From time to time it’s good to take stock. Review the inventory. Add it together, clean it out, and tidy it up. And since I was making some arty changes to the blog, I thought I'd offer my new and improved blog biography, which I call my herstory. Please enjoy.
These two, artistically altered typewriter keys were found in a Seattle street market. My friend bought them, for daily inspiration. Storm? Row! Years later, when I met some of my first creative struggles, she passed the keys to me as a reminder: in the midst of heavy weather, just keep rowing.
And I do. And here I am, the owner and creator behind the not-so-big storm row studio. Day to day, I draft manuscripts for submission and create art pieces for sale. I feel lucky to have a knack for using words and art to build worlds and tell stories.
With my illustrated (or art) novels, the characters curate between the chapters. Meaning, it’s their art the reader finds tucked in the pages. Also, their diaries, doodles, handwritten letters. Their ephemera. That kind of thing. It’s been said that I make books for and about kids and young adults. That’s true. But also, for me, characters arrive stuck in a boat with a storm hovering and my job is to get them to the shore. So, really, I write for any reader, of any age, who enjoys sorting out the mysteries and triumphs of that trip to solid ground.
As for my art, the characters and the world they live in inspire the illustrations for the novels, and whether for the cover or interior, the work is designed and representational. My stand-alone mixed media pieces are more conceptual. Abstract. Color and texture drive the process. But sometimes the piece wants to be something specific. My cityscapes are an example of that.
I mostly work on canvas, combining acrylics and all matter of media. I enjoy using watercolor, embroidery, and collage. And because I strive to create eco- and human-friendly work, I look for safe supplies and purposefully purpose every scrap, left-over, and glob of paint, glue, or glaze. Sometimes I even upcycle used canvas. Hooray.
My recent past includes a five-year art showcase at homeology, a green home interiors boutique in Scottsdale, Arizona, and an independently published YA novel, wildflowers, which met a nice bit of attention and good reviews. Now I focus sales on Etsy and shares on Patreon. In the end, with all my handmade goods, I aim for a lovely freshness and pretty otherness that’s unique to storm row style.