14 years ago, a seven-year-old girl flopped down on her cushy bed with a stack of books and an ambitious look on her face. She had just recently discovered the extraordinary pleasure of reading stories, and had since spent many long hours deciphering meaning from the carefully chosen words of ambiguous fiction.
In an attempt to recreate, relive and enliven her favorite scenes, she drew pictures. At first she copied her favorite images. Dan Andreason’s “Meet Felicity” illustrations were her favorite. As she grew older she began to create her own unique interpretations of her favorite characters and the world they lived in. Her favorite thing to think about was the information that was not mentioned, such as the color of the shoes a character wore or what they did during time jumps in the story.
Today, that girl continues to create images that can bridge the gap between textual fantasy and reality. Short fiction is what the girl chose to illustrate due to its straight-forward description, mood, symbolism and meaning. By drawing on these ideas, she translates what is formed in her imagination onto paper. Whether ordinary or fantastical scenes, her aim is to take liberties to interpret what is not mentioned in the short story while staying true to the text, and realistically create another world much like a book does.
Right now the girl flops down at her desk on a hard metal stool with a stack of books, a pile of paper, a paintbrush, and an ambitious look on her face. She has just recently discovered the extraordinary pleasure of book illustration.