My name is...

Dee and when I grow up, I want to be an illustrator. Here are five things about me you might not know:

5-Is the unofficial number of years I've allotted myself to make a go of being a professional freelance illustrator. (It's also the number of tattoos I have.)

4- I have to make a conscious decision to put people in my illustrations. Illustrating animals is as easy as breathing for me.

3- Maurice Sendak is one of my favorite illustrators (although he supposedly disliked children), along with Holly Hobbie. I also like Peter Brown, David Wiesner, Peter Reynolds and Marie Louise Gay-although I can't look at their art too much or I get a huge inferiority complex.

2- The number of times I've attended the SCBWI National Conference in New York. It was invigorating and inspiring both times. Someday I hope to attend the L.A. Conference and get all I can out of it.

1- This is the year I am making my official leap into professional illustration. I hope that with a lot of hard work, the support of the fabulous soup group and a lot of crossed fingers, I'll be able to complete a few assignments by this time next year.

(This scene is from a collaborative art project I was part of last year. I had every intention of posting new art today, but my one month old had other plans.)