I attended Reed College and the Pacific Northwest College of Art, where I learned to ponder just about any subject and doodle and scribble and paint, paint, paint. I tried my best to dodge any marketable skills, but the pondering and doodling and scribbling paid off, anyway. I am the current staff illustrator of CRICKET magazine, and I have illustrated several books by other authors, the most recent being a storybook called THE DISCONTENTED GOPHER, written by L. Frank Baum, (Yes! The Wizard of Oz guy.) which came out in November, 2006 from South Dakota Historical Society Press. I also have book of my own; THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS DOGS, which was published by Dutton Books in fall, 2005. I ponder the meaning of all this (and scribble on various new projects) in the company of my wonderful family in Portland, Oregon. Photo: Judi Gardiner (Carolyn at Silver Falls) I

My daughters Gillian and Kathleen, husband Mark, and our dog Fiona in our backyard. Photo credits: Jim Appleton (Conahan family in the backyard tree-house), Kilwag (Mark and Fiona on backyard ramp), Me! (handsome family with ice-gloo)