What inspires you?

Forces of nature, the change of seasons, the range of human emotions, instinctive and inventive animal behavior, and images or words that interpret the world in a unique way, are some of the things that feed my curiosity.  Travel helps me to expand my understanding.

How did you develop your love of travel?

As I was growing up, my father traveled all over the world for his work.  He went to mainland China right after Nixon opened the door, to Yugoslavia, Romania, Japan, Singapore, and Indonesia.  I read National Geographic and Life Magazine and dreamed.  One day my grandmother gave me a book called Victorian Lady Travelers about daring, sometimes foolhardy women who braved the odds and made their way through extreme environments at a time when women didn’t do such things.

When I was a senior at the Rhode Island School of Design, I had the rare opportunity to live in Egypt.  The first morning, I woke to the wail of the muezzin calling from the minaret of a nearby mosque.  Later that day, standing in the dust and bustle of Cairo’s vibrant Khan El Khalili Bazaar, I realized that I’d stepped into the middle of one of the National Geographic photographs I’d admired years before!

Ever since, as I’ve learned about other cultures, about vanishing ways of life, and endangered natural habitats, I’ve known that sharing what I learn is an increasingly important job in our rapidly changing world!

Did you always want to be an author and illustrator?

Actually, when I was a child I thought I’d be an artist.  My mom took us (my sisters and me) to see important exhibitions (Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet).  I was enthralled with the combination of color, the texture of the paint.  I wanted to be a painter.

I loved animals, and also thought about being a veterinarian.  One visit to the Veterinary  School at Michigan State to visit my cousin put an end to that.  A jar holding a huge dog’s heart filled with heartworms…and a surgery room bristling with needles and scalpels…made me realize I wasn’t cut out for cutting animals open!

When did you know that you wanted to be an author and illustrator?

After high school I attended Oberlin College.  I loved writing and drawing.  One day my drawing instructor suggested that my paintings would make good children’s book illustrations.  A light bulb went on!  Maybe, if I worked hard I could write my own stories and illustrate them.

I transferred to The Rhode Island School of Design!   RISD was an exciting, challenging place.  There was competition.  There was struggle.  And, there was validation.  I came to RISD with raw talent, and emerged, molded into someone with the confidence to know that I could and should continue to create.  I started writing stories and painting
sample illustrations.

So did you start writing and illustrating books right away?

To make a living, I worked as a computer animator for 4 1/2 years.  I sent samples of my illustrations and my stories to publishers, and began accumulating a large pile of rejection slips as a result.  Later I freelanced as a courtroom illustrator, illustrated feature articles for a local newspaper, did paste-up, and assorted other odd jobs that even included once making cars out of plastic fruit for a television commercial!  Even though those jobs didn't always seem so at the time, each brought me a little closer to my goal of writing and illustrating children’s books.  Having a background as an animator has been very helpful.  I look at a story the way a director defines a film, using light, capturing a specific moment of action, choosing that most expressive composition to tell the story.

Finally after approximately 10 years of sending samples, writing stories and perfecting my portfolio, a trip to New York earned me the opportunity to illustrate my first books TIME TRAIN and SISTER YESSA'S STORY.

What did you learn in school that helps you now?

Curiosity fuels creativity.
Risk is essential for growth.
Valid criticism cuts to the essence.
And, the humility to accept criticism is essential for evolution.

How do you come up with ideas?

I stay connected to the natural world.  My curiosity is primed for action.  Spying a sluggish turtle beneath thin ice in my own back yard crystallizes my interest in the same way that listening to the sound of camel footsteps in Sahara sand fires my imagination.

I am eager to share my enthusiasm for nurturing such curiosity with readers, writers and artists of all ages.  Be sure to check out the Speaking Engagement section of my site for
more information!

Whose work do you most admire?

I’ve learned from studying the work of artists as varied as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Gauguin, Monet, Van Gogh, Utamaro, Toyokuni, Hiroshige, Kunisada, George Catlin, John Singer Sargent, Grant Wood, Thomas Hart Benton, and Georgia O’Keefe.  Illustrators Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, and Rien Poortvliet have provided inspiration. Photographers: Edward S. Curtis, Dorthea Lange, and Walker Evans are some of my influences.  The list continues to grow
and change.

What medium do you use?

I like to illustrate with watercolor, and sometimes color pencil for detail.  I have painted with acrylic and oil, drawn with pastel and charcoal.  Sometimes I still use the beautiful carved ink stone my father brought back from China to grind Chinese ink.  So far my books have all been illustrated with watercolor. 

Why do you prefer watercolor?

When I was a student I found that watercolor was easily transportable.  I could paint in New Port, Rhode Island at the boat docks.  I painted on ranches in Wyoming, along the Nile in Egypt.  Watercolor dries fast.  I love the combination of bright pigment and fresh water.  I am fascinated when the two combine and magic happens.

What do you mean by magic?

Depending on the amount of moisture, the type of paper, the strength of the pigment, the results can vary widely.  Sometimes I control the paint to get a certain effect.  Other times, I want to be surprised when the pigment and water move together on the paper.

Do you still sketch and paint when you travel? 

These days I take pictures when I travel, and paint when I get home.   My digital camera  allows me to see the pictures as I take them.  My training as an animator helps me to compose the pictures to get the desired effect. 

What has helped you most as a writer?

Belonging to a working writer’s group, I’ve benefited from the criticism of my own writing, and from taking a critical eye to the work of my fellow writers.  Working with talented editors has challenged and encouraged me.

What advice do you have for students?

Read, read, read, seek out experience, and draw on your dreams.  Don’t be afraid to ask the opinion of someone whose work you respect, a teacher, a mentor.  In art school criticism is one of the most important parts of learning.  Though it isn’t easy, finding the humility to accept criticism is crucial to improving what you do!

How do you come up with ideas?

I stay connected to the natural world.  My curiosity is primed for action.  Spying a sluggish turtle beneath thin ice in my own back yard crystallizes my interest in the same way that listening to the sound of camel footsteps in Sahara sand fires my imagination.  I am eager to share my enthusiasm for nurturing such curiosity with readers, writers and artists of all ages. Be sure to check out the School Visits section of my site for more information!

Anything else?