Select spread from Celine’s Wish
During my BA in Studio Arts from Bard College, I focused on illustration and oil painting. There, I wrote my first finished narrative piece. A graphic novel based on two planets that fall in love called New Beginnings, which I sold in a small batch. Following college, I moved home to New Orleans where I worked at Octavia Books Independent book store and started working on the draft for Celine’s Wish. This June, I had a solo arts show which consisted of oil paintings and water colors at The Building Gallery. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York and hope to become more involved in publication of children’s literature on the whole!
Books that have inspired me include Shel Silverstein's The Missing Piece, A Snow Day by Ezra Jack Keats, Eny Meeny Miny Mole by Jane Jolen, and The Monster at the End of the Book by Jon Stone. Due to their distinct visual vocabularies I also love worlds from illustrators like Lois Ehlert and Kevin Henkes. Lastly, some of my favorites books created in recent years include, The Little Shrew by Akiko Miyakoshi, Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love, All the Beating Hearts by Julie Fogliano and Cátia Chien and The Little Kid with the Big Green Hand by Matthew Gray Guler.
The Book I am working on now, Celine’s Wish, centers ideas such as: What am I? Why am I here? What am I supposed to do? What is a Wish?. To play with identity the way children can and do.