ABOUT Emerald Elf Design

As a graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, I embrace more than thirty years as a freelance artist and illustrator. I enjoy mostly working in pastel and oil but like to experiment with a variety of mediums. My work has included everything from business cards, t-shirt designs, portraits, caricatures, book illustrations to wall-sized murals. I have received Juror’s Choice and Honorable Mention awards throughout the Pittsburgh region, and have taught art classes to both children and adults. I thoroughly enjoy being a part of helping others to discover and develop their creativity and being a part of their artistic journey.

As a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, I am pursuing new directions in children and family literacy. I have illustrated six children’s books authored by Pam Selker Rak and am working on several more with first time authors. I have also been collaborating with Tier One Game Design on family board and card games to be released in 2023.

Nature has always inspired me, and I always found the forest enchanting and magical. I explored the woods and creeks near my home as a child, and those memories have always been a source of inspiration for many of my illustrations and projects. It has long been a dream of mine to have my own studio and in 2016, that dream finally came to fruition and I had a custom “she-shed” built - this is where I find my ‘joie de vivre! The color emerald green symbolizes life and literally gladdens the spirit, and that is my mission as the Emerald Elf!