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As a child, I was often out in the backyard,
building chicken coops and duck pens, hammering and sawing
on walk-in aviaries for all my birds and planting a garden
full of vegetables. Nagging my mother with childhood boredom,
she suggested I draw my animals and plants. And so began
my interest in drawing from nature. My studies became
more serious during yearly visits to the far corners of
the earth. I began sketching what I saw and continued
with illustrated articles about medicinal plants and exotic
animals. I went from West, East and North Africa, India,
Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Bhutan, China and
Indonesia, to Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti and Noumea,
crewing on sailboats in Mexico and the Caribbean and a
stint living in Europe. These journeys were funded by
my part-time jobs apprenticing as a muralist, a jewelry
designer and a product designer, which lead to my early
career of freelance toy / product design and illustration
for books and magazines. My first children's book, Zoopa:
An Animal Alphabet, was published Fall/'05 by Chronicle
Books. |
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