Authors/Artists

I have dual passions- writing and drawing in pen and ink. I've been writing and drawing since I was in elementary school. Both skills have vastly improved over time, but by age thirteen I remember I had two volumes of typed poetry on lined notebook paper, the pages tied together with colorful pieces of yarn. I still have them someplace, but can't put my hands on them at the moment- a frustration for me, but I can visualize them as if I just laid them aside yesterday.

I began drawing in pen and ink after experimenting with that medium in an art class in 9th grade. I hit the jackpot when I went to the art department at Johnson's bookstore sometime between 1973-1975 and found a Speedball A-B-C-D lettering pen set- tons of nibs, a Speedball lettering booklet, several pen nib holders and two bottles of ink! I was in Heaven! I no longer have the box they came in but still have most of those nibs and the pen holders. I broke a few nibs through the years. I also scored colored inks- red, blue, yellow, green, purple, orange...By 1976 when I went off to college I was able to cover my dorm walls with my own art in a variety of sizes. I even drew a Cornflakes rooster and sent it to Kellogg's after they retired their longtime mascot and received a letter back telling me they were bringing the rooster back and thanking me for my artwork. What a happy day for a 19-year old girl away at college!

I drew a napping teddy bear for Kelly when she was born that hung on her nursery wall and retired my pen & ink materials, too busy as a housewife and new mother to dabble in art anymore. I did some colored pencil drawings for Kelly when she was in school, but it wasn't until 2000 that I broke out the black India ink and pens again to do renderings of black squirrels for my employer who was looking for something unique to Westfield to put on products for tourists and locals proud of their city. The Black Squirrel that still graces many products that used to be sold at Conners, Inc at 34 Elm Street, and are still sold at several places and online by the former owner of Conners, originated with my black ink silhouette of the squirrel.

Again, I put away the pen & ink when I got busy going back to work, writing stories for Kelly and my family and friends, and managing the house. Kelly renewed my interest in drawing when she began inking RR insignias and logos for fun. I thought the arthritis in my hands would flare up, but it really hasn't. My hands go numb if I work too long (more than two hours), so I've decided to do small art- projects that take 1-2.5 hours. The longest amount of time for a recent project was 5.5 hours but I broke it up and did it over two days- that was the largest draped cemetery urn for the 13 Urns series.

I've begun to notice recently with the monthly ArtWalks here in Westfield that many authors also are artists. Sandy (Judith) Sessler paints with watercolors and just took up pastels. Rhonda Boulette draws and also paints. My sister, Lynnmarie May, used to paint. She may still paint- I'll have to ask her. Melissa Volker does graphic arts. I'm sure there are may more out there, probably some of them quite famous but I haven't had two minutes to start researching this subject. It's just made me wonder how many other authors have duel passions- literature and art?

A number of authors are also photographers. I like photography, too, and have even begun shooting pictures for my book covers myself. I'm thinking of drawing the cover for my new novel, The Worth of a Woman. It would be a target with a heart for a bullseye, with an axe buried in the middle of the heart.