I like reading other people's "About" sections but I dislike writing my own, so I got a bunch of helpful friends to come up with interview questions. Here they are, with my rambling answers.

How long have you been drawing and illustrating?

From Beth Kelleher

Since I was a wee baby. I started doing commissioned stuff in high school, was the class artist, etc. I have to say that my high school classmate Melissa Oresky was robbed! She has always been a visionary -- I think nobody understood her when we were kids. I am thrilled to see her doing so well now.

What is your earliest, still surviving, piece of artwork?

From Michelle Dennis

There are some toddler-era, crayon stick figure drawings in my parents' possession. One is mounted on this fancy slab of wood with at least seventy billion coats of lacquer.

How has your art changed over the years?

From Julie Holmes

My favorite subject matter (people) has remained constant but the media and styles have changed. I worked in paints up until college, when I switched to the very affordable (and surprisingly versatile) colored pencil. I was striving for realism in those days. Then I started appliqueing art quilts (a craft which was not at all affordable: I racked up quite the credit card bill from trips to the fabric shop) and I think working so much in fabric influenced my drawing and painting style -- it became simultaneously more cartoon-ish and more fantasy-ish, with very heavy outlines mirroring my machine applique stitches.

The major revolution for me was the introduction of the Wacom tablet. It's the ultimate in immediate gratification for me. I'm able to produce much more quickly, with no mess whatsoever. (I have a small child -- shaving off time and clean-up are huge wins.)

Are there any media you just can't work with? Why?

From Shana Worthen

It's not a matter of can't (you should always believe that you can!), it's a matter of won't. In particular, I won't take up ceramics, sculpture, or fiber-work (knitting, crochet, embroidery) because I could easily see myself acquiring googobs of materials only to have them sit around the house. I have beaten down my art/craft supply addiction and will only hoard drawing, painting, and sewing/quilting loot now.

How does being a parent affect (or not affect) your composition of art?

From Stella Evans

The Animal Sounds and Freaks, Creeps, and Aliens series were direct responses to things I wasn't seeing in the market for really little kids -- something that didn't matter very much to me until I had one. When my daughter was an infant we read tons of picture books to her. I found that highly detailed compositions "lost" her, while she responded very well to simple, high-contrast drawings. We had some excellent books that fit the bill but nothing we could easily mount on a wall. What I saw in my local market, targeted for kids' rooms, were photographs and reproduction road signs. I wanted more whimsy and more creativity. She was also getting really enthusiastic about telling me what sound the kitty cat makes and so on... I'd burn up hours drawing animals and watching her delight in imitating their sounds. Incidentally, she also told me that one of the aliens I drew is actually a monkey.

Will we ever see a totally cool children's book from you?

From Stella Evans

This is actually pretty likely. My friend Karen Toast Conger (a writer) is working on two for me to illustrate, one of which is a collaboration with one of her daughters. We have no idea when we'll publish, though.

What is your educational background and how did you get from there to here?

From Beth Kelleher

My last art class was in public high school, 10th grade. The US economy was in recession, the NEA was losing funding; I have always been pretty pragmatic. I fell in love with the ideas of stability and prosperity and decided, when it was time to go to college, not to pursue an art degree in favor of studying something more vocational and potentially lucrative. I started out as an architecture major -- hated that -- and switched quickly to anthropology. Anthropology of course has very little to do with either stability or prosperity so I balanced it out with an internship in Information Technology and, once launched as a full-fledged adult, stayed in Information Technology and rode the whole dot-com swell and bust. My day job for the last 10 years has been in software development. All this time, though, I never stopped making some kind of art on the side.

Then my daughter was born amid a series of rather traumatic events. The silver lining about trauma is that it brings you a whole lot of clarity. I know now I am not going to be "me" if I don't make art a priority. More and more I think of my day job as something I do in my spare time. I don't introduce myself as an IT person any more -- I say I am an illustrator.

What is your creative philosophy? (In fact, what is a creative philosophy? Did I just make that up?)

From Michelle Dennis

Um, maybe I can make one up! I think what drives me most is that, in any creative pursuit, anything and everything is possible. When I'm at my best, part of it is working hard to achieve a goal and part of it is serendipity. It's equally rewarding to make things happen and to let things happen. I don't necessarily know what a piece is going to look like until it is done.

I also try to draw something every day -- even if it is on the margin of my notebook when I am supposedly taking down very important notes in some very important business meeting.

Anyone who's just so completely good at nearly everything as you are must have a system of some kind. What's the secret of your capability?

From Gwen Knighton

Relentless toil. I'll sleep when I'm dead.

Can you tell us about the seven years you spent in Fair Elfland?

From Gwen Knighton

Um... I don't like to talk about my time in Fair Elfland. Plus, the Fair Elfland attorneys get kinda twitchy.

Who are some of your favorite artists/illustrators?

From Beth Kelleher

In no particular order: Richard Scarry, Berlie Doherty, Thalia Took, Claire Robertson, Lori Joy Smith, S. Britt, Aaron Jasinski, Diego Rivera, Alice Neel, Modigliani

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