Hello…
I am an artist and illustrator. I spend time in nature drawing animals and landscape (“Observations”). My daily studio work is experimental and whimsical multi-media paintings (see Crystal Cities). My “day job” is illustrating children’s books (something that my MFA in sculpture didn’t anticipate).
My most recent illustrated book is “Whale Fall” written by Melissa Stewart, March 2023, Random House Studio. Reviews have started coming in, here’s what Kirkus has to say:
“The carcass of a whale is a gift to the sea.
When a whale dies, its body sinks to the ocean floor, but that’s not the end of its useful life. For the next 50 years, it will continue to provide nourishment to a series of deep-sea creatures. Stewart takes her readers 5,000 feet down into the East Pacific Ocean to watch the procession of scavengers who will feast on the remains of a 70,000-pound gray whale—and sometimes each other. First come the hagfish and the sleeper sharks. Later there will be zombie worms and the squat lobsters who eat them. Some microbes “form thick, colorful mats that spread across the bones,” while other microbes live inside the mussels and tubeworms that are also attracted to the carcass. It’s a thriving new sea floor ecosystem. The exemplary backmatter tells us that scientists have identified over 500 species that are in some way connected to a whale fall. The author has chosen examples with names—“snubnose eelpouts,” “sea pigs,” “blob sculpin”—that delight. The smoothly written text is set directly on evocative blue-toned underwater scenes that make good use of light and texture. The backmatter’s added facts about the 22 animals featured will inform science-inclined older readers.
I have been an illustrator for twenty years or so and have made illustrations for newspapers and magazines, textbooks and have even designed murals for children's museums. I love my fine art, some of which I shape into children's books and exhibitions. I draw and paint every day.
Clients
Publishing: Candlewick Press, Random House/Schwartz & Wade, Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, Tralalire/Bayard Presse Jeunesse.
Editorial: New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Asset International, Playboy, Businessweek, Scholastic Inc. …
Other: The Children's Museum of the East End (Bridgehampton, NY), The Miami Children's Museum, The New York Hall of Science, East Hampton Children's Library.
My children's book portfolio is represented by Elena Giovinazzo at Pippin Properties.
Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.
instagram (studio microblog, daily)
flickr (image archive)
blogger (sketchbook excerpts and story ideas)
ROBSERVATIONS (nature observations & drawings)
The first video was made by Cengage Learning in the summer of 2014. The second video, released in 2015, was made by my multi-talented illustrator friend Scott Bakal.