When I was three, my family moved from the suburbs of Washington D.C. to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. I started illustrating at the age of six, when my first grade teacher had us draw pictures to go along with our journal entries. Thanks to the encouragement of my parents, teachers, and the school librarian, I continued to draw – both my own flights of fancy, and scenes from my favorite books, such as Beverly Cleary’s ‘Ramona’ series. Some of my favorite illustrators were Barbara Cooney, Peter Spier, and Don Wood.

          Though I knew I wanted a job in the arts, it wasn’t until my senior year of high school, when I began to read the ‘Harry Potter’ series by J. K. Rowling, that I remembered why I started drawing in the first place. I knew I wanted to illustrate – children’s books, if possible. After graduating in June of 2000, I went on to attend Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. While at Pratt, I had the opportunity to study with several well-known children’s book illustrators, including James Ransome, Megan Halsey, Matthew Reinhart, and Ted and Betsy Lewin.

          While at Pratt, I also spent a summer semester studying printmaking and art history in Venice. My love for travel is inherited from both my parents, and I’ve been fortunate enough to visit much of the United States, a good portion of Europe, and bits of Canada, the Caribbean, and Africa. I’d love to be able to incorporate this interest into book projects in the future.

          I graduated from Pratt in the spring of 2004 with a BFA in Illustration, and am currently seeking freelance jobs, especially in the field of children’s publishing.