About the Artist

I was born in Ohio overlooking the Cuyahoga River in 1954, and although my earliest

memories include drawing, I do not recall wanting to be an artist when I grew up.  I did

want to become a scientist, and still remember trying to capture with pencil on paper the

tiny wonders I found in my microscope or backyard.  I continued to draw as a parachute

infantry medic in the Army (1972-75) and began to get jobs illustrating while still a

student in the early 80’s.  I have illustrated over a dozen picture books for major publishers,

scores of greeting cards, and produced images for several textbook companies.  Many of the

books have won awards, including the Washington Library Media Association’s Children’s

Choice Picture Book Award (also in 2 other states, 1996, Heart of a Tiger) and the Giverny

Award for Best Science Picture Book (2009, Forest Bright, Forest Night).  I have a BA in

English and Education (Western WA University, 1982) and a WA K-12 teaching certificate

(English and Art endorsements) and I have taught Illustration and Drawing at WWU for

several years.  I am a volunteer Firefighter/EMT in my rural community and I spend

summers manning a remote US Forest Service fire lookout in WA.  My wife Ann Marie is a

National Board Certified Teacher with a Master’s in Literacy and we have two grown

daughters and a grandson.  We live on twenty acres frequented by eagles, elk, beaver,

herons, salmon, and coyotes along the wild Nooksack River in NW Washington. 

Publishers include:  E.P. Dutton; Dial Publications; Doubleday; Little, Brown& Co.;

G.P. Putnam; Dawn Publications; Henry Holt; Scholastic; D.C. Heath; Sunrise

Publications; Marcel Schurman; Houghton Mifflin