​​​

Imagine a place saturated with such color that everyone who walks its ground absorbs some and radiates it for the rest of their lives. I was born and raised there, on endless acres in the heart of South Africa. I spent most days exploring for hours, memorizing the dry, primordial topography with my bare feet, to the soundtrack of rustling velt and insect songs on repeat. I loved climbing passion fruit vines to the roof of the abandoned cottage on our farm and devouring the sour fruit. But most of all, I lived for school break travels and the sensory feast that awaited on the Cape, like the scent of salty mussels I pulled from tide pools and the feel of delicate patterns embossed on the green urchin shells I gathered. 

 

​I conceived a picture book biography about Bridget Riley after showing her work during an elementary op-art unit. My students were mesmerized and wanted to learn more, so I researched to enrich their next lesson. When I learned of young Bridget's transformative experience on the coast of Cornwall, where she felt as though she was "swimming through a diamond," it resonated deeply with my vivid memories of childhood in an otherworldly place. I couldn't believe a children's biography about this world-renowned artist had not yet been published, and a great passion for her life story activated my long-standing plan to write and illustrate. So I developed the manuscript, sketched the illustrations, and presented the first draft of Through a Diamond: The Looking Life of Bridget Riley to my eager K-5th grade audience on the day Bridget Riley turned 93, and they wanted to celebrate by making and sending her birthday cards on the other side of the world!

​

While this was the first time I wrote and illustrated a picture book, they have been the cornerstone of my career. Before I pursued EC-12 ART certification and transitioned to full time fine arts education 10 years ago, I established a small university-model primary school, with children's literature at its core. This approach was so impactful that I continued to center my lessons around picture books, even as I transitioned to teaching in a traditional classroom. I have witnessed, in the eyes of countless students, the transformative power, inspiration, and delight of stories told through exceptional writing and illustration. I have learned that these books are not created by accident; they require profound passion, sharp skill, relentless labor and small miracles. And I believe there is no work more fulfilling, and no privilege greater, than bringing them to life. 

​

Like young Bridget, I was called a difficult child. And like her, my escape was drawing. My earliest resource was an old cigar box filled with broken crayons that my grandpa provided. Immigrating to the United States and assimilating during adolescence was tumultuous, but I continued to find refuge on paper. And while I chose to pursue my passion for writing instead of art in college, my innate talent, self-mastery, and love of visual arts is equally important to me. I've been awarded many commissions over the years, for sculptures, portraits and murals, set design, graphic design, and animation. But illustrating my first picture book was most fulfilling -- it summoned both my lifelong experience as an artist and the unique perspective I've gained from a profession in arts education.

​

As a writer, I’ve earned experience in many capacities since graduating with my BA in English from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1999: magazine articles, essays, speech writing, copywriting, copyediting, and content creation. But the bulk of my portfolio has been published on ITunes and Spotify, as I’ve been most prolific penning songs. Although unconventional, I believe my experience in songwriting uniquely qualifies me to write kidlit, because distilling big human stories and emotions into something small and beautiful is a craft I've been perfecting for over 20 years.

​​