As Visiting Associate Professor in the low-residency MFA in Children’s Book Writing and Illustrating program at Hollins University in Virginia (US), I have been an integral part of the program’s development, planning, and growth since 2013. I curate the book submissions to the annual Margaret Wise Brown Prize, choosing the titles that will be absorbed into our permanent, world-class collection, in conjunction with the workshop "Picture Book Trends." I established Beginning and Advanced Digital Skills workshops, in which I taught a vast range of practical illustration, creating, marketing, and computer rendering skills to students—the workshop was eventually absorbed into course offerings. I have taught Picture Book Design since 2013, where I teach narrative and sequential illustration, composition, color, proportion, perspective, storyboarding, mock-ups, and other skills essential to good draftsmanship. I have taught numerous workshops on writing all genres of Children's literature. This summer I will also be stretching my writing and academic teaching skills, teaching a beginning writing course and a Goddess studies course. I was the keynote speaker for the 2021 semester, talking about "Transformation."

I have decades of professional experience as an award-winning illustrator, author, teacher, speaker, and blogger with over three-dozen, traditionally published books. I have regularly taught illustration and design at both graduate and postgraduate levels; taught writing workshops across the US, UK, and Europe; and spoken at numerous schools, conferences and events, including my TEDx Talk, “Is Your Stuff Stopping You?” with over a million views. I remain available for speaking engagements on creating and designing children's books and related topics. Before returning to academia to achieve an MFA and PhD, I offered community support as Illustrator Coordinator for the Southern region of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators covering four states, and as a Board Member for the Georgia Center for the Book. In these roles, I established and ran annual conferences, portfolio critiques, numerous gallery shows, a website, a scholarship fund, and a literary prize promoted by libraries state-wide. With these activities, I enjoyed helping hundreds of budding creators on their own creative journeys. My first gallery show, “Storybook Look: Illustrations by Southern Artists,” was picked up by the US National Endowment of the Arts to travel the south for two years. Several of my recent picture books were written by New York Times best-selling author Jane Yolen, with whom I often collaborate. My research projects range from a novel, a workbook, a graphic novel, to several picture book projects currently with my agent at Curtis Brown. My blog, where I often interview creators, feeds into my newsletter with over 4,000 subscribers. Please see my CV for my corporate work history prior to 2001.

Tenure Track Program Director and Associate Professor of Illustration, August 2019 – present: Manage program direction and budgets, create course offerings, design and teach foundation and all upper-level illustration courses, create parent course materials for adjunct teachers and multiple section instructors, mentor BFA and MFA thesis students, advise 47 illustration majors (awarded Advisor of the year, 2021, nominated and voted on by students), Chair two committees and member of 7 other department and university committees, oversee Teaching Mentorship program, create gallery shows, continue personal research activities. Attained two grants to date: inaugural Course Hero Grant (awarded to 50 professors in the USA) for $2,000 to go towards equipment, software, and supplies for my fall 2022 Animation class; a research grant towards a graphic novel poetry collaboration with New York Times Best-selling author Jane Yolen. TAUGHT COURSES• World Building• Motion Graphics/Multimedia Design• Animation 1• Comparative Anatomy• Creating Graphic Novels• Portraiture and Character Design• Illustrating Children’s Books• Print and Propaganda• Narrative and Editorial• Figure Drawing• Design Drawing I• Design Drawing II• Color Theory• Creative Writing• Writing Historical Fiction• Picture Book Design• Picture Book Trends• Beginning and Advanced Illustration• Beginning and Advanced Photoshop skills• Beginning Drawing

I worked with two courses in my 2nd year of PhD research - Critical Enquiries with Dr Evelyn Arizpe during spring semester, and Texts for Children with Dr Maureen Farrell. For each, I gave lectures, participated in class discussions, moderated online discussion boards, and graded papers.

I taught weekend-long intensives throughout this time period. Courses I taught included Beginning Drawing and Creating Children's Picture Books (a writing course). Students were mainly mature.

I taught Beginning and Advanced Illustration in the BFA in Graphic Design undergraduate program in the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the request of the department head, Lanny Webb.

Communications firm - main clients were Shaw Carpets, Hamilton Healthcare, and the city of Chattanooga.

Packaging and Graphic Design Firm. Main clients were Brach's Candy, MoonPie, NK Lawn & Garden.

Children's clothing company. Main client was the licensed clothing line for Snoopy.

Animator for the Stone Mountain Laser Show.