I graduated with a B.Sc. degree from Drexel University in Philadelphia, studying fashion design, and worked very briefly in the fashion industry. Next, I quickly prepared a portfolio for illustration and got a job in the advertising department of John Wanamaker's Department Store in Philadelphia. This is where I got some great training, by drawing lots of merchandise for the daily newspapers and working with a very creative team, winning lots of awards for the ads.

Freelancing began after five years at Wanamaker's, when I joined three friends in a studio. We worked together for a year, producing and illustrating educational story books for Macmillan Publishing Company. These were my first children's books and the start of my interest in children's illustration.

The direction toward child related illustration continued with more educational material, as well as work for advertising agencies and studios, corporations, publishing companies and magazines. Some of the work included promotions, package designs and advertising (McDonald's, Wendy's, Binney & Smith, Ringling Brothers, Hershey Park, Wyeth Laboratories), educational material (Harcourt Brace, Hampton Brown, Pearson Learning, Scholastic, Oxford University Press), picture books (over 12 books for KarBen Copies, a division of Lerner Publishing), and magazines (creating many 'hidden drawings' for Highlights for Children, plus work for Weekly Reader and LadyBug).

For the last 10 years my studio has been in sunny Florida, where I live with my husband, a sport fisherman, our standard poodle, and our biting parrot. I continue to illustrate traditionally, but use the aid of the computer, more and more.