“Every Child is an Artist”

I am inspired by many things, my kids being one of them.  My kids are a huge inspiration for me. They inspire many things in me: how to be a better person, how to be patient, how to inspire others, to laugh like a kid again, and the list goes on.  My younger daughter, who is now eight, asked a question one day while pondering the absence of bugs during winter. That innocent, simple question inspired me to be creative in a way that I had never experienced before.  It was the impetus for what became a series of three children’s books that I wrote – my first books.  My goal was to make a book for my daughter as a gift. But the project grew and I began to solicit it to publishing companies. The lack of illustrations was problematic, however. I was hoping that an artist representative would see value in the text and align my work with a staff illustrator. Ideal situations rarely come to pass, however. I had two co-publishing offers. I was thrilled, but they wanted a complete project, which meant illustrations. I am not much of a visual artist. But my daughter, the one who conceptualized this whole project, is quite talented in that realm. Certainly I am biased, but her drawings and paintings are very charming in my opinion. And more importantly, she loves it! A friend suggested that we become a mother/daughter team. I chewed on that for a while as I had to separate myself from the vision I originally had. But once I wrapped my head around the idea, I went with it. My daughter and I have become a team now. She draws the main character, Ronnie Jean, and I draw the bugs. I then superimpose the drawings onto a realistic background. It is still in the experimental stages, but we are having a ball. As Pablo Picasso said “Every child is an artist.” With that being said, I can take pride in knowing that I have a very talented, true artist illustrating my books.