Welcome--List of Published Work
*Galleries*
*Other Stuff*
ABOUT ME (--What an egomaniac!!! ^_^)
I was born in Long Beach, CA and grew up in Anaheim--in sight of the Disneyland fireworks each summer. I'm sure this affected my brain!
I've always drawn and painted. Reading books was a great inspiration-- I just loved drawing the characters, the costumes and the creatures I read about. Other than that, I had a pretty normal childhood--I didn't mind school (it was easy--except for Math and PE!). I was a flag girl and marched with the band (mostly to get out of PE), was class president and on the Student Council, was a member of the Honor Society, helped plan and decorate for Proms but never went (sniff!).
I went off to a ton of colleges and universities and had no trouble getting the degrees (for the ugly details, see below). And I had lots of fun traveling and skiing and eating and partying and staying up all night playing Dungeons and Dragons.
I started going to Science Fiction conventions after High School. I quickly noticed that they all had art shows and took advantage of that. I could make a bit of money and meet people by showing my art. I also contributed art for convention program books and badges and to fanzines about Elfquest, Science Fiction, RPGs, Anime, and fantasy fiction.
Well, not being keen on any particular job I could get with degrees in History or English, I went to an art school to learn about Illustration. Illustration was what I wanted to do--not Fine Art, and there are only a few good schools that have degree programs in this. Luckily, one was right in Southern California.
After I graduated I started free-lancing, doing black and white interior art for computer game manuals and hintbooks, and some for role-playing game books.
Friends at a computer game developer company asked me to design some characters for a computer game--then I went to work for the company and learned to animate characters.
I went to GenCon--gratefully pushed by NeNe Thomas--and started getting free-lance work for card game art.
And that's pretty much where I am today!
Most of the stuff I mention will have links on my LINKS PAGE.
Education:
B.F.A. with honors (Illustration) ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN, Pasadena, California.
B.A./M.A. (History) OXFORD UNIVERSITY, England.
B.A. cum laude (English Literature) MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE, Massachusetts.
Also attended: Edinburgh University, Scotland.
Orange Coast College, CA.
University of California at Irvine.
Etc.
Computer Game Companies I've worked full-time for:
The Dreamers Guild
New World Computing (3DO)
Interests:
Reading-- SF/F, Mysteries, Romances, Historical Fiction, Comics.
Art-- art books, museums, techniques, painting & drawing. Favorite artists: Michaelangelo, Botticelli, Burne-Jones, Alma-Tadema, Leighton, Mucha, Parrish, Rackham, Beardsley, Pyle, Frazetta, Whelan, Brom, Canty, Jody Lee, Michael Parkes, James Gurney, John Howe, NeNe Thomas, LA Williams, Rob Alexander, Ruth Thompson, Heather Bruton?and tons more!
Travel--I've lived in Britain and toured around Europe, Morocco and the far East.
Theatre (I love the RSC and musical theatre. I've also performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and at the Academy Playhouse in Orleans, MA). I also like watching opera, ballet, movies and animation/anime.
Music-- The Cure, Peter Murphy, NIN, Loreena McKennitt, Bach, Ancient Music? and going to concerts, listening to KROQ (alternative rock). I was also a part-time radio dj once.
Snow Skiing (I spent a winter skiing at Steamboat CO; I've also skied and enjoyed: Sun Valley ID, Killington VT, Mammoth CA, Val d'Isere, La Plagne, Gstaad?
Archaeology (I spent some time digging at Crickley Hill, Gloucestershire, UK).
Ancient Egypt.
Feudal Japan.
Regency & Georgian England.
Authors-- Georgette Heyer, Dorothy Dunnett, Patrick O'Brian,
J.R.R. Tolkien, C.J.Cherryh, Lois McMaster Bujold, many more! .