About the Artist...

I was born in Long Beach, California, grew up in Bellflower, California and now reside in the San Bernadino area of California. I haven't gotten very far from home!

That's me, in the swanky shades. This is probably the best picture of me ever taken. I'm not usually this photogenic. It's pretty old - taken in high school. I don't have the nosering anymore and I don't know what happened to the glasses. But damn, I'm lookin' sexy, huh?!

I've known I wanted to be an artist since I could hold a crayon. Coloring books quickly became boring - it was much more fun to draw my own pictures to color! I spent my childhood drawing big-eyed Disney heroines and Princess Leah in the gold bikini, doing sidewalk chalk paintings of Dragon's Lair and designing my own characters, worlds and stories.

In grade school I discovered the comic book Elfquest, and was obsessed with Wendy and Richard Pini's creation for several years. I can still see this earlier influence in my work today.

I took on my first professional art job when I was promoted from cashier to display designer at my local comic shop. This consisted mainly of projecting, tracing and painting comic book images on big pieces of foamcore with tempera paints (Ugh! Tempera!). Occassionally I'd get to do my own "original" versions of characters as well.

While working at the comic shop I got my first real freelance assignment, from a company that made pogs (remember that craze?). I ended up designing several popular (while it lasted) milkcap series and eventually the company hired me full-time to do graphic design and illustration for them. There I met Albert, my Mac Guru, who taught me the mojo of Photoshop - something that has proven invaluable ever since. Some of the stuff I worked on during this period can be seen on my old website. But be warned - it's totally outdated and there are several broken links.

The pog company died when the milkcap craze ended, and for a few months I attempted to freelance. I sent out several portfolios, mainly to childrens' book publishers (a field I still want to get into someday), but got few responses and no jobs.

During the period that I worked at the comic shop and the pog company, I was also burning the midnight oil on a small-press, autobio comic called Skeleton Girl Comics, which was briefly published by Slave Labor Graphics. It only ran three issues because sales sucked so bad (a sad fate of many small press comics), but by that time I'd finally gotten a response from one of my mail-out portfolios.

About a year previous, I'd sent a portfolio to a small local gaming company and had gotten no reply from them. When I did my mailings to the childrens' book publishers, I sent an update to them as well. This time, I got a response.

AEG (Alderac Entertainment Group), a design house for role-playing and collectable card games and publisher of an independant gaming magazine (Shadis), was looking for someone to draw a comic for the magazine. The boss (who never looks at portfolios) happened to see mine sitting on a desk somewhere, took a look and decided I was the one for the job. I went in for an interview and pow-wowed with one of the writers, who was conceptualizing the comic. We seemed to have a good connection and everyone liked the sketches I whipped up.

They offered me the comic job, as well as a position art directing for Shadis magazine. At first I was intimidated by the prospect of art directing - something I'd never done before. But I quickly realized that a steady paycheck wasn't something I could afford to refuse. A few weeks later I was the 2nd full-time female employee hired my AEG.

During my first year at AEG, I drew and helped plot and write "The Stew", and art directed for Shadis magazine. I loved doing the comic - but I wasn't quite cut out for art direction - a job that requires much more organization and upkeep than I'm naturally inclined to.

Eventually I worked my way into other projects at AEG and was (thankfully) relieved of my art director duties. AEG has given me the opportunity to do interior illustrations, layout, card art, cover art, packaging design and much more (see my Resume for more info). I've contributed to all of AEG's products, including Legend of the Five Rings, Doomtown and Legend of the Burning Sands. I was part of the conceptual design team for 7th Sea, designing the visual identity of the game - logos, layout themes, heraldry, etc.- for which the game won an Origins Award (the gaming industry's version of an Oscar).

I'm currently still on staff at AEG and do additional freelance illustration in my copious spare time (ha ha). I'm looking to expand my freelance work and possibly branch out into other genres such as childrens' books and web design. If you are interested in working with me or offering me an assignment, please contact me at: SkeletnGrl@aol.com.