Artist bio: Zoe Miller
Growing up, my favorite books were always those that combined poems and colorful illustrations. I would read and re-read them until the pages wore, dog-earing my favorites to come back to. They combined my two passions when I was young: writing and art. I spent hours doing both, studying how-to-draw books and writing magazines, painting on whatever I could find, and writing and illustrating my own stories about magic and unicorns.
Despite a lifelong love for it, I didn’t begin taking my art seriously and really learning to draw until high school. It was then I realized that this was something I wanted to do for life. I took classes and studied under my talented friends, taking especially to the expressiveness of watercolors and ink. Currently, I am studying art in college and trying to determine what branch of art my work is best suited to.
When I was approached to work on illustrations for The Trouble with Bubbles, I was thrilled at the opportunity to make something similar to the books I loved so dearly as a child. I had a lot of fun playing with ideas and trying to capture the way I saw the world when I was younger, and using the same bright colors and expressive lines that drew me into books like this. I hope other children feel the same captivation and wonder that I did.
Artist bio: Walter Johnson
I began drawing when I was very young, around four or five years old, and it quickly became one of my biggest passions. Until I was older, I mostly drew simple things from video games or cartoons that interested me. Ever since I started drawing, it’s always been my goal to improve and pursue making art professionally. I was deeply inspired by the drawings of my older brother and the encouragement from family.
Video games have also been a huge influence on me, marking the main focus of my drawings and the particular field of art I wish to pursue. I’ve always been inspired by the genuine creativity and emotions expressed and felt through video games. It’s something I wish to bring to others with my own art.
Artist bio: Sarah Ribble
I was very young when I struck up an interest in art. As a child, I would of course scribble and splatter paint as all young children do, but it wasn’t long until I started favoring this hobby of scribbling and paint-splattering over other interests. I believe I was about nine years old when the stacks of drawing paper started stacking up, and the build-up only grew.
Art made a lot of sense to me where other things didn’t. It was my outlet; the way I worked through all the noise in my head. It solidified my existence in the world.
In school, I would get in trouble for drawing when I wasn’t supposed to, but art projects were the only assignments I could genuinely apply myself to. Realizing that other academia made me frustrated and unhappy, I finally began art classes in early high school. Exploring mediums and techniques, I found I took especially well to watercolors, inks, and sculpture. Artwork is an important and integral part of my life, and something I am going to pursue until my final days.