A lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest, I currently call Olympia, Washington home.

The art was always my favorite component of a book. Early favorites include the works of Syd Hoff, Maurice Sendak, Mercer Mayer,

Garth Williams and Beatrix Potter. Besides kid's books, I absorbed my anthropologist father's natural history books, and also grew up looking at art pieces gifted by my great uncle, director of the Henry Art Museum at the University of Washington.

Since 2nd grade I was under the thrall of superhero comics, a decade later, underground and alternative comics. I have contributed to 17 issues of the zine Dune, based in Seattle.

In 2004, I graduated from the Art Institute of Seattle with Honors and a degree in Animation Art. Taking my traditional art classes with the utmost seriousness and dedication, I was delighted to come under the tutelage of the painter William Cumming, the last of the artists in the Northwest Movement. I took his example of self-determination, and fierce individuality to heart.

In 2022, I completed a picture book, The Toddler Detective: The Case of The Cacophonous Crash. The experience of illustrating and co-writing this book awakened a passion for creating kid lit. I can see enthusiastically working on projects for the rest of my life. Currently, I am working on a dummy whose working title is "Mose".

OTTO-BIO

Artist Statement

I am an artist focused on making art for children's books. My chosen areas are picture books and middle grade books. Influences to my art and illustration is largely pen and ink as well as gouache work from the 1930's and 40's. In addition, comics as an art form have always been important to me and I would love to see their visual structure continue to be adopted and blended into kid lit.

My desire is to explore themes of the outsider, neuro-divergence, and reclaimed humanity in the face of the modern society. Much of my work aims to engender a sense of awe in the natural world and existence itself.

In addition to standard kid lit, hope to explore graphic novels, having been a longtime fan and contributed to numerous comic zines.

Currently, I am seeking to make an impact in kid lit, making unusual, authentic books that move and inspire.

I wish to fill up a shelf with books I have made.