"Oh, Teri drew you a picture" said my mother.
"No, mommy, I drew it" I replied.
"Teri, did you draw this picture?" My mother questioned my 5 year old sister.  
"No, Tina did it", she assured her. I wasn't allowed to have crayons yet, but I had gotten ahold of them anyway.

We were at my aunt's house in West Virginia that day when my mother showed my very first drawing to everyone there. My family members were surprised that a 2 year old was able to draw a fairly detailed man with a round body and a head sporting hair, ears and a face. At the end of each thick arm was a round hand with stick fingers, and there were feet on the ends of two fat legs. There was a kindergarten teacher visiting that day who was especially surprised. She claimed that none of her students had ever been able to draw this well. This was out of the ordinary for a 2 year old.

It was time to start letting Tina use the crayons.

At age ten I started private art lessons where I learned several media, including oil painting and pastels. I always impressed my private art teachers (maybe it was because we paid them?), and I always made straight A’s in my art classes at school. So when college came around, it only seemed fit to major in fine art. Hence, I graduated Kennesaw State College in 1994 with my Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Art.

I have been a professional artist since age 13 when I was commissioned to draw posters advertising for the Belle Promenade Mall Food Court in New Orleans.  At present, I illustrate books, do work on commission such as portraits or anything else someone might want, and I am a graphic artist, which is another passion of mine. I have always been able to draw my explanations better than verbalizing them and my early teachers were also impressed with my imagination for poetry and story writing as well as my drawing ability. 

I am an active member of the Southern Breeze region of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and have two books that I have illustrated under my belt. The first book is called “Ogs, Zogs and Useful Cogs”, written by Douglas J. Alford. If you would like to see it (and hopefully buy it), click here. I have recently finished illustrating my second book which is called “The Chase to Space” by the same author. The book tells about the space race between the US and the Soviet Union. This book should be available to purchase in the Spring. Both books are targeted to third and fourth graders.

I can be as creative or controlled as needed in all aspects of my art. I am sure it was written in the stars since day one that I was meant to be an artist. It is what those crayons foretold many years ago.