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The Art Gallery at the Rockefeller State Park Preserve
125 Phelps Way, Pleasantville NY
Gallery Hours: 9:30am - 4:30pm, Monday - Sunday
Between the Lines
ILLUSTRATORS ZOOM TALK - July 20, 7pm
ANIMATORS ZOOM TALK - July 27, 7pm
An innovative collective of illustrators, writers & animators
expanding the possibilities of visual storytelling.
This project is made possible with funds from Arts Alive, a regrant program of ArtsWestchester
with support from the Office of the Governor, the New York State Legislature,
and the New York State Council on the Arts.
Nick Bruel
Children's Book Author & Illustrator
Nick Bruel is the creator of the New York times bestselling series BAD KITTY. He lives in Pleasantville, NY with his wife Carina, their son Carson, and their sometimes-good-sometimes-bad cats Noodles and Buzzy.
Nick Bruel is the creator of the New York times bestselling series BAD KITTY. He lives in Pleasantville, NY with his wife Carina, their son Carson, and their sometimes-good-sometimes-bad cats Noodles and Buzzy.
Michael Dolce
Comic Book Artist
Michael Dolce has been a professional Writer, Artist, Podcaster and Awesome Dude in the comic book industry for over 20 years. He co-created “Descendant” for Image Comics, with art and writing credits at Image, Source Point Press, Wizard Magazine and more.
In 2020, his acclaimed podcast Secrets of the Sire was acquired by Rogue Matter, an L.A. based start-up company. They will be publishing several of Dolce's new titles including “Time Trader”, “Roman’s Rise” and the upcoming "Wight and Associates" graphic novel.
In 2021, he was brought on as co-publisher for Dren Productions where he continues his creator owned super hero book “The Sire", co-created "The Planiverse" (Plan 39, 59 and 79 From Outer Space series), and created the sci-fi epics "Ones and Zeroes" and "Epicenter".
Michael Dolce has been a professional Writer, Artist, Podcaster and Awesome Dude in the comic book industry for over 20 years. He co-created “Descendant” for Image Comics, with art and writing credits at Image, Source Point Press, Wizard Magazine and more.
In 2020, his acclaimed podcast Secrets of the Sire was acquired by Rogue Matter, an L.A. based start-up company. They will be publishing several of Dolce's new titles including “Time Trader”, “Roman’s Rise” and the upcoming "Wight and Associates" graphic novel.
In 2021, he was brought on as co-publisher for Dren Productions where he continues his creator owned super hero book “The Sire", co-created "The Planiverse" (Plan 39, 59 and 79 From Outer Space series), and created the sci-fi epics "Ones and Zeroes" and "Epicenter".
Ryan Ehrenkaufer
Animator
I have always loved art. Since I was a child I've drawn as often as possible.
My preferred medium is pen and pencil. I specialize in abstract art, geometric design and cartooning.
The idea of stop-motion art came to me during the pandemic. I was looking for fun ways to express myself while introducing inspirational content through reels and short video posts. My children quickly wanted to become involved, and we purchased some inexpensive stop motion cameras.
Since then, as often as I can, I create stop-motion art videos that I hope may be inspirational, entertaining, and positive experiences for everyone.
I hope to continue to build my collection of stop-motion content, as well as teach others how to create and express their own creativity.
The beauty of art is not only the final product, but the journey in creating it. I hope that taking viewers through the creative process in a stop-motion, animated way, allows them to see the final product in a completely different perspective. I believe that this approach to art also allows for a deeper emotional connection to the final piece.
I have always loved art. Since I was a child I've drawn as often as possible.
My preferred medium is pen and pencil. I specialize in abstract art, geometric design and cartooning.
The idea of stop-motion art came to me during the pandemic. I was looking for fun ways to express myself while introducing inspirational content through reels and short video posts. My children quickly wanted to become involved, and we purchased some inexpensive stop motion cameras.
Since then, as often as I can, I create stop-motion art videos that I hope may be inspirational, entertaining, and positive experiences for everyone.
I hope to continue to build my collection of stop-motion content, as well as teach others how to create and express their own creativity.
The beauty of art is not only the final product, but the journey in creating it. I hope that taking viewers through the creative process in a stop-motion, animated way, allows them to see the final product in a completely different perspective. I believe that this approach to art also allows for a deeper emotional connection to the final piece.
Betsy Franco Feeney
Children's Book Author & Illustrator
I have always been drawn to story-telling through pictures. Although I greatly admire the work of fine artists, the thought of creating ‘art for art’s sake” never appealed to me.
My earliest work was created using watercolor. I progressed into water-mixable oils which allowed me to achieve both transparent washes as well as opaque layers. Ten years into my career, I became fascinated with computer graphics and painting in Photoshop. I added a stylus and Wacom tablet to my toolbox. This process gave my art new life! Scanning my fresh sketches into Photoshop allowed me to retain the loose feeling and spontaneity which was lost before the computer gave me this option. Nor longer did I have to use a lightbox to replicate the drawings onto art paper.
I continue to explore endless possibilities using Photoshop or Procreate and similar software applications. They also offer great mobility, giving me the freedom to travel and work wherever I might be.
Out of the 14 books I’ve illustrated, two are based on wildly imaginative songs by Christine Lavin. I’ve also both written and illustrated the adventure story, Jewels of the Sea… The Hunt for Floating Treasure with inspiration from scientist E. Ray Pariser and Sandra Cramer.
Deciding on the cover art is one of the last and most important steps in finishing a book. Compelling cover art can motivate a child to open up a book and read the story. At the same time, you don’t want to give away any surprises. I hope that I have achieved this goal with each book.
Watch the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSzKZ9MXTNk . It is a short highlights reel of my multi-media school programs. I read from a GIANT book with six-ft. wide two-page spreads… a truly eye-opening experience! There are also guest appearances by “Patty Pirate”, Scientist “Wanda Wanna-Be”, and “The Little Girl” from the story-song Amoeba Hop. Students star in a one-song musical and the audience can’t help dancing and clapping along to the music!
Recently, I became aware of achieving my ultimate goal–to inspire at least one child to become a scientist. In a recent post on LinkedIn which included a photo of a school visit from twenty years ago, a mother of one student commented, “That was a fantastic day! My daughter Eden Hirsch still talks about Amoeba Hop. I think it’s why she’s a scientist!”
I have always been drawn to story-telling through pictures. Although I greatly admire the work of fine artists, the thought of creating ‘art for art’s sake” never appealed to me.
My earliest work was created using watercolor. I progressed into water-mixable oils which allowed me to achieve both transparent washes as well as opaque layers. Ten years into my career, I became fascinated with computer graphics and painting in Photoshop. I added a stylus and Wacom tablet to my toolbox. This process gave my art new life! Scanning my fresh sketches into Photoshop allowed me to retain the loose feeling and spontaneity which was lost before the computer gave me this option. Nor longer did I have to use a lightbox to replicate the drawings onto art paper.
I continue to explore endless possibilities using Photoshop or Procreate and similar software applications. They also offer great mobility, giving me the freedom to travel and work wherever I might be.
Out of the 14 books I’ve illustrated, two are based on wildly imaginative songs by Christine Lavin. I’ve also both written and illustrated the adventure story, Jewels of the Sea… The Hunt for Floating Treasure with inspiration from scientist E. Ray Pariser and Sandra Cramer.
Deciding on the cover art is one of the last and most important steps in finishing a book. Compelling cover art can motivate a child to open up a book and read the story. At the same time, you don’t want to give away any surprises. I hope that I have achieved this goal with each book.
Watch the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSzKZ9MXTNk . It is a short highlights reel of my multi-media school programs. I read from a GIANT book with six-ft. wide two-page spreads… a truly eye-opening experience! There are also guest appearances by “Patty Pirate”, Scientist “Wanda Wanna-Be”, and “The Little Girl” from the story-song Amoeba Hop. Students star in a one-song musical and the audience can’t help dancing and clapping along to the music!
Recently, I became aware of achieving my ultimate goal–to inspire at least one child to become a scientist. In a recent post on LinkedIn which included a photo of a school visit from twenty years ago, a mother of one student commented, “That was a fantastic day! My daughter Eden Hirsch still talks about Amoeba Hop. I think it’s why she’s a scientist!”
Ashley Gerst
Animator
I am an interdisciplinary animator that fuses digital and traditional methods to create unique results. I find significant inspiration in my own life. I use storytelling through the animation medium to come to terms with situations and life events. I retell them through the lens of narrative fiction with hints of magical realism and horror. The result is a story that aches with nostalgia, loss, and remembrance. My animated films are character-based and combine 2D animation, 3D animation and physically created environments. The environments are created with a mixture of disciplines: sculpture, knitting, embroidery, 3D printing, and CNC laser cutting
I am an interdisciplinary animator that fuses digital and traditional methods to create unique results. I find significant inspiration in my own life. I use storytelling through the animation medium to come to terms with situations and life events. I retell them through the lens of narrative fiction with hints of magical realism and horror. The result is a story that aches with nostalgia, loss, and remembrance. My animated films are character-based and combine 2D animation, 3D animation and physically created environments. The environments are created with a mixture of disciplines: sculpture, knitting, embroidery, 3D printing, and CNC laser cutting
Lorna Gonsalves
Children's Book Author & Illustrator
I am an educator and musician whose experiences in India and the United States have underscored the importance of storytelling, the arts, and collective action in building a just world.
In 2024, Hardball Press published Little Meena and the Big Swim/La Pequeña Meena y el Gran Nado, a children’s picture book (my first) inspired by the well-known “Do not panic, organize” labor movement poster. In the poster, a group of fish swimming in formation are able to turn the tables on a bigger fish that has been threatening them.
Created digitally using brushes, blending, and layering to emulate traditional painting techniques, the select images displayed here depict the little fish at different stages in the process of realizing their power: despair, fear, determination, and triumph. The vibrant colors and patterns are meant to capture a rich tapestry of identities, the beauty of the underwater world the fish inhabit, and the boldness of the actions they are taking to secure what they need to survive.
I am an educator and musician whose experiences in India and the United States have underscored the importance of storytelling, the arts, and collective action in building a just world.
In 2024, Hardball Press published Little Meena and the Big Swim/La Pequeña Meena y el Gran Nado, a children’s picture book (my first) inspired by the well-known “Do not panic, organize” labor movement poster. In the poster, a group of fish swimming in formation are able to turn the tables on a bigger fish that has been threatening them.
Created digitally using brushes, blending, and layering to emulate traditional painting techniques, the select images displayed here depict the little fish at different stages in the process of realizing their power: despair, fear, determination, and triumph. The vibrant colors and patterns are meant to capture a rich tapestry of identities, the beauty of the underwater world the fish inhabit, and the boldness of the actions they are taking to secure what they need to survive.
R.H. Lola Koundakjian
Poet & Artist
I always carry a notebook and a fountain pen with me as I am a poet and I like to sketch with ink. On week-ends and holidays I prefer to paint watercolors to welcome the quiet and the light. Often my culture’s shapes and colors permeate. I love including the Armenian alphabet and words in my work.
I have Armenian roots from both sides of the family and we have been uprooted for every generation in the past century. I have inherited a great culture and yet few objects from my ancestors. Sometimes my paintings includes these feelings of loss.
I paint also my experiences in New York City and as a response to the arts. Some paintings are mémoire pieces.
I always carry a notebook and a fountain pen with me as I am a poet and I like to sketch with ink. On week-ends and holidays I prefer to paint watercolors to welcome the quiet and the light. Often my culture’s shapes and colors permeate. I love including the Armenian alphabet and words in my work.
I have Armenian roots from both sides of the family and we have been uprooted for every generation in the past century. I have inherited a great culture and yet few objects from my ancestors. Sometimes my paintings includes these feelings of loss.
I paint also my experiences in New York City and as a response to the arts. Some paintings are mémoire pieces.
Simone Kurtz
Writer & Artist
“684 Degrees of Orbit” is an allegorical meditation on the relationship between home and transit—how movement itself can become a form of belonging. Raised on the outskirts of New York City, Simone Kurtz weaves together stylistic echoes of Grand Central Terminal, astrological signs, and the mythic characterization of Interstate 684, honoring the spaces that have long served as both compass and comfort.
Simone Kurtz is an illustrator and designer based in New York. Her work reflects a joyful love of storytelling, curiosity, play, and finding the magic that exists through life’s everyday moments. She also enjoys working with a camera, creating wearable art, and teaching art and design to students of various ages and experience levels. Simone studied Communications Design, Illustration (BFA) at Pratt Institute.
“684 Degrees of Orbit” is an allegorical meditation on the relationship between home and transit—how movement itself can become a form of belonging. Raised on the outskirts of New York City, Simone Kurtz weaves together stylistic echoes of Grand Central Terminal, astrological signs, and the mythic characterization of Interstate 684, honoring the spaces that have long served as both compass and comfort.
Simone Kurtz is an illustrator and designer based in New York. Her work reflects a joyful love of storytelling, curiosity, play, and finding the magic that exists through life’s everyday moments. She also enjoys working with a camera, creating wearable art, and teaching art and design to students of various ages and experience levels. Simone studied Communications Design, Illustration (BFA) at Pratt Institute.
Heidi Matonis
Children's Book Author & Illustrator
Typically, a novelist and oil painter, Ricardo the Guinea Pig was a personal project begun over twenty-five years ago. Inspired by the love of a guinea pig and the imagination of my children, this work is both a continuation and a rediscovery: a reminder that some ideas wait patiently until we are ready to finish them.
Typically, a novelist and oil painter, Ricardo the Guinea Pig was a personal project begun over twenty-five years ago. Inspired by the love of a guinea pig and the imagination of my children, this work is both a continuation and a rediscovery: a reminder that some ideas wait patiently until we are ready to finish them.
Cate McNider
Writer & Artist
I am a self-taught painter and writer. I was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and moved to New York City in 1985 after studying acting and modern dance in London.
In the early 1990s, working with the body and movement opened memories and touched The Void—a way of sensing and receiving images that didn’t come from thinking. I started painting as a way to see them outside of me, and understand what they were showing me. My process is intuitive. I don’t usually plan the work—I follow it.
The paintings come out of lived experience. They signify an arrival of a moment's realization, making it into matter—a message borne to move to the next step, to exhale a little deeper, and let it have its own life.
Alongside painting, I write. I am the author of 'Separation and Return' (2010), a collection of poems, and 'Escape Velocity'(2023). The writing and the paintings come from the same place. Both are ways of tracking a feeling, or a vision toward a clearer sense of self. Both paintings and poems reveal a progression of awareness and re-opening the self to the self.
I’m interested in what happens beneath the surface of things—where memory, feeling, and awareness ignite an epiphany or re-cognition. My hope is that the work gives the viewer a place to pause, to feel, and perhaps to re-cognize something of their own experience in it.
I am a self-taught painter and writer. I was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and moved to New York City in 1985 after studying acting and modern dance in London.
In the early 1990s, working with the body and movement opened memories and touched The Void—a way of sensing and receiving images that didn’t come from thinking. I started painting as a way to see them outside of me, and understand what they were showing me. My process is intuitive. I don’t usually plan the work—I follow it.
The paintings come out of lived experience. They signify an arrival of a moment's realization, making it into matter—a message borne to move to the next step, to exhale a little deeper, and let it have its own life.
Alongside painting, I write. I am the author of 'Separation and Return' (2010), a collection of poems, and 'Escape Velocity'(2023). The writing and the paintings come from the same place. Both are ways of tracking a feeling, or a vision toward a clearer sense of self. Both paintings and poems reveal a progression of awareness and re-opening the self to the self.
I’m interested in what happens beneath the surface of things—where memory, feeling, and awareness ignite an epiphany or re-cognition. My hope is that the work gives the viewer a place to pause, to feel, and perhaps to re-cognize something of their own experience in it.
Matilda Rose
Coloring Book Artist
Multidisciplinary artist born and raised in New York, currently based in New Zealand. Her work whimsically explores a variety of topics from fantastical realms, folklore and mythology to studies on nature and ecological systems. Matilda experiments with many mediums, however her strongest influences derive from the world of illustration. Traveling and exploring new places adds a new perspective and fuels her work further. During these travels she enjoys experiencing the beauty of the environment and incorporates this into her pieces. This particular body of work combines these concepts of interconnection to nature and magic in her debut coloring book “Enchanted Wilderness”, which includes her own creations reimagined and reworked through the interactive and playful space of a coloring book.
Multidisciplinary artist born and raised in New York, currently based in New Zealand. Her work whimsically explores a variety of topics from fantastical realms, folklore and mythology to studies on nature and ecological systems. Matilda experiments with many mediums, however her strongest influences derive from the world of illustration. Traveling and exploring new places adds a new perspective and fuels her work further. During these travels she enjoys experiencing the beauty of the environment and incorporates this into her pieces. This particular body of work combines these concepts of interconnection to nature and magic in her debut coloring book “Enchanted Wilderness”, which includes her own creations reimagined and reworked through the interactive and playful space of a coloring book.
Richard Thompson
Animator
Richard Thompson is a 3D artist and an associate professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). His career spans several decades in the creative and collaborative arts industries on a variety of award-winning projects. His animated short film, M0D3RN T1M3Z, has won awards at 28 national and international film festivals. His 3D artwork, Nonna, was showcased at the Rockland Arts Festival and won an award at the ICE CineFest. Another piece, Speechless, was also exhibited. Via dei Sogni, a third artwork, was shown this year as part of the Bluefield Arts Festival. His animated short film script, La Piazza, has been selected for nine film festivals, winning two awards. In the industry, Richard worked as an animator and 3D designer in the production pipeline for Word World, a multi-Emmy Award-winning TV series.
Richard’s creative work and ongoing scholarship focus on bringing virtual characters to life, visual storytelling through animation, and the interrelation between the history of clowning and digital character performance. Early silent cinema was shaped by these physical traditions, rooted in British pantomime, where performers communicated character and emotion entirely through movement. King Karno extends this investigation. It uses emerging motion capture technologies to tell the story of a clown who embodies a fusion of Commedia dell’Arte’s Arlequino (through his outfit and mask), Charlie Chaplin and other music-hall–trained comedians (through his bowler hat), and the modern clown (through his oversized, colorful boots). His name honors Fred Karno, an acrobat and comedian who became the most influential producer of British pantomime and discovered both Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel. The film draws throughout on specific clowning traditions, using one of Chaplin’s iconic scenes – demonstrating his mastery of pathos – as a structural and emotional template for the film’s concluding shots.
In an earlier career as an actor and playwright, Richard appeared on and off-Broadway in Tony and Obie award-winning plays; he was nominated for a Helen Hayes Best Actor Award for the role of Jimmy Porter in John Osborne’s Look Back In Anger; and his play, Hunting Humans, won several Drama-Logue awards, including for best writing. These skills informed his performance capturing most of Karno's movements.
Richard received the 24-25 Faculty Award for Rising Star in Research and Scholarship, and his teaching was recently recognized with a Nexus Award in the category of Excellence in Innovation in Education. Previously, when at Middlesex College, he was presented with an Excellence in Teaching Award.
Richard Thompson is a 3D artist and an associate professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). His career spans several decades in the creative and collaborative arts industries on a variety of award-winning projects. His animated short film, M0D3RN T1M3Z, has won awards at 28 national and international film festivals. His 3D artwork, Nonna, was showcased at the Rockland Arts Festival and won an award at the ICE CineFest. Another piece, Speechless, was also exhibited. Via dei Sogni, a third artwork, was shown this year as part of the Bluefield Arts Festival. His animated short film script, La Piazza, has been selected for nine film festivals, winning two awards. In the industry, Richard worked as an animator and 3D designer in the production pipeline for Word World, a multi-Emmy Award-winning TV series.
Richard’s creative work and ongoing scholarship focus on bringing virtual characters to life, visual storytelling through animation, and the interrelation between the history of clowning and digital character performance. Early silent cinema was shaped by these physical traditions, rooted in British pantomime, where performers communicated character and emotion entirely through movement. King Karno extends this investigation. It uses emerging motion capture technologies to tell the story of a clown who embodies a fusion of Commedia dell’Arte’s Arlequino (through his outfit and mask), Charlie Chaplin and other music-hall–trained comedians (through his bowler hat), and the modern clown (through his oversized, colorful boots). His name honors Fred Karno, an acrobat and comedian who became the most influential producer of British pantomime and discovered both Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel. The film draws throughout on specific clowning traditions, using one of Chaplin’s iconic scenes – demonstrating his mastery of pathos – as a structural and emotional template for the film’s concluding shots.
In an earlier career as an actor and playwright, Richard appeared on and off-Broadway in Tony and Obie award-winning plays; he was nominated for a Helen Hayes Best Actor Award for the role of Jimmy Porter in John Osborne’s Look Back In Anger; and his play, Hunting Humans, won several Drama-Logue awards, including for best writing. These skills informed his performance capturing most of Karno's movements.
Richard received the 24-25 Faculty Award for Rising Star in Research and Scholarship, and his teaching was recently recognized with a Nexus Award in the category of Excellence in Innovation in Education. Previously, when at Middlesex College, he was presented with an Excellence in Teaching Award.
Franklin Silva
Children's Book Author & Illustrator
Franklin is a Brazilian artist. In his work, he explores the relationship of nature, humans, society, and issues that are present in everyday life, exploring how each of them is responsible for the other and how they play a great influence in each other's existence through disturbances and fragmentations.
Franklin started to draw when he was 11 years old. When he first started to explore his talents, he put particular emphasis on the surrealist movement. From an early age, he observed nature and its peculiarities. Over time, he tried to utilize his art in a way to understand and explore tiredness and human emotions. He graduated from Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas with a degree in Visual Arts. In his art he uses charcoal, ink, oil, woodcut/linoleum gravure, and digital art.
Franklin is currently exploring pieces related to the LGBT community with his series called RESPECT.
Working with illustrations for children's books.
He dedicates his online broadcasts to showcasing his creative processes and implementing monthly art challenges that are determined by the community.
Franklin worked at Sesc São Paulo as an art instructor and resident artist, where he explored and developed a diverse array of art-related activities to engage the community. He created string art workshops for children and teens where he introduced a conversation between woodcutting/ linoleogravure and drawing with various tools to highlight string art. Franklin created the installation 'Lines and Shapes' recently featured at Sesc in 2018. His work was shown at the Municipal Theater of São Paulo, Itu's Art Center and the Santana de Parnaiba Museum, among others.
Franklin is a Brazilian artist. In his work, he explores the relationship of nature, humans, society, and issues that are present in everyday life, exploring how each of them is responsible for the other and how they play a great influence in each other's existence through disturbances and fragmentations.
Franklin started to draw when he was 11 years old. When he first started to explore his talents, he put particular emphasis on the surrealist movement. From an early age, he observed nature and its peculiarities. Over time, he tried to utilize his art in a way to understand and explore tiredness and human emotions. He graduated from Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas with a degree in Visual Arts. In his art he uses charcoal, ink, oil, woodcut/linoleum gravure, and digital art.
Franklin is currently exploring pieces related to the LGBT community with his series called RESPECT.
Working with illustrations for children's books.
He dedicates his online broadcasts to showcasing his creative processes and implementing monthly art challenges that are determined by the community.
Franklin worked at Sesc São Paulo as an art instructor and resident artist, where he explored and developed a diverse array of art-related activities to engage the community. He created string art workshops for children and teens where he introduced a conversation between woodcutting/ linoleogravure and drawing with various tools to highlight string art. Franklin created the installation 'Lines and Shapes' recently featured at Sesc in 2018. His work was shown at the Municipal Theater of São Paulo, Itu's Art Center and the Santana de Parnaiba Museum, among others.
Matthew Van Fleet
Children's Book Author & Illustrator
Matthew Van Fleet's innovative books have been introducing children to basic concepts for over thirty years. His unique formats invite toddlers to touch, press, pull, lift and even sniff as they explore colors, shapes, numbers, letters, opposites and more.
His books include the #1 New York Times bestsellers Tails and DOG as well as the New York Times bestsellers CAT, Alphabet, Heads and MOO. His perennial favorites have sold more than 10 million copies and children in fifteen countries across the globe enjoy his books in foreign language editions.
Matthew Van Fleet's innovative books have been introducing children to basic concepts for over thirty years. His unique formats invite toddlers to touch, press, pull, lift and even sniff as they explore colors, shapes, numbers, letters, opposites and more.
His books include the #1 New York Times bestsellers Tails and DOG as well as the New York Times bestsellers CAT, Alphabet, Heads and MOO. His perennial favorites have sold more than 10 million copies and children in fifteen countries across the globe enjoy his books in foreign language editions.
Sam Wedelich
Children's Book Author & Illustrator
From my earliest memories, I’ve loved stories. While an old tradition for our species, storytelling remains one of the most powerful tools we have to build empathy, connection, and strengthen community. I am a forever student of the way we shape (and are shaped) by the narratives we surround ourselves with.
In my work, I focus on stories that blend humor and whimsy, while centering children, to tackle deeper topics like welcoming outsiders, the importance of critical thinking, and how to repair after making a mistake.
While I work across all media, my latest books have been made traditionally with ink, watercolor, and colored pencil. I have enjoyed the human touch inherent in putting hand to paper, especially in an age when so much that is called “art” can be made with a single click.
From my earliest memories, I’ve loved stories. While an old tradition for our species, storytelling remains one of the most powerful tools we have to build empathy, connection, and strengthen community. I am a forever student of the way we shape (and are shaped) by the narratives we surround ourselves with.
In my work, I focus on stories that blend humor and whimsy, while centering children, to tackle deeper topics like welcoming outsiders, the importance of critical thinking, and how to repair after making a mistake.
While I work across all media, my latest books have been made traditionally with ink, watercolor, and colored pencil. I have enjoyed the human touch inherent in putting hand to paper, especially in an age when so much that is called “art” can be made with a single click.
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