved to Ghana, West Africa, when I was eight
years old. After six years there, my family immigrated to Canada. I now
live in Seattle, Washington, with my husband and four children. We live in
a big old house with lots of pets, a fishpond in the backyard and a pretty
terrific studio up in the attic.
I love to draw from imagination and rarely use reference material or models.
My favorite medium to work with is watercolor, though I also use gouache,
liquid acrylic paint and sometimes ink and wash. I love drawing with soft
lead pencils and seeing a character form on the paper. Before the drawing
is even finished, I can already see the colors I will use to really bring
that character to life.
I feel very lucky to be working as an illustrator. Not everyone grows up to
do what he or she really wants to in life. If being an illustrator is what
you would like to do, I encourage you to draw and paint, draw and paint and
draw and paint some more!
RECENT CLIENTS
Random House
McGraw-Hill
Harcourt
The Wright Group
Pearson Learning
Modern Curriculum
Zaner-Bloser
Charlebridge Publishing
Reader's Digest Children's Publishing
Simon & Shuster, Little Simon
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